 
## **Contents**

Front matter

Preface

Alphabetical order no table

Sent_0001

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Sent_0771

Sent_0772

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Sent_0792

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Sent_0841

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Sent_0851

Sent_0852

Sent_0853

Sent_0854

Sent_0855

Sent_0856

Sent_0857

Sent_0858

Sent_0859

Sent_0860

Sent_0861

Sent_0862

Sent_0863

Sent_0864

Sent_0865

Sent_0866

Sent_0867

Sent_0868

Sent_0869

Sent_0870

Sent_0871

Sent_0872

Sent_0873

Sent_0874

Sent_0875

Sent_0876

Sent_0877

Sent_0878

Sent_0879

Sent_0880

Sent_0881

Sent_0882

Sent_0883

Sent_0884

Sent_0885

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Sent_0892

Sent_0893

Sent_0894

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Revised translation

0001_New translation

0002_New translation

0003_New translation

0004_New translation

0005_New translation

0006_New translation

0007_New translation

0008_New translation

0009_New translation

0010_New translation

0011_New translation

0012_New translation

0013_New translation

0014_New translation

0015_New translation

0016_New translation

0017_New translation

0018_New translation

0019_New translation

0020_New translation

0021_New translation

0022_New translation

0023_New translation

0024_New translation

0025_New translation

0026_New translation

0027_New translation

0028_New translation

0029_New translation

0030_New translation

0224_New translation

0225_New translation

0226_New translation

0227_New translation

0228_New translation

0229_New translation

0230_New translation

0231_New translation

0232_New translation

0901_New translation

0902_New translation

0903_New translation

0904_New translation

0905_New translation

0906_New translation

0907_New translation

0908_New translation

0909_New translation

0910_New translation

0911_New translation

0912_New translation

0913_New translation

0914_New translation

0915_New translation

0916_New translation

0917_New translation

0918_New translation

0919_New translation

0920_New translation

0921_New translation

0922_New translation

Notes
Letters

Mgr. Melchior de Marion Brésillac

***

© 2016 SMA publications

Via della Nocetta, 111

Roma 00164, Italy

Preface

We are fortunate to have an amazing collection of 922 letters written by our Founder Mgr Melchior de Marion Brésillac from 1833 to 1859. The letters were all written in French. We published the print version of the Original letters in 2005 and the digital version in 2014. The print version is available in most SMA houses and the digital version is available in all Amazon websites and at Smashwords.com.

The letters were translated into English. The translator has tried to be as faithful as possible to the text and the style of the writer. As it is always the case in translations, it is quite challenging to strike a good balance between closeness to the Original style and easy readability. Since the present translation received a mixed response from our confreres, the printing was delayed for some years and some confreres tried to edit some of the translated letters.

Considering the fact that so much time has passed since the first printed French version of the letters, the General Council has decided to publish the Original translation of the letters as an ebook. The edited letters are also added at the end of the book without replacing the Original translation. This will help our members to read the letters and get to know our Founder better. At the same time, we will be able to gather more views regarding the quality of the translation and make further decisions later.

One of the biggest advantages in an electronic book is that we can search easily with any key word. The 922 letters are arranged chronologically. An alphabetical list of those addressed has been provided as an additional help. We hope that it will help many of our members to deepen their research on the Founder and our history. Those who will need to make footnotes for academic papers, can give the page numbers of the French printed book based on the number of the letter they read in the English book.

I wish you contented reading. I would appreciate feedback on your view as to the quality of this translation.

Fachtna O'Driscoll SMA

Superior General

P.S. The second section contains 61 letters edited by some of our confreres to improve readability. We still need to work on 861 more letters. If 30 people took 30 letters each, the whole work will be finished to our full satisfaction.

Those who would like to work on a few letters can contact Fr. Fachtna O'Driscoll (supgen@smaroma.org) or Fr. Francis Rozario (conseiller1@smaroma.org).
Alphabetical order no table

Alaquiapoullé --- Sent_0221

Albrand --- Sent_0114

Albrand --- Sent_0141

Albrand --- Sent_0205

Albrand --- Sent_0299

Albrand --- Sent_0404

Albrand --- Sent_0454

Albrand --- Sent_0862

Arbuthuot/Cie --- Sent_0367 ( copy)

Arch/Barcelone --- Sent_0856

Arnal --- Sent_0072

Arnal --- Sent_0241

Arnal --- Sent_0641

Arnal --- Sent_0679

Arnal --- Sent_0714

Aroulnaden --- Sent_0247 ( copy)

Aroulnaden --- Sent_0272

Assoc/St Fr --- Sent_0801

Barilli Mgr --- Sent_0855

Barran --- Sent_0298 ( copy)

Barran --- Sent_0563

Barran --- Sent_0622

Barrot --- Sent_0230 ( copy)

Barrot --- Sent_0332 ( copy)

Barrot --- Sent_0338 ( copy)

Barrot --- Sent_0411

Barrot --- Sent_0631

Barthe --- Sent_0833

Bessieux Mgr --- Sent_0826

Bessieux Mgr --- Sent_0910

Bettachini Mgr --- Sent_0527

Bettachini Mgr --- Sent_0539

Bishop/Arras --- Sent_0560

Bishop/Grenoble --- Sent_0725

Bishop/Grenoble --- Sent_0727

Bishop/Grenoble --- Sent_0783

Bishop/Grenoble --- Sent_0800

Bishop/Grenoble --- Sent_0868

Bishop/Marseille --- Sent_0846

Bishop/Strasbourg --- Sent_0790

Bishops/Esp-Port --- Sent_0813

Bishops/MEP --- Sent_0552 ( copy)

Bishops/MEP --- Sent_0639

Bishops/MEP --- Sent_0660

Blanchet Mlle --- Sent_0818

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0704 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0710 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0713 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0722 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0754 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0755 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0756 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0757 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0847 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0894 ( copy)

Blanchet Mme --- Sent_0918

Bonald de cardinal --- Sent_0864

Bonjean --- Sent_0333 ( copy)

Bonjean --- Sent_0354 ( copy)

Bonjean --- Sent_0394

Bonjean --- Sent_0444 ( copy)

Bonjean --- Sent_0448 ( copy)

Bonjean --- Sent_0532

Bonjean --- Sent_0546

Bonjean --- Sent_0633

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0091

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0094

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0131

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0154 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0157 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0161 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0162 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0163 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0164 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0165 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0167 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0173

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0181

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0190 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0194

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0196

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0223

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0224

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0227

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0242

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0243

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0244

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0245

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0246

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0252

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0258

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0259

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0262

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0264

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0270 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0279

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0283

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0288

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0289

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0290

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0291

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0294

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0302

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0307

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0309

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0312

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0313

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0319

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0323

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0324

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0325

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0328

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0334

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0335

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0341

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0347

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0349

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0353

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0355

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0356

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0357

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0358

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0361

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0365

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0366

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0382

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0383

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0385

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0386

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0388

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0392

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0393

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0396

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0406

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0407

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0408

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0410

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0412

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0416

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0418

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0420

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0429

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0432

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0433

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0434

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0438

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0441

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0443

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0449

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0453

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0455

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0456

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0461

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0466

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0471

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0472

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0474

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0476

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0478

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0483

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0484

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0492

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0494

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0500

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0507

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0508

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0512

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0518

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0519 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0520

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0523

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0531

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0536

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0537

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0545

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0548

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0549

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0553

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0554

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0557

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0558

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0559

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0566

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0568

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0571

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0572

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0573

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0581

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0582

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0585 ( copy)

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0590

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0592

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0593

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0603

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0607

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0609

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0611

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0614

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0616

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0623

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0627

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0632

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0635

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0636

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0651

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0663

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0669

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0680

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0693

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0748

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0776

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0821

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0853

Bonnand Mgr --- Sent_0886

Boucho Mgr --- Sent_0304 ( copy)

Bresson --- Sent_0851

Bruyère --- Sent_0344 ( copy)

Bruyère --- Sent_0374

Bruyère --- Sent_0580

Bruyère --- Sent_0630

Canoz Mgr --- Sent_0251 ( copy)

Canoz Mgr --- Sent_0260 ( copy)

Canoz Mgr --- Sent_0336 ( copy)

Canoz Mgr --- Sent_0479

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0118

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0131

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0136 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0193 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0199 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0214

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0225

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0234 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0254 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0263 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0342 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0423 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0427

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0428

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0473

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0489 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0503 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0555 ( copy)

Charbonnaux Mgr --- Sent_0661

Chevalier --- Sent_0213

Chevalier --- Sent_0229 ( copy)

Chevalier --- Sent_0268 ( copy)

Chevalier --- Sent_0301 ( copy)

Christians of Palghat --- Sent_0588

Collector --- Sent_0273

Collector --- Sent_0274

Collector --- Sent_0350

Collector --- Sent_036

Collector --- Sent_0363

Collector --- Sent_043

Collector --- Sent_0547

Colons de --- Sent_0257

Comt/Camburzano --- Sent_0695

Consul/Freetown --- Sent_0843

Director/Grenoble --- Sent_0728

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0084

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0126

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0134

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0144

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0170

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0177

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0186

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0209

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0222

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0248

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0275

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0276

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0284

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0300

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0321

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0340

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0359

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0370

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0377

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0403

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0414

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0417

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0421

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0450

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0460

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0465

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0468

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0505

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0513

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0530

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0544

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0550

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0561

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0579

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0596

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0610

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0613

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0621

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0629

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0638

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0646

Directors/Paris --- Sent_0652

Dominique Père --- Sent_0775

Dominique (Fr) --- Sent_0779

Dominique (Fr) --- Sent_0784

Dominique (Fr) --- Sent_0787

Dominique (Fr) --- Sent_0797

Dominique (Fr) --- Sent_0840

Dominique (Fr) --- Sent_0897

Dubois --- Sent_0295 ( copy)

Dupuis --- Sent_0212 ( copy)

Dupuis --- Sent_0314 ( copy)

Dupuis --- Sent_0320 ( copy)

Dupuis --- Sent_0525 ( copy)

Elèves/Ursulines --- Sent_0771

Emperor --- Sent_0745

Examiner --- Sent_0517

Faugères --- Sent_0881

Faugères --- Sent_0889

Faÿ du Mme --- Sent_0836

Fontanova Mgr --- Sent_0253 ( copy)

Fontanova Mgr --- Sent_0310 ( copy)

Fontanova Mgr --- Sent_0477

Forcade Mgr --- Sent_0277 ( copy)

Forcade Mgr --- Sent_0401

Friend --- Sent_0657

Gélis de --- Sent_0625

Gélis de --- Sent_0675

Gibelin --- Sent_0192

Godelle --- Sent_0285 ( copy)

Godelle --- Sent_0440

Godet --- Sent_0218 ( copy)

Godet --- Sent_0348 ( copy)

Gouyon --- Sent_0318 ( copy)

Gualy de Mgr --- Sent_0029 ( copy)

Hartmann Mgr --- Sent_0501

Hartmann Mgr --- Sent_0502

Hartmann Mgr --- Sent_0584 ( copy)

His aunt Rose --- Sent_0486

His brother Henri --- Sent_0041

His brother Henri --- Sent_0045

His brother Henri --- Sent_0054

His brother Henri --- Sent_0077

His brother Henri --- Sent_0113

His brother Henri --- Sent_0446

His brother Henri --- Sent_0567

His brother Henri --- Sent_0719

His brother Henri --- Sent_0735

His brother Henri --- Sent_0762

His brother Henri --- Sent_0773

His brother Henri --- Sent_0778

His brother Henri --- Sent_0786

His brother Henri --- Sent_0799

His brother Henri --- Sent_0805

His brother Henri --- Sent_0808

His brother Henri --- Sent_0810

His brother Henri --- Sent_0812

His brother Henri --- Sent_0822

His brother Henri --- Sent_0829

His brother Henri --- Sent_0831

His brother Henri --- Sent_0835

His brother Henri --- Sent_0839

His brother Henri --- Sent_0845

His brother Henri --- Sent_0848

His brother Henri --- Sent_0875

His brother Henri --- Sent_0882

His brother Henri --- Sent_0887

His brother Henri --- Sent_0893

His brother Henri --- Sent_0898

His brother Henri --- Sent_0900

His brother Henri --- Sent_0903

His brother Henri --- Sent_0906

His brother Henri --- Sent_0919

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0001

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0005

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0007

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0023

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0024

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0026

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0027

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0030

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0031

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0035

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0037

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0044

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0048

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0049

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0052

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0060

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0063

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0068

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0643

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0664

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0749

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0792

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0798

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0803

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0809

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0819

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0867

His cousin Louis --- Sent_0873

His cousin Raymond --- Sent_0485

His father --- Sent_0002

His father --- Sent_0003

His father --- Sent_0033 ( copy)

His father --- Sent_0034

His father --- Sent_0038

His father --- Sent_0039

His father --- Sent_0064

His father --- Sent_0075

His father --- Sent_0078

His father --- Sent_0083

His father --- Sent_0127

His father --- Sent_0140

His father --- Sent_0146

His father --- Sent_0172

His father --- Sent_0183

His father --- Sent_0202

His father --- Sent_0237

His father --- Sent_0280

His father --- Sent_0287

His father --- Sent_0306

His father --- Sent_0371

His father --- Sent_0380

His father --- Sent_0390

His father --- Sent_0413

His father --- Sent_0439

His father --- Sent_0458

His father --- Sent_0487

His father --- Sent_0514

His father --- Sent_0583

His missionaries --- Sent_0329

His missionaries --- Sent_0346

His missionaries --- Sent_0391

His missionaries --- Sent_0442

His missionaries --- Sent_0457

His missionaries --- Sent_0475 ( copy)

His missionaries --- Sent_0491 ( copy)

His missionaries --- Sent_0533

His missionaries --- Sent_0608

His missionaries --- Sent_0615

His missionaries --- Sent_0624

His mother --- Sent_0040

His mother --- Sent_0047

His mother --- Sent_0050

His mother --- Sent_0053

His mother --- Sent_0055

His mother --- Sent_0056

His mother --- Sent_0059

His mother --- Sent_0067

His mother --- Sent_0070

His mother --- Sent_0076

His mother --- Sent_0151

His mother --- Sent_0182

His mother --- Sent_0389

His mother --- Sent_0445

His mother --- Sent_0522

His mother --- Sent_0637

His mother --- Sent_0715

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0042

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0653

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0676

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0694

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0721

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0730

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0731

His sister Bathilde --- Sent_0865

His sister Félicie --- Sent_0043

His sister Félicie --- Sent_0488 ( copy)

His sister Félicie --- Sent_0917

His uncleJacques --- Sent_0135 ( copy)

His unclePierre --- Sent_0010

His unclePierre --- Sent_0716

Holy Father --- Sent_0211

Holy Father --- Sent_0490

Kérizouët de --- Sent_0255 ( copy)

Kérizouët de --- Sent_0343 ( copy)

Kobès Mgr --- Sent_0825

Kobès Mgr --- Sent_0844

Kobès Mgr --- Sent_0910

Kobès Mgr --- Sent_0913

Kobès Mgr --- Sent_0920

Kobès Mgr --- Sent_0922

Lagrené de --- Sent_0175

Langlois --- Sent_0065

Langlois --- Sent_0111

Langlois --- Sent_0297 ( copy)

Langlois --- Sent_0415

Langlois --- Sent_0451 ( copy)

Laouënan --- Sent_0430 ( copy)

Laugier --- Sent_0215 ( copy)

Laugier --- Sent_0269 ( copy)

Lazare (Fr) --- Sent_0185

Lazare (Fr) --- Sent_0200

Lazare (Fr) --- Sent_0216 ( copy)

Lazare (Fr) --- Sent_0424

Lazare (Fr) --- Sent_0677

Lefebvre Mgr --- Sent_0399

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0574 ( copy)

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0575 ( copy)

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0589

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0591

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0598

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0600

Lefeuvre --- Sent_0601

Legrégeois --- Sent_0405

Legrégeois --- Sent_0452

Lehodey --- Sent_0281

Lehodey --- Sent_0419 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0219 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0235 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0261 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0266

Leroux --- Sent_0308 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0311

Leroux --- Sent_0316 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0345 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0493 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0602 ( copy)

Leroux --- Sent_0634

Let/affiliation/1 --- Sent_0859

Let/affiliation/2 --- Sent_0860

Libois --- Sent_0397

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0138

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0143

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0145

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0149

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0150

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0152

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0153

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0156

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0160

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0168

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0179

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0189

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0204

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0210

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0231

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0232

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0250

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0282

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0293

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0330

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0372

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0381

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0521

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0619

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0640

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0658

Luquet Mgr --- Sent_0668

Luquet --- Sent_0062

Luquet --- Sent_0081

Luquet --- Sent_0082

Luquet --- Sent_0085

Luquet --- Sent_0086

Luquet --- Sent_0087

Luquet --- Sent_0090

Luquet --- Sent_0092

Luquet --- Sent_0096

Luquet --- Sent_0097

Luquet --- Sent_0098

Luquet --- Sent_0100

Luquet --- Sent_0101

Luquet --- Sent_0102

Luquet --- Sent_0103

Luquet --- Sent_0104

Luquet --- Sent_0107

Luquet --- Sent_0109

Luquet --- Sent_0112

Luquet --- Sent_0115

Luquet --- Sent_0117

Luquet --- Sent_0119

Luquet --- Sent_0122

Luquet --- Sent_0123

Luquet --- Sent_0124

Luquet --- Sent_0128

Luquet --- Sent_0129

Luquet --- Sent_0130

Luquet --- Sent_0133

Magazine/Madrid --- Sent_0854

Malhaire --- Sent_0594

Malhaire --- Sent_0595

Malhaire --- Sent_0597

Malhaire --- Sent_0604

Malhaire --- Sent_0605

Marquier Mme --- Sent_0752

Martini Mgr --- Sent_0176

Martini Mgr --- Sent_0477

Martini Mgr --- Sent_0524 ( copy)

Mazeroles abbé --- Sent_0110

Métral --- Sent_0265 ( copy)

Métral --- Sent_0375 ( copy)

Métral --- Sent_0376 ( copy)

Métral --- Sent_0395

Métral --- Sent_0437 ( copy)

Métral --- Sent_0628

Métral --- Sent_0662

Métral --- Sent_0665

Métral --- Sent_0685

Minister --- Sent_0649

Minister --- Sent_0871

Minister --- Sent_0872

Minister --- Sent_0880

missionary --- Sent_0586

Molle --- Sent_0509

Neighbour --- Sent_0206 ( copy)

Neighbour --- Sent_0296 ( copy)

Neighbour --- Sent_0497 ( copy)

Neighbour --- Sent_0578

Pacreau --- Sent_0331 ( copy)

Pacreau --- Sent_0362 ( copy)

Pacreau --- Sent_0409

Pajean --- Sent_0373

Pajean --- Sent_0481 ( copy)

Pajean --- Sent_0528

Pajean --- Sent_0534

Pajean --- Sent_0556 ( copy)

Pajean --- Sent_0576 ( copy)

Pajean --- Sent_0618

Pajean --- Sent_0683

Pakianaden Père --- Sent_0617

Pakianaden --- Sent_0191

Pakianaden --- Sent_0247( copy)

Pakianaden --- Sent_0271

Pallegoix Mgr --- Sent_0400

Pallegoix Mgr --- Sent_0431

Papetart --- Sent_0741

Papetart --- Sent_0823

Papetart --- Sent_0888

Perceval --- Sent_0535 ( copy)

Planque --- Sent_0697

Planque --- Sent_0702

Planque --- Sent_0705

Planque --- Sent_0708

Planque --- Sent_0712

Planque --- Sent_0718

Planque --- Sent_0720

Planque --- Sent_0733

Planque --- Sent_0734

Planque --- Sent_0736

Planque --- Sent_0738

Planque --- Sent_0739

Planque --- Sent_0740

Planque --- Sent_0742

Planque --- Sent_0743

Planque --- Sent_0744

Planque --- Sent_0746

Planque --- Sent_0747

Planque --- Sent_0750

Planque --- Sent_0751

Planque --- Sent_0759

Planque --- Sent_0760

Planque --- Sent_0761

Planque --- Sent_0763

Planque --- Sent_0764

Planque --- Sent_0765

Planque --- Sent_0766

Planque --- Sent_0767

Planque --- Sent_0768

Planque --- Sent_0769

Planque --- Sent_0770

Planque --- Sent_0772

Planque --- Sent_0774

Planque --- Sent_0788

Planque --- Sent_0789

Planque --- Sent_0791

Planque --- Sent_0793

Planque --- Sent_0794

Planque --- Sent_0795

Planque --- Sent_0804

Planque --- Sent_0806

Planque --- Sent_0807

Planque --- Sent_0832

Planque --- Sent_0834

Planque --- Sent_0837

Planque --- Sent_0838

Planque --- Sent_0852

Planque --- Sent_0869

Planque --- Sent_0870

Planque --- Sent_0874

Planque --- Sent_0876

Planque --- Sent_0878

Planque --- Sent_0879

Planque --- Sent_0884

Planque --- Sent_0885

Planque --- Sent_0888

Planque --- Sent_0895

Planque --- Sent_0899

Planque --- Sent_0901

Planque --- Sent_0902

Planque --- Sent_0904

Planque --- Sent_0905

Planque --- Sent_0907

Planque --- Sent_0908

Planque --- Sent_0911

Planque --- Sent_0921

Pouplin --- Sent_0315 ( copy)

Pouplin --- Sent_0327 ( copy)

Pouplin --- Sent_0422 ( copy)

Priest schismatic --- Sent_0203

Priest schismatic --- Sent_0207

Priest schismatic --- Sent_0217

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0132

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0174

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0187

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0188

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0198

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0233

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0278

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0286

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0322

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0352

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0368

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0387

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0426

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0436

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0462

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0463

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0464

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0469

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0470

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0480

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0498(

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0499

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0504

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0511

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0515

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0516

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0526

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0540

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0541

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0542

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0551

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0564

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0565

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0570

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0612

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0626

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0644

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0647

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0650

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0654

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0656

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0659

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0666

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0670

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0671

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0672

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0673

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0678

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0681

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0686

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0687

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0691

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0703

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0707

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0711

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0723

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0726

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0732

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0753

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0758

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0777

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0781

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0782

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0796

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0802

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0811

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0814

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0816

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0817

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0820

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0828

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0830

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0841

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0857

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0890

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0891

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0892

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0909

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0912

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0914

Propaganda Fidei --- Sent_0915

Retord Mgr --- Sent_0147

Retord Mgr --- Sent_0220 ( copy)

Retord Mgr --- Sent_0305 ( copy)

Retord Mgr --- Sent_0398

Reymond --- Sent_0849

Reymond --- Sent_0850

Reymond --- Sent_0858

Roger --- Sent_0201

Roger --- Sent_0303 ( copy)

Roudière --- Sent_0057

Roudière --- Sent_0667

Royal highness --- Sent_0883

Semeria (Fr) --- Sent_0529

Seminarian --- Sent_0674

Seminary/Carcassonne --- Sent_0061

Seminary/Carcassonne --- Sent_0071

Seminary/Carcassonne --- Sent_0089

Seminary/Grenoble --- Sent_0729

Seminary/Nantes --- Sent_0785

Seminary/Pondichéry --- Sent_0317 ( copy)

Soubiran de --- Sent_0238 ( copy)

Sup/Seminary --- Sent_0863

Sup/Spiritains --- Sent_0737

Sup/Spiritains --- Sent_0815

Sup/Spiritains --- Sent_0824

Taurines abbé --- Sent_0121

Tesson --- Sent_0066

Tesson --- Sent_0073

Tesson --- Sent_0074

Tesson --- Sent_0079

Tesson --- Sent_0088

Tesson --- Sent_0093

Tesson --- Sent_0095

Tesson --- Sent_0099

Tesson --- Sent_0105

Tesson --- Sent_0106

Tesson --- Sent_0108

Tesson --- Sent_0116

Tesson --- Sent_0120

Tesson --- Sent_0125

Tesson --- Sent_0139

Tesson --- Sent_0142

Tesson --- Sent_0148

Tesson --- Sent_0155

Tesson --- Sent_0158

Tesson --- Sent_0159

Tesson --- Sent_0166

Tesson --- Sent_0169

Tesson --- Sent_0178

Tesson --- Sent_0180

Tesson --- Sent_0184

Tesson --- Sent_0195

Tesson --- Sent_0197

Tesson --- Sent_0208

Tesson --- Sent_0226

Tesson --- Sent_0249 ( copy)

Tesson --- Sent_0256

Tesson --- Sent_0267

Tesson --- Sent_0292

Tesson --- Sent_0326

Tesson --- Sent_0339

Tesson --- Sent_0351

Tesson --- Sent_0360

Tesson --- Sent_0369

Tesson --- Sent_0378

Tesson --- Sent_0379

Tesson --- Sent_0384

Tesson --- Sent_0425

Tesson --- Sent_0447

Tesson --- Sent_0467

Tesson --- Sent_0482

Tesson --- Sent_0496

Tesson --- Sent_0506

Tesson --- Sent_0510

Tesson --- Sent_0538

Tesson --- Sent_0543

Tesson --- Sent_0562

Tesson --- Sent_0569

Tesson --- Sent_0577

Tesson --- Sent_0587

Tesson --- Sent_0599

Tesson --- Sent_0606

Tesson --- Sent_0620

Tesson --- Sent_0717

Tissot (Fr) --- Sent_0236 ( copy)

Tissot --- Sent_0228

TONUMBER

Vanthier --- Sent_0337 ( copy)

Verrolles Mgr --- Sent_0402

Vian Emilien --- Sent_0699

Vian Emilien --- Sent_0700

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0004

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0006

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0008

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0009

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0011

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0012

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0013

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0014

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0015

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0016

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0017

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0018

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0019

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0020

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0021

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0022

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0025

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0028

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0032

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0036

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0046

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0051

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0058

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0069

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0080

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0137

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0171

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0239

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0459

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0495

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0642

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0645

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0648

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0655

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0682

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0684

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0688

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0689

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0690

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0692

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0698

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0701

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0706

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0709

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0724

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0780

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0842

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0861

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0866

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0877

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0896

Vian Victorin --- Sent_0916

Vic. gén./Nice --- Sent_0696

Vidal abbé --- Sent_0240 ( copy)

Wiseman cardinal --- Sent_0827

Sent_0001

Sent 0001 - to his cousin Louis - 31 December 1833 -1/1

Sent 0001 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 1

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

To create ties with his cousin Louis, eldest son of his uncle Pierre. Some "business" had taken place between the two brothers Pierre and Gaston. Melchior does not want this cooling off and this division to exist between him and his cousins.

Index : friendship, attachment (family), tie (family)

__________

Carcassonne, 31 December 1833

My dear cousin,

For the misfortune of families, interest is so often a cause of cooling off and even of division, that the business which unfortunately has taken place between our parents might make you suspect that this is the case with us. I don't have any such thoughts about you, my friend, and am anxious that you should not about me.

In order to prove the contrary I am taking up my pen at this New Year, to assure you that the feelings of friendship I have always kept alive in my heart, for everything that concerns me closely, have not changed by one iota towards you and your family, since my aunt's unfortunate death. I still feel the same attachment, the same friendship; my best wishes for your happiness are as all-embracing and sincere as they have ever been. Please God they may be granted!

My dear Louis, circumstances have always obliged us to live far from each other; I am already twenty years old, you are older than me, yet we have not met more than twice or three times ; we have never corresponded with each other and until a short while ago we hardly knew each other except through our parents ; for this reason I felt the urge today to break a silence which, while it said nothing against you, did not indicate either that the interest I feel in all of my family is in no way altered towards you.

Yes, my friend, I repeat to you once more in closing : at any time, in any circumstance whatsoever, please consider me always as a friend, a sincere friend. In presenting my respects to your father, wish for him on my behalf the best of years; tell him that he occupies his rightful place in my heart as a beloved uncle. Say to your brothers that the happiness I wish them is boundless, and to your sister that, although I don't know her, I never forget she is my cousin.

As for you, my dear Louis, please count always on my genuine attachment ; I count on yours, and leave you entreating you to love me as I love you.

Melchior de Brésillac

(Carcassonne, 31 December 1833)
Sent_0002

Sent 0002 - to his father - 1 July 18362/2

Sent 0002 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 1-2

(to his father)

He asks his father to advise him on what he should do the next year (1836-37). Should he remain in the minor seminary of Carcassonne as a teacher? Should he go to the major seminary of Carcassonne? Or of Toulouse? He has ruled out Saint-Sulpice once and for all.

Index : seminary, theological studies, indecision

__________

Carcassonne, 1 July 1836

My very dear Papa,

You will have received, a few days ago, a letter from Henri, wishing you a happy saint's day on his behalf and on mine. However, I am writing to you today through Abbé Tisseyre who has just spent two or three days in the seminary, to speak to you about a question of the utmost importance for me, which has to be decided soon. This is whether I should stay on here next year.

Dear Papa, you know how much I have always wanted to acquire a sound theology ; when I came back here, persuaded that that would not be the case, I felt a certain reluctance in accepting ; and entertained the hope of some day going to Saint-Sulpice ; but times have changed, and today there is no possibility of such a project, so that I no longer ask you for what I see is clearly above your means, and I even declare that I would not want to go to Paris, seeing the sacrifices you would be obliged to make, and perhaps even how my brothers might suffer thereby.

But will I stay on here, since I cannot do my seminary as I had at first wished? If so, I shall have to decide to make teaching my career; I must make the resolution of staying on here for a good part of my life; in that case, for me theology will only be something accessory, and all my studies will have the purpose of making me a good teacher, abandoning the other branches of the ministry. I am reluctant to take such a resolution.

You think I have had recourse to wise persons who could help me with their advice ; these persons are of the opinion that I should go to the major seminary, some of them even that I should make up somewhat for Saint-Sulpice by another seminary, for example Toulouse. Well, I decided not to leave it there. I went to the real ecclesiastical authority; I addressed myself to My Lord himself whom I went to see yesterday evening. This good bishop did not order me, which I would have preferred by far, since all discussion would have been ended; but gave me to understand clearly that he desired me to enter the major seminary.

You think that after that I too should want to enter it. I assure you that it would break my heart to leave the minor seminary; but I dare not commit myself to staying on for good: and if I should later enter the holy ministry, I can no longer postpone acquiring the difficult notions relating to it which are almost completely neglected here. However, since My Lord has not given me any order or decisive advice, I cannot bring myself to make a decision.

If Mr Arnal does not require me to give him a final answer before I know your opinion which I think will be similar to the unanimous feeling of all those to whom I have referred, I will say nothing to him before you have answered me. Here it is a question of my soul and that of the others. Quite apart from the personal grief I will feel in leaving the minor seminary, and which is nothing since it concerns me alone, being a sacrifice such as will necessarily have to be made, I have only that of making you incur greater expenses when you are still embarrassed, however I believe that these are indispensable.

You can well believe, dear Papa, that for the last few days I have been in a state of uncertainty which is quite painful, I hope that will soon be over, and feel sure that your answer will lead me to take a decision. I don't know if you can read my writing, I'm in a great hurry since Mr Tisseyre is about to leave.

Please convey my respects to Mamma, my kindest regards to my sisters and count on the respect

of the most submissive of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

junior cleric

(Carcassonne, 1 July 1836)

Sent_0003

Sent 0003 - to his father - 17 July 1836 -1/2

Sent 0003 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 3-4

(to his father)

He still does not know what he is going to do when school starts up again : stay on in the minor seminary or go to the major seminary He must ask the opinion of Mr Médus, former vicar-general of Pamiers. His day at Empetit passing by Fanjeaux with his brother Henri and two teachers.

Index : indecision, seminary, theological studies

__________

Carcassonne, 17 July 1836

My very dear Papa,

I have waited until now to answer your letter, since I wanted to be able to give you sure news regarding the question that concerns me. Since I still cannot do so, I feared to keep you in suspense, and accordingly I am picking up my pen without anything having been finally settled.

Although I quite foresaw the purport of your letter, I had to wait a long time to receive it : I had expected it by Friday and the two days that have elapsed since then seem incredibly long. Finally it came on Sunday and I read in it what in fact I was expecting to see. Almost all the considerations that you so kindly make to me had already been weighed up. However, coming from you, they assume a fresh degree of force, and I no longer dare to consider them destroyed; so that I still have not come to a decision.

It would be useless to refer once more to the person who first offered me the benefit of his advice, because I am sure it would not change, so that I propose to have recourse finally to Mr Médus, former vicar-general of Pamiers, a knowledgeable, prudent and wise man, but who unfortunately is not here, since he is accompanying My Lord the bishop of Pamiers who has just spent a few days here. I am pretty sure his opinion will be the same as that of the others, because the reasons motivating it are very strong; thus, in order not to prejudice Mr Arnal who might require an answer, I went Sunday evening to inform him of my dilemma.

This man whom I admire a little more every day, because day by day I get to know him better, made a point of not offering any advice, just as I made a point of not asking for it, since here he is an interested party. He must have referred the matter to Mr Barthe, since the latter spoke to me about it that very evening, with great warmth, desiring me absolutely to stay on. Once more I had foreseen everything he said, except for one or two reasons which I am still quite prepared to submit to Mr Médus, but which I believe will vanish like the others ; however I admit these are the strongest ones that have been presented to me. So this is my situation at present.

I will not attempt to answer each article of your letter, that is very instructive for me and from which I will try to draw the utmost benefit ; only, how can it be astonishing that I find my conscience deeply concerned by one of the most important questions of my life, since it is by the least important? And then, if I give up going to Saint-Sulpice, this is because it would be ridiculous, in your position, for me to ask you to send me there, or that I could only do so on conditions that cause me displeasure. The same reasons that exist today, the main one of which is your shortage of money, and the wrong my brothers might suffer, will exist next year ; and after that, it's too late. I assure you that I can't wait for it all to be settled, since this uncertainty has been difficult for me at times especially in the last two or three months. God willing, may everything we do be to his greatest glory !

Perhaps you have heard through Empetit, about the day we spent in the country last Thursday. Two teachers, Henri and myself, went to see if they had finished cutting. We had a beautiful day for it; a brisk but salutary north wind prevented us from feeling warm. We left here at four in the morning, at six we made a halt at Montréal where one of the travellers, who is a priest, said mass; we then breakfasted with Monsieur le Curé, and at eight we took the road to Empetit.

Not knowing the town, these gentlemen were very pleased to go to Fanjeaux ; in fact our horses had been idle for two or three days, we took them and Cadet, who could go off quite easily since he only had a small amount of oats still to cut and was in no hurry about it, came to take us there; from there we drove directly to the Villa to see it once more, and finally to Empetit where we dined. Jeanne had prepared some pigeons and some eggs for us with her usual kindness and attention ; finally at half past five, we set out on the return journey and, both to see the countryside and to take a different road, we came back by Bram ; at nine o'clock we were back at the seminary, well content with our day, so content that those not of the party conceived the idea of organising another such outing some other day.

Yesterday a little accident occurred : the poor linnet suffered a common destiny. It was taking the fresh morning air beside the window, when the servant accidentally knocked over its cage, which fell down in the courtyard and the poor creature was killed. I am sorry for the pain this will cause my sisters; but after all it was only a creature.

We are well. However for the last few days I have been feeling a bit off colour, above all with a great weakness in all of my limbs, and the plumpness I had acquired this winter has diminished. I think that the heat is the main cause of this, and that the holidays will soon put things to rights. Henri is also somewhat thin, but he is well.

I still have not received the money from Mr Crouset; I think he is awaiting a favourable occasion. Please convey my respects to mother and my warmest regards to my sisters. I think that by the holidays we will find them admirably knowledgeable and virtuous.

My paper is running out, so I will leave you. I hope you won't be angry at what is happening; if I were to follow my inclination and outside interest, I would not hesitate to stay; but if you and I have to make certain sacrifices, the good Lord will reward us for it.

Dear Papa, please count on the sincere respect of the most submissive of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

junior cleric

(Carcassonne, 17 July 1836)

Sent_0004

Sent 0004 - to Mr Vian - 13 September 1837 -2/2

Sent 0004 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 5-6

(to Mr Victorin Vian, seminary of Carcassonne)

Will his friend Victorin Vian pray for him. He is experiencing a period of spiritual aridity. He feels great esteem and deep attachment to all the teachers in the minor seminary.

Index : attachment (teachers of the seminary), spiritual aridity

__________

Monestrol, 13 September 1837

L.J.C.

According to what you tell me in your note, I do not know if my answer will find you at Carcassonne. Indeed I hope that this is the case, since I was given to understand that cholera was the only reason that would decide you to go home if it were to invade your parts. I recognise your zeal and charity, and I realise that filial love makes this a duty for you. In any case, I will attempt to write to you, and if you do not receive my letter, I will in any case have had the opportunity of conversing a moment with you, as if you were listening to me, and will be happy.

Don't expect me to amuse you by the diversity of the adventures that have happened to me. This day of writing to you is similar to the previous days, and the latter were merely a repetition of the former. Quite countrified, I no longer know what is being said, or what is going on, so that I am almost a hermit or a solitary.

But those fortunate souls who plunged into deserts, or some cave, far from the affairs of the world, found in their voluntary exile the sole object of their love; prayer was their delight, the bread of life came to reinforce their heroic determination ; while I, miserable sinner, pray, but the fact is that prayer weighs heavily on me ; and I re-enact happy days when our good Jesus was in the habit of coming to see my wretchedness, I re-enact them, but the fact is that he doesn't come, and the fact is that my soul is sad...

O my dear friend Vian, if you had some power over our loving master, some protection in the person of Mary, ask them to have pity on my wretchedness, to put an end to the test and at last to give me some solace; or rather may God's will be done and not mine ; even better, much better, ask them on my behalf ; but if they make the cross weigh down so heavily, may they slip underneath it the grace which enables us to bear it.

But I am an ungrateful creature ; to hear me, you would believe that God is wicked, if you did not know him. Oh no! He puts me to the test, it is true, in my duties, in prayers, etc., but he is good, but he does not allow all of this to go as far as I would deserve, and often in the midst of it all, he reminds me that he is my father. So, do not think that I am downcast, only I really want to persuade you of the need I have for your prayers so as to make you promise never to forget me.

This is a long page to say perhaps what I should not have said. But Vian is charitable, Vian is more sensible than me, he will laugh at what is laughable and he will pray, which is what I require.

I have asked Mr Gleises to convey my compliments to all the teachers, however such a request may usefully be made a second time. Firstly, because Papa Gleises will certainly forget someone, and a perfect chord on the piano will soon put poor Brésillac and all his vain words out of his mind. And secondly, because if twenty persons were to repeat twenty times each to these gentlemen how much I esteem them and how attached I am to them, they still would not have exhausted the sentiments of my heart.

As to Mr Gleises, I would ask you to join particularly your prayers to mine next Sunday, XVIII S. Let us offer to God our holy communion, requesting him mutually to grant us the graces of which we have such pressing need.

Farewell, my dear friend, wherever you are, and if it is not granted for us we to meet again, I count on your friendship and ask you to believe that in me you have a sincere friend.

I am, in the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

subdeacon

I have not made a retreat.

(Monestrol, 13 September 1837)

Sent_0005

Sent 0005 - to his cousin Louis - 9 August 1838 -2/2

Sent 0005 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 2

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

He deplores the position of his uncle Pierre and his cousin Auguste (Louis's father and brother). He sends 50 francs to help them out: They must know nothing of it. Let us embrace the cross of our lives. He is soon to become a priest. Invitation to spend a few days at Monestrol.

Index : cross of life, trials, delicate charity

__________

Carcassonne, 9 August 1838

My very dear cousin,

What joy and what sorrow the Lord has seen fit to deal to me! You must know that, for the last few years, I have been a teacher in the minor seminary of Carcassonne; we have just come to the holidays, and before breaking up the teachers decided to hold a retreat together. It is good father Tinseau who came to give it to us. As soon as this worthy priest heard my name, he spoke to me of you, of my dear uncle, of Auguste, and we both sighed together over your brother and father's position.

O my dear Louis, it is impossible to tell you what my heart felt. I took my grief to the foot of the Cross, I prayed! And prayer is so sweet to a Christian's heart. I mingled my tears with yours, for I imagined that you too were at that moment at Our Lord's feet and that you were making him the sacrifice he demands of our weakness. Lastly, I asked my sweet Jesus if I was not in a position to do something for an uncle so dear to me and for a cousin whom I love with all my heart.

O my friend, would that I could effectively help them out! Alas! My means are slight, here I only receive very small emoluments; however I am happy to have made a few savings in the course of the year with the result that I can offer you the small sum I am sending you (50 francs). Receive it, o dearest of friends, as the assured pledge of the tenderness I have always felt in my heart for you and your family. Only, not a word to anyone, not even to your father, nor to Auguste ; see that this modest gift serves them as best it can, without them knowing where it comes from. How I wish I could do more, but the Lord does not give me the means to do so at the present time. Perhaps later? Let us hope in him, he has never abandoned his children.

It is true that often he subjects them to terrible tests ; but let us remain faithful to him even at the times of most cruel abandonment. God keeps his eyes fixed on his children; if he puts us to the test, well, that means he loves us; he want us to atone for our sins, he wants us to feel that our only hope is in him, and finally he wants to make us deserving of glory.

O my dear Louis, I have no fear in informing you of my sentiments in this regard, for I know that they are yours likewise ; I know that you too have taken the Lord for your share and that you taste the sweetness one feels in serving him ; so that I let my heart go, assured that it sympathises with yours.

Let us not only not be discouraged, my dear friend, let us embrace the Cross, let us hold it tight, let us plant it well to the fore in our heart, and let us be happy to have to offer to our good master crucified for us true pains, true afflictions, that he will give us the strength to bear for his greatest glory. Courage and love!

I shall l be leaving tomorrow for Monestrol, where I will stay until the 15 or 20 October. Later on I hope to spend two months in the major seminary for preparing myself, in a larger retreat, to receive the formidable burden of priesthood. Pray for me.

I cannot end without a word of reproach. Why did you not have some more direct communications with me? O my dear friend, if you knew the sorrow I feel at not seeing in our family that union which would constitute its strength, that union which would alas! have prevented so many misfortunes. Ah! You do not know, I am sure, how much I love you, and how much I care about those in our family who are unfortunate. You should come to spend a few days at Monestrol some time in the holidays; what happiness it would be to embrace you. My father would be delighted to see you, rest assured. Doubtless he is cross about the unfortunate matters which have put all of us in a difficult position, but he is so kind-hearted! He loves his family so much! But, if you should have any fears, let me know them in your answer to this letter, that I await at Monestrol with impatience, and I will write back to inform you of my father's feelings.

Farewell, my dear Louis, may I embrace you in the charity of Jesus Christ ! Kindly convey my friendly feelings to dear Auguste and to Virginie when you see her, present my respects to uncle; tell him to hope in God, who will never abandon us. And you, dearest of my friends, count on an attachment whose ties are merely reinforced by misfortune.

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

Since I was unable to find any bill on Toulouse for such a small sum, I am sending it to one of my fellow teachers, without him knowing who it is for and who will remit it to anyone who comes to ask for it on behalf of Mr de Brésillac...His address is: Abbé Lézat, c/o his father, Rue des Tisserands no. 3, or else Place Saint-Sernin no. 4. If he and his parents should be in the country, you should refer to Mr Berdoulat, vicar of the parish of Saint-Sernin.

Abbé Lézat will be at Toulouse next Thursday the 16th.

(Carcassonne, 9 August 1838)

Sent_0006

Sent 0006 - to Mr Vian - 25 August 1838 -2/2

Sent 0006 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 7-8

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Will he send the third volume of the prayerbook. Why does he not write? He went to hear Mgr Flaget, bishop of Barstow. He has just received a letter from him. I feel involved in your difficult situation.

Index : cross of life, attachment (teachers at the seminary)

__________

Monestrol, 25 August 1838

Laudetur Jesus Christus ()

How silly of me! Would you believe it, I've forgotten to bring the autumnalis part of my prayerbook, so now what's to be done? Luckily I have realised far enough in advance to receive it in time. Accordingly I appeal to your kindness, asking you to send it to me immediately; you'll find it in my bookcase; perhaps you could make a packet of the little things you were going to send me and the rug that I've left on my bed, and slip in the prayerbook and address it all to the lock-keeper of Gardouch, to be delivered to me as soon as possible. I think you need to pay in advance, would you mind, then I'll pay you back as soon as we meet.

It is already several days since you left us, my dear friend, and we have not heard anything more from you ; however you were to have written to us soon, but the pastimes of the holidays have doubtless made you forget the nasty chateau of Lasserre. However that may be, we do not practise vengeance, we think of you often, we have sent you your things that you have undoubtedly received, and as for me, I love you as much today when you are far away as when I had the happiness of having you close by me.

We arrived safe in port here Friday evening : I say we, because the good Mr Sipolis was quite willing to come as far as here where he found not a kingdom like Saul, but one of his father's pigs. Sipolis the elder had lost this fellow at the fair of Villefranche, and the animal had the clever idea (stupid animal that he was) of following our head servant; recognised by his brand-mark, Papa had already written when we arrived.

Since then, I have made another very prompt but pleasant journey to Castelnaudary. This was on the occasion of My Lord the bishop of Barstow('s visit). The good Mr Tisseyre had come to invite us to dinner last Wednesday, and in passing he told us that Mgr Flaget was at Castelnaudary, and that he himself had the idea of going to hear him preach the day after in Saint John's church. I ask you now; he managed to touch a sensitive chord; I immediately responded that I would go with him, thus we agreed to go and sleep in his house, to arrive at Castelnaudary early on Thursday morning.

With this in mind we set off quietly after four in the evening, only to exclaim at a certain point: and what if we were to arrive this evening at Castelnaudary? No sooner said than done; we change route so as to go straight to Chaury, with the idea of being (fresher) the next morning. But, even better: half an hour away from the town, we notice Saint Michael's church lit up, we spur on the horses to get there as soon as possible, and they were still at the sermon, My Lord still had not begun his touching address. At the blessing, I had the honour and the pleasure to act as his deacon. You can imagine how happy I was at Mr Tisseyre's bright idea!

The next day I had the incomparable pleasure of seeing My Lord alone. I had a little conversation with him for a quarter of an hour, he gave me his blessing, and (I) came back after attending his mass once more, receiving holy communion from his hand, having acted as deacon in the blessing that he gave after, happier than if I had received a bequest.

This happy day ended gaily ; we left in number from Castelnaudary, for the neighbouring priests had come to see the angel of the Lord ; several of us dined with the parish priest of Mas Saintes-Puelles, whence I went to stay with Mr Tisseyre.

It's become quite a long story, but I am sure I'm not boring you ; let us pray, pray together for the good that this intrepid missionary is doing in our midst to become stable, let us pray that God's will may be revealed to us and we be faithful to it.

Nothing new, we are here as usual. Everyone asks to be remembered to you, and for my part I would ask you not to forget to mention me to any of our confreres. Please pay my respectful homage to the venerable Mr Arnal, for you know that I venerate him. And you whom I love in Jesus Christ, you from whom I await the same friendship and the succour of your prayers, be assured of the sincerity of your faithful friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

I have just this minute received your letter. Believe me, dear friend, I quite realise your difficult position. This is one of those heavy crosses that we have to carry if we follow Jesus Christ, up to the top of Calvary. I know that you will have the necessary strength because you go to draw it from the true source. However feeble my prayers, I promise you to address some to heaven so that, on this occasion, as on all the others, his holy will be done for his greatest glory. Courage, we are not at the end yet, let us arm ourselves with the bread of the strong, since there is still a long way to go before we arrive at Mount Horeb.

(Monestrol, 25 August 1838)

Sent_0007

Sent 0007 - to his cousin Louis - 26 August 1838 -1/2

Sent 0007 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 3

(to his cousin Louis, Bagnères de Luchon)

He has seen Mgr Flaget, bishop of Barstow. Joy of friendship which unites them; let us thank Providence. Problem of the smallholding of Monestrol. Soon ordination to the priesthood. He asks for prayers.

Index : friendship, ordination (his)

__________

Monestrol, 26 August 1838

My dear friend,

Receiving your letter made my joy overflow. I arrived from Castelnaudary where I had been to see a saint, the bishop of Barstow, Mgr Flaget. This intrepid missionary who, at the Pope's order, as you should know, has been visiting all over France, was in our diocese in these last few days; I was fortunate enough to see him, to receive his blessing and to kiss his ring, and I hope that he has drawn down some blessings from heaven on me. How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the good news of salvation afar!

From your letter, I see with great pleasure that I was not mistaken in what I thought your feelings to be. They are the only ones worthy of a noble and generous heart; what would I say in speaking of a Christian heart like yours today? Let us preserve them, my dear Louis, these feelings; and do they not do our soul good? Let us mutually preserve the friendship which should naturally derive from them; why, I could even make this proposal to all of those who perhaps believe that I hold something against them in my heart! But perhaps I would not be understood; let us wait for Heaven to give me the occasion to say to them that, if the agitation of which we have been the playthings has affected me in some way in their regard, this is only in drawing the ties of friendship tighter through misfortune.

But I have been understood by you, and that's enough for today. Let us thank Providence for the rapprochement it helped being about, as you say, to lead us to become mutually acquainted, and to form a closer attachment. I expect great benefìt from this. Only, take care to continue what the good God has begun ; let us maintain a fairly regular correspondence ; we will benefit from this mutually ; we will find consolation together, we will edify each other, and we will be happier in O.L.J.C.

I was asked who this letter was from, and I felt it more prudent not to name you. I said that it was from one of my friends that I had at Bagnères. The reason for this was not to stir up past thoughts, which all too often come to mind, at a moment in which one outcome of these unfortunate matters once more places my father in fresh financial difficulties.

I find it somewhat difficult to explain, since I am not well versed in the law, however essentially it is this : Mr Frédéric is about to be expropriated from his smallholding of Monestrol, and my father, against whom the children have a right, is forced to say (yes) to this expropriation until it amounts to the price of the debt in favour of our young cousins. You can bet that it will stay with him, which bothers him greatly since, already indebted, he will see himself obliged to become even more so. Let's hope it will all work out.

I am here for some time longer ; I have the hope this year of being raised to the redoubtable dignity of priest. God knows I am unworthy; but I also know that he loves to use feeble means to bring about great things; so that I will advance when the time is come, with as much confidence as fear. I only need those good souls who are attached to me to pray to the Lord on my behalf.

When you see any of our relatives, whoever they may be, you can tell them how much I love them ; but what I would beg you at once is to be the interpreter of my feelings to my dear uncle, the good Auguste and to Virginie whom I know so slightly. And you, my dear friend, count on the unalterable attachment

of your devoted friend

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

(Monestrol, 26 August 1838)

Sent_0008

Sent 0008 - Mr Vian - 11 September 1838 -2/2

Sent 0008 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 9-10

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Thanks for the prayerbook that has finally arrived. Health of Mr Lucet, a priest of the diocese. 8 September, local feastday at Castelnaudary. He has received a long letter from Mr Gleises.

Index : friendship

__________

Monestrol, 11 September 1838

J. M. J.

Laudetur Jesus Christus ()

My dear friend, I am very sorry for all the bother I have given you regarding my wretched prayerbook. At last I received it, a few moments before the letter from Mr Gleises. Mr de Lacger had addressed it to the canal collector, and since I had asked you to send it to the lock-keeper, I kept on calling on the latter, and it was not until Papa chanced to send a melon to the collector that I received it. But finally it has been here for the last few days so that it only remains for me to thank you for your kindness and to feel humiliated at my absent-mindedness ; if Mr Médus knew about it, he would certainly call me the scatterbrain. If you see him, please give him my compliments.

You can't believe how interesting I found the details you have given me on Mr Lucet. Ha! It is certainly religion which provides us with these fine examples of virtue that are only found in it. According to the expressions used in your kind letter, it would appear that you see a lot of him ; how did you achieve this happiness, since you had practically no communication with each other? Have you had the happiness, you and the other doctors, of healing this worthy minister of the altars? I hope to hear so from you soon.

If it is possible, assure the good Mr Lucet, whom I have the honour of knowing a little, of the interest I take in him, and with what pleasure I address to Heaven my feeble prayers for such a good priest! And you who use every means to raise yourself to God, who draw merits on every hand, you for whom the holidays are as fruitful in grace as the best employed months of the year, write to me so that the overabundance with which you are inundated at least splashes back on my wretchedness.

I have not left Monestrol since Mgr Flaget passed through Castelnaudary ; and except for a little trip which I plan to make next week, I do not intend to go out of this manor until the end of October. My life is more or less always the same; however, in the last few days we had a fine ceremony at Monestrol. Last Sunday we celebrated the local feastday (the Nativity), and as Mr Mazeroles was here, we acted as deacon and subdeacon. Just think, it's a long time since this famous town had witnessed so much pomp ; all the same we could have done with a master of ceremonies. Ah! If only you had been here. But finally a cleric did the best he could, making a genuflection every now and then in salutation (in front of the deacon or subdeacon), or else giving a kick for a genuflection, who cares! In any case it was magnificent.

In the evening, I sung vespers to the great pleasure of all the peasants, and above all the churchwardens who could not be satisfied with seeing so many things in a single day in their little church ; I took the collection during the Magnificat ; this amounted to a vast sum for the place – 16 francs – and Monsieur le Curé who sung vespers in his parish, for it was also the local feastday at Seire, arrived just in time to give the blessing and sing the Te Deum for the Count of Paris.

I hope this was one of those days, when people are happy to do something for the Lord ! Poor people ! How much good is to be found among the peasants ! but the poor parish priests are in sore need of an adjutorium, for their zeal is sometimes paralysed by the habit of seeing and hearing them, and yet this habit is necessary in order for his sheep to know him and for him to know his sheep. Thus, what good could not be done perhaps by a few good missionaries in the villages! Just think!

In Mr Gleises's long letter, there was a mysterious word, in the style of the dear abbé : "perhaps in a short while you will be hearing something new". Could this mean that he is preparing for the September ordination? He would undoubtedly have said something to us. However , give him my compliments, and tell him that he sells his words at a dear price, since they cost one sol per line; truly, not at all cheap.

Mamma asks me to tell you that she does not need any wool, she thanks you for your kindness and conveys a thousand kind thoughts, as also do Papa and the whole family. Please be the interpreter of my respectful and friendly regards towards all those who are with you. Pray for me; if I dared, I would say with Saint Paul : Festina ante hiemem venire (), for the weather is cold here and you had told me that you would try to come back, if it was possible. But if you cannot spend a few days longer with us, I say to you with that same apostle : Dominus Jesus Christus cum spiritu tuo. Gratia vobiscum. Amen. ()

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

(Monestrol, 11 September 1838)

Sent_0009

Sent_0009 - à M. Vian - le 28 septembre 1838 -/2

Sent 0009 - to Mr Vian - 28 September 1838 -2/2

Sent_0009 - à M. Vian - le 28 septembre 1838 -1/1

Sent 0009 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 13-14

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Reflections on the tears and sentiments following the death of two persons, Mr Vian's uncle and Mr Lucet, a priest of the diocese. The difference between the man who lives on faith and the man of the world. He sends a small floral decoration for the congregation's chapel. He will not return to the seminary in order to better prepare his ordination, but asks for news of the house.

Index : death, bereavement, compassion, ordination (his), devotion to Mary

__________

Monestrol, 28 September 1838

A.M.D.G. - Amen

Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo Domini. () This word which you say so often, my dear friend, had been often repeated by those whose loss you mourn. "And why these tears ? they may ask us from the place where God has put them. It is true that our days have passed like a shadow, but whether we lived, or died, are we not always of the Lord? Dry these tears and rejoice with us in the happiness that God has given us by calling us to him: Weep rather for yourselves, because your exile on earth is prolonged, and strive to deserve soon the same grace as us".

This is how I seem to hear your dear uncle, in the midst of his glory, forbidding you from weeping, and the blessed Mr Lucet, as you yourself call him, singing the hymns of the Almighty while we are shedding tears to his memory. So that such deaths should not be marked by sadness, but by a holy joy and songs of jubilation. Let us show that our trust in God is not vain, and if nature cannot prevent us feeling an involuntary shiver when she loses a friend, a protector, or a relative, may our faith not hesitate to silence it when this relative or this friend are saints.

Alas, we weep and weep until the end of our days those whose doubtful end is all too capable of filling us with a righteous fear ; may the others always be present in our memory, but without regrets or weeping.

This is the difference between the man who lives on faith and the man of the world. The latter is inconsolable the first day, he weeps both for the just and the guilty, but soon he leaves the thought that worries him and the memory of the person whom he only loved for himself. The other never forgets the person he loved with a true love, he prays for him always, for who is it who is just in God's eyes to the point of not having any need of prayers? we can hope this for a few, but rarely be assured of it; and that is why we must pray always. So he prays for him always, however his sorrow is only truly such when he fears for his friend's fate.

Doubtless you will have made these reflections already, the Lord has said much more in the holy communion, but for that reason I have no fear in saying to you what my heart feels, assured that one is always pleased to hear from someone else what one has already said to oneself. I join my prayers to yours with all my heart. I pray also for Mr Lucet, but I do not weep for him. I weep for the unfaithful people he has surely saved who were perhaps unworthy of so good a priest, for it is they who deserve our tears. Let us weep for our sins and the sins of other men, but rejoice at the death of the just.

I am sending you a small floral decoration for the chapel of the congregation. I am happy to show by this little present how attached I am to the latter. I am addressing it to Mr Arnal, as head of the congregation, and also to you as prefect, asking you to receive it as a pledge of the happiness I feel to be a member of it and of my desire to participate always in the good done there. I would like to do more, but still it is the widow's mite, that our Lord did not reject and that his divine mother will assuredly accept.

I owe these flowers to a large extent to the deft hands of my eldest sister and the Misses Dupérier. These kind ladies were responsible for the fashioning and myself for the expenses and the request. Since they are very godly, they evinced the desire that we should think of them on the occasion of the mass to be said when the bouquets are used for the first time. I trust that your charity will take care to ensure that this pious desire is met. The arrangement consists of four bouquets for putting between the candle-holders, and of a posy to be placed at the feet of Mary, as well as a bouquet for the Holy Sacrament. Since this last did not fit into the box, I will let you have it when I go to Carcassonne. Kindly keep the box and the cloth covering it until I should ask for it be collected from you, or until I ask you for it myself.

I have decided not to return to the minor seminary, which it seems I shall probably soon be leaving. What will I have done without employment of the same kind amid the zeal of our confreres? But the main reason is that I wish to use all the time remaining in preparing for the terrible burden, at the approach of which the Saints went deep into some desert. May I not, while awaiting that happy and fearful day, cover myself with sackcloth and ashes, and urge my friends to pray for the most unworthy creature ever to receive this honour.

But, how incredible ! one appears extraordinary in asking someone else to pray for one, while the penances our fathers did are today regarded as so many extravagances. At least let us pray for each other, my dear friend, and let us ask the Lord to give us the strength to bear at least with profit the sorrows he sends, in place of those we do not have the strength to assume ourselves. Just a month more, and I hope we will embrace each other. Write to me soon to tell me if the bouquets have arrived safely. All the best to everyone. Saluta amicos nominatim () and count on the sincere attachment

of your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

(Monestrol, 28 September 1838)

Sent_0010

Sent 0010 - to his uncle Pierre Jacques - 15 December 1838 -1/1

Sent 0010 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 4

(to his uncle Pierre Jacques Joseph) ()

To inform him of his forthcoming ordination.

Index : priesthood, ordination (his)

__________

Carcassonne, 15 December 1838

My very dear uncle,

On the point of taking the biggest step in my life, I pick up my pen to tell you how happy I am and to ask you to remember me in your prayers. I hope to be made a priest next Saturday, the twenty-second of the month. Afraid at the sight of the terrible burden about to be laid on me, I put my whole trust in the Lord ; let us pray Him that this be exclusively for his greatest glory. To describe my joy is impossible, for the Lord reserves for those who serve him favours impossible to express. But suffice it for me to tell you that it exceeds everything one can enjoy from other goods on earth.

Kindly convey to my cousins this news of my advancement ; likewise would you kindly inform Virginie, since time presses and I cannot write to everyone I would wish. Please tell my cousins that I require of their friendship what I expect from the interest you have always shown in me.

Farewell, my very dear uncle, and please receive the expression of my respectful sentiments with which I choose to call myself, for life, and in the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your very humble and very devoted nephew.

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

(Carcassonne, 15 December 1838)

Sent_0011

Sent_0011 - à M. Vian - le 26 décembre 1838 -/2

Sent 0011 - to Mr Vian - 26 December 1838 -2/2

Sent_0011 - à M. Vian - le 26 décembre 1838 -1/1

Sent 0011 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 11-12

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

His arrival in his parish after his ordination. The first days of his ministry at Saint Michael's of Castelnaudary. Great pomp on Christmas Day. He asked for his books left at Carcassonne to be sent to him. Some visits of etiquette. Pray for me.

Index : ministry

__________

Castelnaudary, 26 December 1838

My very dear friend,

I don't want to send for my books without writing you a short note. How many things I would have to tell you if I found words to adequately convey the ineffable wonders that the Lord has been pleased to effect through his unworthy minister, in these forever memorable days. But who am I to speak of the Lord? What am I? I can't even feel, I can't think! Well then, I am just going to tell you the story of what happened and your heart will tell you more than all my vain reflections could do.

The journey was disagreeable, with rain all the time, sed quid hoc () ? Once here, I find my closest relatives waiting for us impatiently, and after some time spent in conversation the main subject of which you may guess, I went to the church to present my credentials to Mr de Lacger. I can't tell you how happy he was; he asked me to sing matins and to take over the services of the day, then he returned to the confessional where over 60 persons were still waiting for him, although it was eight in the evening.

The offices of the night were held with pomp, and when it came to the communion, someone brought me a stole to hand it out with another priest. So here I was distributing the bread of life! And is there life in my soul? Alas! Only God knows. Let us worship him and love him in the darkness of the shadows where we are doomed to live during this life. There were two of us and yet the communion lasted over half an hour.

(interruption of two hours)

I resume. I scarcely rested the whole night, and at 9 in the morning I was fortunate enough to say three masses. I was a bit long, it goes without saying, and the last was the high mass, celebrated with all imaginable pomp; then the house filled with people to congratulate my parents, then quite a grand dinner though in the family, then visits, then solemn vespers, then a sermon, then the blessing, then visits, and finally bed which was not the least necessary of things, and at last this day which is a little quieter, though I am distracted at every moment so that I cannot converse with you for a single moment, except by cutting short a thousand times what I was saying.

I am going to go out with Monsieur le Curé to pay a few visits of etiquette, like that of the other parish priests, of the Fabricians, etc. What else should I tell you? I have laid out all my actions for you to see, which are very fine if they are not deprived of this principle of life, which alone can give them some merit, as I fear. Pray for me, I really need it, you can be sure of that.

Would you kindly send me, together with the books, a little desk that Mr Marques should have and buy for me from His Lordship's printer a mandatum that he has recently had reprinted and pass by Guadrat to take an Ordo if he has received them. I'm always giving you some errand to do, but I know that you will forgive me. Get the person who takes the books to pay you back what they cost. Also take care that the St Augustine is arranged in such a way that it gets as little spoilt as possible.

I have so many compliments to make to you, and all of your confreres, on behalf of so many people, and so little space that it's better not to say anything.

Completely yours for life

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 26 December 1838)

Sent_0012

Sent_0012 - à M. Vian - le 5 janvier 1839 -/2

Sent 0012 - to Mr Vian - 5 January 1839 -2/2

Sent_0012 - à M. Vian - le 5 janvier 1839 -1/1

Sent 0012 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 15-16

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

He asks him to have a stole made for him, to send him a leather skullcap and a few books. A great feast at Gaja for 1 January 1839, a day of black ice in the region. Beginnings of the ministry. Greetings to the teachers in the seminary. He will soon be alone in the house.

Index : ministry

__________

Castelnaudary, 5 January 1839

L. J. C.

My very good friend,

What it is to have an importunate friend! Here I am today once more to tire you with my errands; but as always every cloud has a silver lining, and this gives me the sweet pleasure of conversing a moment with you, which delights me.

Starting from the beginning then, this is what I require of your obliging goodness: would you be so kind as to go to the Misses Gout and see if they have, or if they could make me between now and Monday evening, a simple violet stole, with silk braiding and a fine silk cord, for not more than five francs. I can get it here at that price, but I would have to wait because they don't have time to make it up immediately.

In addition to this I want to buy a leather skullcap, a little bigger that the one Mr Gleises handed on to me last year; you can see with him. The latest edition of the treatise on the Holy Mysteries by Collet ; I doubt that Gadrat has it. At least he didn't have it when I was at Carcassonne. If he has received it, you could get it from him, and he would put it on my account; if he doesn't have it, please get it from Arnaud's and pay for it; I will pay you back for everything all together.

In any case, kindly check with Mr Mazeroles to make sure that what you buy is exactly right ; it should be the same as his own. I know that Mr Goute should come on Tuesday, which is why I make haste to write to you, thinking that he could bring me all of these objects; and if he doesn't come himself, I think that Abbé Faure, vicar of the City, will be coming that same day. What trouble I am giving you, but you are so kind.

What more interesting news can I give you now, my dear friend, except that I am expecting an epistle from you through Mr Goute, giving me your news and those of my friends of Carcassonne ? But, meanwhile, I can tell you that New Year's Day was a solemn feast for me. My uncle de Gaja () was anxious to gather us all together in his home, and the parish priest of the place had arranged everything to make it the finest day of the year. Neighbouring priests were invited, I had taken some white dalmatics from here; some singers from other villages had got together ; we had obtained permission from the bishop's palace to display the holy sacrament, so that it was all done in great pomp and such as the villagers of Gaja has never seen the like.

Thus the church was filled, and I can assure you that it needed great determination to get to the village from the various hamlets where a large part of the population lives ; for the good Lord had covered that part of the country in a general black ice leading to many a fall. But all the same, people arrived limping or black with bruises, but they arrived. And that is how I started off the year. Please God the sacrifice of the heart was as agreeable to God as the external worship which I helped offer him.

Since then, I have not left Castelnaudary, where little by little I am plunging into the occupations of the holy ministry. I have already confessed several persons, and tomorrow I am going to take my week, during which I will undoubtedly have all kinds of holy things to do. Pray for me.

I am still in the air. However, I am soon going to manage my household alone; my future cook is making dinner today; Papa has left for Monestrol and Mamma proposes to follow him shortly with my sisters. So that in two or three days' time, I shall be quite a hermit.

I don't need to tell you how much I ask of you in the way of kind wishes for the teachers of the minor seminary, none excepted. If you have the opportunity of seeing the good Mr Beaufils in particular, kindly present my respectful homage to him.

For you, my dear friend, who I think of almost every day at the holy sacrifice, do the same for me, and believe in the sincere attachment I feel for you in the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 5 January 1839)

Sent_0013

Sent_0013 - à M. Vian - le 25 janvier 1839 -/2

Sent 0013 - to Mr Vian - 25 January 1839 -2/2

Sent_0013 - à M. Vian - le 25 janvier 1839 -1/1

Sent 0013 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 17-18

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Testimony of friendship towards Mr Vian. Attachment to his dear congregation of Mary. He should look after his health and come for a fortnight's rest at Castelnaudary. Mr Arnal already agrees. He is going to preach for the first time.

Index : friendship, congregation

__________

Castelnaudary, 25 January 1839

L. J. C.

My very good friend,

If my letters do you good, yours are balm to my soul. I am delighted that your numerous occupations still allow you to find a moment for me from time to time and I thank you for the goodness you have in remembering me. As for me, I do not forget you. Rest assured that, very often, I think of you, happy to count you in the ranks of my best friends, and above all happy that the friendship I have for you, and that which I hope you have for me, are based on the charity of our good master. On such a foundation, I hope that they will be solid, above all when they are cemented by our common piety towards the divine Mary.

How I would like to go one day on the altar of our dear congregation to celebrate the holy mysteries for my confreres! So far circumstances have prevented this, but I hope that later on I will be more fortunate; but when will that be ? I have absolutely no idea. Meanwhile, tell my confreres how attached I am to them, and how I would love to join them in their fervent prayers. I hope that they will obtain for me the graces of which I have such pressing need and, to this end, would you be so good as to request for me, in a meeting, a Pater and an Ave.

Mr de Soubiran, who saw you a short while ago, was not very satisfied with the state of your health. Take care, my dear friend, look after yourself, thus put greater calm in your affections, worry less and think a little of yourself ; for charity requires this of you. You have just had to deal with many patients; it is to be hoped that, in this case as in the others, the bad weather will be followed by fine days and that soon you will have no more cases. If that should be so, or even if you only have slight illnesses that could be attended to without you, you would do well to come and rest here for a while with me. I think that a fortnight here, away from your ordinary occupations, would do you no harm.

You may think I am dreaming, but that is not quite so, and what gives me courage to make such a proposal to you, is a word from Mr Arnal himself. He was good enough to come and ask me to lunch the other day; as you can just imagine, we lost no time in speaking of you and the other gentlemen of the minor seminary and, after saying that you were not very well he added: I think I'd better send him to you, he said, to take a rest. I didn't let that suggestion fall, and since, of his own accord, Mr Arnal said that much, I can only hope that by pressing a bit, you will obtain the twelfth part of a semester. Think it over and press.

I am writing this note in haste, since I doubt whether I have time to say my office this evening. Next Sunday, I am due to give my first sermon; and since grown-ups are only big children, this is a question which greatly excites the public curiosity of a little town. All the best to everyone, above all to Mr Gleises and Barthe and Cros, and...and all the others.

Farewell, pray for me.

Your friend in Jesus Christ.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 25 January 1839)

Sent_0014

Sent_0014 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1839 -/2

Sent 0014 - to Mr Vian - 14 February 1839 -2/2

Sent_0014 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1839 -1/1

Sent 0014 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 19-21

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Why does he not write more often ? He is in a bad mood. Reflections on the sacraments of the sick, on the last moments of life, on death, on hell, on salvation. Where are the valiant knights of France with their ardent faith?

Index : friendship, death, hell, salvation, sacrament of the sick

__________

Castelnaudary, 14 February 1839

My dear Mr Vian,

It's a century since I have heard any news of you or of the dear minor seminary. I don't even know, whether it was you or me who wrote last; however I think it was me, but no matter, I cannot put off any longer asking you the reason for such a long silence on your part? How are your patients doing? These worldly festivities, in the midst of which religion does not fail to find its benefit in a house like that where you have the good fortune to find yourself, what about them? Does all of this not afford subjects for writing an epistle to a friend?

I don't know what prevents me showering reproaches on you, ¸I think it is the resolution I took not to get angry, precisely because of the despondent mood which has been tormenting me all morning. You know as well as anyone, and perhaps even more than anyone else, that there are days when, without knowing why, you feel annoyed with everything around you, you would fight with a chair, if it could answer either yes or no. Well, that's how I'm feeling this morning and I console myself because, since I don't even have the desire to pick up a book, I feel a more pressing need and more appreciable joy in conversing with you.

Could the lack of lunch have had this negative effect on me ? But as you know such a cause ordinarily affects me very little. Could it be because, just as I was putting away the sacred ornaments of the holy sacrifice, I was sent for post haste to administer to a sick person, who couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't understand and couldn't feel anything, who was not even able to squeeze my hand to make me understand that he loved his God. That, rather. Poor blind people, how senseless you are when you say: I will repent when the time comes for me to die!

I would like those who thus postpone their most essential business to be present sometimes at this scene of a dying person coming to grips with death which robs him of the use of his senses, and to see if they should not now for concern themselves for the first time with their salvation. Alas, we are not even without fear for those who, having lived well, are however taken by surprise since they hadn't expected it; what will become of them, who have never lived like Christians ?

And so we have come to the end of Carnival, and here we are well on into holy Lent. What need there is for us to pray, my dear friend, for it to be useful to so many sinners who seem deafer than ever to the voice of grace! It is truly piteous. Our good master had in fact predicted this: there are few chosen, he told us ; and if there were many of them who were to live according to the exact maxim of the Gospel, I would be shocked, remarked one day saltem quoad sensum (), the good and respectable Mr Barthe.

But is it necessary for everyone to be lost in order for the divine oracle to come true ? Would hell not continue to reap a great many victims even if it only swallowed up, in its abysses, those who do not know God, those enticed by heresy, those whose passions get the better of them, for wherever there are men, there are passions, and it is not their victims that I deplore most. Personally I pity those who plunge into these cesspools of iniquity, I pity the societies that, far from restraining them and preventing them from overflowing on all sides, seem on the contrary to favour them by an absence of all principles. However, I know that these are the great evils that will never be prevented.

But that, with an indifference of which the past offers no example, everyone lets himself be dragged along by the current of life, without asking himself, who am I ? Where am I going? Whose hand put me here? After the end of my race which I perceive already so close is it, what will I find? Where will I go to rest? Is it not depressing, my dear friend ? And yet this is the sort of thing we are doomed to witness every day.

Even someone we call a decent chap, what does he do to show that he is also a good Christian? He goes to mass sometimes, he does not always swear, he has some degree of charity for his brothers, above all (he is) just, ordinarily true, and that's all. He speaks (good) of religion, he even considers it to be the safeguard of good principles and habits, but he doesn't practice it. Poor France, where are your valiant knights who combined the virtues of the heroes of our days, with a faith more ardent than the feeling of honour of which, I hope, they gave famous examples?

I would do well to read my letter, if I want to know what I have said. However, my three pages are up; all of this will make you realise I have no grudge against you and will urge you perhaps to the same. Forgive me if I have been extravagant, but I still prefer that to not saying anything. All the best to everyone. I will soon be sending the trunk to Mr Neyral. I do not know when I will get to see you. Unless some misfortune occurs, I shall be going to preach at Carcassonne for the propagation of the faith, the day of the octave of the Holy Cross. I hope to see you before then. My cordial greetings to dear Mr Gleises and to all the others.

All the best to you.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 14 February 1839)

Sent_0015

Sent_0015 - à M. Vian - le 6 mars 1839 -/2

Sent 0015 - to Mr Vian - 6 March 1839 -2/2

Sent_0015 - à M. Vian - le 6 mars 1839 -1/1

Sent 0015 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 21-22

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Compassion for Mr Vian's illness. A lot of work in the parish: preaching, instructions, confessions, etc. I need you to pray often for me. Benefits of education in the minor seminary. Come and spend a few days at Castelnaudary or Monestrol.

Index : friendship, ministry, preaching, confession, compassion

__________

Castelnaudary, 6 March 1839

L. J. C.

My very good friend,

How sorry I am to hear that your health is not satisfactory ! Mr Vialier, who came by here just lately told me that you were ill. How is it that I learn this from a stranger? So is there no other friend in the minor seminary who can tell me that you are not well ? Ah Mr Gleises, Mr Gleises! I am almost angry with him, and if I didn't have two sermons to give this week, I would write him an epistle. Please make sure that I receive your news, my dear friend; I would like very much to go and fetch them myself, but I believe this will be impossible before the month of May.

Since there is no Lenten preacher at Saint Michael's, you can just imagine how much work we are faced with. As you know, I had never made any speech suitable for a parish audience ; so that now I have to make one to measure, I have already given a sermon at vespers, and it's my turn again next Sunday ; I have just finished my sermon, but I still have to learn it ; and what makes matters even worse is that my turn for instruction during the week also comes next Friday. Until now, I have always managed to cope, but this time I think I will be obliged to give it a miss, for I have not even begun my instruction ; I will have to resort to the charity of a confrere, however these gentlemen are so good that they may be willing, I hope, to replace me this time.

Confessions take their course. People are far from approaching the sacraments as we would wish, but there is still enough to keep us quite busy. I often confess for over three hours a day. Mr de Lacger, who is quite brisk, and how could he manage if he weren't!, sometimes finds himself in his confessional at nine in the evening when he entered it at four, and when already in the morning he had heard confessions for two hours.

But the poor men ! These wretches do not come in great numbers. However I have several of them, and Monsieur le Curé has several hundreds; when seven o'clock comes round, they arrive at his chapel in procession. However, there is real need for us to pray. Good Mr Vian, your prayers are better than ours, since you are ill, therefore please remember from time to time a friend who does not forget you.

In your last letter, you do not seem very pleased with the extended family ? So these poor children are insensitive to all that is being done for them. Tell them that, if the poor children living in the world had one hundredth part of the graces that are showered on them, they would perhaps be great saints. But at the same time, don't be too hard on them. Perhaps you are expecting too much from them? And my God, they are young, they have vivid imaginations and all of the hotheadedness of their age, the devil is vexed at the sight of a house which ruins his authority and he torments them. So don't be too hasty in thinking that they are bad, and don't make them think so. Concentrate as much on encouraging the good that is in them as fighting the evil that may be there. I don't know if these principles are quite in line with yours, but they seem to me to resemble the sweetness which converts more quickly, I believe, than harshness.

My father has just left me ; he had (come) for the elections. On learning that you were not well, he requested me to tell you that if the air of the country could be beneficial to you, he hoped that you would not forget that it is pure at Monestrol. I assure you that the sea breeze of these last few days must have blown any miasmas there far away. Accordingly, if you can, come and see me, you will rest better here, far from the hustle of the infirmary. And don't be afraid of disturbing me. You can be cared for just as well as in the seminary. I am alone with a maidservant who will be at your orders from morning to evening.

Farewell, and all the best to everyone. In spirit I am often in the midst of the Gentlemen of the minor seminary. I don't know if they have forgotten me, they may have, but I cannot forget them.

The best of your friends.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 6 March 1839)

Sent_0016

Sent_0016 - à M. Vian - le 21 mars 1839 -/2

Sent 0016 - to Mr Vian - 21 March 1839 -2/2

Sent_0016 - à M. Vian - le 21 mars 1839 -1/1

Sent 0016 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 23-24

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Thanks for your letter with its reassuring news. As always there is a great deal to do in the parish, but basically a vicar's work in a church is quite pleasant. There is no real work involved except for the mind; but what saintliness that supposes! One must be vigilant at all times. Regards to the teachers of the seminary.

Index : piety, friendship, ministry, saintliness, devotion to Mary, congregation

__________

Castelnaudary, 21 March 1839

L. J. C.

My very dear friend,

At last I can breathe ! So here I am set free from the Lenten instructions and, for a novice, that's no small thing, especially when one has to make to measure. Finally I gave my last instruction yesterday, so now I am free on this count until new order. There remain the confessions still, and that's quite something, but in short we will manage, I hope, like the rest, and now the Easter sun is beginning to peep out. That makes me glad; I don't know if my contentment could pass into your soul, but that is at least what I am attempting in my letter, because I would feel happier if I knew that you were too.

Your letter gave me great pleasure. I note with joy that they had exaggerated your condition. However, take care of yourself, my dear friend; I know that you are prudent, but also that your zeal at times leads you to worry too much about your affairs. How I long to see you! and you make me fear that that won't be for some time still. For I think now that I won't be going to Carcassonne before the month of May. In fact I cannot go there before the end of Eastertime, and then it would be practically going twice in close succession. Besides, we will have plenty to do, for here straight away the first communion is hard on our heels, plus daily catechisms, the instruction of children, etc. etc. For here, as in your establishment, one thing follows on another.

You told me to take care of my health ; well, my friend, if you saw me, I'm as fat as a monk. For all things considered, a vicar's work, above all in a church where there are several of us, is not unpleasant, especially in a church where everything goes like clockwork as in Saint Michael's. I assure you that it is very agreeable. Everyone knows what has to be done, no-one does two things at the same time, and if it happens that you have occupations which make you think, at least they don't kill your body. You stay in the confessional two, three or four hours, but that doesn't kill you; burials give you a walk; baptisms (I am only speaking for the body) are a recreation; visiting the sick serves as a distraction; you preach so hard that you are hoarse by the time you leave the pulpit, but a nice hot bavarois gets rid of all that. So that a vicar has no real work except of the mind, and since the mind is not much accustomed to exerting itself, you can only get fat, which is what I am doing.

But what saintliness would be required to carry out our functions worthily. The life of a priest in the ministry is merely a continual exercise in what is most saintly. O my dear friend Vian, how happy you are to love the good Lord as you love him! take advantage of your position to assure yourself a good provision of graces, on which to draw later, if the good God intends you to work in the ministry. For you must not wait to be in it before stocking up.

And yet it is not that I believe that one cannot be, or even become, saintly in the functions of the ministry, but I am convinced that it is easy to let oneself go, to become lax, to abandon everything in the nature of advice in favour of precepts, and thus to become day by day less pious, while being surrounded with the means of becoming more so every day. Pray for me. Luckily under my eyes I have good examples, of extremely virtuous priests ; ensure by your prayers that I take after them.

I hope that Mr Neyral received some days ago the trunk that he was kind enough to lend me. Please repeat my heartfelt thanks to him. I had put in the trunk two in-folio volumes belonging to the library of the minor seminary. Would you be so kind as to make sure that everything arrived in good order. Would you please present my respectful regards to Mr Arnal and my friendly greetings to all your respectable and amiable confreres. Above all do not forget dear Mr Gleises. Tell Mr Metche that I have not forgotten his promise.

For you, my best friend, count on my sincere attachment. Pray for me from time to time to the divine Mary. I would ask you to request for me, through the members of your congregation gathered at the foot of the altars of this good mother, the spirit of my calling. If you judge that compliments from me to some of the pupils could do them good or give them pleasure, I give you carte blanche. Farewell in Our Lord.

Your good friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 21 March 1839)

Sent_0017

Sent_0017 - à M. Vian - le 24 avril 1839 -/2

Sent 0017 - to Mr Vian - 24 April 1839 -2/2

Sent_0017 - à M. Vian - le 24 avril 1839 -1/1

Sent 0017 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 33-34

(to Mr Victorin Vian, at the baths, Campagne, Limoux)

Very busy with the ministry. He is acting as chaplain in the hospital. Concerns at having to preach at Carcassonne. I think I can complain that I am in too good health.

Index : congregation, devotion to Mary, ministry, preaching, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 24 April 1839

L. J. C.

My dear, my very dear friend Vian,

How grateful I am to you for having remembered me in the midst of your activities. That is how one recognises a true friend, if already irrefutable proofs had not already assured me of it. Don't think that I have forgotten you, although I haven't written to you for some time now. The fact is that these days I am perhaps busier than ever. Lent was not too bad. The children's first communions give us plenty to do in the parish, then there are the sermons which continue to require our attention, confessions which go on regardless, and the stream of baptisms, burials etc., all of which together means that we are not yet out of work.

In addition I have a new job which gives me plenty to do. The chaplain of the hospital is away on a journey and asked me to replace him. There's no little work in a hospital, and although at present there are not so many patients as at other times, it's always a lot for me. Apart from that, I am delighted, for all this is very good for an apprentice. So far in the parish I have only seen two or three sick persons, whereas here I have as many as I like of all kinds. Already, I have tried my hand at everything: I have confessed persons covered in smallpox, not to mention other less disgusting diseases; yesterday I was called out in the night to attend one of them who was dying, and I was only just in time to give him the sacraments.

What a pleasure it is to be woken from sleep to send a soul to heaven. With the faith, how fine a priest's ministry is. But how sad it is to be imperfect; how sad it is to tremble for oneself, when one tells others not to worry, to be in peace!.. Such is my destiny. Yet I reassure myself at the thought of the Lord's mercies.

In short, my dear friend, the height of my concerns is the address I am due to preach at Carcassonne. Never has an address cost me more, although I have not yet produced anything valid. Just imagine that today, Wednesday, I am still far from my goal, and I have no idea at all when I will have finished; and yet practically I have only eight days left. I'll manage as best I can, but if I could go back on my promise, I'd lose no time in doing so. I cannot do it, I have to make the effort. But I do not plan to preach in the small seminary. I cannot find a moment to prepare or learn the slightest thing.

Besides, I cannot be there on the Sunday. The Holy Cross is a big feastday at Saint Michael's, postponed to the Sunday. A great many people take holy communion, on that day, so that I must be back here by Saturday evening. I even have to repeat the sermon for the Propagation of the Faith, at vespers in Saint Michael's. However, I would have given a small instruction to the members of the congregation, but I think it is useless to consider it. If I can, I will see if I can go to Carcassonne on Wednesday by the diligence, so as to spend the Thursday with you others. I am even more eager than you to see you, and to talk together a little.

To end up like you, I will talk health. That of my parents must be good since I have had no news of it. However I saw Henri just lately and he didn't give such a good account of himself. As for me, I have still only been to Monestrol for one single clear day. As regards my health, I don't advise you to express any opinions, for I don't know if it is the memory of everything that you've said to me or what, which has caused me to manage so well that it's a scandal; truly yes, and provided you yourself are not scandalised when you see me, I will be happy. I believe I could almost complain of being too well, and sometimes I even feel that perhaps I ought to confess it.

Apart from that, if things go on like this, I don't know whether Mr de Lacger (would outdo ?) me. The work we have demands care and time, but is not at all unpleasant, at least for me. I don't know if you can read my writing. Farewell. I have said nothing for our good mother Mary, or for our divine Saviour Jesus. I leave it to your heart burning with love to make up for this shortcoming. O my friend, how dry mine is, how arid ! Pray for me.

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 24 April 1839)

Sent_0018

Sent_0018 - à M. Vian - le 15 mai 1839 -/2

Sent 0018 - to Mr Vian - 15 May 1839 -2/2

Sent_0018 - à M. Vian - le 15 mai 1839 -1/1

Sent 0018 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 25-26

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Give me news of the seminary. Marriages. Preparation of the first communion in the parish. Encouragements for Mr Vian to advance to the priesthood. I pray for Mr Mazeroles who is about to be ordained. Why not come to Monestrol? My parents send their greetings.

Index : friendship, marriage, first communion, children (the)

__________

Castelnaudary, 15 May 1839

L. J. C.

My very dear friend Vian,

These last few days I was counting on a letter from you, and I see that I am frustrated in my hope. You surely can't think that I am so insensitive to what is going on in the minor seminary as not to ardently desire to know the happy results of your generous efforts? How did your retreat go? What fruits did it bear? Did these meet your expectations? Did the good pupils do well, and have the bad ones (if there can be any such in your house) improved? So tell me something about this, talk to me about the minor seminary; I am happy when I hear good reports, or when I make them myself; but I would be even happier if I could procure some for it ; but who knows? What I cannot do today, perhaps I may be able to do later? Let us be content for the time being with goodwill and prayer.

I wanted to write to you yesterday, but the whole morning was filled with celebrating five marriages ; and now yet another marriage which gives me plenty of time to converse with you ; for by forcing my eyes open and yawning, I who in the ordinary way go to bed with the hens, am waiting patiently, or if you like impatiently, for midnight to come to bless a sixth one in the darkness. You see, my dear friend, that humankind does not want to come to an end yet, and if the end of the world arrives, it will not be for lack of wanting to go on propagating.

So this is what stands out in the exercise of the holy ministry in the course of the week ; we are still quite busy with the first communion. Ah, my dear friend ! if you find your children dissipated, what would you say of a flock of scatterbrains that a not very Christian education has restrained so little thus far, and that bad examples, plain for them to see every day, have so far removed from true piety? It is for them that we must pray. Without doubt, I know very well that the Lord will not require of them what he demands from yours that he has favoured with the grace, so rare today, of an education according to God's heart, but what fears does this not give for the future?

It might be said perhaps, wait a little longer, wait until these poor children are more ready. But will they be any more ready next year than this? What have they gained since last year? Is it not to be feared that, after another year, they will have acquired but another year's malice? On the contrary, should we not hasten as much as possible to forestall passion? Poor children! Let us pray for them that, despite their superficiality, the grace which will fall on them takes root in their young hearts and remains there.

Ordination is close; have you quite given up the idea? I feel sorry for you, I have difficulty in seeing you irrevocably engaged in the sacred militia. I hope that the obstacles you feared will disappear and that, by Christmas at the latest, the Church will have you as its irrevocable minister. I think that the saintly Mazeroles still has the inclination of advancement and that, in some ten days at the very most, we will have one more zealous and pious priest in the diocese.

I would be much obliged if you could tell him on my behalf that I cannot have the sweet pleasure of attending his first mass, but that I really hope that he will come as soon as possible to see me and that I will have the happiness of attending his holy sacrifice. Tell him also, please, that my parents entertain the same hope, and count on a forthcoming visit from him to Monestrol. He must not forget us in his prayers. I think of him at holy mass and, if it is possible, I will offer it for him on the day of his ordination. If I do not write all of these things to him in person, this is because I consider you as another me, and that, moreover, perhaps I won't have the time before his retreat. I count on your goodness to convey all of this to him.

My parents often speak to me of you. They are always eager to hear your news. If you spend your holidays in the village, you really must pay them a visit. Mamma's character hits it off splendidly with yours; and if you have not already put your plan to write to her into effect, I would ask you not to lay it aside, I am sure that you will be giving her great pleasure. But it is now close on midnight. All the best to everyone, and Mr Gleises first and foremost. Tell him that I am not pleased with him.

Completely yours for Jesus and through Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 15 May 1839)

Sent_0019

Sent_0019 - à M. Vian - le 24 mai 1839 -/2

Sent 0019 - to Mr Vian - 24 May 1839 -2/2

Sent_0019 - à M. Vian - le 24 mai 1839 -1/1

Sent 0019 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 27-28

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Great joy at hearing of Mr Vian's subdeaconate. How did your preparatory retreat go? What were your outstanding impressions? What influences on your physique? I am writing also to Mr Mazeroles. He speaks of the education of young people.

Index : friendship, priesthood, ordination, commitment, education

__________

Castelnaudary, 24 May 1839

My very dear friend,

I want to be one of the first to congratulate you, which is why, at a time when your head is perhaps in effervescence, and bubbling over, at this time when your mind is at work and your heart is sunk in God's heart, I am taking up my pen to participate in advance in the happiness you will be feeling when these words reach you.

So then you have enrolled, my dear friend, and here you are for good in the holy militia whose sacred ranks you envied for so long. Ah, if the enemy of men had yet some temptations to offer you, reject them at once and be grateful for the great happiness that you have once more felt. For my part, I feel happy at the thought that you are one of us and that you can no longer escape us. I bless Heaven three times over for this and ask it to complete its work, I ask it to ensure that the day will come when the complement to all its gifts will be granted to you.

It will arrive, my dear friend, and as you see the dawn is just breaking, it will arrive and for you this will mean eternal felicity, for our mutual happiness, for the glory of our good master. How I love to delude myself in this hope and talk to you yourself about it, for it is not without foundation, and the vows that you have pronounced today before Heaven and the Church are its unshakeable bases. What prayerbook do you use? When you procure for me the sweet pleasure of a visit so long awaited and so ardently desired, will we have the fortune of praising the Lord together? Tell me, and tell me soon, for I await your news incessantly.

I still do not know what this retreat did for you, what were your most powerful impressions and how these affected your physique. More than others, you are liable to the beneficial or harmful effects of a great commotion, but whatever these may be, I know that everything will have been directed to God and turned to his glory. I am writing to Abbé Mazeroles. To avoid two postal deliveries, I am inserting his letter in yours, and for the same reason, you could do the same for me.

If you should know of someone to carry on the education of two young people of a highly respectable family, as soon as possible and until school starts again, you would be doing me a real service to let me know. I have some hope that these two young people will be swelling the ranks of your pupils. I am working, behind the scenes, to get their parents to take this decision. It will be all the better since after those two, others would perhaps follow their example, for they form the head of quite a long queue. Perhaps they will go to Montelieu? Anyway, whatever happens, I would be very pleased to find them a good supervisor, who would make them quite capable of doing a good fourth or fifth class when they go back to school.

My compliments and customary respects to the usual addressees. And believe me always, in the union of your holy prayers and in the charity of Jesus, through the intermediation of Mary,

Your dearest friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 24 May 1839)

Sent_0020

Sent_0020 - à M. Vian - le 11 juin 1839 -/2

Sent 0020 - to Mr Vian - 11 June 1839 -2/2

Sent_0020 - à M. Vian - le 11 juin 1839 -1/1

Sent 0020 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 29-30

(to Mr Victorin Vian, subdeacon, Carcassonne)

Thank you for your letters. Very busy with the preparation of the children's first communion. His concerns for the future of these children. How these children shed floods of tears during their retreat of preparation. We are going to have a third vicar. What if it is Mr Gleises?.

Index : children, first communion, ministry, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 11 June 1839

My very dear friend,

I cannot tell you how pleased I was to receive your last letters, and if I still haven't replied, you mustn't believe that it was out of negligence ; I certainly wouldn't say out of indifference, because I am sure that you know me to be incapable of that. No, it's not even out of laziness, since in the last few days we've been working like mad in connection with the first communion.

This is a field which is well worthwhile, so we undertook it wholeheartedly, but it's very tiring. Besides, it's not without some consolation; one feels a certain touch of enthusiasm and of sensitivity which would repay you well for all the fatigue, if close at hand were not the fear, one might say the certainty, of soon seeing the devil take possession of these young hearts once more. But this last thought is terrible especially in the case of boys.

O how difficult it is to bring back a strayed sheep ; while it is even more difficult to keep it once one has regained it; and even more difficult still to fix it finally to good, when it has been unfaithful several times over. However one has to hope that the good sentiments inspiring these tender children will bear their fruit, and if the enemy manages to snatch their innocence from them, can he ever take away the memory of the ineffable delights that they have enjoyed so recently? Will they not recall in their old age the tears that the sight of their sin drew from them last Friday ?

O, you would have enjoyed it. That children weep at their first communion is not surprising, it's the fashion. But that, during the retreat, the day they are least expecting it, one makes them shed floods of tears, is not so common.

It was Friday evening, for preparing them to receive with profit the sacrament of penance. Already Monsieur le Curé, who is incredibly clever at all this, had made them all write an act of contrition, signed by their hand, without telling them what this was for. Abbé Taurines goes up into the pulpit and, by one of those vehement improvisations which make such an effect when one is happy, or rather, when God blesses them as he blesses his own, he moves the hearts of the whole audience, when at last he reveals, as on the day of the passion, a great Christ, and in a voice thick with sorrow, he addresses to Jesus crucified for our sins his whole peroration, and sobs break out on all sides; he comes down and Mr de Lacger speaks in his turn; his words of fire fall on already prepared ground. Nothing but weeping may be heard. But a black stole is brought out, and each child is invited to come and kiss Jesus, and to lay at his feet the act signed by him, as the most authentic protestation of his sorrow and of his good intent. Then the weeping turns to groaning.

The many persons present mingle their tears with those of the children, and the whole church resounds with cries of sorrow. At last, the great pedals of the organ arrive to cover with their terrible sound the stifled voices of these thousands of repentant sinners; but not to stop them; it was a stormy sea which takes time to calm down, and after forming a long procession with the very holy sacrament, after the blessing has been given, and the evening prayer said, etc. etc., they went off weeping. This, my dear friend, is the climax of our story; and I see that my paper is running out; however I think I still had quite a few things to tell you, that will be for another time.

Now they are saying that we won't be having a third vicar (since we have lost one, to be a parish priest) until the holidays, and that it will be a teacher from the minor seminary ; I dare not flatter myself that this is Mr Gleises, I don't want to pin my hopes on it, for fear of being caught out later if it is not so, especially since I think I heard talk a long while ago that he was to go to Montréal. At the same time there are not, either at Narbonne, or at Carcassonne, such a vast number of available teachers, for my hope to be totally out of the question. In two months' time we'll see.

All the very best to all those who live with you. My affectionate feelings for the minor seminary cannot diminish with distance, since they are based on a thorough acquaintance with the merits of that establishment. And that is why I would like it to be even better.

Farewell.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 11 June 1839)

Sent_0021

Sent_0021 - à M. Vian - le 8 juillet 1839 -/2

Sent 0021 - to Mr Vian - 8 July 1839 -2/2

Sent_0021 - à M. Vian - le 8 juillet 1839 -1/1

Sent 0021 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 31-32

(to Mr Victorin Vian, subdeacon, Carcassonne)

Now it's holidaytime, we should be able to meet up. Come to Monestrol if you are not going home. He has to go to Carcassonne for his first examination as a young priest. No-one knows still where Abbé Gleises will be. Illness of Abbé Mazeroles (tuberculosis). He hopes for a visit from the teachers of the seminary.

Index : friendship, attachment (seminary)

__________

Castelnaudary, 8 July 1839

L. J. C.

My dear friend,

I an offered an opportunity for going to Carcassonne, and at that word, it occurs to me that it's some time since I last wrote to you. I hope that in a short while we will be able to converse at somewhat greater length and a little more agreeably than by letter. For at last the holidays are not so far off, and at that point what reasons will you give for not directing your steps here ?

I have just arrived from Monestrol where, for the second time, I went to spend twenty-four hours, and there too they count on a visit from you, above all if you don't go home. I must admit that, on account of my interest in you and the friendship I feel for you, I would prefer that you go back home. What pleasure could compare with yours, what pleasure could replace for you the sweet embraces of a converted father. However if prudence, if a thousand reasons oblige you to postpone such a visit further, you can be sure we will do everything possible to compensate you as far as we can.

For the rest, I still count on the pleasure of seeing you earlier. I have to take my first examination at the end of the month; very probably in order to do so I will be obliged to make a little trip to Carcassonne and, if I delay ever so little, I see that that could very well coincide with your departure. What are people doing in the minor seminary? Are you impatient to dismiss that merry band? Do you propose to hold a retreat on the model of those we held last year? O, how pleased I am! That was certainly one of my best retreats.

And Abbé Gleises, who doesn't deserve my thinking of him any longer, since he no longer thinks of me, and who I think of all the same because I didn't give him my esteem lightly, will Abbé Gleises be our collaborator ? or will our hope go up in smoke? What do they say at Carcassonne? As for me, I would be delighted if he was added to our numbers, and as soon as possible. Tell him he must not be afraid to accept immediately; at that point, he will rest here just as well as in his own home, since practically speaking there is nothing to do.

I have the good Abbé Mazeroles here with me. You should know that he fell ill almost as soon as he went back home. A severe chill that he caught at Charlemagne went to his already weak chest, and since then he hasn't improved. Indeed considerable fears are entertained on his condition. Constant high temperature, sweating every night, a stubborn cough, these are bad symptoms. With all of this, a fairly good appetite, great courage and much hope, but what tubercular ever lacked these? Let us pray for him; if the good Lord wishes to keep him for his Church, he is the master of death and life. He asks me to convey his greetings to you.

Please remember me to everyone. I expect Mr Lizat when he passes through. If he does not promise to stop, I will have nets put up. And the same goes for Mr Neyral if he passes by this way. As for Mr Metche, I have his word for it. Mr Babin will be coming to see his uncle, or his cousin I forget, but finally the hospital chaplain, who in fact came to see me yesterday with your colleague's brother, a young man of great charm and promise. All the others know in general, and each in particular, how pleased I would be to see and welcome them. As for you, I will say nothing, for you wouldn't be any the wiser.

All the very best to you in the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 8 July 1839)

Sent_0022

Sent_0022 - à M. Vian - le 13 septembre 1839 -/2

Sent 0022 - to Mr Vian - 13 September 1839 -1/1

Sent_0022 - à M. Vian - le 13 septembre 1839 -1/1

Sent 0022 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 35-36

(to Mr Victorin Vian, subdeacon, Carcassonne)

He will undoubtedly be going to Toulouse for his annual retreat. Shake off your state of uncertainty. I know what three years of uncertainty have cost me. Bad reputation of the minor seminary of Carcassonne. To certain parents, he attempts to prove the contrary. Local feast at Monestrol.

Index : indecision, minor seminary (Carcassonne), congregation

__________

Castelnaudary, 13 September 1839

My dear friend,

Since Abbé Metche left earlier than I thought, I was not able to answer your kind letter through him. I hoped soon to replace him with a nice conversation with you, since I had arranged everything so as to take advantage of the ecclesiastic retreat, however today we have been told that this will not be taking place. So that I do not know when I shall be seeing you, for it is already mid-September, and if possible, I will try to do my retreat in Toulouse with the Jesuits.

It is indeed surprising that you haven't received other letters from your home. I regret that you were not there from the beginning, your presence would have done much more than a thousand letters, and you would know finally where you stand. Great virtue is required to feel at peace in a state of uncertainty, which is considered only transitory, without even knowing if it will lead you to the goal. Whereas when you know that the position you occupy is truly what God wishes, well then yes, whatever happens, fiat. If I had any advice to give you, it would be to take effective steps to determine without doubt where you should be. I know what three years of uncertainty cost me!

I think the seminary will gain if Mr Montginon hands over the third class to Mr Barthe. Here the minor seminary is far from being regarded as a very good establishment, and there is talk above all of the weakness of the teachers, of the poor food, and the rudeness of the pupils. I think people prefer the college of Montelieu.

Recently I had a long talk with Mr Mas who is, I think, determined to put two of his children into the minor seminary. He seemed fairly satisfied with everything, but someone must have warned him about the food. I hope that, with the proof to the contrary that I tried to provide, he came to accept that the food, without being succulent, was healthy and abundant; he seems quite satisfied by it. But should not the necessary steps be taken to ensure that this bad reputation, perhaps having some basis disappears? vide et dic.

Yes, I went to spend two days, and even to officiate the local feastday, at Monestrol. This was a great feast for this small village where they had never seen any dalmatics. I took the good Mr Sipolis, and Abbé Mazeroles had the strength to act as deacon, but without singing the gospel. My parents would have been happy to see you in this gathering, but there is no use speaking of that.

Farewell. Let us at least be united in heart, and let us pray for each other. Send me the leaflet of the congregation and believe in my friendship for you in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

My compliments to everyone, and to Mr Médus in particular.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 13 September 1839)

Sent_0023

Sent_0023 - à son cousin Louis - le 19 décembre 1839 -/1

Sent 0023 - to his cousin Louis - 19 December 1839 -1/2

Sent_0023 - à son cousin Louis - le 19 décembre 1839 -1/1

Sent 0023 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 5

(to his cousin Louis, articled lawyer)

He sends him his congratulations on having been chosen to make the speech on the opening of the conference of lawyers. Place of God and of religion in the life of every man. I saw your father at Mirepoix.

Index : God (in life), religion (in life), friendship, attachment (family)

__________

Carcassonne, 19 December 1839

My very dear cousin,

What unpardonable laziness, I agree. I have been wanting to write to you for I don't know how long and the days have passed, the weeks have gone by without putting my plan into action. I could easily find some excuses for this. But I don't want to take the trouble to justify them, for I am eager to congratulate you and to convey to you the joy that my heart felt, on reading the account of the speech that you pronounced at the opening of the conference of lawyers. What happiness I felt first of all on seeing that you had been chosen for this honourable function and above all on ascertaining both the choice of subject and the brilliant manner in which it seems that you have dealt with it.

So you have understood that, in all positions in life, man's true duty is to make full use of the faculties and talents that God has given him, for the glory of that God who is our beginning and our only end. You have understood that to avenge religion for the everlasting reproaches of a blind ignorance or lying malice was to render to God this glory that we all owe him, and you have fulfilled this duty with courage, accordingly your glory will be great, and the happy presages that your success gives us for your future are better founded, for the Lord will bless your efforts. He will bless you yourself and you will be doubly happy, my dear friend.

Write to me, dear Louis, I'm impatient to know your own judgment, your position and your hopes ; and if you could include with your letter that I hope to receive soon, a copy of your speech, you would do me a kindness.

Since your father has been at Mirepoix, we have had the pleasure of seeing him from time to time. He was kind enough to come and see me sometimes. I think he has told you this. However, I haven't seen him for quite some time now; so give me tell his news.

My kind regards to your brother and your sister on my behalf, if you have the opportunity of seeing them or writing to them. Tell me about them. And you, my dear and worthy cousin, please count on the unalterable attachment

of the most sincere of your friends.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 19 December 1839)

Sent_0024

Sent_0024 - à son cousin Louis - le 10 février 1840 -/2

Sent 0024 - to his cousin Louis - 10 February 1840 -1/2

Sent_0024 - à son cousin Louis - le 10 février 1840 -1/1

Sent 0024 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 6

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

Louis has not received the weekly note from his father, but this note has certainly been sent, never mind ! Happy to take this opportunity to reiterate my friendship. A few words added by the hand of his uncle Pierre, Louis's father.

Index : friendship, attachment (family)

__________

Mirepoix, 10 February 1840

My dear friend,

What it is to have a bad habit! What am I saying? What it is to have a good habit; for when one is deprived of one's daily bread, one finds it difficult to accept such deprivation for even a single day. I do nothing but pass by Mirepoix, and I find my dear uncle the same old joker as ever and Jeannette angry; and why? Because Mr Louis has not received the weekly note from his dear father. Nothing terrible, however, my dear friend; and if I pick up my pen to tell you so, it is because I have decided not to let this occasion pass of assuring you of my friendship.

Your father wrote to you by ordinary post ; but this post, for circumstances that I will not explain in detail, did not function. The carrier will soon be bringing you the long epistle from your father, for he had written in proportion to the long period of his silence, so that you will soon be amply compensated for the sacrifice, which I will force you to make, by depriving you of the pleasure of receiving from your father an answer to your complaints. In any case I hope that you will not be angry with me, and as for me I get such satisfaction from it, that I consent to bear with the effects of your disappointment and anger, rather than deprive myself of the pleasure of writing you a few words.

All the very best to your brother from me ; please assure him of my sincere attachment ; and you, my good friend, don't doubt for a single instant of my sentiments for you and for the whole family with such happiness. For a long time now you have led us to hope for a short visit. Will your various activities at last allow you to give us the pleasure of seeing you? I hope so, and meanwhile, I beg you to believe me throughout life

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Mirepoix, 10 Mirepoix 1840)

(On the same letter, written in the hand of Msgr de Brésillac's uncle, Louis's father)

"My dear Louis, I don't know if ( ?) will arrive before this letter, but it is nonetheless true that on arriving here, I wrote you and Auguste a long letter. The bad weather prevented my delivery man from leaving, that's my excuse.

"Adrien, ( ?) and Melchior are urging me to accompany them to church, and only give me time to embrace all of you wholeheartedly.

"Your cousins do the same.

"de B(résillac)"

(Mirepoix, 10 February 1840)

Sent_0025

Sent_0025 - à M. Vian - le 4 décembre 1840 -/2

Sent 0025 \- to Mr Vian - 4 December 1840 -2/2

Sent_0025 - à M. Vian - le 4 décembre 1840 -1/1

Sent 0025 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 37-38

(to Mr Victorin Vian, major seminary, Fréjus)

It's not from indifference that I haven't written to you. You are soon to be ordained a priest. Pray and ask others to pray. His first steps for the MEP. His visit to Hyères. His parents suspect his plans to leave as a missionary. Reflections on the qualities of certain families.

Index : friendship, MEP, father, mother

__________

Castelnaudary, 4 December 1840

Perhaps you will be wondering whether I have forgotten you, since for the last six weeks I have been asking myself the same question about you, when your kind letter arrived to prove that it was not true. May this present letter be a similar proof, my dear friend, of fidelity. How can one forget a friend born of charity, maintained by charity, and who himself maintains charity? May such a thought never enter your head. Accuse me on occasion of laziness, realise that my many duties come into it to some extent, but indifference : never !

However Christmas is now coming and without doubt I am going to receive pleasant news, without doubt you will inform me of your elevation to the priesthood. Since I can have no doubt about this, congratulations in advance; and since between now and then I shall not be writing to you, please do not forget me in the fervent prayers that the Spirit of God inspires in you both before and after this solemn time. O my friend, how I need the memory of those who pray with fervour. Make them pray, make them pray, writes Mr Langlois !

By this name, you may perhaps recognise the superior of the Seminary for Foreign Missions. This is what it's coming to, my dear friend. My first visit to My Lord was useless, but it leaves room for hope. Of course he did not reply to the letter that I wrote to him at his home address; of course he refused to allow me to leave at once, but it appears he may yield once he is really sure that it is my vocation.

In the meantime, I have received two letters from Paris, one in reply to the one I wrote at your address, and the other in reply to that which informed the superior of My Lord's initial refusal, but in one and the other hope was held out to me, above all through the intercession of the saints and through the aid of the good prayers of pious souls. Accordingly I am entitled to yours. Pater, fiat voluntas tua. ()

Once you are a priest, please write to me and tell me the post to which you are assigned, however before that I should receive the news of your promotion ; I count on it. It is true that in my letter I forgot to speak to you of Hyères. The gentleman for whom I brought a letter from your good parish priest was ill. All the same I paid him a visit, he was very decent, overjoyed to receive news of his former pastor, and he offered, as far as I can remember, to send someone to accompany me to visit the curiosities of the town. I had only thanks to convey to him, for the charming vicar of Saint-Tropez had given me a letter for the vicar of Hyères at whose house I had dined earlier and with whom I had visited everything. How happy I would have been to see Mr Mélis with you! God doubtless did not want this. If you learn, or if you see something still truly worthy of attention, kindly let me know in any case.

My parents are well ; they remember you with great pleasure and never fail to ask me to tell you so. I think they suspect something of my plans; my mother could not be more reasonable about it; since she opened up her heart to me several times, I have been able as it were to prepare her; thus I am fairly satisfied on that side. My father seems rather severe, he has not uttered a single word ; does he fear something ? It is very likely. What will be the outcome? I fear he may be violently affected if the project goes through; but that is not an obstacle for those whom the Lord calls. Fiat, fiat.

Do not forget me to anyone in your establishment. I will often remember the good, the excellent Vian family. How glorified God would be if there were many such families ! They are, alas, rare! And for this reason they are even more worthy of esteem. Kindly convey my respectful regards to Monsieur le Curé, and tell him, please, that at Marseilles I did not have the pleasure of meeting the priest for whom he had also entrusted me with a letter.

Farewell, my dear friend. Here at Saint John Baptist's church, we are celebrating the octave of Saint Francis Xavier. Let us pray together to this great missionary, this good priest, this saint, which is saying all.

Truly yours in the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 4 December 1840)

Sent_0026

Sent_0026 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 janvier 1841 -/1

Sent 0026 - to his cousin Louis - 21 January 1841 -1/2

Sent_0026 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 janvier 1841 -1/1

Sent 0026 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 7

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

He asks him to get him some books that he will indicate to him on the Protestant doctrine. He is in correspondence with his cousin Emilie, a Protestant, and he finds excellent aptitudes in her. How could he receive these books?

Index : Protestants, conversion, studies, informing himself, controversy

__________

Castelnaudary, 21 January 1841

My dear cousin,

I need as soon as possible an Exposition de la doctrine de l'Eglise catholique sur les matières de controverse, by Bossuet. I would like this to be in small format, soft-cover edition and if possible pretty. I had an inquiry made about it at Toulouse, and they replied that it was not to be found there. However I would ask you to see if it is not possible to find it for me, and to employ your utmost zeal in this small matter.

I have heard talk of an explanation of the Protestant doctrine, compared to the explanation of the Catholic doctrine, I am very anxious to have it, and perhaps if you were to ask in the major seminary you could get it for me. If you should also hear of some new book where the errors of our poor strayed brothers are clearly refuted, you would give me great pleasure by passing it on or at least indicating it to me.

You will have no difficulty in imagining the reason for all of this. The good Emilie() is in correspondence with me, and I believe that she shows good aptitudes. Let us pray for her. Pray above all the good Mary and the glorious Saint Michael to whom I entrust the matter of her conversion.

I am writing to you today because you could send these various articles to Mrs Borrel who lodges at Mr Fabre's house where our uncle Auguste lives. This lady is due to bring Mamma some other things; she would make no difficulty about accepting this new errand. In addition, could you ask her, if it is not inconvenient to her, if she would oblige me by paying you back the price of these books and tell her that, in my turn, I will reimburse her here.

Please forgive me for the trouble I am giving you, but it is for the glory of God, thus trouble turns into delights.

May I ask you to pay my respects or to convey my regards to anyone who asks after me or to whom you think that this mark of affection would give pleasure. I am too much in haste to name them one by one.

To God, my very good friend. Count on the unalterable attachment of your good cousin.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. Mrs Borrel comes back Monday.

(Castelnaudary, 21 January 1841)

Sent_0027

Sent_0027 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 février 1841 -/2

Sent 0027 - to his cousin Louis - 12 February 1841 -1/2

Sent_0027 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 février 1841 -1/1

Sent 0027 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 8

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

He asks for more books on the Protestants, the history of the Reformation, and the history of England. I have some hope with Emilie but in any case this study will be useful to me. He also asks for a small catechism of controversy from the Catholic standpoint.

Index : Protestants, conversion, studies, informing himself, controversy

__________

Castelnaudary, 12 February 1841

Since Raymond is going to Toulouse tomorrow and has to come back at once, I am taking this opportunity to thank you for your last letter, and also to have recourse once more to your obliging services. I am furnished with books of controversy, I have the Voyage d'un Irlandais and catechisms of controversy and others – but no books quite from the Protestant standpoint. You would do me a service to get some such for me, by borrowing above all if possible, for it's useless to buy books that one cannot put in one's bookcase.

I would like above all the text of their various confessions of faith – a history of the Reformation – a history of England, at least the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth – some catechisms – and some devotional books. By having recourse to the Refugium peccatorum (), this good Mr Tinseau will undoubtedly find the way to lay hands on these books, and you will see with him what permission you require, to obtain them and send them to me, as well as later to undertake some research into certain heretical books, which I could ask of you perhaps, if need be, for I think that, in the public libraries the works of Luther, Calvin and their following should be available.

You will perhaps be astonished, my dear Louis, at all this commotion. It is not that our affair with the good Emilie has advanced very much, but this provides me with the occasion to study thoroughly the question of Protestantism, an advantage which might be quite important for me, even if my dear cousin should stop writing. However I have high hopes of the fortunate premises that she has advanced thus far. One of these last days I sent my answer to her first letter ; to judge by the sentiment of certain friends to whom I entrusted it, I was quite pertinent. But only God works in people's hearts.

Let us pray then, my dear cousin, that the Lord will deign to develop such good aptitudes and to smooth away the obstacles which almost always oppose a conversion. Can they not see the weakness of their cause, these poor strayed brothers! Can they not add faith to the happiness that we would like to procure for them ! Oportet haereses esse

Although I told you that I have excellent books of controversy from the Catholic standpoint, I would always be obliged to you to indicate any which may come to your knowledge, especially new ones – and even to send me your little catechism of controversy, in the case of its not being identically the same as a new catechism of controversy which comes out in small issues at Montpellier and that I have in my hands.

Farewell, my dear cousin, I don't know if you can read my writing, I am in a great hurry, and I only have time to tell you how sincerely attached I am to you. The errand I have mentioned regarding the heretical books, I would give to you only, as you can well understand; take all the necessary precautions as far as Father Tinseau is concerned and send them to me as soon as possible. All the best from me to your brothers and to my good relatives of Toulouse. Farewell.

Truly yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 12 February 1841)

(Two notes added by two different hands follow.)

L'histoire de la Réforme, by William Cotebelt.

Tableau de l'hérésie de Calvin

From Del ? (Deltoure ?) and Pradel, booksellers, Rue Gourmande.

Réponse au mandement de Mgr

Arsenal spirituel au 19ème siècle

Controverse réponse à l'abbé Guyon Demoulin and

Abrégé de controverse by Charles Drelincourt.

Sent_0028

Sent_0028 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1841 -/2

Sent 0028 - to Mr Vian - 14 February 1841 -2/2

Sent_0028 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1841 -1/1

Sent 0028 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 39-40

(to Mr Victorin Vian, deacon, Lorgues - Var)

He explains his discussions and his efforts with his Protestant cousin, Emilie : her mother, her education and her upbringing. She asked if he could have a religious conversation with her. After that, she has written once. Let us pray. Regards to your parents. Write before your ordination. Nothing new regarding the missions and the MEP.

Index : Protestants, conversion, controversy, MEP, father, mother, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 14 February 1841

My very dear friend,

I don't know how it is I have taken so long to write to you. I haven't forgotten you, I haven't even lost sight of the nice letter you wrote me at Epiphany. But one thing leads to another, and so I have arrived at today, when however I have a moment to devote to you. First of all I have to talk to you about one of the main occupations which have filled my time, for I feel sure that this will afford you some pleasure.

I don't know if you are aware that I have an aunt of British nationality who is a Protestant. As a colonel's wife, you can just imagine that it was easy for her to bring up her daughters in her communion; she even took all the necessary precautions in this matter, for she is as zealous for her sect as she is an excellent wife and parent. I hardly knew her, and even less my charming cousins, the eldest of whom is nineteen or perhaps twenty. On my arrival from Provence, I heard that they were all due to come and spend some time visiting their family, and consequently I have had the opportunity of seeing them now and then.

Just imagine my good cousin(

), one of those perfect persons, of fine upbringing and rare education, having all the qualities, alas, except that of being a Catholic! You can well imagine that I was not the first to speak of religion. At times I even avoided following up on certain little provocations so common in Protestants, and which in the general way serve no good purpose, but at last my cousin asked me explicitly if I wouldn't mind if she had a religious conversation with me. I could not and would not draw back.

Perhaps I should tell you that she had already come with her mother to listen to one of my sermons. Accordingly we had a conversation lasting a few hours. God came to my aid, for though not well prepared, I will wager not to persuade my good cousin, but to trouble her mind somewhat. I have not defended myself well, she said, but it is not surprising that in a conversation I am weaker than you, who are accustomed by your profession to speak of religion; if you will allow me, I will write to you. I was delighted with this proposal.

Only a few days later she left ; and some time afterwards, when I thought that she must have abandoned the plan to correspond, I received a letter which I would have liked you to read and which I answered scrupulously. Will this continue? I hope so for my good cousin who puts an edifying good faith and candour into her search for the truth. However I fear lest her ministers dissuade her from it. Let us pray that this does not happen. I count on your prayers which I would ask you to address periodically to heaven on this subject, by the intermediation of the glorious Saint Michael, in whose hands I have placed this matter, as well as in those of the good Mary, our mother.

But already I see I have almost no paper left. What more is there to say ? My affair of the missions is still at the same point. However everything is smoothed out regarding the Seminary at Paris, but His Lordship has still not given his consent. Nevertheless I hope that he soon will give it, for he is shaken.

I do not know whether my letter will find you at Lorgues or at Fréjus. I am writing to Lorgues, thinking that from there they will send it on to you if you are not there. I would like my letter as it passes by to let slip the compliments that I would ask you to make on my behalf to the good inhabitants of this village whom I remember quite clearly, but since it will undoubtedly be mute, perhaps you would undertake this little errand yourself.

My parents who are here send you a thousand friendly greetings. They remember you with pleasure. Mamma is better, though there is still something not quite right, but still she is well. I think that you will not fail to write to me a few days before you have the fortune to be raised to the sublime order of the priesthood, and that from the height of the altar you will not forget poor Abbé de Brésillac.

Farewell, Pray for my cousin, pray for the missions, pray for the greatest of sinners. Farewell.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

I would be obliged if you would present my respects to the venerable superior of the seminary of Fréjus.

(Castelnaudary, 14 February 1841)

Sent_0029

Sent_0029 - à Mgr de Gualy - début mars 1841? -/1

Sent 0029 - to Mgr de Gualy - early March 1841? -1/1

Sent_0029 - à Mgr de Gualy - début mars 1841? -1/1

Sent 0029 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 22-23

"Souvenirs", p 33

(to Mgr de Gualy)

(bishop of Carcassonne)

Why does he take so long to authorise him to go to the MEPs ?

Index : missions (desire)

__________

Castelnaudary ? early March 1841 ? ()

[...] The silence that Your Lordship has maintained with regard to me, I said to him among other things, has greatly distressed me. It is certainly not difficult for a son to interpret the silence of a loving father, on such an occasion; but it would have been very nice, My Lord, for me to have received a word from you, even if it were a word of refusal. For how long, My Lord, will you continue be so cruel to me? Do you wish to distress to the end a son who loves you dearly? [...]

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Castelnaudary ? early March 1841 ?)

Sent_0030

Sent_0030 - à son cousin Louis - le 16 mars 1841 -/1

Sent 0030 - to his cousin Louis - 16 March 1841 -1/1

Sent_0030 - à son cousin Louis - le 16 mars 1841 -1/1

Sent 0030 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 9

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

Why doesn't he send the books he asked for? Emilie has written to him.

.

Index : informing himself, Protestants

__________

Castelnaudary, 16 March 1841

What is the meaning of this long silence, my dear friend ? Tell me if you cannot get what I asked you for some time ago. Day by day I await a packet or at least a letter, but in vain. Have you forgotten it? In any case, the good Emilie has written to me in the last few days to acknowledge receipt of my letter, and announcing another one soon, in which she will try to refute me. Kindly let me know soon if there is or is not the possibility of getting the books that I asked you for, and of sending me them soon if that is possible.

I have just time to bid you farewell, asking you kindly to present my respects and regards to the entitled parties.

Your devoted cousin in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 16 March 1841)

(Added by hand by Mr Joseph de Marion Brésillac)

"Emilie, is Emilie de Marion Gaja, daughter of the General who turned Protestant in order to marry Lord Fitz-Gerald's daughter."

Sent_0031

Sent_0031 - à son cousin Louis - le 23 mars 1841 -/2

Sent 0031 - to his cousin Louis - 23 March 1841 -2/2

Sent_0031 - à son cousin Louis - le 23 mars 1841 -1/1

Sent 0031 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 10

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

I have received the books. Very busy with Lent. Some exchanges of letters with Emilie. Everything I am learning on the Protestants may also serve me later. Little reflection on the passing difficulties of life.

Index : Protestants, informing himself, misfortune

__________

Castelnaudary, 23 March 1841

I have received in good order the packet of books that you were kind enough to send me, and thank you for that. I haven't acknowledged receipt of it until now, because of the numerous occupations of Lent which scarcely allow me to do anything beside the duties of the pulpit and the confessional. Like you, I am not too pleased with the turn our affair has taken; however I am far from despairing.

Emilie has written me a fairly long and very carefully worded epistle, which I have answered ; later she sent me several little brochures that she had promised me at Lascourtines, writing just a few short words, to thank me for my letter and to announce one from her which will present me with a vast quantity of objections. And that is as far as we have got. Let us pray to God.

Apart from that, I asked you for these books, and will perhaps ask you for a few more, not so much for Emilie as for me ; I am taking advantage of this circumstance to study fully the Protestant question which I will perhaps, more than once in my life, be obliged to combat. It appears that Mgr Dartus has written a rejoinder to the answer of the Protestants ; if you could send me this rejoinder if you have an occasion which avoids the costs, you'd be doing me a favour.

No money, you said to me the other day, is one cause of your silence, But it goes without saying that you must note down all the expenses incurred by my requests, and send me the list as soon as you possibly can in order for me to pay you back. It is quite enough that I am taking advantage of your kindness. And acting in any other way would make it impossible for me to make any further call on your obliging goodness.

I could hardly send you back already the books you obtained for me, since until the end of Lent you can just imagine that I have other things to do than study the controversy. If I could keep them even, I would not be displeased; so kindly tell me, the first time that you write to me, how much it is that I owe you.

Courage, my dear friend, the poor passes are good opportunities for winning merits for heaven. It is not for nothing that the apostle said: Video autem aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meae (), And that he cried out immediately with indignation : Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus ? () Does he lose hope ? No, no, he says, I know full well who will set me free: Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum Nostrum. ()

Let us lean on Jesus Christ and we will not fear the vain attacks of the devil who is powerless in his presence, nor of the world which cannot compare its sweets with the sweets of the law of Jesus Christ.

Please convey my friendly greetings to your brother and sister. All kind regards to your parents and friends and you, my dear cousin, count on the unalterable attachment

of your devoted cousin.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 23 March 1841)

Sent_0032

Sent_0032 - à M. Vian - le 27 mars 1841 -/1

Sent 0032 - to Mr Vian - 27 March 1841 -1/1

Sent_0032 - à M. Vian - le 27 mars 1841 -1/1

Sent 0032 Original, AMA 2F1, p 45

(to Mr à Victorin Vian, Lorgues, Var)

Congratulations. He has just been ordained priest. Greetings to the family.

Index : friendship, priesthood

__________

Castelnaudary, 27 March 1841

My dear Vian,

By this time, I think that you have the happiness of being a priest in aeternum. I have just offered the holy sacrifice of the mass for you, counting on your memento of tomorrow. Be happy in your new calling for the Lord. I know how much glory God will draw from such a minister. Pray often for me.

Congratulate on my behalf your respectable father, and your brother and sister. I think that your ordination was a veritable family feastday. I don't have time to say anything more to you now, since we are in Lent and a Saturday of the passion.

Farewell, a thousand times farewell in the Lord and in the union of your holy sacrifices. Truly yours in the communion of the Saints.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 27 March 1841)

Sent_0033

Sent_0033 - à son père - début mai 1841? -/1

Sent 0033 - to his father - early March 1841? -1/1

Sent_0033 - à son père - début mai 1841? -1/1

Sent 0033 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, p 26

"Souvenirs", p 35

(to his father)

He feels he must speak to his father of his desire to become a missionary

Index : mission (desire)

__________

(Castelnaudary ?) early May 1841 ?

[...] I shall take the opportunity of this short stay, I told him, to speak to you of a matter which I have wanted to talk to you about for a long time. [...]

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Castelnaudary ? 1 May 1841 ?)

Sent_0034

Sent_0034 - à son père - 5 mai 1841? -/5

Sent 0034 - to his father - 5 May 1841? -5/5

Sent_0034 - à son père - 5 mai 1841? -1/1

Sent 0034 Brésillac copy, AMA 2) F3, pp 29-41

"Souvenirs", pp 37-43

(to his father)

He has just received his letter. What sorrow! What suffering! I have seen your pain. We should bear joyfully the yoke of the Lord. Obedience to God goes before all else. We have to know what is God's will regarding my future. I have asked the opinion of wise and enlightened persons, of men of importance. If I was in the army, you would let me leave on a dangerous expedition! Two years' novitiate are sufficient in the Church and now it is five years that I am waiting. Should your rights not give way to God's rights? I have sought enlightenment in study, meditation and prayer. Say yes and we will all be happy. Then I will take you as my model. I feel sure that this is my vocation.

Index : family, will of God, test, obedience to God, inner joy, faith (spirit of)

__________

(Castelnaudary) 5 May 1841 ?

My very dear father,

It was prayer time. I was on my knees before the image of God who offered himself utterly in sacrifice, when I was handed your heart-rending letter. I read it in the presence of this God of love, begging him to accept my sorrow as the greatest sign of the love that I wished to have for him too.

How can it be, my very dear father, that I am a cause of vexation for you, and that you yourself cause me the greatest pain that is possible, you whom I love dearly with all the affection of a loving son, you who are without price to me on this earth, I whom you love as only a father can do? Ah! I understand now : the fact is that neither you nor I are responsible for such a difficult position. It is God, it is God who is putting our faith and our love to the test. He wants to see if we are really his disciples, for he says: Si quis venit ad me et non odit patrem suum et matrem et uxorem, et filios, et fratres, et sorores, adhuc autem et animam suam, non potest meus esse discipulus. ()

He offers us his cross to carry. Shall we refuse it because it is heavy? Qui non bajulat crucem suam et venit post me non potest meus esse discipulus.() Eh ! yes, I noted the grief that my communication gave you, and if thereafter I affected to maintain my air of ordinary gaiety, it is not because I was indifferent to the blow that had struck you, but I wanted to try to make you understand that we must carry the Lord's yoke with joy.

I know all that a son owes by way of obedience to his father, in any position, whatever the calling he finds himself in. I say this to my fellows every day, God save me from failing to recognise it ! Here I have examined my conscience, and I feel the sweet satisfaction of the testimony it gives me of never having violated, seriously at least, or that I am aware of, this sacred precept. If I have ever been wanting from ignorance or some other reason, I beg your pardon, and I rest assured of such forgiveness. But I know too, as you must also realise, very dear father, I also know that this obedience, far from destroying what one owes to God, supposes it, and that it is silent when there is the slightest contradiction between the two. Acting otherwise, would thus be lacking in obedience, since it would mean offending the first principles regarding God.

This truth has no need of proofs, it is so self-evident. The Scriptures confirm it in a thousand places, and the saints, whom on this point we should not only admire but also imitate, offer us a large number of examples. You are too reasonable and too wise not to be in agreement with me on these principles; and I feel assured that, if God's will was clearly known to you, whatever it might be, you would not for a single instant have even the idea of opposing yourself to it.

Accordingly the whole question is reduced in your eyes, as in mine, to knowing whether this is my vocation or not. For a vocation is nothing but God's will regarding such or such an individual. We would search in vain to distinguish between the vocation to a principal calling, and the vocation to a particular calling in this initial vocation. Here it is no other than the will of God, in the face of which every other will should bow.

If God wants me to be a priest, but a parish priest, I will not be following my vocation by being a priest in the cloister or in the exclusive ministry of the Word. If he wants me to be a priest in the cloister, I am disobeying him by remaining entrusted with a parish, for which I will always be a false pastor. God's will is not so general as is commonly believed; and this undoubtedly to the shame of a good many when it comes to the day of general manifestations, because insufficient care is taken to ascertain in particular where and how the Lord wants us.

Thus it always comes back to this question : is this or is it not my vocation ? You maintain that it is not. But, my very dear father, see for yourself if you can be a judge in this cause. As I said to Lasserre, and I say again with confidence to you: can you be the judge of such a question? Can I any more than you? The answer is easy: I could not judge any more than you that this is not my vocation, for I am too implicated to judge thus: On the contrary, in order to form the awareness that it is such, it was necessary for me to destroy a thousand bandages that my own interest placed over my eyes; and my judgment itself should, I feel, make some impression on your mind. However it could still be mistaken. Why? Out of enthusiasm. For have I laid aside illusions ? This is what needs to be examined.

Well, I am not afraid of assuring you that I have set aside all sorts of illusions. This is proved by the ever growing perseverance of my desire to be a missionary, in the last five years, and the submission I have made of my calling to wise and enlightened persons. You seem not to count for anything this test of five years. What were you five years ago, you ask? Five years ago, I was over twenty-two years old. Thus, I was considered to be sufficiently master of my judgment, to choose the most important calling a man can choose, that of the priesthood. I was considered sufficiently master of myself, sufficiently resolved in my determinations, to bind myself for ever by the irrevocable knots of a solemn vow. And I have no regrets at all about it!

In the course of these five years, unworthy as I was of it, I confess, quite unworthy of it as I still am, it was granted me to take the sacred blade in my hand to sacrifice mystically each day the eternal victim ; it was granted me to sit in the tribunal of God's mercy, minister of his clemency and of his justice, to distinguish one leprosy from another, to forgive or to retain sins.

Could it not then be that in order to obey God's voice, I might be unable to judge and to know? And why? Because the voice that calls me demands sacrifices?

God help me from ever questioning your intentions. They are too good, they are too pure. But here could you not be deluding yourself more than me ? Could you not, even without realising it, (you must not be offended by what I am going to say) serve the cause of him who regularly opposes God's will ? And though comparisons may be somewhat misleading, they often have a true side to them; well, tell me now: If I had engaged in an army career and I had been chosen for a perilous expedition, what would you say? You would see me off with regret, but without opposition. On the contrary, you would encourage me, by reminding me of your military career and of the fine examples of devotion you have witnessed, and quite certainly you would not break my heart by revealing your broken heart to me. And so how could it be that only the soldier of Jesus Christ would retreat from the breach? And all of that because he had taken some more generous oaths, because he had promised to die to the world, to himself, and to his family?

But I feel I am being carried away. Let us come back to the test of five years; that is, from twenty-two until twenty-seven years of age. Who denies the fact that judgment is pure at that age? Ardour and imagination? Yes, when it pursues delightful chimeras; when impelled by the passions it allows itself to be dragged along with them. But when it encounters opposition, from the side of the senses, from the side of fortune, and from the side of the heart, it quickly withdraws within just limits.

Here neither glory, nor ambition, nor the prospect of riches, nor the headiness of honours, nothing impels. On the contrary, difficulties of all kinds hold back. Lastly, you will tell me that it is the enthusiasm of my calling, the immoderate desire to please God, and to work for his glory, at the risk of every danger and of all sorts of sacrifices? If it were so, would you have the courage to blame me?

Thus, I dare to assert that the test of five years, in this combination of circumstances, is more than sufficient. Nay, further: two years' noviciate are sufficient (and this is the opinion of the Church) in order to determine, at the age of sixteen, to assume irrevocable ties in the vows of enclosed religion; imagine, after being put to the test for five years, if I would have reason to fear a slight audacity.

Besides, I have taken prudence even further. I have consulted with men of importance and enlightenment. Is not this the action to be taken in every important and difficult matter? To consult with a third party not involved in any way in the question? But I only consulted! It is true, but also they should have pronounced against me! In that case, they could not have been wise men; and if those whom I consulted are not so, there are no longer any wise men on earth. They are merely people who do their best to make trouble and division in families! For this is what I seemed to hear, when suffering dragged from you words that you would certainly not have maintained when you were calm.

In fact, this trouble of the family, is it any different from that which Jesus Christ himself came to bring on earth? For he said: Nolite arbitrari quia pacem venerim mittere in terram : non veni pacem mittere sed gladium. Veni enim separare hominem adversus patrem suum, et filiam adversus matrem suam (), and the rest. So that this trouble of the family is at times due to God. Ah! Do not blame those who seek to follow in every way the example of Jesus Christ ; and do not be irritated against them ; for it is not you who are despised, says Saint Augustine, but God who is preferred. Is this any ground of complaint? Non irascatur pater, Deus solus illi praefertur. ()

So that, once my vocation was determined, what could I do ? You won't accept the example of Saint Francis Xavier ; well, here is another one, more appropriate to the present circumstances : Saint Louis of Gonzaga. He was only seventeen years old when he revealed to his parents his intention of following his vocation. His father fell into a rage, say his biographers, and threatened to punish him severely. The saintly young man replied to these threats, with modesty, that he would consider himself happy to have the opportunity of suffering something for the love of God. Later on he had many other trials to undergo. At last he was allowed to become a priest, but not in the pious Company to which the Lord was calling him. Finally he prevailed, with the assistance of grace and, at twenty-two years of age, took his place among the saints in heaven. And I could quote many more examples.

No, no very dear father, I don't want to fight with you ; no, I don't want to run counter to your rights, to reason and the law. But is it not this same law that commands me to obey God before obeying man ! Does not reason plead in favour of a determination which, since it does not arise from nature that it offends in all ways, must have a higher and holier origin: the origin of the spirit against the demands of the flesh ? Should not your rights give way to God's rights?

You say that it is not permissible to do, or even to envisage doing evil in the hope of some good coming of it. But here I am obliged, whatever it costs, to obey my conscience by following what I prudently consider to be my vocation; for it is an evil not to obey one's vocation. I will be appalled, you go on to say! And this is the true misfortune; this is what reduces me to tears; this is the heaviest part of my cross. But I cannot reject this cross, without committing a sacrilege. You do not blame my zeal; only you do not believe it to be sufficiently enlightened. Blessed word, that the force of truth has torn from the centre of an upright heart which grief has led astray ! Well, do me the grace of believing that I have taken the means of enlightening it in my five years of study, of meditation and prayer; and what balm this will be for your heart and for mine too!

And you see, very dear father, you remind me of painful circumstances, and you tell me that I am about to re-open all your wounds, that I am going to destroy for ever the happiness of the family ; that your days are destined to pass bruised, shocked, hurt, and all because of me, etc. Alas! I can only answer that there's nothing I can do about it, absolutely nothing; because I cannot do anything except by refusing to obey the Lord. Whereas you, on the contrary, you can do everything. Consolation, peace, happiness, the fate of the family are in your hands. In a word, you can make us all happy, and by so doing you will make yourself happy too.

This word, strange to say, is that of a generous consent. Not consenting means forcing me to insist despite your resistance, for it is God's voice that is calling me. Whence, all the consequences which will ensue. On the contrary, consent, and you will immediately be in peace and in a holy joy. I do not mean to say that you will not feel the blow; but that blow, however violent it may be, will be received by you with joy from the hand of the Lord, who will incidentally soften it, by making it no stronger than you can bear.

Consent, and instead of intensifying my mother's sorrow, you will lighten her trouble, by saying to her with the holy patriarch : Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken back. Blessed be the name of Yahweh ! ()

Consent, and you will say to my young brother and sisters that, by leaving them to follow the Lord, I am teaching them, better than I could do in words, how they should love a God for whom their brother did not fear to sacrifice himself unreservedly. They need my advice and my examples, you say. Could I ever give them better? This will be effective and permanent; and if they do not understand it, believe me, they will be quite indifferent to any other.

Consent at last, and I will leave with a sort of joy ; for if the flesh and the blood protest, if my heart swells, and if human weakness makes itself completely felt, instead of being discouraged by turning my thoughts to a father who groans, on the contrary I will consider him in his admirable submission to God's orders ; and, from this viewpoint again, just as I have done in fact thus far, on all the occasions of my life, I will take him as my model.

But I haven't the strength to consent, you will say ! Very dear father, allow me to point out to you the source of this strength? Listen to Saint James: Si quis indiget sapientia, postulet à Deo qui dat omnibus affluenter. () And our Lord: Si quis sitit, veniat ad me et bibat. () O my father, I am sure that if you pray to the Lord in meditation of the truths that I have just explained in this letter, and above all that if you have recourse to the bread of the strong that Jesus offers freely at his table (a single communion for this purpose), I feel sure, I say, that your consent will assure the happiness of us all.

And I end with the frankness that you have asked of me. You do not approve of me; but you will one day. You blame those who advised me in this way; you will not do so for ever, I hope. I await your consent, so soon as you have for your part consulted the Lord. As for me, I feel sure that my vocation is such; I have reflected seriously upon it; I would consider it a crime not to obey. Once more then, your happiness and mine lie in your consent.

Whatever the Lord is pleased to order, I accept his most terrible tests. Only I beg of him to grant me the grace of always doing his holy will, and to inspire in those I dearly love the desire to do so also. I count on his almighty grace, for you, for my good mother, for my brother, for my sisters and for me. To achieve this, on behalf of us all, I kiss the sacred image of the cross and I implore the spirit of sacrifice.

A Dieu, my very dear father, you whom I love above everything else on earth, you whom I wish to see happy all the days of your life, A Dieu! All the best to everyone and despite my apparent disobedience, which is merely the real obedience I owe the Lord, allow me to say, embracing you with all the affection of which I am capable,

the most respectful and obedient of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary ?, May 1841)

Sent_0035

Sent_0035 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 mai 1841 -/1

Sent 0035 - to his cousin Louis - 21 May 1841 -1/1

Sent_0035 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 mai 1841 -1/1

Sent 0035 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 11

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

Your affairs are arranged. May God be praised! I am sending you back the books on the Protestants, with thanks. Let us pray for them and never insult them.

Index : Protestants, friendship (family)

__________

Castelnaudary, 21 May 1841

My dear Louis,

Yesterday I heard a piece of news which I feel I must congratulate you on. Your affairs, I have been told, are to be arranged, you are to be free, and consequently more liable to procure yourself an honourable career. May God be praised. You know how interested I am in everything that concerns you; please receive the expression of my good wishes as the assurance of my most sincere attachment.

I will take some forthcoming occasion to send you back the books of controversy that you were good enough to procure for me. Occupations which arrive unforeseen each day have prevented me as yet from finishing reading them, but I will be sending them back soon now.

Beg a thousand pardons, on my behalf, of the persons who lent them to you. I am really indiscreet, but I wanted to seriously examine their doctrine in their own books. Poor doctrine! How unfortunate to be born a Protestant ! Let us pray for them and never insult them ever. For I believe this is one of the faults that perhaps the Catholic controversists have committed. What need is there of sarcasm when one has the truth?

A Dieu. Kind greetings to my friends, relatives and acquaintances. Please remember me in your excellent prayers in the communion of which I am pleased to call myself

Your devoted cousin.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 21 May 1841)

Sent_0036

Sent_0036 - à M. Vian - le 24 mai 1841 -/1

Sent 0036 - to Mr Vian - 24 May 1841 -1/1

Sent_0036 - à M. Vian - le 24 mai 1841 -1/1

Sent 0036 Original, AMA 2F1, p 46

(to Mr Victorin Vian, chaplain, Draguignan)

I am leaving as a missionary I have not received my father's blessing. Pray and ask others to pray for me. Write to me sometimes. Farewell.

Index : MEP, friendship, Mary, trials

__________

Castelnaudary, 24 May 1841

My very dear friend,

I learned by chance that you were working as chaplain at Draguignan ; for since your happy promotion to the priesthood, you have not given any sign of life. Today, I am writing to announce to you my departure for the missions. With God's grace, I should be leaving at the beginning of June next. I have His Lordship's consent, I have even received his last blessing already. I would be happy to have that of my parents; but the good Lord still demands this test of me; may his name be blessed! You know by yourself how very poignant such a trial can be, especially when it implies leaving one's homeland for ever. Pray for me, as you realise I truly need your prayers.

More than ever, I beg you to remember me in your kind prayers and your holy sacrifices. Perhaps your brother would also remember me in his prayers, and all your family likewise. I hope that you will continue always to remember your old friend, and to believe that I will never forget you. Write to me sometimes. If you wait till I am in the Seminary for Foreign Missions, please put a stamp on the first letter, if necessary. Farewell. May we always be united in heart in the communion of our prayers and remember me sometimes in the holy sacrifice. No not forget me either at the feet of the altars to Mary.

Once again, A Dieu in the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Your good friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 24 May 1841)

Sent_0037

Sent_0037 - à son cousin - le 28 mai 1841 -/1

Sent 0037 - to his cousin Louis - 28 May 1841 -1/1

Sent_0037 - à son cousin - le 28 mai 1841 -1/1

Sent 0037 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 12

(to his cousin Louis, lawyer, Toulouse)

I am leaving for the missions; please reserve a seat for me in the Bordeaux diligence. His father's opposition. He passes over it faced with God's will. You can tell the members of your family: I arrive at Toulouse on 2 June.

Index : will of God, MEP, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 28 May 1841

My very dear friend,

The question is settled, I am leaving for the Foreign Missions, and I would like to ask you to book a seat for me on the Bordeaux diligence for next Thursday, 3 June. I have been told that it takes only 22 hours to make the journey; this means that I will spend Saturday and Sunday at Bordeaux, then leave on the Monday for Paris: I have taken all the necessary precautions; I have consulted etc., and accordingly it seems, as I truly hope, that it is God's will that is calling me to this career.

May his name be blessed, and please God that we do not go against his plans, whatever they may be, and that we do not reject the cross that he commands us to carry, because it is heavy ! The greatest regret that I feel in this circumstance is the undoubtedly very natural but no less poignant opposition of my poor father. But we must first and foremost do the will of our Father who is in Heaven!

I shall be arriving in Toulouse by the diligence or by boat. If I can, I will take the diligence that passes here towards six in the morning; if there is no room on it, I will take the boat. In any case, I will be leaving on Wednesday 2 June. Please write immediately to tell me what seat you have booked for me and where the office of the diligence is, so that I can straightway get my things carried there. I will bring you the books that you were kind enough to get hold of for me, let me know in your letter where you want me to take them after I arrive by diligence or by boat, that would be perfect. I would like to have a seat in the coupé.

You may say to the various members of the family, that I would like to see them for a short while passing through, that I will be arriving Wednesday in Toulouse and, without telling them my news at all, you can allow them to presume the reasons.

Farewell, excuse the disorder of this letter, as you can just imagine, on such occasions one is moved. I look forward to our meeting on Wednesday, perhaps and very probably for the last time, but may it be for the love of Our Lord and no matter for all the rest.

Farewell. I enjoin you more than ever to remember me in your prayers and please believe in the unalterable attachment of your good cousin.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 28 May 1841)

Sent_0038

Sent_0038 - à son père - fin mai 1841 -/2

Sent 0038 - to his father - end of May 1841 -1/2

Sent_0038 - à son père - fin mai 1841 -1/1

Sent 0038 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 45-47

"Souvenirs", pp 44-46

(to his father)

You would not wish to oppose God's will. It only remains for you to know it. I cannot meet your desires; I am doing my duty. My Lord Bishop has said yes, since it is truly God who is calling me. What further proof do you want? Abraham's sacrifice. Accept my departure for your greater consolation.

Index : MEP, will of God, family, sacrifice, faith (spirit of)

__________

(Castelnaudary) end of May 1841

Very dear father, I received your letter of 25 May. The calm apparent in it, following the unruly cries of a wounded heart, confirm me in the thought that I have always had that you are far from opposing God's will, and that you merely need to know it. However, I do not flatter myself that I will achieve that goal, of persuading you that my proceeding is dictated by conscience; that it is my duty, my obligation. How can one destroy the reasoning of the heart? What is to be done then, given this complete mistrust of my own strength? I can only say to you yet again, with a heavy heart: it is my duty.

I know very well that you will call this cry of conscience an obstinacy, an inadvisable enthusiasm; perhaps even you will grieve me by calling it stubbornness ; but for me, in whom it is a profound conviction, I can see only obedience to oppose to all the cries of nature, and all the claims of flesh and blood.

Accordingly I repeat, and I beg you on my knees : do not make the cross that Jesus Christ offers us heavier that it actually is. Since it is impossible for me to condescend to your legitimate desires, so consistent with the interests of my heart, with my temporal wellbeing etc., but so far removed from the paths of God, do not worsen my sorrow and much more even your own, by refusing me a consent which would be so sweet to me.

You want to write to My Lord the bishop. But it seems to me that you have already remarked to Lasserre that His Lordship had already spoken regarding my vocation. You see, my very dear father, consider for a moment things in God. His Lordship can no more refuse me his consent, than I can refuse God to follow him, when he calls me. What was My Lord to have done? To check on the means I employed, to submit them to the examination of his lofty wisdom, to test my vocation? This means that he was not free. In conscience, he had to say to me: Go. So, write to him by all means, but I feel sure that H.L. will not go back on a word that he pronounced only after mature reflection.

And can I not draw from this consent of My Lord's an incontestable argument on the prudence of my proceeding ? He examined all my steps, he seemed to say no, for a long time; but finally he could not fail to recognise God's will. He could not hold me back following the manifestation of this supreme will; he was obliged to yield; and he did.

Once more then : give me your consent, on which your consolation must to a large extent depend. For I feel I really have to make it clear, my very dear father, it's for you above all that I insist. As for me, I will go away, aware that I am doing my duty. If I stayed despite God's voice calling me, I would reserve for myself continual reproaches and continual remorse.

And if a further example were needed, my very dear father, the most powerful of all, what do you say to Abraham's sacrifice? Perhaps you will say that the Lord did not in fact require the sacrifice to be carried out. But did Abraham know this when he climbed up the mountain, with the knife in his hands? And how can we tell if it is not perhaps in this way that the Lord wishes to put us to the test? Who can say if according to the laws of the Seminary of Foreign Missions, God will not inform me that he does not require me for the missions, that he merely wished to sound out our spirit of sacrifice and of faith?

Thus I hope that your next letter will contain your consent or its equivalent and that you will not continue to oppose the carrying out of a project which is conceived for God alone and which must be accomplished for God alone.

In the meantime, allow me to express to you the tenderest sentiments of affection and love, with which I am pleased to call myself,

the most submissive and respectful

of all your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary ?, end of May 1841)

Sent_0039

Sent_0039 - à son père - le 1er juin 1841 -/1

Sent 0039 - to his father - 1 June 1841 -1/1

Sent_0039 - à son père - le 1er juin 1841 -1/1

Sent 0039 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 47-48

"Souvenirs", p 46

(to his father)

I have left to be a missionary ; it is God's will that decided me. Don't be angry with me. Your severity cannot prevent me from loving you. A little present to remember me by.

Index : will of God, family, sacrifice, faith (spirit of), mission

__________

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

My very dear father,

I cannot hide the pain you are going to feel on learning of the step I am now taking. Ah ! believe me, it took nothing less than God's full authority to decide me on it. Why, without the power of his supreme will, would I have abandoned a father whom I dearly love, a mother whom I venerate, a brother whom I love so much and two sisters whom I carry with me in my soul? You cannot believe it! But it wasn't my place to limit the will of the Lord.

Oh father, o dearest of fathers, please believe that I will love you more still than when I was close to you. Each day, I will hold you present in my memory; each day I will lift my hands and eyes to heaven for you; each day I will pray for you at the altar. The sacrifice that the Lord has required of you will make you all the dearer to my heart, as it will make you yourself more closely resemble Jesus Christ, our love. And since it is impossible from now on to press you against my heart, I will embrace you with the whole extent of my soul.

Ah, do not be angry with me, for I love you too much. Do not be angry with me, for your severity cannot prevent me from loving you!

A Dieu, but not for always, for there is a heaven where we will meet again without any doubt. To God. Love me as I love you.

(Mr de Brésillac)

P.S. Could I offer you the little clock which is on the mantelpiece of my room ? I trust that you will accept it as a very slight token of my unshakeable attachment and of my limitless love.

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

Sent_0040

Sent_0040 - à sa mère - le 1er juin 1841 -/1

Sent 0040 - to his mother - 1 June 1841 -1/1

Sent_0040 - à sa mère - le 1er juin 1841 -1/1

Sent 0040 Original, AMA 2F1, p 47

(to his mother)

I have left to be a missionary. I see your tears flow. I will speak of you everywhere as a model for Christian mothers. A small gift to remember me by.

Index : will of God, family, sacrifice, faith (spirit of), mission

__________

Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841

My very dear Mamma,

I don't have the courage to say more than a few words to you. I can see your tears, hear your sighs, listen to your lamentations, but I am sure that they don't say to God that he is cruel.

Undoubtedly the Lord requires a great sacrifice ; but you can read into the sacred heart of Jesus and you have seen there for a long time now that this is how he treats those he particularly loves. I know your strength, I know your faith. It is the Lord who gave them to you, let us bless him together. Oh, I will never forget the examples of such a virtuous mother. Wherever the Lord calls me, I will refer to her as a model for Christian mothers, and we will remain forever united in our hearts. Yes, my dear mother, with the eyes of the faith we will remain united always, always, always... until we are together at God's heart.

A Dieu, love me a little, for I love you greatly. Write to me soon in Paris, at the Seminary of Foreign Missions, Rue du Bac; and always pray to the good Lord for your submissive and respectful son.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. Please accept, as a small token of my inviolable love, the small statue of the Virgin given to me by Hermine de Villeneuve. No mother suffered like Mary, she will listen to your weeping, she will console you in Jesus Christ, her divine son !

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841)

Sent_0041

Sent_0041 - à son frère Henri - le 1er juin 1841 -/1

Sent 0041 - to his brother Henri - 1 June 1841 -1/1

Sent_0041 - à son frère Henri - le 1er juin 1841 -1/1

Sent 0041 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 49-51

"Souvenirs", pp 47-48

(to his brother Henri)

I am leaving. You will never have a better friend on this earth. Take my place with our good parents, be their support and their happiness. A small present to remember me by.

Index : attachment (family), friendship

__________

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

My dear Henri,

It would have been too sad for your heart and mine to have said farewell, perhaps for the last time, the day that you came here. I wanted to save you the heartbreak that I felt in silence; please bear me gratitude for that, and don't take it as a sign of indifference, which I could never feel for such a good brother, but on the contrary the effect of my love for you, which goes far beyond everything that I could say. My good friend, if the Lord wishes us to live apart, let us continue to be united in mind and in heart. Be my friend as I am yours, for I assure you that you will never have a better one on earth.

However, I have a big favour to ask of you. Here it is, my good friend, please be faithful to it. It is to take my place close to the good parents that the Lord has given us. The Lord has entrusted to you a very noble and sweet mission: that of being their support, their consolation and their happiness, in their old age. God wanted me exclusively for himself, but he has left you for my poor father, my mother and my sisters. Be their prop in their old age; love them once for yourself and once for me. I cannot ask anything else of you today; my heart is too heavy, too full of this single desire.

A Dieu. If we do not meet again on earth, let us live in such a way as not to fail to meet again in heaven. I embrace you with my whole heart. A Dieu.

Your good brother

(Mr de Brésillac)

P.S. I would like to leave you a little memento, but I cannot think of anything that belonged to me that is suitable. However please accept the small collection of medals that you sometimes remarked on in my room. I wish it were more complete, but perhaps you can complete it later. Once more, A Dieu.

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841)

Sent_0042

Sent_0042 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 1er juin 1841/1

Sent 0042 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 1er juin 18411/1

Sent_0042 - à sa sœur Bathilde - le 1er juin 18411/1

Sent 0042 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 51-52

"Souvenirs", p 48

(to his sister Bathilde)

I am leaving. Do not doubt of the love I have for you. Console our parents. Love them dearly in the family and your days will be happy. A small present to remember me by.

Index : attachment (family), friendship

__________

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

My dear Bathilde,

If my heart were not so heavy, I would write you a long letter. But what can I say to you at such a difficult time? You have never doubted the love I feel for you, so don't doubt it today either. If the Lord wishes us to live far from each other, we will be united in our hearts. Pray to the good God for me, I need it. And I will pray to him for you: I will ask him to keep you and to further multiply the numerous virtues that he has placed in your soul. Be the solace of our dear parents always.

I am causing them grief, but the Lord knows full well that I would not wish to, and I assure you that I love them more than I have ever done. Console them a little. Love Félicie and Henri greatly. If you love one another a great deal always, you days will pass in happiness. As for me, I love you so much that it seems impossible to me to love more. A Dieu.

(Mr de Brésillac)

P.S. What can I leave you to remember me by ? I have a little box of colours that I would like you to accept; and to add something pious, I beg you to accept also a small reed cross that you will find on the mantelpiece in my room.

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

Sent_0043

Sent_0043 - à sa soeur Félicie - le 1er juin 1841 -/1

Sent 0043 - to his sister Félicie - 1 June 1841 -1/1

Sent_0043 - à sa soeur Félicie - le 1er juin 1841 -1/1

Sent 0043 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 52-53

"Souvenirs", p 48

(to his sister Félicie)

Je pars. Fais grandir les vertus dont le Seigneur t'a douée. Que c'est beau de s'aimer entre frères. Un petit cadeau en souvenir.

Index : attachment (family), friendship

__________

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

My dear Félicie,

There are so many things I would like to say to you, but I cannot! You know how much I love you; be sure that I will go on loving you in the same way. Be good, be godly, for in this way you will be happy and not otherwise. Take care to preserve the fine virtues that the Lord endowed you with; try even to develop them more and more and be the solace of the family. Love Bathilde and Henri dearly. For what could be finer than brothers and sisters who love one another?

For my part, you can all believe that I love you so much that I cannot even express it. A Dieu. Tell my father and my mother that I love them dearly. Pray every day a little for me. I will pray every day for you all. To God. I embrace you in the charity of Jesus Christ. A Dieu.

I would like to leave you, as a small token of my friendship, the mother-of-pearl rosary that you will find on the prie-dieu. Say it sometimes for me.

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Castelnaudary, 1 June 1841 ?)

Sent_0044

Sent_0044 - à son cousin Louis - le 23 juin 1841 -/1

Sent 0044 - to his cousin Louis - 23 June 1841 -1/1

Sent_0044 - à son cousin Louis - le 23 juin 1841 -1/1

Sent 0044 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 13

(to his cousin Louis, lawyer, Toulouse)

I have arrived safely in Paris, at the MEP. In my ordeal, the Lord came to my help, but it is he who calls: I will have to give account to him. For the moment I am the only candidate. I have not yet started the special studies for the missions.

Index : attachment (family), grace of his calling, missions, studies

__________

Paris, 23 June 1841

My very dear friend,

We agreed to write to each other when we found a good opportunity for doing so. I am taking advantage of the first one which comes my way for giving you my news, hoping by so doing that you too will be faithful in fulfilling your promise which I count on absolutely. My journey went well, but it is not worth my while describing it. Here I am at last in the Seminary of Foreign Missions; all my thoughts are concentrated there.

I thank the Lord for having carried through successfully the project that I had conceived for such a long time now to his glory. But not all is yet done, my good friend; I might even say, more exactly, that everything still remains to be done. So let us pray together to the Lord to grant me, for the tests to come, the favours that he has in fact so prodigally granted to me in the trials which he has already deemed proper to subject me to, so that I may worthily follow in every place and in all circumstances this precept of the Apostle: In omnibus exhibeamus nosmetipsos sicut Dei ministros in multa patientia, in tribulationibus, in necessitatibus, in angustiis, in plagis, in carceribus, in seditionibus, in laboribus, in vigiliis, etc., in caritate non ficta. ()

For it is not we who have chosen this thorny career, but God who has taken us by a pure effect of his grace, and he will ask us to give account of our efforts: Vos non me elegistis, sed ego elegi vos et posui vos, ut eatis, et fructum afferatis et fructus vester maneat. ()

I have not yet begun the special studies for the missions ; all the new missionaries have left, so that at this moment I am the only candidate in the seminary. We are expecting others shortly, in fact I am waiting for them so that we can begin our studies together.

A Dieu, my good cousin, convey my kind regards to my relatives and friends. Write to me as soon as you have the economic occasion for doing so, and do not forget me above all in your prayers. Once more, to God in Our Lord.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 23 June 1841)

Sent_0045

Sent_0045 - à son frère Henri - le 23 juillet 1842 -/2

Sent 0045 - to his brother Henri - 23 July 1841 -2/2

Sent_0045 - à son frère Henri - le 23 juillet 1842 -1/1

Sent 0045 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 41-42

(to his brother Henri)

The only happiness is in union with God. What happiness to love each other as we do! Let us write to each other. The seminary of the Missions at Paris. Here, studies and retreat. How the MEP are organised. Some explanations on written and spoken Chinese. Now we are three candidates. If I do not write more often, it is because of our various occupations. Greetings to one and all.

Index : friendship, MEP, union with God, studies

__________

Paris, 23 July 1841

When I received your letter, my very dear Henri, I had just written to Papa. So that I did not reply immediately, thinking that it would be better to wait a bit longer. Let me begin by telling you how much I appreciate the promise you have made me of always following the advice I thought it my duty to give you before leaving. I have never doubted of your good heart; it is good, it is excellent, be content to consecrate it above all and frankly to him from whom come all good things and outside of whom there is only misery and sin. You must surely realise that it is in the union with God that the only possible and real happiness is to be found.

What sweet consolation for me, to know that I have a brother, not only honest in the world's eyes, but a good Christian according to God, and to be assured that, even though we may be many leagues apart, we are still united in our feelings. Thus, my very dear friend, may a communication of prayers be established between us, as well as a communication of thoughts by a correspondence as active as circumstances permit. It is so sweet to receive news of those one loves, when one is far from them, that I really hope you will always give me this true happiness !

Yes, my dear friend, you may be sure that everything that interests you will interest me also. You know how much I love you, and will continue to love you, a little more every day. So, write to me often, and promise me that you will write to me for as long as both of us remain on this earth.

I will not tell you much about Paris. You have already heard talk of it and I would merely be repeating in a tedious way what so many others have already told you. As regards the seminary of the missions, it is a fine establishment where it is good to be if you love study and retreat, for it is through these two means, and above all through prayer, that we prepare here for the big fight of the missions.

I do not know if I told my father, in my last letter, how things are organised in this congregation. The Holy See entrusts us with eight missions, namely: Tartary (a part), Korea, Su-Chuen, Cochin China, Tonkin, Yun-Nan, Siam and the Indias (a part). Each of these missions is ordinarily represented here by one of the directors that it itself sends out, so that, being acquainted with the nature of the places, the customs of the peoples, etc. etc., he can take a greater interest in the mission than others who would only know things through hearsay. These gentlemen, all together, direct the missions in general.

Thus, if for example I am sent out to Su-Chuen, it is above all to the representative of that mission that you should address yourself when sending your letters, just as he will transmit whatever I might send to you. Except in exceptional circumstances, news are received at least once a year; while there are missions from which we hear far more often.

We practically do not study languages here, except for written Chinese, because that is more or less useful in almost all of our missions. I have had a few lessons already. I believe it is the most absurd language there is in the world. Just imagine that, instead of having a certain number of fixed characters, which in different combinations assume different meanings, the Chinese have a sign for each thing and each idea; so that each object, whether physical or metaphysical, has its particular sign. These signs have practically no relationship to one another. You should know for example that (Chinese sign) means some, that (Chinese sign) means trees, etc. When you know forty or fifty thousand such characters, you know the written language.

The spoken language is quite different. Since fifty thousand monosyllables do not exist, they have recourse to tone, so that a word, ly for example, which will have such a meaning on the note ut, will mean something quite different on the note so. In fact, we do not learn the spoken language here, since this varies once more according to the provinces. I would be quite happy to know, before leaving, two or three thousand characters, so that I can understand the simplest books.

I am still at the cross, as the children would say ; or if you prefer at the Imitation, for it is on this book translated into Chinese that we exercise ourselves, and if I wanted to write the first sentence for you: Qui sequitur me non ambulat in tenebris, dicit Dominus (), I would put (there follows a Chinese text). You should know that Chinese is written from right to left and from top to bottom. Thus the first word is (Chinese word) and the last word is (Chinese word).

In addition we learn theology, and a little astronomy. This is how we spend our time while on trial. I say we, since I am no longer alone, there are already three of us, a subdeacon, a deacon and me; a fourth came to give it a try, while we are expecting others yet shortly.

I will not speak to you about my health, which is excellent. I hope that the same is true of you all at Monestrol. You tell me that Papa is still suffering somewhat from his colic. I hope that he is treating it and taking care of himself. Tell him on my behalf not to neglect all those small precautions. Pass on my loving regards to him, as well as to our good and respectable mother. I will not attempt to reply to the kind note from Bathilde and Félicie, but will write to them later, since now I am I bit pressed for time; I want to get this letter off this evening, for I realise that it is already several days since I received yours, and perhaps you will have done me the compliment of starting to get worried. Incidentally, never let that happen, if at times my letters fail to come punctually, you can be sure that it is our occupation or some such that has prevented me from writing in due course, so do not immediately become agitated, for a thousand and one things may have held it up.

If you see Abbé Tisseyre, make him my compliments. I have written to him once; since he has still not given me his news, nor has he had them conveyed to me, at times I fear that he may not have received my letter. Give my regards likewise to Curé Seyre, and to the Dupérier family and to Mr Bougageron, when you see him, and to all those who ask after me, without forgetting Marguerite, the gardener's family and the other servants, etc. etc. But, above all, thousands of affectionate respects to Papa and Mamma, thousands of friendly regards to Bathilde and Félicie; and you, my very good friend, never doubt of the sincere attachment

of the best of brothers.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 23 July 1841)

Sent_0046

Sent_0046 - à M. Vian - le 28 juillet 1841 -/2

Sent 0046 - to Mr Vian - 28 July 1841 -2/2

Sent_0046 - à M. Vian - le 28 juillet 1841 -1/1

Sent 0046 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 43-44

(to Mr Victorin Vian, chaplain, Draguignan, Var)

Take care of yourself. Pray for me, for I know what difficulties await me. I like to receive your news. How he had to leave Castelnaudary without taking leave of his parents. Role of Abbé Taurines in respect of his father. The Lord is admirable in his ways.

Index : friendship, attachment (family), faith (spirit of), will of God

__________

Paris, 28 July 1841

My very dear friend,

It was a long time since I had heard your news ; I feared that you regarded my departure as uncertain and that you did not dare to write to me here. In that thought, I was just about to write to you, when I received your kind letter of the 13th. I can't think how it took so long to arrive. It appears to have been posted in Aix. No matter, unless Curé Lorgues was to have brought it by hand, and he resigned from the errand, for in that case, I will have been deprived of seeing him without doubt, and from talking at length with him about you, your brother and all your respectable family. I hope that he will come and see me if he is in Paris at the present time and plans to stay on; write and tell him that I consider he owes me a visit still.

So you are still not too well, my dear friend, look after yourself for the Lord's sake, and every now and then offer up to heaven your sufferings for your friend the future missionary. Believe me, I need them. God be praised a thousand times for having called me, despite my unworthiness, to such a sublime kind of ministry; but I do not delude myself; if I see the honour of being in the vanguard and at the chosen post in the sacred host, I see the innumerable dangers confronting me.

Pray ne forte cum aliis praedicaverim, ipse reprobus efficiar (). This is what I ask of all my friends, and you know how set I am on numbering you among them, in the hope that, for your part, you continue to feel the affection and attachment you have always shown me, since I first had the honour of making your acquaintance and appreciating you.

I realise that your profession may often prevent you from corresponding; however I hope that it will not dispense you from writing to me now and then. Between friends, this cannot be a great labour. Tell me what is passing through your head, at the time you are holding the pen in your hand, and it will always be delightful for me. It is so good to hear the news of those I love! And if the good Lord really wants me in the missions, if in a short while from now I must cross the seas to replace the blessed missionaries decimated by the fury of Minh-Men, whom the heavens without doubt receive with joy, I hope even more that you will not forget me, that you will write to me sometimes before I leave, which will not be for several months more. I will indicate to you how to write to me as reliably as possible.

I do not know if you have heard how my godly parents took my departure. As you know, my father was strongly opposed to it. However I thought it my duty to open my heart to him a few days before leaving. I told him that my vocation was decided on. This was a terrible blow for him. And for me it was a time of veritable crucifixion. In any case, a correspondence as painful as it was unfruitful took place on one side and the other. Things came to the point that I deemed it prudent to leave a month earlier than I had at first planned, and without returning to Monestrol.

Thus I left when my poor father was least expecting it. When my uncle de Gaja arrived to bring him this overwhelming news, he was writing to the bishop. It was a bolt from the blue. A few hours later, Abbé Taurines and Abbé Tisseyre, parish priest of Saint-Michel de Lacrès, arrived at Monestrol bringing my family my farewell letters.

Abbé Taurines approached my father in just the right way, and with great good sense managed to gain some hold on his mind; he slept in the bedroom with him and reasoned with him so persuasively that by the next morning my poor father had changed his ideas, throwing the bishop's letter in the fire, and wrote me a charming letter, filled with resignation to the holy will of God. What a resource it is to have Christian parents ! And how admirable the Lord is in his ways! Let us love him well, my good friend, this God who loved us so. You understand more than anyone the extent of his mercy, because, more than another, you have felt its effects!

I am obliged to leave you sooner than I would have wished ; another time, I will write at greater length... Write to me from time to time... pray for me a great deal. I also refer to your prayers and holy sacrifices a good Protestant who appears on the way to conversion. Farewell in Our Lord, in the adorable heart of Jesus, and the immaculate heart of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 28 July, 1841)

Sent_0047

Sent_0047 - à sa mère - le 17 août 1841 -/3

Sent 0047 - to his mother - 17 August 1841 -3/3

Sent_0047 - à sa mère - le 17 août 1841 -1/1

Sent 0047 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 32

(to his mother) ()

How his life is organised during these months of holidays. The property of the MEP at Meudon, between Versailles and Paris. Praise of nature; Visit to the chateau of Versailles. Study is a pleasure. The missions are not always what one has imagined. Their separation. Don't worry about my clothes. Greetings to all at Empetit. I have sent you a daguerrotyped portrait.

Index : attachment (family), nature, missions, separation

__________

Paris, 17 August 1841

My very dear Mamma,

In vain I searched for your last letter to answer it, point by point, but I cannot find it ; however it seems to me that I had certain things to remember, so I will try to recall them as well as possible. First of all you'll be pleased to hear that my health is good and that it would be difficult for me not to be well with the routine we follow here, especially in the holidays. For now we have come to the time that goes by that name, during which half of our time is spent in resting, and the other half in doing nothing. To this soft life are added various pleasures, that of walks above all others, and especially the country life we enjoy three days a week, a life of calm and meditation, quite the contrary of the hubbub of Paris which overwhelms and fatigues, even when three rows of houses and a vast garden separate us from the street.

The seminary owns a very pretty country house at Meudon in the neighbourhood of Paris. This is a delightful place, remarkably cool and extremely attractive in appearance. It has a garden where the beauty of the innumerable flowers rivals the quantity of choice fruits. Just two leagues outside Paris, halfway between Paris and Versailles, it can be reached on foot without getting too tired; but there is another way that we often take, and that is the railway which is only five minutes away, and which covers the distance between Paris and Versailles in half an hour, so that we get to Meudon in a quarter of an hour.

It is quite small, in keeping with the seminary of the missions ; but since there are immense royal forests all around, you only have to open the garden gate to be faced with whole leagues of magnificent woods where we can stroll to our heart's delight. For those who like fine viewpoints, you only have to go up to the terrace of the royal castle, which you can do in less than five minutes, and the eye is lost in the immense basin of Paris that you can see in its entirety, with the thousand and one villages filling it, and the capital itself spreading out before the spectator's eyes. This is the place where we have been going this last month three days a week, leaving on Monday evening and only returning to Paris on the Thursday.

From there I have been to Versailles ; I must go back some time soon, for one day is not enough to get even a superficial idea of this masterpiece of the magnificence of Louis XIV. From there too we take some outings to visit the surroundings of Paris. As you see, the life of a missionary is not at all difficult thus far! It is true that I have arrived at holiday time, and that our studies will soon be starting again, but what is study after all? It's a pleasure, and no more.

Without doubt it will not be like this once we are in China, but in all probability it will not be as it is sometimes depicted either. Few people know the missions well, and one tends to think there are far more difficulties and dangers than really exist. The better I know the missions, the more urgently I feel a desire to render thanks to God for having called me to this sublime vocation; and I believe that you will thank him as I do if you saw all the good that a missionary can do in those unfortunate countries, and the need there is for devoted subjects.

What is a separation of a few days in comparison with the glory of Jesus Christ, of the Kingdom of God, of men's salvation, of our own salvation that we assure in some way by our mutual sacrifice ? For the parents' sacrifice is extremely precious in the Lord's eyes! Happy are the parents who give up their children with a cheerful heart to God to be missionaries.

But I am wandering far without having said anything about your letter. Let us bless the Lord for the good that he has begun to do to you, were it only in the form of a slight reward for your great charity! I have heard with pleasure of your visit to Nailloux, once more bless the Lord! As for what you say to me regarding Propagation of the Faith, I can't see that that should trouble you in the slightest. As far as I can remember, it seems to me that I asked you to make this alms out of the 100 francs of the clerical title, but only when you can manage it and when you cannot get anything through to me.

It seems to me that after that you go into a whole lot of details on stockings and shirts, etc. Don't worry about all that, and stop knitting for me, for you would be wasting your time and trouble. I will have quite enough to last me until my departure, and from then on there is no question of wearing black stockings, or a cassock, etc. Believe me, we would be frowned on in China or in Tong-Kin if we were to arrive in such an outfit! Besides, the only thing that is really useful in these hot countries is cotton clothing. The good Lord who has done all things well, has given us yarn, wool etc. and he has put the cotton tree and the mulberry tree for silk there. If I had even realised that clearly, instead of the twelve linen shirts that I had made before leaving, I would have had two dozen of them made in percale. You cannot even use linen shirts when crossing warm seas. The reason is that the yarn is much too cool, it prevents the almost continual perspiration, and thus exposes one to unfortunate accidents. So, none of all that. You see that it would be useless to try to work out what it would be best to get for me. Apart from that, the house provides all that is necessary. To speak frankly, the only thing which could come in useful when I leave, is a little money, and that only if you can spare it without depriving yourselves too much, without in the least spoiling your plan of going to spend some time at Castelnaudary, a plan which seems to me not only good, but even to a certain degree necessary.

So much for several matters, I hope I haven't forgotten anything. I thought you would be pleased to receive this letter at Empetit, therefore I am addressing it to you there, which will compensate you a little for the absence of those you have left at Monestrol. Give my affectionate regards to all the family at Empetit, to the good Jeanne, the godly François, the good Cadet and all the others. I think this is a family which loves God and that the good Lord must love greatly. Ask them to remember me in their holy prayers. If you see the Soulage family, please remember me to them, and would you kindly do the same with the Ménard family if you see them, likewise in general all those who may ask you for my news.

In the last few days I have sent my daguerrotype portrait to Papa for the whole family. I think that he will have received it before you left, which makes me hope to receive a letter soon. It seems to me a long time now since you last wrote to me. As you said I think, a few days ago, we must take advantage of the time I am at Paris, while later we will have to content ourselves with exchanging news more rarely, though they will not be any the less interesting or precious. There are five of you to write to me, while I am only one, so that it seems to me that I would be entitled to receive your news more frequently than I can give you mine. However that may be, write to me soon. Assure the best of fathers of my profound respect, give a thousand kind regards to Henri and to my good and charming sisters – at the same time as I beg you to accept the sincere assurance of my limitless love with which

I have the honour of being

the most submissive and devoted of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 17 August 1841)

Sent_0048

Sent_0048 - à son cousin - le 4 septembre 1841 -/3

Sent 0048 - to his cousin Louis - 4 September 1841 -3/3

Sent_0048 - à son cousin - le 4 septembre 1841 -1/1

Sent 0048 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 14

(to Mr Louis de Marion Brésillac,

lawyer, Rue Darquier no. 8, Toulouse)

Where the missionaries of the MEP work. In all probability I shall be leaving next spring. Organisation of the MEP with the directors. They really have lessons to give us. Some explanations on written Chinese and spoken Chinese. The devotion required by the mission. The baptism of young children under the article of death. Except in India, there are still persecutions. Minh-Men. No news from Korea for a long time. What he thinks of Paris. Attendance of the churches in Paris.

Index : friendship, MEP, missions, persecution, devotion, attachment (family)

__________

Paris, 4 September 1841

I have received your letter of July last, my very dear friend, and have been waiting ever since for a suitable occasion for writing to you in my turn, to give you some details, as you asked me to. Not foreseeing any such for a long time still, I am taking the resolution of writing to you by post, desiring as much as you could desire it yourself, to converse a moment with you. What can I tell you about our missions? Those that the Holy See has entrusted to our house are all in Asia; they are eight in number, one in India and the others further away in China, Korea, etc. I still do not know where or when I will be leaving, nor what my destination will be, it all depends on a thousand circumstances that may vary from one moment to the next.

However, as regards my departure I presume that it will be next spring ; practically it is only at that time of year that the vessels of France or England leave for Macao which is the centre of almost all our missions. There, we have a house of agency which the mail-steamers of the different missions serve at fixed times ; they arrange the routes, they carry the dispatches, collect those of France, bring the missionaries, etc. Since very clever men are chosen for this, who are perfectly acquainted with the customs of the country, we enter with them and sometimes cross the impenetrable empire of China in their company passing ourselves off as people of that country. If my destination was for India, I could leave at some other time, either earlier or later, since the journey to Pondicherry where we usually go is much shorter and easier. For the rest, I am not very concerned about my departure, a few months more or less, and we do not waste the time in this house.

The directors are missionaries sent out by the missions themselves to do their business in France and to represent them. They have gained experience with weapons, they know the places where they have lived for long periods, the peoples that they have seen not as a traveller who greets them quickly in passing and who afterwards makes long dissertations that are almost always false, conjectural and exaggerated, but as if they are members of the family, living with the Christians of the various places entrusted to them, sleeping in their houses, living at their table, receiving their complaints, consoling them in their misfortunes, encouraging them in their trials, educating them from infancy until the most advanced age, etc.

As you may imagine, such witnesses can give us lessons, point out dangers, in short form us to a kind of ministry so different from our own, and which implies so many difficulties. We deal only slightly with languages, for it is practically impossible to learn them except in the country itself; however since a knowledge of Chinese is useful in almost all our missions, and indispensable in certain of them, we are given a few lessons. As you may know, this language is quite different from the others, having no letters, and consequently no combinations by means of which the way of expressing everything in only a few characters was so ingeniously discovered, whereas it requires a particular character for each thing, and for each idea whether physical or metaphysical or moral. Whence its innumerable characters which have no analogy with one another, and which have been classified according to certain resemblances of conformation, exclusively. You have to know for example that (Chinese character) means to strip, that (Chinese character) means to love, etc. A stroke more or less changes the sense.

As for the spoken language, that is something quite different ; since they have not found as many different monosyllables as they have characters, the same sound is employed for several, for more than thirty or forty sometimes ; so that they then distinguish them by the tone. Thus the sound that we would represent more or less in our language by the three letters hou means to blow, to cover, big, tiger, pepper, fox, beard, frozen, net, to help, etc. In a dictionary of 13,300 characters only, I find 54 meanings for this single word. But that is more than enough for quite commonplace notions, since it is possible to find them in any library by referring to some Chinese books.

In general our missions are little known even to the priests, so that one tends to imagine that the difficulties are much greater than they actually are, that little good is accomplished, that everything has to be constantly started all over again, etc. If they know the opposite, perhaps there would be more zeal, more eagerness to take part in this eminently Catholic cause, and which recalls in immense regions the heroic days of the early Church. Without doubt devotion is required, and fatigues have to be endured, but it appears, as can easily be understood, that you feel an inexpressible happiness at the sight of the simple and generous faith of the Christians whom the Lord chooses, and whom he draws to him from the midst of so many blind people who never see the light.

Another subject of great consolation is the baptism of young children before they die. What a crowd of saints, what a legion of blessed souls for whose salvation the Lord has made use of the poor missionary as a quite useless instrument without doubt, but basically as the instrument employed by him in his mercy !

See then, what a fine harvest : in the past year, in the mission of Su-Chuen, in the province of China alone, despite the more active surveillance of the Chinese due to their war with England, a surveillance which is becoming more and more active and is destined to impede us, it would seem, we baptised 15,000 children of pagans under the article of death. When writing this, there had already been 11,000 deaths, that is to say 11,000 in heaven, snatched for ever from the abyss where the devil seemed about to bury them for ever! What could we not do with more workers, with more zeal and more sanctity; and as regards the faithful with a greater contribution in the form of prayers and good works.

In all of our missions we must be continually on our guard, except in those of India where we are very free, because the Christian religion is not authorised there, but in actual fact it is only the two missions of Tong-Kin and of Cochin China which are openly persecuted. There, we have the happiness of seeing our fellow missionaries go straight to heaven after suffering martyrdom. Each day gives us new saints, and at this moment work proceeds in Rome on the canonisation of several of them. When will this long and cruel persecution end? It is impossible to foresee. God holds events in his hands, his intentions are impenetrable. However yesterday we received a letter in which it is said that the cruel Minh-Men, this present-day Nero, is dead. This hearsay which seems to have arrived in two strides from Cochin China to Pondicherry, and in another from Pondicherry to here, doesn't mean much. Let us wait and pray.

Then there is another mission on behalf of which the liveliest fears are entertained , and that is the mission of Korea : it is now three years since any news of it have been received, and it is feared that all those sent there have gone to heaven a little earlier than would have been wished, humanly speaking. If this is so, it is a twofold misfortune, since Korea is our only resource for making fresh attempts on Japan which is absolutely inaccessible from anywhere else.

So that is a very general idea of our missions. Shall I tell you about Paris? but who does not know Paris ? What I could tell you would not be a pinch on what you can find elsewhere. If I had to report in globo on the impression it makes each day on me, I would answer in few words : some admiration, great pity and great disappointment ; but I feel sure that this judgment would not be general, undoubtedly depending largely on each person's taste.

In the world of religion, there is talk above all of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and of the Arch-confraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You must have a knowledge of one and the other. The latter erected at Notre Dame des Victoires has already spread almost all over France, and it would seem certain that the Lord delights in expressing his power through the intermediary of our good Mother in the conversion of sinners referred to Mary by those who honour her immaculate heart. May God be blessed! He possesses resources for all needs, for all places and for all times. The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul should have some conferences at Toulouse, of which perhaps you are a member; if this is so I would be obliged if you could tell me, in your next letter how it works, and the good it does, giving me all the interesting details in this regard that you can lay hands on.

For the rest, among the things that I have admired here is the good behaviour in church and the true devotion of a large number of young people. The churches are not very well attended, but the number of men is much larger than in our parts, in proportion. Besides I feel sure that a young man who has the courage not to give in to his passions finds it much easier in Paris than in the provinces to behave like a good Christian. Each person lives as he pleases and does as he pleases, without being noticed by anyone, and people have less of this terrible human respect which, whatever one says, restrains so many and will damn so many people.

But I am coming to the end of my fifth page, I hope that you will not reproach me any more, and that you will soon serve me in the same coin. Remember me to all of our relatives and friends. Repeat to Auguste how vexed I was not to find him when I passed through Toulouse, say a word from me to your father when you write to him, and let our hearts be ever as one in the union of our prayers.

Truly yours in the charity of O.S.J.C.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 4 September 1841)

Sent_0049

Sent_0049 - à son cousin Louis - le 4 novembre 1841 -/1

Sent 0049 - to his cousin Louis - 4 November 1841 -1/1

Sent_0049 - à son cousin Louis - le 4 novembre 1841 -1/1

Sent 0049 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 15

(to Mr Louis de Brésillac, Toulouse)

Nothing new. I think I shall be leaving next spring

Rien de nouveau. Je pense partir au printemps prochain.

Index : friendship

__________

Paris, 4 November 1841

My dear friend,

I was going to write to you to ask Paul Nicol to be patient a little longer, when your letter arrived announcing his admission. I take advantage of the opportunity offered by Mr Boutau, for asking you to pass on these few lines as well as several letters for that good young man, requesting you to give him this good news and to provide him with your recommendations and your good advice.

I will say no more now since time is short. Apart from that, nothing new on (my) account, while awaiting the time for my departure which will not be later, I think, than next spring.

A Dieu. All the best to your father and to all our relatives and friends.

Please remember me in your fervent prayers, asking you to consider me always as the best of your cousins.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 4 November 1841)

Sent_0050

Sent_0050 - à sa mère - le 11 décembre 1841 -/2

Sent 0050 - to his mother - 11 December 1841 -2/2

Sent_0050 - à sa mère - le 11 décembre 1841 -1/1

Sent 0050 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 48-49

(to his mother)

My health is good. I do not know either where nor when I will leave, but it will be in the spring. Studies, prayer. I could do with a little money. Must I reassure you of my love ? You know it well already.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Paris, 11 December 1841

My dear Mamma,

I had just written to Félicie when Mr Dupérier brought Papa's letter with the pretty pen that you so kindly sent me as a souvenir. So that I thought it better to wait for a few days before thanking you for this precious gift, to put a reasonable interval between our letters. You can have no doubt of the pleasure that anything coming from you causes me ; accordingly rest assured that I will keep this delightful souvenir with care, and although you are in my mind every day, it will nevertheless be a token of your love.

Papa asks for news of my indisposition, but it is now so long ago that I recovered from it that I don't even remember any more. I was confined for seven or eight days, then it was all over. If I didn't mention it to you, that was because it was absolutely nothing serious, for you know that I never hide things from you, and I have given you proof of this in the little note that I wrote to you immediately, so you would not worry about me if you learned of it from some other source.

It would be difficult for me to give you any interesting news about myself. I still do not know either when, or for what place I will be leaving. I think I told you that the cruel Minh-Men is dead, by now the news is certain, but it is still not known in what state the mission is, and every day we expect letters from that country; matters have likewise stopped the dispatches we could make for India, otherwise I really believe that I would have been sent there, and that I would be leaving soon on a ship bound for Pondicherry, which takes out a quantity of things for our missionaries.

Thus everything is in suspense as far as I am concerned. However, quite soon all of that must be settled, for spring is approaching and it is the ordinary time for departures. As soon as I know something, I will not fail to inform you. Meanwhile, we are living a life of princes. There are many of us; study, prayer and some recreation times account for each day which passes quickly.

I wrote some time ago to Papa that I could do with a little money when the time comes for my departure. As that time is sometimes decided all of a sudden, I thought it best to take the necessary steps somewhat in advance, and thus I would need quite soon, if he could send it to me without too much inconvenience, the sum of 300 francs, at the risk of bothering him once more at the time of my departure by asking him for a further fifty écus. Kindly tell him this, however so long as I am not more threatened with leaving, it's not so urgent that he cannot take a few days if he needs to.

I do not know what more I can tell you, for repeating to you the assurances of my love and of my devotion is nothing new, and I like to believe that you are so well persuaded of it, that a further assurance on my part will not increase your conviction. My kind regards to everyone, to Papa, to Henri, to my good sisters, and to all who ask for my news.

A Dieu. Remember me always in your fervent prayers, in your holy communions, at the foot of the cross and in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary ; as for me, I could never forget you at the altar where we are united each day in spirit and heart.

The most respectful of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 11 December 1841)

Sent_0051

Sent_0051 - à M. Vian - le 26 décembre 1841 -/4

Sent 0051 - to Mr Vian - 26 December 1841 -3/3

Sent_0051 - à M. Vian - le 26 décembre 1841 -/3

Sent 0051 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 50-53

(to Mr Victorin Vian, chaplain, Draguignan, Var)

Thank you for continuing to write to me. I had feared that my departure would put an end to our correspondence. Here at Paris we could hardly be better off: excellent food, confreres of the finest order. So you too want to be a missionary! Why not? Your health is not an obstacle, on the contrary. You would do great good as a missionary. How he sent Abbé Taurines to his home to warn of his departure. Now my father is in agreement. Reflections in general on the minor seminaries and in particular on the minor seminary of Carcassonne. Reflections on parents.

Index : friendship, MEP, missionary, separation (departure), parents, will of God

__________

Paris, 26 December 1841

My very dear friend,

What it is to have too good a memory! Without doubt you will be surprised at this exclamation, for you know very well that I have no memory to resell. I admit it, I am poor on the side of a memory of facts; but memory of the heart, I possess it wholly, and I intend not to assign it to anyone else from that point of view. Perhaps you will be wondering what I am getting at? it is this: How difficult I find it to have too many friends, you said to me one day, a long time ago, under the balcony of the minor seminary; thus I break off all correspondence with them, in order not to feel the unfortunate effects of too great a pleasure.

I hesitate to tell you, my dear friend, but I always felt afraid of being rejected in this way by you. Your last letter has come to assure me for ever of the contrary; I cannot tell you how happy it made me, so I thought that the only way of giving you some idea of this happiness was to tell you what my fear had been. I am saying this to you with the frankness that you know me to possess: even if you had kept a cruel silence in my regard, I would not have been any the less attached to you, only I would have made a fresh sacrifice to the Lord, which would not have had any great merit since it would have been forced. All the more so since his glory may very well be contained in this salutary correspondence!

Even if your words had the sole effect of fortifying, encouraging and edifying a poor missionary, would that not already have been something ? and if the good God reserves me somewhere this inexpressible happiness felt by those working to convert souls, will it not also be for his glory that I tell you so, in order for you to raise your fervent prayers and your thanksgivings to him?

Thus, I in no way forego the pleasure of writing to my friends (they are few in number, because they are true friends), as also I in no way dispense them from the duty of writing to me sometimes in their turn. You accept this, don't you? Your next letter will be in the affirmative, I do not doubt, for which I am grateful in advance, and bless the Lord.

I have not seen the young man you speak to me of. As you say, it is all too easy for a poor young man to go astray in Paris. But also it is easier than elsewhere to maintain your godliness, if you have someone to guide you or encourage you. I am very annoyed that he didn't come and see me.

As you see, your letter has found me in Paris still. I do not know how much longer I shall be here. Once, I had hoped to leave for Pondicherry, but nothing came of it. Let us wait patiently for the will of God to become clear. Meanwhile, you ask me how I am! It would be difficult to be better. Here we practice preventive medicine by using opposites. Thus: a great deal of rest, no work, a certain amount of study, which amounts to very little when one is a priest, good indeed superb food, that is how they prepare missionaries here, claiming it is necessary to prepare and reserve one's strength for the future.

The persons with whom we have to live are of the very best from all points of view. So that if we are tired of anything, literally, it is of being too well off. Perhaps that is the greatest trial of the priest, who cannot prevent himself from sighing at times after the sweet fatigues of the ministry. For me, at the moment there is a single care; I can't wait to leave, in order to get away from a life which is too good for a future missionary.

You see, my dear friend, that in order to be happy, I am lacking what you yourself foresaw, when you said : " how happy I will be when I know that you are completely engaged in the work of the foreign missions!" Yes, my dear friend, be happy then, for I will certainly be so myself, and in fact am so already since the delay I am undergoing, due to circumstances quite outside of man's will, is undoubtedly arranged by the hand of the Lord. Besides, this delay cannot last very much longer, so we should not complain too much.

And you, my very dear friend, you allow yourself to indulge in a series of exclamations, as if you too wished to be a missionary ! Is that really so, or is it a joke or something? You ask me what I think about it! First of all I have to know whether you're talking seriously! If that is so, perhaps you would still not trust my opinion; for I can tell you frankly, it would certainly incline to the affirmative. I believe that your health is the least important obstacle. It may be that this will astonish you, but that is what I think.

Moreover, it is the opinion of someone who knows what he is talking about, that is Mr Tesson, director of the establishment, former missionary in India, to whom I have spoken a little about you. Do you know what he said ? Guess: that, on the basis of what I told him about your constitution, which I explained as exactly as I could, you would be more suited than me to missions in hot countries. Weak temperaments succeed better in the ordinary way, they are more in harmony with the climate, which requires the others to undergo a terrible revolution to get acclimatised to the kind of weather.

Now, what I think is that, besides, you should see if the for ever precious vocation of the foreign missions is for you, you should ascertain it before the Lord, having as sole prospect his glory, setting aside all the affections of nature, all the reasoning of the heart, all the previsions of a human prudence, etc. If it happens that the cry of conscience and an inner call to your devotion inspire in you a decision in conformity with your zeal and your godly desires, do not fear, but continue to go forward. God will do the rest.

That is what I think, my very dear friend, and what is certain is that there is a need of missionaries, and missionaries of goodwill, of missionaries having a rather broad outlook, like you in short; the fact is that a missionary priest is morally sure of doing more good than in France where so many others will undoubtedly occupy our place, and perhaps more successfully. It is a life of sufferings, of humiliations, of privations, but also it is the way of salvation, I feel quite sure, and the difficulties that one imagines one will meet are, I think, much diminished when one sees them at close hand.

So that is my opinion ; you asked me for it, so there you are ; now it is up to your conscience. I forgot one thing though, you asked me if there are any examples of weak health in our seminary; yes, there are many. I might even say that the best missionary we have had in one part of our missions is a man who was considered not to have two ounces of health, nor two days to live.

What can I tell you about my parents ? I could teach you some fine things if ever I had the happiness of conversing with you. For God's goodness has done wonders, so help me to pay him back in thanksgivings. I think I told you that I found myself forced to leave all of a sudden, since a firm opposition was on the point of exerting its strongest means of dissuasion. Accordingly I arranged everything so that my poor father learned of my departure with the greatest possible circumspection, but I had nearly arrived at Bordeaux when they came to tell him that I had left.

For him it was a bolt from the blue. However straightway he found himself circumvented by a crowd of friends whom I had arranged should be there at once. This attention touched him. Abbé Taurines, whose prudence is consummate, was one of them; he had a powerful calming effect on his mind, even going so far as to sleep in his room, and had the pleasure of seeing my father's ideas absolutely changed by next morning. He submitted to God's orders, gave up all forms of opposition, he wished me to know immediately; and I received such assurance myself, I cannot tell you with what joy, shortly after arriving in Paris.

So my dear friend that is what the Lord did ! I won't speak to you of my mother whose resignation was known to me; she behaved not as a woman, but as a saint! You see that there is a resourcefulness in hearts where the faith still reigns, and this obstacle of parents, that the Lord almost always permits, often melts away like a vain shadow. However there are those who are far more unfortunate than me. I could name more than one of them among those who are now in the seminary of the missions with me. Thus their merit will be all the greater. The Lord arranges things in such a way that temptations are not above the strength that he knows each one of us to possess. So let us not be afraid when we throw ourselves into his arms.

I have no further news of the minor seminary. Some time ago I wrote to Mr Arnal, but I have not been honoured by a reply; Mr Gleises, who always maintained a lively friendship with me, has given that up since my departure, as a result undoubtedly of his Originality; we would converse sometimes with each other in the minor seminary, but today there is no further mention of that. It is not surprising. Those gentlemen would have their arms full if they were obliged to remember all of those who had been in touch with them at some time; however I will always remember that establishment with pleasure, because I believe that good is done, and the glory of God is to be found there.

We are certainly in need of good educational establishments ! And although I believe that there is much to be said on minor seminaries, I also believe that in our unfortunate times it is the best or the least bad that exists. Let us pray that the Lord does not deliver to his enemies the culture of youth, the hope of religion and of the homeland! But there I go, it's becoming almost a dissertation. Non erat hic locus. ()

I learn as ever with great pleasure the news of your respectable parents. May the Lord bless them, as he deigns to bless mine at the moment! Poor parents! At times they have much to suffer at the hands of those same children who love them best! Thus, how fine their crown will be if they have the courage to carry for the Lord the afflictions that the Lord himself sends them. Kindly convey my regards to your brother in particular, whose edifying virtues I will never forget.

A Dieu. Write to me still in Paris, where I expect to be for some time more, and if I should leave before having received your news, I will let you know. Do not forget me in your good prayers in which I ask you to remember me specially, and in the union of which I like to call myself

The most sincere of all your friends.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

I was forgetting to wish you a happy new year, since I already wish all your days to be good, without any distinction.

(Paris, 26 December 1841)

Sent_0052

Sent_0052 - à son cousin Louis - le 27 décembre 1841 -/2

Sent 0052 - to his cousin Louis - 27 December 1841 -2/2

Sent_0052 - à son cousin Louis - le 27 décembre 1841 -1/1

Sent 0052 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 16

(to Mr Louis de Marion Brésillac)

(c/o Baronness de Thésan, Rue Darquier, Toulouse)

New Year's wishes. He sends his letter by Mr Poulariez. Introduce him in Toulouse so that he can celebrate mass. I had hoped to leave for Pondicherry; now, I don't know where I will be going.

Index : will of God, friendship, missions

__________

Paris, 27 December 1841

I am happy, my very dear friend, that an occasion has arisen at the end of this year, which gives me the opportunity of conveying to you my best wishes for your happiness in the coming year, and at the beginning of which my letter will undoubtedly be handed over to you. These wishes are not for you alone, but also for the whole family, to whom I would ask you to kindly convey them as soon as you have the opportunity. I hope, my very dear friend, that the friendship that you have honoured me with thus far will not be altered by time. Separated from each other for the sole glory of the Lord, our relationship should receive a fresh force of intimacy, for this reason alone, and I really hope that it will be so ; I hope that, by writing to each other from time to time, wherever the mission is that the Lord intends me for, we will be able in this way, as sweet as it may be salutary, to edify ourselves from time to time, by telling each other what the mercy of the good God brings about in the various parts of the universe.

My letter will be delivered to you by a priest from the diocese of Carcassonne who is due to spend one or two days in Toulouse ; he would be delighted to make your acquaintance, I have spoken to him of you, and I even told him that it would be easy for you to present him to some sacristy in order for him to say mass, on the assurance that I can give you of his virtue, without his being obliged to report to the bishop, which would vex him, since having spent some time in Paris, his papers might not be completely in order. He is an excellent priest, and you can present him without fear on my recommendation. His name is Poulariez. He will give you a little packet for my father, that I would ask you to let him have as soon as possible. This will be easy for you through the good offices of the Dupérier family which is in daily contact with Monestrol. If you see Mr Dupérier or one of his sisters, kindly pay my respects to them, and tell them that I have seen their brother the sailor several times, and that he is well.

I must thank you for all the trouble you took on behalf of Paul Nicol. I think that at this moment he is at Saint Chamond; you were a great help to him; but rest assured that your efforts will not have been in vain, if he perseveres in his good intentions.

Nothing new as regards myself. At a certain point I hoped to leave for Pondicherry, but nothing came of it. Let us wait with submission for God's orders and for his holy will to be made known. I don't know how I gave you to understand that we had abandoned, even momentarily, the missions of China and Cochin China! God forbid that we should withdraw in the face of danger! And especially at this time when we have most reason to hope! Events are becoming confused, but God only has to blow and the storm will abate, and then what fruits may we not expect from the sweat of so many missionaries, from the blood of so many Martyrs! Let us pray, pray, let us hope and love, and God will do the rest.

Forgive me for the bad writing, but my pen is running away with me, and time presses. I take my leave of you, asking you to remember me in your prayers, in the hope of soon receiving your news, asking you to accept the sincere friendship

of the most affectionate of your cousins.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 27 December 1841)

(in someone else's writing, on the back of the letter)

Please would Father Tinseau make himself acquainted with the contents of this letter and render Mr Poulariez the service requested for him by my cousin, if that is not against the regulations, of course.

At the same time would he kindly accept my thanks.

L(ouis) de Brésillac

(Paris, 27 December 1841)

Sent_0053

Sent_0053 - à sa mère - le 28 décembre 1841 -/2

Sent 0053 - to his mother - 28 December 1841 -2/2

Sent_0053 - à sa mère - le 28 décembre 1841 -1/1

Sent 0053 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 54-55

(to his mother)

New Year's wishes. The Lord has promised to reward one hundredfold a mother who gives him her son. These wishes are for the whole family. My father's sublime resignation has exceeded my hopes. I have received the 300 francs.

Index : will of God, attachment (family), resignation, sacrifice

__________

Paris, 28 December 1841

My dear Mamma,

By writing to you today, I hope that my letter will reach you more or less at the beginning of the new year. Although I am quite sure that you do not doubt of the sincerity of my good wishes for you, I wish all the same to convey to you their whole extent and their whole intensity. All your hope is based, like mine, on the will of God and on his infinite mercy ; and it cannot be otherwise in truly Christian hearts, but they too have the right to trust his blessings all the more, since they have taken the utmost care to act in accordance with his orders.

So rest assured, my dear Mamma ; since you have not failed the Lord in circumstances in which he put your great faith to the test, the Lord will be true to his promise, he will keep his word, he who promised to reward a hundred times over, in this life even, a mother who gives him her son.

Has he not already in part kept this promise, and if he must soon require the accomplishment of the sacrifice, does he not have all ready fresh blessings also? Yes, my dear Mamma, he will bless you above all in the virtue, the good behaviour and the wisdom of the children who are around you who will do their utmost to surpass themselves, I feel sure, in order to please you.

But you will not enjoy this happiness on your own. My father's sublime resignation has bordered on heroism; I declare that it has exceeded my hopes, despite my awareness of his great faith; he too has made the sacrifice; God, very certainly, will not allow himself to be exceeded in liberality. Accordingly the wishes I am making today for you as for him, are in some way the expression of the certainty I feel that they cannot fail to be fulfilled. Present them yourselves with this confidence to the Lord, after having first conveyed them to my tender father.

Henri, Bathilde, and Félicie are actively and in a very special way included in my New Year's wishes ; I feel sure that they will respond in their turn, for they still do not fully comprehend how much I prize their friendship. I hope they will always give me such assurance, both by their words and by their actions, among which I will always consider, as the surest and most precious, the love they nurture for Papa and for you.

In the last few days I have received from Mr Dupérier 300 francs that Papa sent me. Please thank him very much. I have nothing new to tell you about myself. It seems that I will be here for some time still. The ship on which I had some hope of embarking for Pondicherry left without any decision being taken to send us, so let us continue waiting patiently.

Once more, be sure to convey my sincere good wishes to the dearest of fathers, to my brother and sisters whom I love tenderly, and remember me to our friends and acquaintances.

For you who are sure of occupying the place of tenderest of mothers in my heart, allow me to repeat yet again how much I love you. But let us always raise our hearts to God, and let us learn to conform our affections to his love, our desires to his holy will, so that our attachment will not then be a vain and disastrous illusion ().

With these sentiments I embrace you with the whole force of my soul and beg you to accept the respects

of the tenderest of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

I have unsealed my letter to tell you that I have just received my father's letter dated the 23rd. It appears that we will still have time to write to one another before my departure, less settled than ever. I have still not received the chalice cover from Félicie; I will be delighted to have it. So, courage, let us love one another, love one another, but let us love God above all else.

Farewell.

(Paris, 28 December 1841)

Sent_0054

Sent_0054 - à son frère Henri - le 14 janvier 1842 -/2

Sent 0054 - to his brother Henri - 14 January 1842 -2/2

Sent_0054 - à son frère Henri - le 14 janvier 1842 -1/1

Sent 0054 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 33

(Mr Henri de Marion Brésillac)

(Monestrol par Villefranche de Lauragais, Haute-Garonne)

Thank you for your letters. I have been appointed to India, the finest country in the world. So that we will be able to write to each other easily. I am working on my English; I will learn the language of the country on the spot. I am thinking of leaving a proxy to Raymond Gaja. What do you think?

Index : attachment (family), missions, language (study), journey (his)

__________

Paris, 14 January 1842

My very dear Henri,

I do not know who to write to of you three, since I realise that I owe three answers. So that it is to you three principally that I am writing today to thank the three of you together for all the goodness you have had for me. It is difficult for me to tell you how touched my heart is by the testimonies of friendship that you give me each day. Rest assured that these are returned and that I love you more that you could ever think and believe. I have received the magnificent chalice cover of which Félicie has just made me a gift; tell her on my behalf that I thank her, and that I will keep it and treasure it as long as I can.

I have some news to announce that will perhaps distress you, yet at the same time I think that it may give you more pleasure than pain. This regards the determination of my destiny. I have not been found worthy without doubt of fighting against the violent attacks of persecution. That task is reserved to several of my confreres who will be leaving for China and the neighbouring countries. While as for me, I have a more peaceful mission, that of India.

For myself I am very pleased to have been sent there, because I think that that is where the good Lord wants me, and then for Papa and Mamma, for you all in short who, I feel sure, will be happy to learn of it. Apart from the excessive heat which in any case one soon becomes accustomed to, from what people say it is the most beautiful country in the world, and missionaries find themselves very comfortable there. We will be able to write to one another often: the letters come via the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, by the English steamers; we receive them in twenty to thirty days regularly. So that, as I said at the beginning of this letter, I hope that this news will give you more pleasure than pain.

There is always the painful idea of a forthcoming separation, but we have been expecting it ever since I left Castelnaudary, and we could not have expected this happy conjunction, all the more so since it is barely a tenth of missionaries who go there. To change this destination we would have to receive some good news from Tong-Kin or from Cochin China before my departure; in which case we would all go to those desolate countries, however it is not probable, since my departure cannot be far off now. Thus I have left my study of Chinese for that of the English which is indispensable in those regions. I will learn the language of the country once I am there.

That's about all I can tell you for the moment. I won't say anything of my health which is perfect.

Since you never know what may happen when you are away, the establishment requires us to leave a proxy to someone before leaving. If none of the family minds, I had thought of Raymond Gaja. I will write to him today to ask him if he agrees, however if you don't feel that that is quite right, please let me know and I will take some other measure. It seems to me that, by his position, Raymond is the person who can most easily deal with any questions that might affect me, and the most agreeably for you all.

Farewell, my dear friend, and a thousand kind regards to you all. Let us thank the Lord for his goodness to us; is it not a great goodness for all of us that he is sending me to India? Let us love him dearly.

The closest of your friends.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. Tell Mamma to stop worrying about my shirts. Here they give you all you need for the journey and once in India you don't wear them any more.

All your letters have reached me stamped.

(Paris, 14 January 1842)

Sent_0055

Sent_0055 - à sa mère - le 7 février 1842 -/1

Sent 0055 - to his mother - 7 February 1842 -1/1

Sent_0055 - à sa mère - le 7 février 1842 -1/1

Sent 0055 Original, AMA 2F1, p 56

(to his mother)

My departure is delayed by a few days. Why does not the whole family leave Monestrol for Castelnaudary for a few weeks. You need it.

Index : attachment (family ), journey (his)

__________

Paris, 7 February 1842

My dear Mamma,

It would seem that my departure is delayed by a few days still. The government frigate, on which it was intended that we would embark for Bourbon, cannot take us, because it is filled with soldiers; so that we have to wait for another ship which sets sail either for that island, or better still directly for Pondicherry.

I have nothing new to say to you, and I am only writing these few words to you because I think that you are all impatient to have my news. In fact, I am now extremely occupied, having three languages to learn : English, Sanskrit and Tamoul ; but with the grace of God, that is the least of matters.

I waited every day for news of your arrival at Castelnaudary. It seems to me that you are delaying overmuch in carrying out that project.

I even hoped that you would undertake it during these days, which would seem to be far better and highly salutary ; so why don't you convince Papa to leave Monestrol for a few weeks, and don't give up going, for some time at least to town ; It seems to me that, more than ever you would all benefit from it. I declare that I feel some distress at the idea that you might forego it.

I will stop there to do an English essay. I hope that you will write to me soon. A thousand regards to everyone. To you, my dear Mamma, the assurance of the respectful attachment of the tenderest of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 7 February 1842)

Sent_0056

Sent_0056 - à sa mère - le 11 mars 1842 -/2

Sent 0056 - to his mother - 11 March 1842 -2/2

Sent_0056 - à sa mère - le 11 mars 1842 -1/1

Sent 0056 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 57-58

(to his mother)

My departure is still delayed. We will put in at Bourbon. Even if there are some dangers, journeys are easy today. Let us offer the Lord the sacrifice of our separation. Your faith will get the better of nature. The grace of the Lord is there. What a pity my father did not accompany you to Castelnaudary. Do not sell the house. Keep my books for me.

Index : attachment (family), sacrifice, joy, graces, journey (his)

__________

Paris, 11 March 1842

My dear Mamma,

Do not fear, this is not the last letter that I'll be writing you from Paris. My departure is once more delayed by several days, I will not be leaving Paris until the end of this month or the first days of April to embark at Nantes on a ship which is due there at that time. I appears that it is a ship that suits us perfectly from all points of view, and if we have delayed thus far, it was in order to wait for a good occasion like this, otherwise we would already be on our way.

However this same ship will not take us directly to Pondicherry, it is only going as far as Bourbon, five-sixths of our journey ; there, we will have no difficulty in finding a passage for India. You see that things are working out well, so do not become agitated or start worrying ; the good God who never abandons those who work for him will be, or so at least we hope, with his new missionaries, and "With God on our side, said Saint Paul, who can be against us?" ()

Journeys by sea are more easily undertaken today than they were even a short while ago ; without doubt, there are always some dangers, but your good prayers will certainly have the effect of averting them, and besides, what are the dangers to which one would not expose oneself for God ? Even were we to fall victim of a journey, should people feel sorry for us, since our hope cannot be torn from us?

So that you will accept, my dear Mamma, the news of my departure, with a holy joy, as I hope to undertake it myself with the joy of the Lord. We will make a single and same offering to the good God of my sacrifices and of your sacrifices, and I feel confident that it will be favourably received by him who knows that our intention is to love him and to testify our love to him.

I understand that your good mother's heart may at times be troubled by not finding me at your side ; I would betray the sentiments of my heart if I did not say that it is sometimes very sorry not to appear at the side of yours, but your great faith will get the better of the feelings of nature which must always be subordinated to it. And if, raising our eyes higher, we contemplate our true abode, will we not be fully prepared to consent with a good grace to a passing separation, which gives us a better grounded hope of being for ever re-united a little later?

Let us draw our courage from the inexhaustible sources of the Lord's graces, from those fountains of living water that he has established in order to communicate his goods to us and inundate us with his favours. It is not in vain that he wants us to call him: the bread of life, the bread of the strong, the wine of the chosen. "If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" (), he exclaimed. "Whoever drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again". () How is it that people do not understand that enough ? Let us show those who do not know it that we have the happiness of understanding at least ourselves, and that these divine words bear their fruits in our hearts.

And thus it is, my dear Mamma, that we will have the happiness of continuing in a holy joy in the midst of the contradictions, the troubles and sacrifices with which this life is necessarily filled. And precious and sweet circumstance! It is thus that our obedience to the Lord, and the sacrifice he requires of us, will become lighter the more readily we consent to them with a better heart, and thus we will feel the truth of these words of Jesus Christ: "My yoke is easy and my burden light ". ()

How annoyed I am that my poor father has not consented to spend a few days with you at Castelnaudary ! Do not give up insisting. You know that sometimes it is necessary to press him a great deal to make him change his mind on certain things for which he has conceived a dislike, but that ordinarily in the end he yields to what is reasonable. And I believe that a few months in town are now a necessity for all of you, and if all of you were to make a change, how absolutely easy that would be, whatever one may say, it would not even be much more expensive.

I assure you that I would be very sad to see you sell the house, if that were to be a reason for confining yourselves to the country during the hard winter months. As the strong woman that you are, arrange everything, plan everything, take all the necessary steps to ensure that in future you have at least four months to spend all together at Castelnaudary. I hope that my good and respectable father will be reasonable on this point as he is on so many others, and I am pretty certain that he will be the first to feel the salutary effects of this decision. Which makes me truly regret that he has not taken it already as from this year.

In the mission I am going to, I may need the books I still possess; so please keep them for me. I entrust this task above all to Henri, who will do his best to keep them dusted, see that they are not gnawed by rats and who can use them himself in the meantime. If I need them, I will ask him for them.

I will write to Raymond Gaja (), sending him my proxy that he has been good enough to accept ; meanwhile, please convey to him my friendly greetings, as also to the whole Gaja family which I love more than I can say. Tell me in your next letter if my uncle Melchior () lets this Lent pass once more without going to confession ; he is delaying overlong this good action!

A Dieu, my dear Mamma, I have no more space to tell you how much I love you, but you know it well enough. Kind regards to everyone. Remember me to those persons in Castelnaudary who are anxious not to forget me. I will soon be writing to Mr Taurines.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Paris, 11 March 1842)

Sent_0057

Sent_0057 - à Jacques Roudière - le 11 mars 1842 -/1

Sent 0057 - to Jacques Roudière - 11 March 1842 -1/1

Sent_0057 - à Jacques Roudière - le 11 mars 1842 -/1

Sent 0057Souvenirs Blanchet, AMA 2F30

(to Jacques Roudière)

Thanks for your letter. Advice to a young child: example of the young Toby; may he prepare well for his first communion.

Index : children, advice, journey (his)

__________

Paris, 11 March 1842

My very dear little friend,

I have not forgotten the nice letter you wrote to me on 9 December 1841. It gave me such very great pleasure! I see from it that the good sentiments that I had recognised in your young heart are growing day by day; and I foresee that they will grow even more. Yes, my dear friend, you will be good, I hope, all your life ; as you have been thus far ; and even more still. In that way you will always be happy, and you will make your worthy and respectable parents happy too.

When you are older, do not listen to bad people ; do not go with them ; and never do as they do. On the contrary imitate the holy man Toby, who, when he was young, avoided the company of those who offended the Lord; and who never did anything that children like to do; but, while the others went to worship the golden calves, and seek amusement in the midst of worldly feasts, he went to Jerusalem; he went to the Temple; and there, he worshipped the God of Israel. You know all his story, my dear friend; see how the Good God loved him; for the Good God loves those who serve him faithfully; and he showers them with his blessings.

I think that you will soon be preparing to make your first communion : You know how good Monsieur le Curé is for the children who know their catechism ; and who behave well in church; love him dearly; listen to him attentively; and I am sure that he will allow you to make your first Communion as soon as you a little older.

Finally, my dear friend, remember me in your good prayers ; I am writing to you just before I leave; and, in four months' time, I will be far away from you. Take a look at your geography map. I will be leaving from Nantes; in two months, I will have passed the Cape of Good Hope, in the south of Africa; and in four months, I will be in the East of India, in a town written in large letters called Pondicherry; and after that, in the interior of the country. But our prayers will come together immediately in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, while waiting for us to be there ourselves.

A Dieu. Give my regards to your dear parents ; I embrace you with all my heart.

Mr de Brésillac

(Paris, 11 March 1842)

Sent_0058

Sent_0058 - à M. Vian - le 15 mars 1842 -/1

Sent 0058 - to Mr Vian - 15 March 1842 -1/1

Sent_0058 - à M. Vian - le 15 mars 1842 -/1

Sent 0058 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 59-60

(to Victorin Vian, chaplain, Draguignan)

I am leaving Paris on 28 March. As from now, my homeland is India. Pray for me. I have to change ships at Bourbon.

Index : glory of God, praises, journey (his)

__________

Paris, 15 March 1842

My very dear friend,

I do not want to leave France without saying A Dieu to you. Here I am just about to leave, God be praised a thousand times over. My dear friend, pray often for me that this will be to his greatest glory: Funes ceciderunt mihi in praeclaris. () Now indeed I feel all the happiness of my vocation. Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi ?...() May the offering of my whole self be pleasing to him. Help me to thank him and to praise him, you who love him so much and who are so greatly loved by him, my dear Vian.

I plan to leave Paris on 28 March ; as you see, I don't have much more time to languish here in this land which has become a veritable place of exile for me. As from now, my homeland, the corner of the vineyard that I am sent out to cultivate, is our Mission in India. As you see, I will not have to suffer the cold; the heat is excessive and continual, but what does the climate matter! There is good to be done, and that is what we need.

In a few days' time, I will therefore be transported over the waters towards that place which has now become my only happiness, as it is my only desire. I hope that, during the four or five months that my crossing lasts, you will do me the favour of sometimes adding to the holy mass, when you can, the prayer pro navigantibus (). I say four or five months, because it is very likely that we won't find any ship to take us straight to Pondicherry ; so we will take one for Bourbon, and there we should have no difficulty in finding another for the different parts of India.

To God, my very dear friend, I am leaving you earlier than I would have wished, for time presses. Once more, pray often for him who will esteem and love you always.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. In fact I am leaving on a ship which only goes as far as Bourbon(), from the port of Nantes. Would you do me the kindness of writing me a word before my departure from Nantes (poste restante) ? But at the very least, I count on a letter from you at Pondicherry. If you write to me towards the month of June, your letter should probably arrive before me, so that in this way I will feel a twofold pleasure in receiving it. When you are so kind as to write to me in that country, don't neglect the details. Remember me to your brother and to all of your relatives and ask them include me in their pious prayers. Do not forget me ever, I will remember you always and will always love you.

(Paris, 15 March 1842)

Sent_0059

Sent_0059 - à sa mère - le 16 mars 1842 -/1

Sent 0059 - to his mother - 16 March 1842 -1/1

Sent_0059 - à sa mère - le 16 mars 1842 -/1

Sent 0059 Original, AMA 2F1, p 61

(to his mother)

My departure is fixed for 28 March. I am leaving from Nantes. Love to all the family and our friends. All of you pray for me.

Index : glory of God, journey (his), prayers, Mary

__________

Paris, 16 March 1842

My dear Mamma,

I do not wish to leave you in ignorance of the time of my departure which is at last fixed for 28th of this month, if nothing changes from now until then. You have been expecting this news for a long time ; so I hope that it will not make any other sensation on your heart than that of a fact accomplished as it had to be. Let us pray to God that his greatest glory lies in this determination, which I hope is inspired by him alone. The time is favourable; everything stirs our spirit to piety, resignation and sacrifice ; let us bless the Lord who disposes all things and who has not brought together by chance this combination of circumstances.

I have nothing new to inform you of ; do not be troubled on my account. God will be with us. Two of us are leaving, and it is said that four Jesuits are also embarked on the same ship. As you see, this is a beginning of good fortune which should do much to make the journey less disagreeable.

If you think you may not be in time to write to me here still, write to me at Nantes, at the place where I embark (poste restante). Not knowing if Papa is with you and if you could easily let him know this news, I will write to him at Monestrol, since he would be disappointed not to have learned it as soon as possible.

All the very best to my sisters and to Henri if he is with you, my affectionate greetings to my friends, relatives and acquaintances. I ask to be remembered in the prayers of all those pious souls, and in yours above all, my dear Mamma, which cannot fail to be accepted by the God who sees into the bottom of people's hearts, above all the heart of a mother whom God puts to the test and who submits herself to his will. I will write to you from Nantes where I count on receiving a letter from you or from my father. Once more, A Dieu, in the united hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Your respectful and devoted son.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

Would you be so kind as to hand over the enclosed letter to my sister Agathe?

(Paris, 16 March 1842)

Sent_0060

Sent_0060 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 mars 1842 -/2

Sent 0060 - to his cousin Louis - 21 March 1842 -2/2

Sent_0060 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 mars 1842 -/2

Sent 0060 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 17

(to Mr Louis de Marion Brésillac, lawyer)

(c/o Baroness de Thésan, Toulouse)

I am just about to depart for India via Bourbon ; his future travel companions. I hope that our correspondence will continue. Let us do good around us.

Index : prayers, joy, charity

__________

Paris, 21 March 1842

Just before departure, in the exercises of a preparatory retreat, amidst the confusion of a thousand preparations, I can only write you a few lines, my dear Louis, to say to you A Dieu and ask you more than ever to remember me in your fervent prayers. Perhaps you already knew that my departure had at last been decided, and that I was destined to the mission in India. Accordingly I am now about to leave for Pondicherry, town on which this mission is centred. Thus I am due to leave Paris next Monday or Tuesday for Nantes, from where my departure takes place. There we will take a ship for Bourbon, since we could find none to make the journey direct from France to Pondicherry; however at Bourbon we should have no difficulty in finding another ship for the last part of our sea journey.

By a marvellous arrangement of Providence, we will make the voyage very agreeably without doubt, since two or three Jesuit Fathers bound for Madurai will be sailing on the same ship, and a priest of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit going out to Bourbon ; thus we will be five or six priests, since there are two of us going out from here.

And that, my dear friend, is all I can tell you about my forthcoming departure. I leave with joy because the Lord seems to be confirming me more and more in my vocation, and it seems clearer than ever to me that it would be going against his will not to obey the call that he has made to me without any merit on my part in the affair. Funes ceciderunt mihi in praeclaris ; etenim haereditas mea praeclara est mihi ! () Only let us pray hard; since great difficulties opposed my zeal, great temptations are reserved to me ; great sufferings must be my part; it is only through the grace of the Lord that I will experience in the midst of these tribulations the sentiments which filled Saint Paul with a superhuman joy when he cried out amidst his afflictions : Superabundo gaudio ! () This grace is never refused to prayer.

I hope we will be able to maintain always the sweet benefit of a correspondence which I am really set on, especially since it will be not only a source of consolation for our hearts, but also a powerful means of edification for our souls ! If it pleased even the Lord to place me in a position where my words could be of some use for others, let us not fear to make the most of the little mustard seed which may sometimes grow to be a tall tree. In this regard I give you full and entire liberty. Certainly, some strive so strongly for evil, that we must not be afraid to strive a little for the cause of religion and of truth. Your profession in the world puts you in a particular position for doing good, take advantage of it, my dear friend, and if at times the feeble words of a missionary could be of some use to you, count on my zeal; charity is as great as God, since God is charity, it is not limited by any sea or continent.

A Dieu. I cannot be with you any longer. It would be nice if you could write me a few words to Nantes (poste restante). Kind regards to all our relatives and friends. All of you, pray for me. As I will pray for you.

Your best friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. I expect to embark on 31 March or the first days of April.

The good Paul Nicol has written to me, he has just received the habit of the order, he is overjoyed and asked me to let you know.

(Paris, 21 March 1842)

Sent_0061

Sent_0061 - au séminaire de Carcassonne - le 31 mars 1842 -/4

Sent 0061 - to the seminarians of Carcassonne - 31 March 1842 -4/4

Sent_0061 - au séminaire de Carcassonne - le 31 mars 1842 -/3

Sent 0061 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 134-144

"Souvenirs", pp 89-93

(to the seminarians of Carcassonne)

My only desire is to correspond to the grace of God. Exaltation of the seminary and its teachers. I am sending a universal letter which could be the beginning of a religious and edifying correspondence. If you agree, the next time I will speak to you of the seminary of Paris and of Meudon. The difficulties of a missionary are less great than is believed. Zeal of souls, self-abnegation, sacrifice. Pray a great deal for a poor missionary. I name no-one and greet you all.

Index : vocation, seminary, missions, zeal, abnegation

__________

Nantes, 31 March 1842

Gentlemen and dear friends,

At the moment of setting foot on the ship which is to carry me for ever far from France, I cannot prevent myself from casting one last look on my dear homeland and from calling to mind everything that I am leaving there of precious memories. Please God that I may not incur the just reproach that our adorable Saviour addresses to those who are cowardly and timid in his service. Nemo mittens manum ad aratrum et respiciens retro, aptus est regno Dei. () No, it will not be like that, I hope ; for by the grace of God, by one of the reported effects of his goodness that I am not in a position to publish highly enough, more than ever I feel myself fortified in the vocation that the Lord has deigned to give me, and my only desire is to correspond to this grace.

The Seminary of Carcassonne is one of those precious objects to which my spirit, moved, has turned fondly. Blessed house and how dear to my heart! Sacred asylum where so many virtues grow each day fecundated by pure charity that preserves from the dangers of science; Scientia inflat, charitas vero aedificat ; () where so many valiant athletes are formed for the fight against error and the passions, nunc ergo expugnamus illos (), under masters of whom we cannot tell the merits and the wisdom. House of God, where I lived for all too short a time, but in the shadow of which the Lord has been pleased to allow me to taste precious favours, while he gave me the means of developing in myself the germ of the vocation which today constitutes my happiness.

I have sought, Gentlemen, which are those of the young Levites who are present now in the seminary of Carcassonne, whom I had the benefit of knowing best and appreciating most. It did not take me long to distinguish a great number of them, and just as I was going to write to them to announce my departure and to recommend myself to their pious memory, a thought came into my mind. I lay it before you frankly, Gentlemen, leaving you to judge of its advisability, but in the hope that, in any case, you will see fit to see in it a proof of my affection for you and of my desire to work as much as possible for the glory of our good Master.

The expressions of interest that such a large number of you have given me, and the habitual eagerness with which the zealous ministers of religion hear talk of the work of the Foreign Missions, have led me to think, Gentlemen, that you might be pleased to receive a universal letter ; and following up on this idea : could not this letter, I said to myself, become the beginning of a religious and edifying correspondence which would start up between the Seminary and myself, for our mutual edification?

Far from the country which saw my birth, the precious communications which I would receive from you, would assuredly be of great comfort to my soul. You would give me not profane and political news, but the history of the progress, hopes, consolations, trials and regrets of Religion, in a country which will always be dear to me, while on my side I will speak to you of the trials and consolations of this same Religion in the places that are to become my new homeland.

Yes, Gentlemen, I thought that your souls whose charity encompasses the universe would not be unfeeling to the fact that the Justice of God and his Mercy are reserved to the peoples in whose country I have received the mission of going out to preach the Gospel. I thought that the very pious and Catholic cause of the missions would interest you sufficiently in itself to make you find, in the quite incomplete and undoubtedly extremely defective reports that I could give you, food to arouse your zeal and your devotion to the holy cause of the Gospel, to reanimate in your hearts already brimming over with love, that charity which never reaches its bounds, because it knows no other limit than God himself. Deus charitas est. ()

I am fully aware that various obstacles may make this correspondence difficult. You will not be long in noticing them yourselves, and you will be cleverer than me in destroying them. So that I will not talk of them. Only allow me to say a word about the first person to introduce himself, namely that with the seminary undergoing constant renewal, there will soon be no-one left who knew me. It is true; however I feel persuaded (I do not know if I am flattering myself exceedingly) that as a missionary I will always be loved in the seminary, and that for me it will always be the same moral being. I would go even further: You will always be there in some way, Gentlemen, since the seminary of a diocese is the house of all the priests who were brought up there. Accordingly it will be easy for you to pass on to me through the universal letter of the seminary your own thoughts and your own words, quite apart from the fact that each of you may write to me directly if he wishes, in the assurance that I will always receive, with extreme joy, everything coming to me from the priests animated with the zeal of the house of God and desirous of contributing to seeing the Lord blessed beyond the seas.

I would willingly have begun this correspondence by giving you some more exact notions than one ordinarily has on the foreign missions. I would have indicated to you the various ways in which each of you can offer to this work of God a large tribute of cooperation; finally I would have talked to you in particular of the Seminary of Foreign Missions and of the pious Society to which I have just been admitted, which would deserve to be better known; finally I would have spoken to you of a new establishment that we have just set up at Meudon, a village just outside Paris, to which young people who have not yet finished their theology courses are admitted. For until now only priests or ecclesiastics on the point of becoming so were admitted to the Seminary of Paris; whereas in the seminary of Meudon less advanced candidates will be admitted on condition that, with probable signs of vocation, they give all the guarantees of talent and good behaviour that we can and must require of them. So that represents a new door open to your zeal.

However, before talking to you in detail of all these points, I wanted to know if my proposal of correspondence meets your approval. If you accept it, the subject indicated would provide the matter for my next letter. May I say only that the monster one makes of the difficulties that a missionary must encounter is in general much less repulsive that one imagines. I am not speaking of the sacrifices that such a vocation imposes, I know very well that that is not what frightens generous souls; but of the danger that one expects to encounter there for the salvation of one's soul; such as the trials of isolation, of the influence of the climate on one's way of living, and that of the bad examples that are witnessed in the case of corrupted peoples, and the rest. I do not know things by experience, I shall be able to speak to you of them later, but according to everything that I have learned in the Seminary of Foreign Missions, I think that our missionaries are less exposed to losing gifts of God than a poor country priest in our country.

But let us leave all of that for another occasion, Gentlemen. May it suffice at this solemn moment for me to warm my heart in yours and excite one another to this zeal of souls that makes the missionary. Zeal with which the prophet was consumed when he called on the nations to bless the Lord. Magnificate Dominum mecum, et exaltemus nomen ejus in idipsum.() Zeal that Saint Paul expressed so energetically in these words : Optabam enim ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis ; () and elsewhere: Vae enim mihi si non evangelizavero.() Zeal finally that Saint Augustine found so well enclosed in charity : Si Deum amatis, omnes ad amorem Dei rapite. () And to dwell on our divine model, did he not say in his sublime mission: Ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi est accendatur ? ()

To the zeal of souls let us add the abnegation of ourselves. Without this virtue everything remains paralysed; the gifts of God may be found marked out like a stream that encounters a barrier and whose waters spill out all over the countryside that, instead of rendering fruitful, they ravage. Precious abnegation that one does not always succeed in acquiring even in a godly seminary where, however, everything is arranged to make us love it. Our bad nature, our self-interest, sometimes even our apparently spiritual interest, prevent us from giving ourselves up completely, whereas the ecclesiastical profession that we have embraced is one of entire abnegation. We have sworn it from the time we became members of the clericature: Dominus pars haereditatis meae . () Having incessantly before our eyes this memorable word of our Master : Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum. Let us finish the sacred text, my dear friends : et tollat crucem suam et sequatur me. () For the spirit of abnegation cannot exist without that of sacrifice, which alone is capable of making us surmount the obstacles that the senses and the ties of blood never fail to oppose to our generous resolutions.

Accordingly, never forget, Gentlemen, that the ecclesiastic must renounce everything to follow Jesus Christ and to work for the salvation of his brothers. Dei enim adjutores sumus. () Ex vobis pendent animae eorum. () Sicut misit me Pater et ego mitto vos. () May each of you study his vocation carefully, unusquisque proprium donum habet (), and may he be inspired to follow it irrespective of everything that could oppose the will of God. Realise clearly, I will say to you with the liberty of friendship, that quite a number of them perish for not having known their vocation, and a larger number for not having been docile to God's voice. En proferam vobis spiritum meum quia vocavi et renuistis. ()

May each one of us finally fix his eyes on the field of the Father of the family and see the ripening harvest on all sides. Levate oculos vestros et videte regiones quia albae sunt jam ad messem. () Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci. Rogate ergo Dominum messis ut mittat operarios in messem suam. ()

Forgive me, Gentlemen, if I have allowed my pen to run away with me in the heat of my conviction. What am I to use such a language with you? You could well apply to me these words quoted by our good Master: Medice cura teipsum. () It is true, my dear friends, very true, and I admit that I am frightened when I lay my eyes on the indignity of the subject that the Lord wishes to employ in his service. Yet one more reason, Gentlemen, for me to implore the assistance of your prayers and of all your spiritual help. Remember sometimes before God a poor missionary who carries you in his heart; remember him in your prayers, in your communions, at the foot of the altars, in the sanctuary of the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary. Pray that after having preached to others, I am not myself reproved; pray above all that God's holy will shall be done in his unworthy servant. Pater, fiat voluntas tua. () Abba Pater. () Non quid ego volo sed quod tu. ()

This is what I ask of you, Gentlemen, today when two oceans separate me from the end of my journey, today when I see unrolling before my eyes a new career, but into which I will walk with firm steps since I place the whole of my trust in the Lord. Deus meus adjutor meus, et sperabo in eum () and the Lord will not confound me !

Quia quos dedisti mihi non perdidi ex eis quemquam. ()

And I will stop here, my dear friends, for my letter is long already, and if I were only to listen to my heart, I would never finish. So that I end with the Apostle saying to you from the bottom of my heart: Salutate invicem in osculo sancto. () I refrain from naming anyone because I would like to name you all; and if there are any among you who might seem to have particular rights on my memory, based on a longer intercourse of friendship, may they realise clearly that I hold in my memory all the expressions of goodwill that they have used to me. But at this moment I have pleasure in mingling you all in the embraces of charity, of this charity, Gentlemen, which in its turn, I hope, will mingle us all at the adorable breast of Jesus Christ, our hope and our love.

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Nantes, 31 March 1842)

Sent_0062

Sent_0062 - à M. Luquet - le 6 avril 1842/2

Sent 0062 - to Mr Luquet - 6 April 18422/2

Sent_0062 - à M. Luquet - le 6 avril 1842/2

Sent 0062 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 1ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet, deacon)

(in the seminary of the Foreign Missions)

(Rue du Bac, 120, Paris)

We leave tomorrow. To my great surprise, I feel only joy. Let us ask for perseverance. We are in agreement on many points. Moderate your ardour. Good health to Mr Legrand. Greetings to all those still in the seminary of the MEP.. Pray. Praise of Mr Triboulot.

Index : joy, perseverance, friendship

__________

Nantes, 6 April 1842

My very dear friend,

Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi ? () So here we are in the port ; not yet in the port of salvation but certainly, I hope, in that where one embarks in order to arrive there certainly. We hope to leave this town tomorrow or the day after to go out and wait for the favourable winds at Paimboeuf. The Lord did not believe me strong enough to resist a trial of sorrows and sacrifices, just imagine that he is filling me entirely with joy, which makes me almost afraid. At least one cannot say that we are leaving with hard feelings, for I think that never in my life have I felt so gay, and our dear Mr Triboulot is not so far out when he says: Gustate et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus, beatus vir qui sperat in eo. ()

How is it that this truth is not more generally understood ! In any case I hope that this much more comfortable state, it seems to me, will not last forever and that tribulations will be reserved for me beyond the seas.

You know that our projects are such as to arouse some good big ones and of all sorts. May the Lord employ me in his work, he knows well that at this moment all I want is his glory, but the grace of perseverance is entirely in his hands, let us pray that he grants it to me. Yes, my very dear and worthy friend, let us fervently ask the good God to grant us the perseverance of a good will, the courage of a firm and patient constancy, the succour of an enlightened prudence. This last virtue above all is that whose absence I dread most, for I know that it is not very natural to me and yet it is indispensable in our present position.

I would be very happy to correspond with you. It seems to me that on many things we have more or less the same views. Thus I would like you at to be the other end of the world and for us still to be in agreement. What is one not capable of when one wants something and is in accord! However, don't take things too seriously from the outset ; distrust perhaps a little your goodwill that too much ardour might render unfruitful ; learn to take a step back in order to jump better, as the proverb says, so that when we do jump it is with our feet together, at the centre of the citadel where our enemy has taken refuge and, if we do not take the fort by assault, we will endeavour at least to raise a false alarm.

You will find enclosed with this letter a little note from Mr Legrand which will tell you much in few words. He will confirm you in the thought that all the tremblers are not in Paris. I saw for a moment the Superior of the major seminary who seemed to fit that bill very well. I was not attracted to him. It seems that the health of our dear confrere, Mr Legrand, is now a little better; I am persuaded that with the right care he will soon recover. But now we come to the tu autem. You know how good Mr Legrand is at taking care of his person! and what grieves me most is that his relatives do not appear in the slightest bit alarmed, but seem quite relieved that he is not so very ill, they say, whereas last year etc. When I saw that tournure, I felt it was necessary to speak out. So I took his sister aside and told her the pure and simple truth. Since that time, it seems to me that things are going better, I hope that the little attentions will not be neglected, however I cannot help fearing that the situation is not taken quite seriously enough.

I am writing two lines to the good Mr Vachal. As for our other confreres, I would ask you to interpret my feelings to them. So a thousand friendly respects to Mr Barrelier, a thousand bono homini domino viro, speak to me of a (man) of that temper, he will be faithful to his post! And do the same in respect of Messrs Soyer and Huot who will, I think, become missionaries of the right coin. Finally a million compliments of all kinds to the pious mob of Meudon. It only remains for me to tell you how dear you are to me; allow some space for me in your memories and in your prayers; write to me from time to time, if you do not believe me to be totally unworthy of entering into your plans and your views; in short, let us be united, for the glory of our good master, and let us not spare our time, our sorrows or our persons. A Dieu a thousand times, a Dieu in the hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Useless to tell you that Mr Triboulot acts like the friend he is with me as far as feelings are concerned. He is a very charming young man, I assure you, that I esteem more the more I know him. We are sleeping in the same room, and I can bear witness to his prayers lasting from now till tomorrow, which does not fail to amaze me from time to time ; but since we put everything in common, I think that I will get something out of it. Once more A Dieu.

(Nantes, 6 April 1842)

Sent_0063

Sent_0063 - à son cousin Louis - le 8 avril 1842 -/2

Sent 0063 - to his cousin Louis - 8 April 1842 -2/2

Sent_0063 - à son cousin Louis - le 8 avril 1842 -/2

Sent 0063 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 18

(to his cousin Louis, lawyer in Toulouse)

I am leaving France with a great joy. The sorrow of separation exists, but has turned into joy. I can't explain it. But difficulties are bound to come. The leaving ceremony at the MEP. This is a deliciously cruel trial. What emotion! What a pact with God! Greetings to all the family

Index : joy, separation, leaving ceremony, attachment (family)

__________

Nantes, 8 April 1842

My very dear friend,

Since I still have a few hours, I am going to have the pleasure of conversing once more, thinking that you would not be annoyed to know with what joy the Lord permits me to leave France. I declare that I did not expect so much happiness; but it is in fact today that I feel how sweet the Lord is towards those who serve him.

How can we conceive in fact that what is most painful in the world : leaving one's homeland that one loves, and in which one is perfectly at ease, abandoning a family that one becomes more attached to every day, by the very going away which one has voluntarily undertaken, saying goodbye for always to a father and a mother whose hearts, with that of their son, seemed never to have got on so well, how, I wonder, can it be that such a powerful ground for suffering is changed in this way into a veritable joy and an abundance of delights ?

But, it may be objected, if it is a veritable joy, it can no longer be suffering ! Wrong, quite wrong; it is a suffering and an extreme suffering, but it is a suffering which has been transformed into delight and happiness! How can that be? I do not know any more than those who might ask me the question; but I feel it, I experience it and I see in it the formal and literal realisation of that saying of our good Master; My yoke is easy and my burden light. () Here, as in what I am feeling, there seems to be a contradiction in the terms, and yet it is a great and sublime truth.

So that, my dear friend, is how the Lord treats me as I leave. I know very well that it will not always be so and that tribulations of all kinds are reserved to me for the future; I accept them in advance, certain that the Lord will not permit me to be tempted above my strength and that your good prayers will help me to reject temptations.

I wanted to give you some details on the ceremony held in the seminary of the missions for the departure of missionaries, but I hardly have time ; so this just gives you a rough idea of this touching ceremony. The last day of the retreat, as far as possible, everybody goes to the oratory, at the time of the evening prayer. The people of the house are joined by a number of friends, a few foreign priests, with almost always some bishops staying in the seminary. As soon as possible after the prayers, the aspirants, who are about to say farewell to their homeland and their confreres, line up in front of the altar and a director addresses a few intense and touching words to them.

It was old Mr Dubois, former missionary in India, who undertook this duty towards us, with an energy far above anything one could have expected of such an advanced age. To feel all the power of a word drawn entirely from the sources of the most ardent charity, at such a decisive moment, in such well contrived circumstances, I think one needs to have passed oneself through this so deliciously cruel trial! But the soul is shattered and the heart destroyed when, after the last farewell has been pronounced, each one gets up, prostrates himself in front of the poor missionary, kisses his feet and then embraces him, saying a kind word or shaking his hand.

O the cruel moment ! Farewell, says a white-haired bishop, pray for my poor flock ! Farewell, says an appointed bishop, I envy your happiness, pray for me. May the good God be with you! Cor unum et anima una ! () Docete omnes gentes ! () In caritate Christi. () Such, with other expressions dictated by the faith and charity, are the last words with which the directors of the house and the other assistants strive to speak to the heart of him whom they must no longer converse with or see again.

As for me, I had had enough; I couldn't wait to be alone to let my heart dilate in the heart of God, while allowing my tears to flow freely. What a lesson! What a solemn act! What a pact we make at this moment with God in undertaking not to deviate any more from the path of justice, to carry his gospel as far as he in his mercy orders us to. Pray the Lord, my good friend, that this commitment is never violated on my part.

I hope to receive some letters from you at Pondicherry, on my arrival. Do not neglect me; I promise not to forget you. Continue always to give me details on the moral and physical state of the family, you may be sure that nothing is indifferent to me. Please give my kind regards to your brother, to Virginie and to her family. I hope, after what you say, that the unfortunate accident that she suffered will not have any repercussions. Once more convey my respectful compliments to my uncle Auguste and his wife, and if there are any other relatives at Toulouse, do not miss any opportunities of reminding them of me and conveying my regards.

A Dieu, my very dear friend, let us not be discouraged in the service of the Lord. He has now some sweets to distribute to us, and now some thorns to offer us, but always his grace is there which sustains our weakness. Let us love him greatly and in that love let us love each other well ourselves. That is the whole of the law.

Completely yours for life.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Nantes, 8 April 1842)

Sent_0064

Sent_0064 - à son père - le 3 juillet 1842 -/5

Sent 0064 - to his father - 3 July 1842 -5/5

Sent_0064 - à son père - le 3 juillet 1842 -/5

Sent 0064 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 62-64

(to his father)

Letter spread over three months. Story of his voyage as far as Port-Louis (Mauritius); the insignificant details to be put into letters. The other passengers. Excellent food. He suffered from seasickness only at first. He is studying theology, English and Sanskrit. I don't fear boredom, despite the dead calm. We something hold mass, but I am not much in favour of this practice. 29 June good saint's day Papa (his father's name is Pierre Raymond Gaston). What a wonderful invention writing is! Don't worry about me, everything's fine.

Index : studies (languages), theological studies, attachment (family)

__________

At sea, then Port-Louis, 3 July 1842

My dear Papa,

I will search in vain to replace our presence with an illusion ; but this illusion, however false, must, I hope, very often in my life, sweeten the pain of our separation. So that I love it and often have recourse to it in order to find myself in spirit in the midst of a family that I love a little more each day and by which I am very sure of being loved. It is under the influence of a fiction so sweet to my heart that I am beginning this letter this morning. I do not know when I will finish it, but I will send it to you on the first favourable occasion.

I will tell you all that passes through my head, since you want details ; and in fact I can conceive that, while they could be quite insignificant for others, they always have a price for you, for my excellent mother, for our dear Henri and my dear sisters. I judge of that by myself who always find that you give me infinitely little of these small details which interested me so much, and which seem nothing to you who are the centre of this planetary system, which I am far from having renounced, although having received a stronger implosion than the others and which carries me farther from home, whereas the others turn at their ease like faithful planets.

Excuse me for this poor figure, taken among the only objects which strike our senses here. After the water, nothing else can be seen but the stars, and I consider them at my ease and with pleasure. I would say to you that at Paris, I made some progress in astronomy, which permits me a veritable enjoyment and an agreeable diversion, either by dreaming alone, with my eyes on the sky, during the beautiful nights of the tropics, or when taking part in the calculations of the ship's officers for whom, as you know, the stars serve as landmarks.

My letters must have told you that at Nantes I received all of yours, unless any arrived after the 9 April. It was at that time that we left Nantes, for Paimboeuf, at the mouth of the Loire, where we found waiting for us the ship on which we are now. We stayed there until Tuesday in the hope of a good wind which finally blew and which carried us in a few short hours far from the sight of any land. Since then, we have been rocking on the waves trying to be patient as far as Bourbon, where we have to start all over again until we arrive in India.

The ship which carries us is a fine and good three-master on which we are very comfortable. First of all, we are not alone; several passengers, among whom two ladies and a charming child, provide us with agreeable company. Then the captain is a decent chap, quite good-natured and very polite, and the second is a charming young man.

The food is not only good, but delicate ; just imagine that every day we have fresh meat, bread baked the day before, coffee with milk, vegetables of all kinds, and even peas and other similar things, that are transported marvellously well in cans, without counting the ducks, turkeys and poultry of all sorts which, with their eggs, form the basis of the passengers' food. You see that, from this point of view, we have everything we could want; a mother herself could not desire more.

So far the temperature has been quite bearable. I am continuing my letter today, 7th May, almost on the line (Long. 21°, lat. 5° 30'). Until now we haven't had more than 23° or 24° centigrade of heat. And this temperature is further tempered by the coolness of the wind. However, today my thermometer is at 26° and quite a bit of sweat starts running. But what is this beside the 42° that we'll have to bear at midday in India?

If you have received all of my letters, the last one was dated from out at sea, at the time when the pilot was leaving us. I gave this last note to him; I hope that he will have faithfully put it in the post. A few hours afterwards, I could have told you that I suffered a horrid attack of seasickness; however, it only lasted a short time, although when the sea is rough, I still feel a malaise which makes me incapable of doing anything, and sometimes incapable of coming to table; but that's all there is to it, and when the sea returns to its normal state, I also return to my goats, or rather to my books of theology, English and Sanskrit.

I am taking up my letter again today, 10th May, to tell you...I don't know quite what. I will make a habit of always speaking to you for a moment, and this will be the best way of distracting myself from the monotony that the calm weather necessarily brings. Since the 7th, we have hardly gone one step forward. What is more: yesterday we progressed like the crayfish, with the currents making us lose more than the wind had allowed us to gain. However yesterday evening was enlivened by the fishing of two small sharks who were silly enough to allow themselves to be caught in the most awkward way possible... I will stop for a moment, because apparently there's a big shark...

He is caught. This is something quite different from the small fry. Thus, despite 28° of heat, everyone stayed out willingly for half an hour in the blazing sun, to see seven or eight men hoist the monster on board, very noisily and to the accompaniment of thunderous applause from the spectators. This is practically the only remarkable event since our departure; and as you see, it is not very serious. But when one has been seeing only water, and more water, and always the same thing for a month, with the prospect of a further two months exactly similar, even the slightest thing is amusing.

Meanwhile, we sighted land once. For twenty-four hours our eyes remained almost continually fixed on the Porto Santo islands and the desert islands, trying to discover Madeira which could be made out in the background in the form of a dark cloud. We should likewise have seen the Canary Islands, but the weather was not good. Up to Madeira our route was magnificent; by the 19th we were on a level with these islands, but since that moment, we find ourselves in an almost continual quasi-calm, so that we still have not passed the line.

Don't believe that I am finding the voyage troublesome. First of all as you know, I do not know what is meant by boredom; we have books, a cabin to withdraw to, agreeable company when we want to be amused; with all of this I hope I will never make the acquaintance of this mortal enemy of so many idle people who give in to him. And then, from time to time we have some unforeseen recreations such as the catching of a big shark, or of some other species of good or bad fishes.

Sometimes it is a crowd of boats passing by within eyesight. When any of them come closer to us, we carry on a conversation with it by signals, etc. etc., all things which amuse the passengers greatly when the captain is in a good temper, which is the fairly ordinary state of ours. As you see, until now we have only very fervent thanks to render to God for our voyage. Let us do so all together, for I like to imagine you to myself, praying to the Lord for your son, when your son prays for you, so that the two prayers, although the mouths pronouncing them are far from each other, unite our hearts at God's breast.

It is now a month that I have said nothing to you, my dear Papa. It is true that in that time, very little worthy of note has happened; we have not seen a living soul, apart from a few sea birds flying continually around the masts, and a few fish, among whose number however I would name with complacency some whales, which on occasion came frolicking beside the ship, giving us the entertainment of their singular way of blowing.

Apart from that, it is always the same monotony ; not a bit of earth on which to rest our eyes tired of seeing only the blue of the sky and the blue of the sea. The weather has continued to be favourable to us still; a few days of calm only and a few more of strong wind make us fear that we may take a few days more on the journey that we had at first calculated, after the magnificent start of our crossing. However we must not complain, for we have only had a few days of heavy sea, and that's a trifle for the sailors.

All the same, I assure you that, when one is not a sailor, time seems to go on for ever. One has had enough of the continual roll and of the continual music of the incessant creaking of the ship's rigging. Thus, I am not at all sorry that the hurricane which tossed us so pitilessly in the last few days has died down. So that at last we have come back onto a liquid plain, whereas before we were in a countryside of snowy mountains, with the sea foam looking quite similar to the hoarfrost of our regions in the month of December, corresponding in these parts to the month of June.

Could you believe that at the 34th degree of latitude we are wrapped up as in the middle of winter at home ? the fact is that it may be really cold for a fortnight longer, after which I don't expect to feel cold any more for the rest of my life. I must have very little to tell you to bother with such trifles! But you urged me to write you a long letter, and I mustn't disobey you, in addition to which I find it quite advantageous.

One thing that I haven't yet spoken of, is the mass that we celebrate from time to time on board. When the weather permits, we say it on Sundays and feastdays. Two ladies, who are making the crossing with us, adorn the altar very tastefully and, since we have brought with us everything required for the holy mysteries, in an instant the common room of the ship is transformed into quite a pretty little chapel. All the passengers, the captain and a few sailors always take part in the holy sacrifice; it is quite edifying and above all a great consolation for us who are deprived for so long of holy communion.

God knows how painful the deprivation of holy communion is for the heart of a priest ! But it is God who orders it, so we have to submit; only it places outside the sphere of my intelligence the behaviour of those who deprive themselves so easily of this bread of life, when they could taste all of its sweetness.

And yet, if I had to express all my thought, I would not be an enthusiastic adherent of masses on board. Whatever the deprivation of the missionaries may be, it seems to me that their satisfaction, including spiritual, should give way in the face of the drawbacks that appear to me inevitable in such a position. Thus, I would not have wanted to be the inventor of this custom; but the custom being established, we take advantage of it in the hope that the good God will not hold it against us for doing as our predecessors did. I don't know what more I could say to you, despite the goodwill that I feel for continuing my conversation with you. So I stop there, while awaiting something new beyond the Cape of Good Hope which we will soon have passed

On the 16th, latitude : 36° 50', longitude : 19° 45' W.

The 29th June is a family feastday for us. I don't want to miss it and am waiting for the time when you wake up to wish you, together with Henri and my sisters, a good and fine feast. Here it is eleven o'clock, which corresponds to about half past seven at home, since we are at approximately 54° of longitude. Now it is time to present you with the bouquet that Bathilde has, I think, symmetrically arranged, to which Félicie has undoubtedly attached a white ribbon, that Henri offers you willingly on behalf of us all. I too, I want to add a flower to the bouquet, and although this flower may not reach you until several months later, I hope that it will not be faded. May the powerful intercession of Saints Peter and Paul obtain for you long and happy days with the most precious blessing of the Lord ! I hope so, I count on it even in some sort, for I ask it very insistently of the good God, and the good God will listen to our prayer.

We have passed the Cape of Good Hope very quietly. This is one of the capes most feared by sailors, but for us it was not fearful; no sooner had we doubled it than the westerly winds blew with all their might, making us race forward by 80 leagues a day. Nobody was disappointed by this good fortune which will anticipate our arrival by perhaps a week; but we have had to pay for this good bargain by a roll which has prevented more than one of us from coming to table, and even sent one to his bunk.

As for me, I no longer know what seasickness is ; while the ship leans first to one side, then to the other, letting water pass over the bridge, I read, I write, I calculate the height of the sun or of the moon, leaning with my knees against the plank which forms my bed, and with my shoulders leaning against the partition which shuts me off from the common room ; in this position I just fit into the width of my room.

If the winds continue favourable to us, we expect to arrive in the course of next week at the island of Mauritius where we are bound first of all. I will immediately throw my letter in the postbox so I can write you another one on my departure from Bourbon if we go there. I say if we go, because if we find a ship at Mauritius, we will take it, which would advance us greatly, all the more since there is very probably a quarantine to undergo at Bourbon, coming from Mauritius. In that case, I will write to you on leaving Mauritius, but this letter will undoubtedly be preceded by another that I will write you from Pondicherry.

In brief, I will write to you as often as I can, just as I promised you ; and you, my dear Papa, please do the same for me, and ask my friends to do so also for their part, for isn't this the way to be united from afar ? What an admirable invention writing is! Let us profit from the good things... I think I won't write anything more before our arrival at Mauritius where I will close my letter : A Dieu until then.

On 29th June, latitude : 30° 10', longitude : 53° 40'.

Since the Cape we haven't advanced, we have flown ; so here we are at Port-Louis on Mauritius, after one of the best possible crossings. I hasten to end this letter so that I can put it into the post, for a delay of a few days could mean one of several weeks for my letter; since a boat does not leave for France every day.

Since the 29th nothing, absolutely nothing that deserves to be mentioned ; I still have not put foot on land, I propose to do so this evening or tomorrow morning . I would like very much to find a boat here bound for Pondicherry or Madras, which would mean an advance of two months at least; but, for my own pleasure, I would prefer to have a good look at the two islands, Mauritius and Bourbon. We will see once on land, and I will write to tell you what has happened, on my departure either from Mauritius or from Bourbon.

I notice that in my letter, I have said almost nothing for my excellent mother and for my good brother and sisters. My letters are in common for you all, that is the idea behind my writing it and the cause of this fault that you will put right, my dear Papa, by conveying to them all the sentiments of respect, of love and very close friendship. I have all of you very often in my mind, believe me, and I pray to God to accept the sacrifice of our separation for his greater glory. And so it will be, I have the sweet certitude, and this pious thought gives some sort of sweetness to my pain, I hope that it will likewise mitigate yours.

I am in perfect health, better than ever, and I have a good idea of the influence of the heat on my temperament ; so, do not fear and, besides, when one goes for God, when one takes risks for God, one has God with one and then what matter is all the rest, even failures are victories for him, and troubles, instead of giving pain, turn into veritable joy. And thus, far be it from you and from my mother, and from all my family to fear on my account.

I hope to find several letters at Pondicherry. I will answer you as soon as I arrive there, as well as all the persons who have sent me their news. Meanwhile, remember me to all my relatives and friends, as well as all those who wish me well and whom I would ask for their prayers. A thousand respects and friendly greetings to Mamma, a thousand kisses to Henri, Bathilde and Félicie. To all of you, a love without limit and without end.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(At sea and Port-Louis, 3 July 1842)

Sent_0065

Sent_0065 - à M. Langlois - le 14 août 1842 -/2

Sent 0065 - to Mr Langlois - 14 August 1842 -1/2

Sent_0065 - à M. Langlois - le 14 août 1842 -/2

Sent 0065 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 169-172

(to Mr Charles Langlois)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

At Mauritius we found a ship for Pondicherry ; we gained one month by not going as far as Bourbon. Mgr Bonnand is full of goodness. For a long time still, I am deaf and dumb, for first of all I have to get to know the country and the language. Greetings to the MEP.

Index : voyage (his), inculturation, language

__________

Pondicherry, 14 August 1842

Monsieur le Supérieur,

I am happy to announce to you on behalf of Mr Triboulet and myself our safe arrival at Pondicherry. It was quicker than we had dared hope. Urged on by your good prayers as well as those of your respectable collaborators, we do not doubt but that divine Providence had smoothed out our path. For us the weather was without storms, the sea without tempests and without dangers. What advanced us above all was to have found at Mauritius, where the ship had to call in before arriving at Bourbon, another ship about to set sail for Pondicherry. We were even obliged to bestir ourselves to get it to delay its departure by one day; and still favoured by the fine weather, we had the happiness of seeing Pondicherry on 24 July in the morning. There they were not expecting us yet, and what was their surprise to see us walk in with all of our paraphernalia when they presumed us still one month's journey away!

We stayed only one whole day at Mauritius. His Lordship the apostolic vicar received us perfectly; he knows you and spoke a great deal about you and Mr Dubois whom he asked to be remembered to. Here we were received like children of the house. My Lord of Drusipare was here on our arrival; he is full of kindness for us. In his relations with his priests, our apostolic vicar has the effect on me of a pontiff of early times. I will not say anything of the other gentlemen who work strenuously each for his part. Mgr Bonnand who writes long letters will undoubtedly speak to you of everyone. Even less will I speak to you of the mission which I still only see in the distance like the long view of a landscape, somewhat hazily still. However I see enough about it to feel sick at heart.

For a long while more I will have to be content to be patient about this sickness, for I am deaf and dumb in this country and, even once I am capable of understanding and speaking Malabar perfectly, I will only be able to see and hear, that's all.

I ask you to be sure to remember me in your fervent prayers, dear Monsieur le Supérieur, so that sooner or later I can do some good in this poor and unfortunate country. Kindly offer my respectful greetings to the Directors, particularly to Mr Dubois whose memory is still very much alive at Pondicherry. Tell him to pray to the Angels of these parts, who know him well, so that they will be favourable to us.

Once more, dear Monsieur le Supérieur, I would ask you to remember me, above all at the foot of the altars, asking you to accept the sincere expression of the sentiments of veneration with which

I have the honour of being

Monsieur le Supérieur

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 14 August 1842)

Sent_0066

Sent_0066 - à M. Tesson - le 14 août 1842 -/5

Sent 0066 - to Mr Tesson - 14 August 1842 -5/5

Sent_0066 - à M. Tesson - le 14 août 1842 -/5

Sent 0066 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 181-187

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director at the Seminary of Paris)

Our arrival at Pondicherry. Excellent voyage on the Pauline as far as Mauritius. Fun made of Abbé Escudé. Long reflections on mass on board. During this voyage, I studied written English. He knows how to use his sextant. I regret not having stopped at Bourbon. Woe to the places destined to remain for a long time still under the direction of a foreign clergy. Reflections on the need for local priests. How the first missionaries in the Church acted. Let us pray for the Church of Mauritius where the priests said, as a governor would have done: this is our colony. In India, we are far from marching towards a veritable spiritual conquest. People still speak of you here.

Index : voyage, local clergy, missionary, religion on Mauritius

__________

Pondicherry, 14 August 1842

It is time, my dear Mr Tesson, for me to pick up my pen to converse with you for a moment, and to report on our voyage. We did not expect to arrive so soon and perhaps our good friends of France will have gone on quite some time longer saying prayers for our safe voyage, while we were already at the altar, thanking the Lord in our fine church in Pondicherry for all the favours he showered on us during our crossing.

We landed on 24 July, to the great astonishment of His Lordship and his priests who were speaking of us, presuming still to have to wait one month more, when a joyful crowd of Indians walked in, one carrying a trunk, the other a portmanteaux, one an umbrella, another a book, etc. etc. (they had snatched up all of these objects a little like a swarm of ants moving house). They entered, I say, shouting "poudou rouroucal". And we who were following mumbling a few words of poor French with a topa, not knowing where they were taking us, but without ever losing sight of our aim, the dome of our church.

Finally we walk in and people come up to us ; there is no need for me to tell you how we were received by the respectable missionaries who are here at this moment and by our venerable bishop at whose feet we flung ourselves straightway to receive his blessing and then into his arms to receive his kiss of peace.

The cause of this prompt arrival is not only the fine weather with which we were favoured, but above all the happy circumstance that divine Providence had reserved for us at Mauritius of a ship ready to leave for Pondicherry. We were at Mauritius on 3 July in the evening; we only landed the following day, and while I was waiting in the sacristy for the moment of saying holy mass, I asked if there was not by chance a ship leaving for Pondicherry or for Madras. There is one, we were told, due to leave in a few hours' time for Pondicherry. In a few hours! That wasn't much. However I immediately picked up a pen and wrote to the captain saying that if he could provide us with the means of transporting our things from the Pauline to his ship, we would join him. This note produced its effect while we were celebrating the holy mysteries. The captain of the ship said he would meet us at 10 o'clock, and we persuaded him to delay his departure by one day.

On 5 July we were under sail on the Caroline from Le Havre. What can I tell you about Mauritius? But wait a moment, let us come back on our steps and say something about what happened from Nantes to Mauritius. We were a large number of passengers. No Jesuits, as you know, no Lazarists, only priests with the good Mr Escudé, good! Bonus, bona, bonum. We had only praise for the officers of the Pauline who, in all circumstances, behaved correctly as far as we were concerned. We would say the same of our travel companions who never deviated from the rules of the strictest politeness towards us; if only they had done the same with regard to Mr Escudé!

Unfortunately this was not the case, which sometimes pained us. The poor abbé was not the inventor of gunpowder; and what is more, he doesn't even know how to use that which others have invented for him. He is an excellent priest, but God save us from such missionaries! Mr Triboulot inspired veneration; one of those who teased Mr Escudé most, said to me one day while walking with me on the bridge: "If one were to write the life of Mr Triboulot, that would be something fine!"

We said mass on board ship on Sundays only when the weather permitted, and to tell you here my frank way of thinking as in all things, I am no great lover of these masses on board. A mass on board could be a fine thing in a time of faith in the midst of zealous and respectful Christians. Perhaps then, if things were arranged in advance on the ship for that, I would have nothing to object if, with the permission of our superiors, we were to celebrate the holy mysteries at sea, providing it was in the midst of all possible expressions of respect.

But at the present time where can we find that ? And if we sometimes find it, is it difficult to see that it is an exception which cannot presume? ("have the force of law" is crossed out). Now in a common room, in the midst of the indecencies of an impious crew, there where a short time before abominations were committed, to cavalierly bring down the God of all purity in front of the men from whom these mysteries should still be concealed, even in our churches, because they don't understand them; I don't know how one can reasonably imagine that such a thing could please God.

Whom would we believe we were edifying ? There a priest seems to be at the altar just to do his job as well a he can and nothing more! What idea is he giving of what we have of most fearful in Religion, when he can barely stand on his feet, when he parcels out all the rubrics, when he can barely maintain any shred of decency? Without doubt no accident occurs if we mean by that that the holy kinds are not spilt or lost. In two of us, with a little attention, it is easy to avoid this misfortune, even in bad weather; but a thousand of them occur if we consider as such everything that is not in accordance with decency, especially before people who barely have the faith.

As for us, we were in favourable circumstances. A captain who tended to countenance everything, passengers who were at least polite ; among them two ladies who had undertaken to adorn the altar ; white cloths with I don't know what red materials made passable hangings; a tabernacle had been set up with a certain elegance; Mr Triboulot possessed a rather pretty altar decoration; my little chapel served for everything in the way of sacred ornaments; finally pretty bouquets that our lady sacristans made for that purpose on board; all of this suddenly transformed the common room into a quite a pretty oratory (the word chapel is crossed out).

With all of this, I assure you that after one time, if I had not feared to appear inconstant and to tergiversate in the face of persons to whom such behaviour would have done harm, my considered opinion would have been not to say mass any more on board ship ; and in petto I could not help admiring the wisdom of the S.C. for saying non permittitur

, and for regarding the established usage as an encroaching of sensitive piety on reasonable piety which I will always prefer to the former. Usage! How poorly this word sounds in my ears! It seems to me to open the door to all sorts of abuse, when one does not begin by abusing of the usage itself.

Mr Triboulot is not completely of my opinion on this question, and fair enough! Thus on the new ship we would have said it again; it was even decided in a moment between us two, for there was no third to give a casting vote, and while his opinion perhaps in itself would not have been decisive for its intrinsic value, it was corroborated by the famous usage. But just when we were going to speak of this to the captain, the good God permitted an expression of the most ignorant impiety on his part, without however attacking us and without wishing to vex us, which made Mr Triboulot retreat, coming to tell me a moment afterwards that, since the crossing was a short one, it would perhaps be better not to celebrate! I said amen, and we did not celebrate on the Caroline.

I was unable to do much at sea, since I was always somewhat inconvenienced especially at the end. English is the only thing that I worked on a little. On the Pauline there was a charming young man who knew English fairly well and every day we wrote each other a letter; sometimes this letter was as long as three large pages, which familiarised me somewhat with the written language, but not at all with the spoken language.

I don't count for nothing the calculations of latitude, of longitude, of variation etc. which greatly amused me during the whole crossing of the Caroline, above all because the captain was an excellent observer and of a rare good nature. There was a fine circle and sometimes I tried to struggle with my miniature sextant, I assure you that I took certain longitudes quite well. It was with this second captain that I practised working out longitudes by calculating the height of the stars instead of observing them, a nobler method which is more precise and almost the only one practicable on land.

Our stay in Mauritius was not long, and I declare that I regret not having stayed there for a few days. I also felt a lively displeasure at not having seen Bourbon. I would have liked to have seen with my eyes, to have heard with my ears and to have got a better idea of the disastrous causes which have put religion in such a pitiable state in those parts. I was not able to so, since it was my duty to get to my destination as soon as possible, may God's will be done ! I handed over all the letters that Mgr Poncelet had entrusted me with to Mr Escudé.

However in the few hours that I stayed on Mauritius, I saw the priests of Port-Louis ; I twice saw His Lordship the apostolic vicar, who received us perfectly. The few words that I had the opportunity of exchanging with this prelate, who seemed so respectable to me, contributed not a little to penetrate me more and more with the thought which follows me incessantly and which presses like a needle in my loins, namely, that the only way of establishing religion in a place and of seeing it maintained and prospering there, to achieve at last a new Christian country, is to form priests there, I would go further, to form bishops in that country.

Woe to the places which remain long under the direction of a foreign clergy. The French will inevitably remain French in China and in India, the Spanish, Spanish in America and in Asia, the Italians, Italian all over the world. A mass of men who do not strip themselves of their nature.

How can we conceive now that these priests will obtain the confidence of the peoples, who are horrified at their way of being and at their usages even more than we are horrified at theirs (and that is not saying little)? How can we conceive that all priests understand the peoples to whose countries they come for the purpose of directing them, they who only find good, suitable and rational what they have seen in their own countries and what they have practised in their childhood? How can we conceive that among these priests, there are not quite a number who cross the seas not for the glory of God, but from a naturally cosmopolitan instinct, from a light and inconstant spirit, from the effect of their exalted imagination, or finally for much less praiseworthy reasons still!

And it is expected that such priests will support for a long time the honour of Religion! What do they expect to happen? The progress of Religion will grow rapidly in those places where a saintly and true missionary has preached it ; it will stop there, it will drag on thereafter, it will fall perhaps into disregard, impossible at last to raise it again later. Impossible! Everything is possible without doubt by the grace of God, I am only speaking here as if the Lord left events to the guidance of men; and one should admit that he does abandon them in part; the Lord is not in the habit of accomplishing miracles every day.

Now let us open up history : nowhere does religion really exist where foreign priests have established themselves as if in their spiritual properties. Wherever Religion has cast anchor to stay, the first missionaries did no more than pass ; they have preached Jesus Christ ; they have consecrated priests, they have set up sees, and they have left so as not to give time to those capable of following them to spoil their work and to scandalise the faithful whom they had the happiness of edifying.

But here I am straying into a dissertation which is perhaps irksome to you, forgive me if it seems to me that I have only received my vocation in order to insist on this truth which is almost mathematical to my mind, and to repeat it to the point of satiety, in all forms, to the ears of all those willing to hear it. Alas, these will perhaps not be many. And to come back to the point from which I set off, I heard the sighs of the saintly bishop who received us in Mauritius and he was of the same opinion as me, for I shared my thoughts to him. "Open up ecclesiastical history, he said to me, and we will see that God has always made use of foreigners to convert peoples, never for making Religion thrive and persevere in their country".

I did not let these words fall for they came from the mouth of a pontiff who appears to love the good God greatly, who impressed me by his modesty, and who seemed to me to be penetrated to the bottom of his heart with the only pain capable of breaking a priest's heart.

Do not be (surprised) now if, from the religious standpoint, Mauritius is one of the most unfortunate countries in the world. First as a French colony, then as an English colony, people have not understood that religion must be neither French nor English. The priests, instead of considering themselves as true missionaries, have established themselves in the country, imagining that they could conduct religion in the tropics as in the north of Europe. Instead of straightway creating priests of the country who would have obeyed Caesar or Pompey according to whether Caesar or Pompey would have made their sword weigh on the people; priests have said as a governor would have done: it is our colony.

They have come with prejudices, with their absurdities, soon they have been followed by others impelled by avarice and not accompanied by saintliness. The Lord could not bless them. They have provided scandal after scandal, they have let heresy be fortified, founding schools etc. while they stayed with their arms crossed. And Religion is vilified, it seems lost and without resource. Let us pray that the new pontiff who has just received his mission, to restore religion in this country if it is possible, may make effective the good intentions animating him.

I do not wish to leave Mauritius without speaking to you of the French consul, Mr Darvois. Having seen on our passports that we were destined for India, he asked us to pay him a visit so that he could speak to us a little about you. He had you on board when he was a captain and still has a memory of respectful admiration for you. He speaks of you with warmth, he vaunts your astronomic knowledge, saying to all those within hearing: Believe me, not all priests are imbeciles, for I had one of them on board my ship who knew more than me...

I already told you that it was the 24th when we finally set foot, for the first time, on this dear land of India, my new and well beloved homeland. Yes I would like, by consecrating to it all that remains of my life, to die seeing it finally Catholic! I cannot hide from you that my heart is very often broken when I consider all that still remains to be done, and above all when I acquire every day fresh grounds for thinking that it may be necessary for us to take the way of a veritable spiritual conquest, and that minds do not seem to me to be turned towards what could in my opinion lead to this happy result. At times the devil makes use of all of this to inspire in me ideas of discouragement, while at other times I like to console myself with illusions. Help me always with your advice and let us pray the Lord that he has not sent me for nothing to this foreign land. I still scarcely have any knowledge of the environment into which I have been thrown, but it appears to me to be terribly enslaved by the French spirit, even in church. Rome cannot be followed purely!

I do not know how many persons have asked me for your news as well as those of Mr Dubois. "Sami, you know Father Dubois ?... you know Father Tesson?", they ask me when they know two words of French or when they bring an interpreter with them. I tell them that you love them, that you think of them, that you pray to the good God for them and they are overjoyed. I still understand nothing of their language; how cruel it is not to understand the language of the people in whose midst you find yourself!

You told me that it was so hot in this country and I can't say that you were not right. Since we arrived, the temperature in the rooms is constantly between 32° and 36° ; which is bearable. I was silly enough to fall somewhat ill on arriving, it was nothing very much, and I hope that the heat will not treat me too harshly. Mr Triboulot is like a fish in water. I think he is made of bronze and that he has no other feeling that the love of God. However even he has been a little bit off colour in the last few days.

I think I have exhausted my verve, which perhaps has been rather too prolific, you will need all of your patience to read my letter through to the end. But I really need to say what I think, leaving it to you to cut and adjust etc. etc. Only be enough of a friend to hear me out. It only remains for me to ask you to kindly convey my respectful sentiments to the directors of the Seminary, to the other priests of the establishment, and to remember me to the aspirants whom I know. As for you, please believe the very affectionate and respectful feeling with which,

I have the honour of being,

Dear Sir,

Your humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

missionary

A P.S. on a broken thermometer and on the crate remaining at Bourbon. (

).

(Pondicherry, 14 August 1842)

Sent_0067

Sent_0067 - à sa mère - le 14 août 1842 -/4

Sent 0067 - to his mother - 14 August 1842 -2/4

Sent_0067 - à sa mère - le 14 août 1842 -/4

Sent 0067 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 69-71

(to his mother)

I am taking advantage of the first steamship to write to you. Thank you for the 150 francs which will enable me to buy a horse or an ox. Mass on board. The island and town of Mauritius. The voyage on the Caroline and arrival at Pondicherry. The fathers present at Pondicherry. Pondicherry, the town, the people, the animals. Regards to all the family.

Index : voyage, language, attachment (family) religion on Mauritius

__________

Pondicherry, 14 August 1842

My very dear Mamma,

Perhaps you still have not received the letter that I left at the island of Mauritius for my father, when the present one reaches you. I would even have wished to write to you earlier from here, for it's already a few days since we arrived; but the steamships are not at our orders, we had to wait for their departures. I am taking advantage of the first one leaving to give you my news, for I think you must all be impatient for them.

I was right in telling you that divine Providence was leading us, and consequently you had nothing to fear. And in fact the Lord has smoothed the way, the weather was without tempests for us, and the sea without storms. I will not speak to you here of the voyage as far as Mauritius, since I have already written a long letter to Papa on that; if you still have not received it, you will undoubtedly do so soon; thus I will suppose that this letter is the continuation of the previous one.

And in any case, why speak to you of Mauritius, when I had always indicated Bourbon as the first goal of our voyage ? The fact is that since the ship taking us needed to call in at that island, we had to stop there for a few days and, since the good God had permitted us to find there a ship leaving just at that time for Pondicherry, we took it immediately and, with the weather constantly favourable to us, we arrived here one month earlier than we had expected and than we were expected.

It is to this more prompt arrival than I had announced to you that I attribute the lack of all news from France ; for I had hoped to find some letters here ; but that isn't your fault. I only hope that the next steamer will be bringing something for me. The only thing that I have received is the sum of 150 francs which arrived through I don't know which English bank; as you know, all business where money is involved, is prompt. Please thank my dear father for this dispatch which will perhaps enable me to buy a horse or an ox for the occasion.

Don't be astonished to hear talk of an ox, for that is one of the mounts of this country. It is used to travel on, or to pull carriages, even in the town of Pondicherry, and I assure you that they trot like real steeds.

But before speaking to you of Pondicherry, I would like to say a few words about Mauritius. I scarcely had time to become acquainted with that country; after arriving on 3 July we left it on the 5th. However we went on land and had the happiness of twice saying holy mass before regaining the sea. It is a very great consolation, I assure you, to find a church and an altar after several months of deprivation. It is true that from time to time we had said holy mass on board ship, but that was far from being accompanied by the necessary meditation and piety that one can try to find on land.

The apostolic vicar of Mauritius, who is an English bishop, received us perfectly. Only time was too short to be able to benefit from the advantages that that worthy prelate provided us with on the knowledge of religion in that country. The Protestants are making very great inroads in those unfortunate parts. Let us pray to the Lord that he will not permit that what remains of the good grain is choked out by the weeds.

The town of Mauritius is very pretty. Its wide streets which are as straight as a die are bordered by trees; the houses, although small, are elegant and almost always have a pretty garden at the side in which the plants and trees, quite different from those of Europe, offer a pleasing and novel appearance to a stranger's eye. The trees are covered with leaves in the middle of winter, and these leaves are sometimes so large that a single one of them, for example a banana leaf, would cover the whole of your dining table. The fruit of the latter tree is considered as very good; it abounds in the whole of India, and at all seasons; as for me, I found it not very much to my taste, and in general almost all the fruits of the country which I had occasion to taste thus far seemed detestable to me. However, that is no reason why they should be so. But that's enough of talking of fruits! Let's pass on to something else.

Thus it was on 5 July that we set sail for Pondicherry on the Caroline from Le Havre. This last crossing, which took only 18 days, was as pleasant as it could possibly have been. We had a charming captain. Please God he had been a good Christian. Apart from that, we hit it off splendidly; we made our way among the Maldive islands and ran along the coast of the big island of Ceylon, so that we were almost always in sight of land somewhere, which provided us with a temporary means of diversion by focusing our glasses on the great coconut palms growing on all of these islands.

Finally, we arrived at the coast of Coromandel that we followed for quite some time and on 24th at 9 in the morning, we were within sight of Pondicherry. Soon some Indians came up to us dressed in their working clothes, that is to say practically naked, but their skin was of a colour that made it seem as if they were dressed from head to foot in a brown or sometimes dark brown garment. They look rather like statues in bronze or even cast iron, that are sometimes to be found in gardens on pedestals or columns.

Their costume when dressed is quite different, and I find it very handsome even ; that of the priests seems to me fine, I will make you a drawing when I have the pleasure of wearing it, for here we are dressed as in France ; one is only truly a missionary in the countryside. By one o'clock we had landed; finally, we were treading on this soil of India, so long desired, where so much good still remains to be done, where the devil still reigns in every possible shape, and where finally I believe more and more each day the Lord is calling me.

As soon as we had landed we were surrounded by a crowd of Indians saying a thousand things at once to us, while we understood not a single one. A topa (hat carrier) who spoke just a very little French acted as interpreter, and when our belongings had been landed, in no time at all each of them had taken one of them on his shoulders or under his arms, and in the middle of this noisy crowd we made for the house of the missions where they were of course not thinking of us at this time. No, I am wrong, they were thinking of us precisely at that moment, saying that we could hardly arrive there for at least another month, when these Indians came in shouting (here, some words in Tamoul, with their pronunciation, namely: new priests, new priests).

In no time at all they came up to greet us and I don't need to tell you how we were welcomed by our respectable confreres. His Lordship the Apostolic Vicar was there at that moment. He is a very venerable prelate who treats his missionaries as a father treats his children. Stripped of that entourage of grandeur that a bishop is obliged to bear in our country, he is quite simply with us like the first priest of the mission, which makes him all the more loved and respected..

The other missionaries who are here at the moment are the bursar of the mission, also entrusted with the holy ministry in the town and environs ; a missionary in charge of a seminary where we are trying to form young pupils of the country with a view to raising them to the priesthood, and finally another in charge of a printing press which provides books in the language of the country for our mission. The newcomers cannot do very much, since they do not understand one word of the polite things said to them by the thousand Indians who come each day to visit them or ask them for something, a medal, a cross or a rosary.

If I had brought quintals of them with me, I could easily have distributed them in one day. Down to little children who knock on the door crying (here follows a word in Tamoul) (souamy, souamy) one médaille, one médaille, for they have learned these two words of French. What a cruel thing it is not to understand the language of the people in whose midst one is ! thus I am studying Malabar with all my might; with the grace of God, I hope to know something in a few months' time, despite its numerous difficulties and its absolute lack of analogy with the European languages.

Pondicherry is a very pretty town. Its streets are straight and wide, bordered by evergreen trees and almost always covered with pretty yellow flowers. Although it is a French town, and inhabited for a long time by Europeans, so that the Indians themselves have acquired something of the European customs, yet one is struck by the enormous difference existing between these peoples and the peoples of our country.

Here everything is different, the appearance of the countryside, the nature of the products, the shape of the trees, the colour of the men and above all their habits, their customs, their morals on which we will have occasion to speak later. For today, you will merely say to my sisters that they would be quite astonished if they were to be dressed up at once as the elegant ladies of the country when, without speaking of other things, they would have a jewel at the end of their nose, others in various parts of their ears, and perhaps even another one halfway between the nostrils and the eyes.

As for the animals, there is no lack of them in this country. The Indian's character is such as not to hurt anyone, not even the animals; thus rats, bats, crickets and even scorpions all swarm in the houses, yet no-one has the idea of destroying them. At this moment, I am writing to you in the midst of a concert of crows which is far from harmonious, but which I am beginning to get used to, since there is no way of avoiding it from four in the morning until seven in the evening. Since no-one tries to interfere with them, they enter into the apartments like the feather-legged pigeons of our master valets. And even in the church they are always present in number, mingling their fine voice to that of the chorister chanting the Kyrie.

It's a long time since I received your news. Do not neglect me; I don't need to tell you, without doubt, for I know your heart too well; take this word as merely the expression of the desire I have to hear news of you, of my dear father, and of my brothers, as of all those who are closely tied to us by blood or by bonds of friendship. Give them all my regards, to Papa above all, to Henri, to Bathilde and to Félicie. Your heart will make up abundantly for everything more that I could say myself.

And you, dear Mamma who have never doubted, I hope, of my love for you, be assured that this love is in fact growing day by day ; it seems to me that the distance between us draws it tighter instead of allowing it to yield. Farewell. I'm leaving a bit of space in case something new happens between now and the day the boat is due.

The most respectful of your children.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Nothing new. Once more, all the best to everyone. I am very well; thanks be to the Lord. Kindly put in the post the letters enclosed with this letter for Mr Taurines and for Mr Mazeroles. See also the paper that I have used, try to get some more like it. Letters via the Red Sea cost enormously dear, it's a good idea to have them weighed as little as possible. In that way, one can have an arrangement and put letters inside one another, for a letter does not cost any more as long as it does not exceed the weight for one rupee, which is equivalent to 45 silver sols of France.

(Pondicherry, 14 August 1842)

Sent_0068

Sent_0068 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 novembre 1842 -/2

Envoi

0068 - to his cousin Louis - 12 November 1842 -2/2

Sent_0068 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0068 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 19

(to Mr Louis de Marion Brésillac, lawyer,

Rue Darquier, Toulouse)

Necessity and difficulties of learning the language. So far I have done nothing else. How much India needs prayers ! All the errors existing in the world have come together in India. Some words against the Protestants and, because of them, on the division among Christians. A terrible gale has just ravaged the region of Pondicherry.

Index : language, Protestants, religion in India, friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 12 November 1842

I'm angry with myself, my very dear friend, for not having written you two words. I hope that you will excuse me and not blame on a culpable indifference, or on the no less culpable laziness, what should be attributed solely to the multitude of my occupations which do not leave me free for a single instant.

Ever since my arrival I have been digging into the sterile difficulties of the Indian languages which are all the more arduous since these languages have practically no analogy with ours. I can still only utter a few words; however in a few days I must be capable of giving at least some notices in the form of catechism, for the time is not so far off when I will be sent out into the countryside; and there will be no-one there who speaks anything but Malabar, Telegu or Canara. Just imagine if I've any time to lose.

Perhaps you have heard of my safe arrival in port. Divine Providence deigned to favour us in all ways in the course of this voyage: All thanks be rendered to it! Two days spent on the island of Mauritius constituted the only interlude to interrupt the monotony of three months at sea, during which we had just a few small gusts of wind as all our diversion.

I will not have the consolation of telling you that I have done something for the Lord. Thus far my life is completely tedious, shut up in a not very poetical cell, having nothing in front of my eyes but heteroclite books some of which are written on sheets of palm-tree stuck onto a long cord; finally, working solely to get into my head anti-European phrases and expressions; the already narrow sphere of my intelligence is shrinking even more; and I don't know why it is, but today I feel completely sterile. So that I won't tell you anything about our missions. The picture I would give you today would, besides, not be of the most flattering.

O how we have need of prayers, my very dear cousin, how we need to do a holy violence on Heaven in favour of India ! I assure you that very often my heart feels broken when I consider the state of religion in this unfortunate country. In the midst of this very legitimate sadness, there are however reasons for encouragement and hope at the sight of God's mercies which do not permit the faith to perish completely in places where, humanly speaking, there should not remain a single vestige of it. In fact, imagine that the whole of Hell has been unleashed against the poor Indian.

Here everything that exists in the world of error has comes together and finds itself honoured. Idolatry in all its nuances, mahometism, schism of Goa, Protestantism finally, such are the four great enemies of Christ in these parts; without counting that the passions of all kinds are overexcited each day, both by the Indians themselves and by the Europeans who seem to have assumed the task of scandalising this people in every possible way.

O the miserable Protestants ! What harm they do to the cause of Jesus ! It is true that they succeed little in the direct advancement of their cause, above all when one thinks of the immense expenses that they wastefully undertake, of the means of all kinds that they bring into play, of the incalculable advantage provided them by the government, unfortunately itself Protestant. It is clearer than daylight that almost always they only attract to them men seduced by money, by the bait of some good post, or by some other human interest whatever it may be; or else once again some bad Catholics who are to be found here as everywhere else.

But the great evil of which they are above all the source is that they prevent the good that we could do, that they paralyse our efforts and destroy our work by giving the feeble neophyte and the idolater still in darkness the scandal of Christians divided among themselves, and they throw into the greatest contempt the holy Religion of Jesus Christ. Let us pray to the Lord with fervour and perseverance; he alone is capable of making better days rise over India, he alone can preserve the truth from being circumvented by lies and being suffocated.

Pondicherry has just been the theatre of one of the most terrible gales that one could see. In living memory its equal had not been experienced, they say. This expression that is used all too often whenever something quite of the ordinary occurs, could have its share of truth in this case; for truly, if such a storm occurred every ten years only it would be impossible to have the fine trees such as are seen in their thousands. Everything was blown over or broken; it's pitiful to see.

Pondicherry which seemed built in a thick forest all at once found itself laid bare. Only a few sparse coconut palms now remain, a great part of them having been uprooted and the other trees, if they have not all fallen, have at least lost all of their branches. Only five ships were in the roads. At a given signal, they all put out to sea; and two only returned with their masts in the utmost disorder. The three others without doubt perished with all hands on board, while a lot of their wreckage was washed up on the shore. Over a thousand Malabar houses, which are quite simply in earth covered with thatch, were blown over at Pondicherry or in the neighbourhood; several persons lost their lives.

Farewell, my good friend. Remember me to our friends and relatives of Toulouse. My very sincere respects to your father and friendly greetings to your brother and your sister as well as her family. God knows I wish you all a long series of happy and prosperous days! As for you, please continue to feel for me the friendship that you granted me and be certain that it will never surpass that which I have for you. Write to me often, without counting on me; for between here and you any kind of accident can disperse a sheet of paper, and then it means too vexatious an interruption. Remember me in the presence of the Lord, and rest assured that I will not forget you in his presence.

Your devoted cousin.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 12 November 1842)

Sent_0069

Sent_0069 - à M. Vian - le 13 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0069 - to Mr.Vian - 13 November 1842 -2/2

Sent_0069 - à M. Vian - le 13 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0069 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 65-66

(to Mr Victorin Vian, Draguignan)

Thanks for your letter and news of the Church of France. Still nothing from my parents. I am studying the language. All the errors found in India, what sadness ! A terrible gale has just ravaged the region of Pondicherry. His exchange of letters with the major seminarians of Carcassone. Pray greatly for India.

Index : religion in India, language, seminary, friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 13 November 1842

My very dear friend,

Excuse my long silence which you must not attribute either to laziness or to coldness. You would be most unfair to me, for my present occupations are the only cause of it. How guilty I would be if I forgot a friend like you! Your last letter proved to me once more, in a considerable way, that I was more than once in your thoughts; so I can't say what inexpressible happiness it gave me. Perhaps you will understand this happiness when you hear that these are the first lines from Europe which have come to find me in my cell in Pondicherry.

By I know not what fatality, I still have not received anything from my family, except for a note which I don't count, because it was written only a dozen days after my departure from France. May God's will be done! By offering to him the sacrifice of everything, I did not except the accidental and inevitable deprivation of news that are so sweet when they come to us from what we hold dearest in the world.

The news you give me have done my soul good. Continue, my dear friend, to make this sort of politico-Christian analysis of what is happening in France, that France for which I cannot prevent myself from entertaining a great hope in my heart. In fact, by considering through the eyes of the faith, the course of events and of spirits in the last few years, how can we fail to see that God is directing them in his mercy?

I would like very much to speak to you of India ; but what can I say to you that is not liable to be filled with errors ? Since my arrival, I have done practically nothing but dig into the Malabar books, and I still can't do much more than ask for bread. However in a few days I will have to know enough to give the children's catechism and to hear some confessions; so that I don't have a free moment.

All the same I will not omit to tell you that very often my heart is broken, shattered, at the sight of the deplorable state of our holy religion in India. Oh, pray a great deal and ask others to pray for this poor country. I do not know how any faith remains among our unfortunate Christians, who have not only to overcome the violence of their passions, but who find themselves circumvented by all the errors that Hell has vomited on to earth, errors which have come together here to give the Indian the greatest scandal which was ever perhaps exposed to the eyes of the feeble.

Idolatry in all of its nuances, mahometanism, schism of Goa, and the heresy of the reformed church, the most deadly of all the sores of India, this is what we are obliged to see each day. The Protestants work with ardour; without doubt, it is true that they only take away from us poor Catholics already spoiled, and that as regards the idolaters, they only win over more or less those that they seduce with money, by the bait of posts or other human means; but the great evil is that they cast over Catholics a contempt that unnerves and paralyses our efforts. All of our hope lies in prayer. Pray therefore, my dear and pious friend!

You will have learned from the newspapers of the terrible gale which recently struck Pondicherry. This town which seemed built in a thick forest stands all of a sudden in a desert ; we have no more trees, and over a thousand houses of natives, which it is true are only poor huts in earth covered with palm leaves, collapsed in the town or its environs. Several persons lost their lives and, out of five ships which were in the roads and which put out to sea at the signal given, only two have returned with great damages, while the three others have not given any sign of life; undoubtedly they gone down with all hands on board.

Please remember me in a very special way to your respectable parents ; their wishes and their prayers have touched me infinitely.

I hope that in your next letter, you will tell me that you have carried out your planned visit to Monestrol. I am sure that you will have given the greatest possible pleasure to my father and to all of my family.

I do not know if you will have heard that on leaving I wrote a letter to the major seminary of Carcassonne. The seminarians answered with a charming epistle which I propose to answer myself one of these days. I thought that this could be one way of saying edifying things in the right way. Please the Lord that it is for his glory! I would have liked to do as much with regard to the minor seminary; but I feared that two correspondences of this kind might harm each other, and it seemed to me that that I would do better by addressing myself to the first of these two houses. I do not know if you think the same. Besides this does not prevent me from always loving and greatly an establishment where I spent happy days and where I believe that God's work is done. However I have very little news of it.

Farewell, my dear friend, write to me often. You will always find a moment of leisure, and I will have very little if I do not answer your letters. However, do not count on it strictly; a little gust of wind is sufficient to blow away a light sheet of paper; it would make for too distressing an interruption in our relations. Once more, pray hard for India, my very dear friend, and believe that in my prayers, unworthy as they are, you will always have a good place.

Completely yours in the sacred Hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 13 November 1842)

Sent_0070

Sent_0070 - à sa mère - le 14 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0070 - to his mother - 14 November 1842 -2/2

Sent_0070 - à sa mère - le 14 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0070 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 72-73

(to his mother)

Still no news, how long the wait is ! The only thing I do is to learn the language. Pleasant temperature for us, but cold for the Indians. The hurricane of Pondicherry. Friendly greetings and wishes to all the family. Not receiving your news takes away my courage to write to you at greater length. Pray.

Index : attachment, correspondence

__________

Pondicherry, 14 November 1842

My dear Mamma,

Here I am still without any news from you. How can I explain such a long and unexpected silence? For I do not count the little note I received by the last steamer. It is dated 22 April, only ten days after my departure from France. However I see with pleasure that until then you were all in good health and that you had received my news through a traveller from Le Mans, as well as the coat that I sent to Henri on leaving Nantes.

I am angry that my father accused or suspected me of imprudence in leaving, as he reproaches me in such a friendly way ; set his mind at rest, I had resolved to be prudent, and I did not fail in my resolution in this case, since the Seminary of the Missions had provided everything necessary for me, as well as all the needs that might arise from time to time on the way.

My position is that of a poor men who has neither tongue nor ears. Certain sounds are just beginning to be less confused, but as yet I can say nothing coherent. So here I am still at Pondicherry where one is only half a missionary. I will be staying here several months, at least until the return of His Lordship who is doing the rounds, and who is only due back after the month of January.

I am very well in health. In fact, we are now in the best season of the year for the Europeans. Although the thermometer is above 20°, the rains and the coolness of the nights make this temperature very pleasant for us. Not so for the Indians who are dying of cold. Would you have believed that the inhabitants of the torrid zone suffer from cold? It is true that they do not know how to protect themselves against it. Without clothing down to the waist, without any clothing from the feet up to mid-thigh, it doesn't take much for them to freeze.

Quite recently we had a terrible gale. I had never seen anything like it, and such violence must be rare, even in this country, where such storms are fairly common, for if there were such a storm only every ten years, it would be impossible to have fine trees. I can't tell you how many thousands were absolutely uprooted, and almost all the others have lost their branches, so that while three weeks ago we were in a forest, today we are in a desert. We had to lament the loss of several persons, the collapse of a number of houses and the loss of several ships.

I don't know what other news I can give you, and I assure you that not receiving your news takes away my courage to write you long letters. When this one reaches you, the new year will not be far off, one way or the other. I do not need on that occasion to renew my good wishes which are all too well known to you.

I am putting this letter into another one to my uncle Melchior whom I have asked to kindly send it to you immediately. My sincere compliments and friendly greetings to all my relatives and friends. But very specially, and in a much more perfect way, to my respectable and worthy father, to my good and beloved brother and sisters. They will never understand how much I love them.

And you, my dear Mamma, to understand the love that I have for you, put it beside the love you have for me and judge, if you can, which is the greater.

I do not need to ask you to remember me in your prayers. I know that Heaven hears more than once your pious words and I have the hope that they will not remain without fruit. As for me, I have you present in my thoughts every day and I do not believe that for a single day I forget to commend you and all the family to God, during the holy sacrifice of the mass.

Of all your children, the most respectful and submissive.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 14 November 1842)

Sent_0071

Sent_0071 - aux séminaristes de Carcassonne - le 20 novembre 1842 -/5

Sent 0071 - to the seminarians of Carcassonne - 20 November 1842 -5/5

Sent_0071 - aux séminaristes de Carcassonne - le 20 novembre 1842 -/5

Sent 0071 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 265-278

"Souvenirs", pp 155-161

(to the seminarians of Carcassonne)

Joy at having received your letter. If only we could have good seminaries in India! I will not speak to you of the Foreign Missions: the fathers of Saint Lazarus, your directors, know them as well as I do. I am still learning the language. Religion. Catholic works in France. It is the priest's business to direct the movement of minds thirsting for knowledge. The priest is happy if he is following his vocation. A youthful anecdote on a priest from the region of Castelnaudary. Of course in France as in India there are sinners who are lost. Some words against idols, against Protestantism, against the schism of Goa. I need all my faith to re-animate my courage in the face of such things! Pray. The outcasts : they are not abandoned.

Index : seminary, language, fruits of the ministry in France, religion in France, the priest's vocation in France, religion in India, idols, Protestants, schism of Goa, outcasts

__________

Pondicherry, 20 November 1842

Gentlemen and dear friends,

By a happy mistake, your kind letter reached me sooner than you thought. Instead of passing by the Cape of Good Hope, to come to find me I don't know when, it was sent by steamer, via Suez. Thus it came to edify me and raise my spirits, not in the midst of the Christian settlements of the interior, but in my humble cell of Pondicherry where I am for the moment, and where I will be staying for two or three months more, in order to learn the Malabar language well, before flinging myself into the exercise of the apostolic functions.

I cannot tell you the extreme joy produced in me by reading these lines, dictated by piety, and in which are enclosed more than the germs of the priestly virtues, by means of which you will edify the Church which will have the good fortune to possess you. Fortunate the countries where these pious establishments flourish, where virtue is formed together with healthy doctrine; true nurseries of good priests, carrying out the wishes of the holy Council of Trent: Ita ut hoc collegium Dei ministrorum perpetuum seminarium sit. (

) Oh! If we could only have good seminaries in India. Pray to the Lord, Gentlemen, and perhaps this happiness will not be refused us for ever.

With what considerable pleasure I see the right ideas that you have conceived, my dear friends, of the work of the foreign missions ! Don't believe that everyone is as enlightened as you are on this subject. Please excuse me if I had not reflected, in my first letter, that being directed by the Lazarist priests, you must be better instructed than others on the real state of the apostolic ministry; for these Gentlemen have for long been entrusted with several missions in different places in the universe; thus they know better than others what are their strong and weak points, and their advantages and dangers; more than others, they are capable of giving you solid explanations, besides animating your courage and your zeal.

They will not fail to tell you, these respectable directors, how the work of the missions is also your work ; how it is the work of all priests ; in what way everyone can contribute actively to its successes and share the merits it procures, although not all are called to the good fortune of being missionaries. Thus, do not be astonished if I seem not to be keeping the promise that I made to you, to converse in the near future with you on the various aspects of the foreign missions. You are in too good a school for me to try to mix my voice with that of your masters. They will instruct you better than I ever could.

I would like to be able to fill this letter with interesting details, that I had gathered myself in apostolic journeys. This would give me all the more joy, insofar as it would give me the hope of having done something for the Lord. But, alas! I have to limit myself to saying to you today that as yet I have not done anything. Since my arrival, I am engaged in digging into the hard and sterile ground of the Indian languages. To the difficulties presented by this study, add the requirements of the heavy envelope of the soul, of nature with its constant complaints, and to the feebleness of which we are certainly obliged to yield some degree of fear that it may succumb, above all when we have the strength to drag ourselves under the 11th degree of latitude, when it was accustomed to exert its caprices between the 43rd and the 49th. You will have no difficulty in understanding after all that, that I still do not possess sufficient Malabar to confess and to preach. Just a few months more and I hope to be able to begin to conduct catechism and to hear some confessions ; then, I will be flung into a district where the only sounds to reach my ears will be Indian sounds ; and then I'll just have to give in to these anti-European turns of phrase.

What shall I talk to you about today then, Gentlemen ? Perhaps it would give you pleasure to read the description of a feast which has just been held in a village close to Pondicherry. That will give you some idea of our Christians in India. But before that allow me to answer certain passages of your letter.

Perhaps you will be astonished, Gentlemen, to see that my opinion differs from yours on what a priest, in France, can expect as the fruits of his ministry. Believe me, not everything is lost, my good friends, and beside a great deal of evil, there is much good in France ; there is above all much to hope for in the future. I have just left that country for ever dear to my heart; so I can speak of it with a full knowledge of the facts. Yes, the priest in France has a fine mission to carry out, and I do not feel sorry for him if he is called by God for this work, and prepares to make himself capable of responding to what the Church requires of him, in order for his vocation to bear fruits.

Without speaking in fact of the special protection with which the Lord seems to cover France, and that with the eyes of faith one can note easily in the various events which have occurred in the last few years, how can we not hope at the sight of so many charitable initiatives that grow day by day, and which prove that life is present under the social crust which seems dead in Jesus Christ ? And the admirable work of Propagation of the Faith; and that impulsion which leads the young clergy to concern itself more than ever with the work of the missions; and the work of Saint Vincent-de-Paul, whose pious lectures, already established in almost all the big towns of France, count on a crowd of young people distinguished in the world; and this contribution of the faithful who surround in all places the rostrum of truth; and this redoubling of zeal and fervour for the cult of our good Mother, the sweet Virgin Mary; and this imposing body of the first pastors, who give the world the magnificent sight of the most integral purity, combined with all the virtues of the pontiffs; and the whole of the clergy, too numerous without doubt for us not to deplore, in the odd case, the deviations of a few false brothers, but which behaves so well as a whole that the faults of a few unfortunate individuals can only be attributed to themselves, without either impiety or heresy being in a position to attempt to pass off these faults as those of the clergy. And should we not be filled with hope!

Is the course of the world not decreed also in order to sustain us in the hope of better days ? Follow this crowd avid for knowledge ; see it in our public libraries; follow the movement of minds including in irreligious writings, and you will recognise that a generally widespread principle exists which must necessarily be favourable to us. The time has gone for lining up gratuitously under the banner of an impostor, and for adopting his blasphemies or the authority of a brilliant but misleading display of erudition or of eloquence. We are no longer satisfied by a historic falsehood, by an uncertain fact, by a roughly outlined discovery, by a system which proves nothing. We want to judge in full knowledge of the facts.

It is true that we often go too far in this direction, and that we plunge into the contrary excesses of rationalism ; but after all such a mind in general cannot but be favourable to an essentially true religion, which is based on the most indisputable testimonies, which does not fear the light, which adopts or rather encloses every natural and supernatural truth, feeling horror for falsehood alone. Without doubt the passions will always be there to prevent man from practising what he will be practically forced to believe. However the mind will recognise the truth that the heart of the bad alone will refuse to admit; and many will adopt them, in spirit and in heart ; and they will console the Church for the losses that a long century of indifference has made it undergo.

However, Gentlemen, it is necessary to direct this movement of minds ; and that is the business of the priest, of the French priest above all. That is his vocation, it is great and fine. And do not believe that it is necessary, in order to contribute to this general direction, to be at the centre of the movement, or to have the talents of a Ravignan to capture, attentive and silent, the crowd of distinguished men which presses around its so catholicly philosophic rostrum. No, one single thing seems to me necessary for all the priests of France: it is to combine with an in–depth study of theology, a serious study of the century in which they find themselves, of the men in the midst of whom they are destined to live, in short a knowledge of the milieu in which they have to exercise their zeal; zeal which, more than ever, must be prudent and enlightened. With this, the parish priest in his sermons, his instructions, his catechisms, his visits, the preacher in his sermons, the writer in his books, those who direct youth in the impulsion they communicate to young hearts, in this way the priests will regenerate France. So do not entertain such sombre ideas, my dear friends, arm yourselves with courage, with science and with piety, and believe that religion can expect much of your efforts.

May each one of you, as I said in my first letter, study himself in order to discover his vocation and may he have the courage to follow it. I do not know what other language to use to you; and after that, I will say to you boldly: yes, I believe that the French priest can be happy; as happy as the priest in India, in China and elsewhere. I would go further, he would be unhappy if he found himself transplanted to those far-off parts, without having been led there by the hand of God. I have seen the priest in practically all possible positions, and I have studied him in his different callings. Well, I may tell you, dear friends, that I found him happy whenever he was in his vocation. On the contrary, those who, even with good intentions, found themselves not to be in their place, could not rid themselves of a certain malaise. I am not speaking of those who no longer followed in the way of their sublime vocation, because they had declined the way of innocence; they, yes, are unhappy; fortunately, they are rare; and it depends on us to avoid that misfortune, with the grace of God. Non patietur vos tentari supra id quod potestis. ()

I was still very young, for I had not made my first communion, when one day I found myself in a very numerous gathering of priests ; and since they were asking one another both their age and the time they had spent in the exercise of the holy ministry, some replied simply : ten, fifteen, twenty years. Other, raising their eyes and their heart to heaven, said with greater respect and piety : it is a long time now that I have the good fortune of offering the formidable sacrifice, or some such pious expression. Then came the turn of the person – whom I will not name – who cried out, with a sigh that betrayed his pique: "It's twenty years (more or less) that I'm in this prison". At these words, I could not prevent myself from opening my eyes wide, turning them immediately to his face for, little boy that I was, I was still ashamed by his words. What does it mean? I wondered to myself; can a priest call his profession by the name of prison! And a bad thought crossed my mind, but I rejected it very quickly, since at that time I couldn't imagine that there were any bad priests. However, these words struck me so powerfully that I could indicate the place where he was seated, and it seems to me that I can hear his blasphemy still. But it came about that, a short time afterwards, a priest was responsible for a great public scandal: it was that same priest.

However, my dear friends, I will take care not to deny the pious thought with which you end that article, that "the priest is nothing more than a man of sorrow". I do not wish to rob him of that glory and above all that "resemblance with his divine master", as you say. The picture that you have painted, were it only true on one side, would be more than sufficient to tear his soul to pieces. But do you really believe, Gentlemen, that it is not the same elsewhere ? And speaking of India only, what subjects of sorrow do I not see on all sides!

You, Gentlemen, when in a pious solitude, in a moment of calm and meditation, from the top of a hill witness of your ardent prayer, you cast your eyes over the cities of France, as the Prophet of old did over Niniveh, what do you see ? It is true, many sinners follow the way of perdition; indifference and tepidity hamper the Christian sentiment of many of our brothers; certain of them have lost their faith.

But what does the priest in India see ? On his right, an infamous pagoda which, at all hours of the day, receives within its precincts a numerous, noisy and impious crowd. The smoke of the incense being burned in honour of the demon rises in the midst of the light of a thousand lamps, maintained to the glory of the prince of darkness. At the entrance, there rises an imposing mass of grotesque sculptures, displaying in full daylight the hideous images of monstrous and immodest divinities who preach, though mute on the stone into which they have been cut, the infamies that they represent. These pagodas may be counted in their thousands, to such an extent that one cannot take a step without stumbling over the idols. They have millions of worshippers, who carry on their foreheads the mark of the beast. If, turning away one's eyes, one allows them nonchalently to fall on the nearby monument, that monument is a mosque in which the sons of the false prophet are vowing to avenge the worshippers of Christ.

And yet, from the centre of a modest temple, clean and whose ancient ogive shows that the architect was inspired by the cold combinations of northern Europe, a sweet word greets the missionary's ear ; he hears the sacred name of Jesus pronounced ; he goes in ; but he fails to perceive the image of him who died for all mankind ; there is no altar there on which to renew each day the adorable sacrifice ; it is a minister of the heresy which abuses the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to tear to pieces the Church that Jesus Christ himself founded. Oh, scandal! He decries the Catholic priests; he offends their reputation; he hands out pamphlets, filled with falsehoods and his apocryphal translation of the Bible, thus hampering our ministry and paralysing the good that we could hope for, by giving the infidels and the feeble neophytes the sad example of the division among Christians.

Broken-hearted, the missionary withdraws without ado, when he discovers the sign of the redemption at the entrance to a small church. So here he is at the end of his sorrows; he goes in, bows down low and worships, for he perceives the sacred lamp testifying to the presence of our holy mysteries. In fact he is edified to see the formidable sacrifice of our altars celebrated according to all the rites of the holy Roman Church; but what is it now that he hears, when the priest takes the floor to preach to his little flock? What excess of gallicanism impels him to discuss on the power of the Pope that he claims is impeded by that of the King of Portugal, and this in places which conquest has subjugated to British power! What is he saying against the priests duly devoted to the Holy See whom he is calling by the name of propagandists? Good God! Is the scandal of Protestantism not enough! Must it be that, in pagan countries, schism also rips to pieces, with its iron finger-nails, the small number of neophytes that our predecessors had such trouble in bringing into the fold of the good Shepherd? Well! My dear friends, do you believe that after this the priest in India is not a man of sorrow?

I will not even speak to you of the daily troubles that are the consequence of this disorder. The bad Christians, the false brothers, the apostates are the cause of this tearing up of detail which does not allow the priest's heart one moment of rest. Accordingly pray, dear friends, that the Lord will give us strength to face up to the difficulties of our position. I must say I am in dire need of it. Although I am quite new in India, at the sight of this state of things, I have more than once felt my heart fail, and I had to seek in the considerations of the faith the means of re-animating my courage.

But enough of sadness ; I wish to reserve the rest of the paper and time to telling you about our feast of Ariancoupam (see above) (

).

I will not forget, on this occasion, the charitable errand entrusted to me, regarding those to whom I will have the privilege of preaching Jesus Christ. I shall convey to them your wishes, and your prayers, and your alms, and your efforts of all kinds for their salvation.

Your zeal for the poor outcast is indeed praiseworthy ; only, perhaps on this caste, as also on many usages of India, you have somewhat inexact ideas, which is something quite common to Europeans. The few words you say on this seem to be a proof of this lack of exact knowledge, assuredly very excusable in you, and unfortunately much too widespread. You won't believe, my dear friends, how prejudicial these inexactnesses of appreciation of the Europeans have been to the progress of religion in India. I will not develop this thought foreign at this moment to our subject. Except that your charity will be pleased to learn that by the grace of God, things are today at such a point, that it is as easy to ensure that the outcast participates in the benefits of our holy religion, as for the high-caste Indian. Thus they are not the least in the world abandoned, and they are numerous in the Church. In many Christian congregations they form the vast majority of the population of the faithful. So that I can, in some sort, already satisfy your desire on this point by telling you that, in the rare functions of the holy mystery that I have been able to perform, which is limited to the baptism of several children, more than once I had to exercise them on the children of outcasts.

The name of friend, that you have given me, is too dear to me for me not to ask you never to give me any other ; and as for me, believe me, when I allow myself to call you thus, it is no vain formula, but the very real expression of the sentiments of my heart. I will end here, Gentlemen, for I realise that I have been rather long while I had nothing to say to you. May the grace of the Lord continue to grow in you. Crescite vero in gratia et in cognitione Domini nostri et Salvatoris Jesu Christi. () Your next letter will find me, I hope, in the midst of the land of the infidels.

Pray to God, my dear friends, that I will be able to tell you that a large number of them have been converted to the Lord.

I have the honour of being, in the union of your fervent prayers and in the godly embraces of the most tender charity, etc.

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry, 20 November 1842)

Sent_0072

Sent_0072 - à M. Arnal - le 25 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0072 - to Mr Arnal - 25 November 1842 -1/2

Sent_0072 - à M. Arnal - le 25 novembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0072 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Mr Etienne Arnal)

(superior of the minor seminary of Carcassonne)

Greetings to all the minor seminary. The priests of the diocese owe much to you. His correspondence with the major seminarians. His voyage. His work on the language. The advantages, the difficulties and obstacles of religion in India. For India I hold out more fear than hope.

Index : friendship, language, religion in India, glory of God

__________

Pondicherry, 25 November 1842

Dear Sir,

I do not want to send off a packet for Carcassonne without there being a little note in it for the seminary, remembering you all. Please believe me when I say that you are often in my thoughts, you and the worthy co-operators in your work, above all those whom I had the pleasure of knowing, and in fact the whole household that I love greatly, assuredly, as much as and perhaps more than when I was privileged to be there. I don't doubt but that the good God will always bless your efforts and that good will grow ever more among so many children who owe you the inestimable benefit of a Christian education.

Mr Vian, who wrote to me recently, assures me of it ; he tells me : "all goes well in the minor seminary". This good priest always very attached to your house, and how could this be otherwise seeing the good done, and the work of God accomplished there?

Perhaps you will have heard that a small correspondence has started up between the major seminary and myself. I am writing today to those Gentlemen in response to a kind letter that I received just recently. I would have liked to do the same with the minor seminary. My heart propended for it and I had almost been committed by you. But I felt before God that more good could be done in some other way; and I feared that to set in motion two such, above all in respect of two so closely related establishments, would be to gain no benefit from either. Do you agree? I hope that you will tell me, frankly.

What can I tell you about myself ? God be blessed, for permitting my voyage to be of the most fortunate; I arrived as if on castors. Since the month of August, here I am cramming into my surly brain anti-European phrases; I hope that soon I will have a sufficiently large provision of them to confess and to hold catechism. I can't wait to begin to speak of our good Jesus to the poor peoples of India.

What good there is to be done in this country ! What resources could be found among this good people with the germ of Christianity so well established in the hearts of many excellent Christians! But also, what difficulties in the midst of the most obstinate paganism, with the most heteroclite usages to be found and to which it is absolutely necessary to submit, finally with the scandal of the Mahometans, of the Protestants, of the schismatics of Goa, without counting the bad Catholics; add to all of this the work of the missions which always has its little misfortunes, for it is too good for the devil not to try and diminish its successes, and you will realise what need we have of the succour of your prayers.

O yes, my dear Mr Arnal, pray and ask others to pray for our mission ; I have more fear for India than hope ; however the latter is great and the good God is pleased to increase it day by day . Thank God who gave me a post where it is possible to do great things for his glory, but we have to correspond to his grace; pray, please, that it is thus.

Excuse my chattiness and its disorder, I have only a moment, time presses. I have no more space to ask you to remember me to all of those whom I have the pleasure of knowing at Carcassonne; would you be so kind as to supply the names, and interpret my sentiments.

A Dieu, think of me from time to time, and believe that I am for life, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Your devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Would you kindly ask the Congregation for a pater and an ave for me.

(Pondicherry, 25 November 1842)

Sent_0073

Sent_0073 - à M. Tesson - le 2 décembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0073 - to Mr Tesson - 2 December 1842 -2/2

Sent_0073 - à M. Tesson - le 2 décembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0073 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 305-308

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director of the Seminary of Paris)

Thank you for your all too short note. How I love Rome! He sends him the letter to the major seminarians of Carcassonne (0071) Some progress in Tamoul. He can't wait to go into the interior. The poor seminary and the printing press of Pondicherry.

Index : language, seminary of Pondicherry, printing press

__________

Pondicherry, 2 December 1842

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have this minute received your note of 5 October and I am taking advantage of the short interval left me between my numerous occupations to write you a few words by the ship which is due to leave shortly. Why did you only have 7 minutes? However if you knew the pleasure that they gave me, I feel sure that your charity would next time devote at least fourteen to me; how would it be if you were persuaded of this dynamico-sentimental principle: that the interest uniformly accelerated of a letter in movement is proportional to the square of the time, above all when these times are in inverse ratio to the distances?

We knew of Mr Douai's little escapade. But the behaviour of Rome of which you inform me gives me inexpressible pleasure. Oh how I love Rome! It is the centre of all truth.

So the good Mr Virol will soon be one of us ! God be praised. You astonish me when you tell me that Mr Luquet might also be. For my part, I would be delighted, but once more that astonishes me.

According to our agreement, I am sending you a long letter addressed to the seminarians of Carcassonne so that you can see it and if there is anything in it that doesn't please you, kindly point it out to the superior so that he can prevent it from being reproduced. If you have the patience to read it from one end to the other, you will see that it consists of reflections for young ecclesiastics; plus a more or less valid description of our last feast of Ariancoupam. Kindly send it as soon as possible to Carcassonne with the other letters for that town.

I have received the 150 francs that my good father had asked you to pass on to me and later the little letter that accompanied them undoubtedly from the beginning. By the by, what is truly astonishing is that I have not received any further news from my family, I can only attribute this to some mistake in the address, but it's a very painful error, I assure you. I do not know if and when it will be rectified. This is just one more trial; thanks to God, I do not refuse it.

His Lordship is still doing the rounds ; we hope to see him again in January, and I hope moreover to leave shortly after that for the interior. It seems to me that I shall soon begin to get on alright. "Give me some rice : (phrase in Tamoul), is it not so ? what time is it? (phrase in Tamoul), I am going to say mass (phrase in Tamoul), ring the bell, etc.". Is that not passable? Now in two months' time I expect to know enough to understand the gist of a confession and to teach the catechism.

I can't wait to see how things are going in the interior. O the good people of India, my dear Mr Tesson! I am more and more charmed by them each day! What resources, it seems to me! But really what has been done? And what should one do? Finally I say no more because I would perhaps say too much. We are awaiting developments, to know who will be the His Lordship's coadjutor. And in fact I imagine that we should not be at all indifferent on this point of the utmost importance in my opinion, and to speak frankly, I believe more than I hope. The poor Mr Leroux puts his whole soul into it, but unfortunately he is not encouraged. He is a young man of goodwill and who has the good fortune to realise the need for a good seminary. He appears determined not to be discouraged, but I fear that he doesn't have the strength or even sufficient means to succeed. Mr Dupuis makes books. It seems to me that at the present time he is the one who renders the most real service to the mission. His printing press is prospering; it is merely a germ compared to what it should and what it could become; as he himself agrees. But when all is said and done, this germ is very good and produces excellent fruits.

Farewell, my dear Mr Tesson, pray to the good God that I may do something for India ! O how much good could be done by a man in the right frame of mind. But is not this frame of mind in fact God's grace? Ask it of God. Completely yours and for the work of the mission as long as life lasts.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Pondicherry, 2 December 1842)

Sent_0074

Sent_0074 - à M. Tesson - le 20 décembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0074 - to Mr Tesson - 20 December 1842 -2/2

Sent_0074 - à M. Tesson - le 20 décembre 1842 -/2

Sent 0074 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 309-310

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Since the boat has not left, he adds a word to his previous letter (0073). When he is in the interior, will Mr Tesson keep him informed on affairs in the world. He would like to have the book just appearing on the martyrs of Tong-Kin. The time has come to do something in India.

Index : keeping informed, newspapers, hope

__________

Pondicherry, 20 December 1842

It is in vain, my dear Mr Tesson, that I have been waiting indefinitely for the departure of one of the two local vessels postponed from one week to the next for an eternity now.

It is true that it is not its fault since it was so violently battered by the last tempest that all of its masts were broken, happy enough to have left only its tail in the battle, since out of the five ships which were on the roads at the time of the hurricane and which took to sea, only two have returned, while the three others went down with all on board. So that the local vessels are not leaving, and I have decided to send the letter to the seminarians of Carcassonne by steamer. I was uncertain whether to address it to them directly so as to avoid any expense to you. If I have not done the right thing by sending it to you first, please would you tell me, so that I can do otherwise another time.

I refer to your little note that I have read and re-read in order to get full pleasure from it. Nothing new in politics or in religion, you say. This is oddly like the expression of our Languedoc peasants who, when they are asked: How is your sick father or mother? A l'acoustumado, they reply, that is to say as usual or nothing new, and this is their invariable reply from the day when the patient takes to his bed until the moment of his death.

Besides, I do not know what to make of the affairs of the world, for I read the Madras and Calcutta newspapers and sometimes the Atlas, an English paper, which keeps its readers very well informed on everything ; but it will not always be like this, for soon I will be deprived of these resources and you would be a kind friend if, when you write to me, which I hope will be from time to time, you could tell me something of the way in which the globe is turning, which cannot leave me indifferent, since it seems to me that in our position we should not be so. This reminds me that I read with pleasure the political letter of Mr Jurines. This is a very interesting summary, very well written, and quite sufficient, even for most of our missions, but it seems to me that here we would need four of them like that one : one every three months.

I have seen in several newspapers the advertisement of a book which is said to be very interesting and which should in fact be of the utmost interest if it is well written : this is the history of the martyrs of Tong-Kin and of Cochin China by Mr Marette. I expected to see a few copies of it arrive on the Gange or the Pondichéry, but no such thing! This together with certain evasive answers which seemed to fly off at a tangent when I asked for news of this confrere, made me think that things are even more confused that they were before my departure. Would you consider it an indiscretion if I asked you what it is all about and whether it would not be possible to see this book which interests us all, first and foremost.

Please be so good as to post the enclosed letters.

A Dieu. Yesterday I saw Mr Sicé, who is rarer than rain in the month of August. He is well and sends his kind regards. Everybody is well. We feared seriously for Mr Triboulot's chest. But he is now well on the way to a perfect recovery. Mr Roger too is over the worst.

I won't say anything about India. There would be too much to tell you and I want to wait still. I will just say these few words. If the good God blesses me, and if you help me with your prayers, with your advice and with your help, I hope that it will not be for nothing that I have seen the land of India. I believe that the time has come to do something, but it should be done with a great deal of prudence and intelligence. Would that I had someone to whom to communicate what is passing through my mind and my heart! But I have no more paper.

A Dieu.

Mr de Brésillac

(Pondicherry, 20 December 1842)

Sent_0075

Sent_0075 - à son père - le 20 février 1843 -/2

Sent 0075 - to his father - 20 February 1843 -2/2

Sent_0075 - à son père - le 20 février 1843 -/2

Sent 0075 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 74-75

(to his father)

I have received your last two letters. Yes, let us render thanks to God. I am overjoyed. We can write to each other regularly. Let's do so every three months and by steamer. It is surer and faster. The usual greetings..

Index : will of God, joy, vocation, attachment (family), correspondence

__________

Pondicherry, 20 February 1843

My very dear Papa,

The many notes you must have received from me will have told you, more than I could express, the impatience I felt to receive your news. Perhaps even this impatience may have seemed to you excessive, and you would be quite right in reproaching me for it if it did not stem from the love I have for you, for love excuses everything.

The day after I put the last of those notes in the post, I received your kind letter of 9 October, and since then that of 16 November has also arrived. Thanks be rendered to heaven that it has kept you all in good health and in the holy joy of the Lord, despite the pain of a sacrifice such as that which the good God has required of you, but for which he will surely repay you both in this world and above all in the next, after the truly Christian way in which you were able to make it, and the exemplary resignation that you showed to the holy will of the Lord.

You are quite right, my dear Papa, to say that we owe to God many thanksgivings for the protection that he has given us on these occasions. As for me, he led me here as it were by the hand; and since I have been here, he seems to wish to increase more and more the joy I feel in having given myself to his service in the career of the missions, through the conviction that grows more intimate and stronger each day, that that is what he wants of me, that my place is here.

Thus, you need have no regret, my dear Papa, and rest assured that having done otherwise would not have met the designs that the good God had for your son. And as you see, he has also made allowances for our weakness, since, without my having chosen it, he has put me in a position such that it is easy for us to correspond and to tell each other, at least by letter, what it would undoubtedly be sweeter to tell each other in person; but finally what an immense advantage for our hearts which would have been almost totally deprived of this solace, if I had been sent to Korea or to Tartary: missions which belong to our company just as much as that of Pondicherry .

Also, I do not think that we should entirely forego the steamer service. It is true that it is a rather expensive way of corresponding, since each letter costs me 3 francs and something. But finally, the good God will provide, I think. It seems to me that we could arrive at an agreement: you would write to me regularly by this means every three months, irrespective of the circumstances in which you could write to me by ordinary sea post, which it must be admitted is very uncertain and very inconvenient. First of all, it is not reliable, then at times it takes so long to arrive that all patience is lost, and this not so much because of the time the ships take in arriving, as because the letters wait about in the offices either at the harbour, or on Bourbon, before a suitable ship is found. I will also write to you every three months approximately, or in other words as often as the circumstances of place and time allow me to.

Besides, did you know that the letter of 16 November which contained three large sheets of your finest paper could be double without paying any more ; it could even strictly speaking contain three entire sheets plus a half sheet. And if your paper was as fine as that, you could put in four sheets. Which provides the possibility of putting several letters one in the other.

But at this point, wishing to use my privilege, I now want to write a little note to Mamma and to my brother and sisters, so I will leave you a little earlier, my dear Papa, for I don't have time today to write long letters and I think it will give you as much pleasure to receive five small ones.

My friendly greetings to everyone and above all to those you mention in your letters : to the Dupérier family, to the Faure family, to our good cousin Hermine and her baby as well as the whole of her family.

A Dieu, my dear Papa, love me always as you do ; above all let us love each other in the Lord who has only separated us for a time in order to reunite us most certainly in the life to come.

The most respectful of your children.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 20 February 1843)

Sent_0076

Sent_0076 - à sa mère - le 20 février 1843 -/2

Sent 0076 - to his mother - 20 February 1843 -2/2

Sent_0076 - à sa mère - le 20 février 1843 -/2

Sent 0076 Original, AMA 2F1, p 76-77

(to his mother)

How he is going to be dressed from now on. He leaves with a disciple who knows French. Praises of his mother's virtues. Why not correspond by steamer. Does it cost more? God will provide.

Index : habit in India, language, trust in God, correspondence, attachment (family)

__________

Pondicherry, 20 February 1843

My very dear Mamma,

I am writing to you in the midst of the diversions of the preparations for a departure. Although a departure is nothing for a missionary, this one however involves some embarrassment because of the change of costume that has to be adopted. Here, since the town is more European than Indian, we are dressed more or less as in France.

But finally, off with the cassock ; and here comes the tailor to take measurements for a sort of flowing white robe, accompanied by such wide trousers that I could fit into them twice over, at the same time as a hat-maker is trying a hat on my head, two feet high and red as fire ; the vendor of slippers has brought in red slippers or yellow ones, with curved points, and the vendor of scarves is offering scarves embroidered in gold or plainer ones with a single red thread.

This is more of a Turkish costume that a Malabar one, and which has been adopted for a long time now. To make it complete, it should be accompanied by a long beard; mine is only just beginning to grow, but it will be long in a few months' time.

Don't imagine that I am yet very knowledgeable in the language of the country. I know only just enough to jog along; but I will be accompanied by a disciple who knows French, and first of all I will be joining a former missionary, in order to gain initial experience under his eyes and then learn to fly alone. I have tried to hear some confessions in Malabar, but it's still not good enough; and having sewed together a few phrases with the help of my cleaner, I recited, a few days ago, rather like a parrot, a short sermon lasting ten minutes.

Let us now come to your kind little letter of 16 November. As regards your friendship, my dear Mamma, I know where I stand and it would be useless for me to tell you all the love there is for you in my heart. And, by God, it grows daily, this love, at the sight of the merits you have acquired by the completely Christian way in which you accept sacrifices. Your virtue delights me and attaches me to you more than I can tell you. Oh yes, my dear Mamma, let us do this with gaiety of heart, since we have the intimate conviction that it is the will of the Lord whom we would be in despair, you and I, at disobeying for a single instant.

And then, let the sweet peace of the good God flow on to your soul. Do not be too afraid of offending him; for one does not so easily offend him one loves, and let us place ourselves unreservedly in his hands. He takes great care not to tempt us above our strength.

Why do you believe that it is impossible for us to communicate through the steamer ? It seems to me that the good God will not consider it a crime on our part to make use from time to time of this facility. Without doubt, it is rather expensive, and the letters are at my cost. But finally, the good God will provide; he provides for the bodily needs of his missionaries; why should we not trust him for the needs of the heart which are, it seems to me, as powerful as the others. He will give us the means, providing we are moderate. See what I say on this subject to my father.

A Dieu, my dear Mamma, I am happy and content, because I have the hope of following the good God's will. It is not that there are no spiritual woes here as anywhere else; the devil is to be found over the whole surface of the earth and we always carry ourselves with us, but in the end these woes, I have embraced them at least in part for the cause of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

Write to me from time to time, even if it is just a little note, like the last one.

My compliments and respects, please, to any entitled to them and I beg you, please believe that it is impossible for a son to love his mother more than I love you.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 20 February 1843)

Sent_0077

Sent_0077 - à son frère Henri - le 20 février 1843 -/2

Sent 0077 - to his brother Henri - 20 February 1843 -2/2

Sent_0077 - à son frère Henri - le 20 février 1843 -/2

Sent 0077 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 80-81

(to his brother Henri)

Expression of friendship for his brother. In your job, be prepared to take advice from experienced people. You can also write your thoughts to me. He approves of his resolution not to forego society; but he should not forget the obligations of religion, that would make him too unhappy. I am soon leaving for the interior.

Index : friendship, attachment (family), obligations of religion, advice (take)

__________

Pondicherry, 20 February 1843

It is an excellent idea, my very dear and worthy friend, to write several letters in the one. It's all very well to say: Henri joins with us; our feelings are his, etc. etc., that is not worth a little note written by his hand. So do that from time to time, my beloved brother, and the pleasure that you give me will always be proportionate to the length of your epistle measured according to the possibility of the moment.

And to answer first of all the end of your little letter, you may be sure that your desire is well satisfied, for not only is my friendship assured to you for always, but it has arrived at such a point of intensity that I doubt if it could grow any more, although experience proves to me that every day it is stronger than the one before. The assurance you give me of the reciprocity of your feelings for me fills me with joy and trust.

At last, here you are with a real job ! I am delighted for several reasons, my dear friend, and I feel sure that you discharge the tasks that are entrusted to you to the full satisfaction of our good father. You have always had a taste for agriculture and, so far as I have been able to see, you have the fortune of combining, with the good sense that comes natural to you and to the rectitude of judgment that the good God has given you, an extremely favourable aptitude: that of distrusting prejudices and of examining the good and the bad of a thing before accepting it.

However, one should not take this principle too far, above all when one is young and, without following the others like sheep, one should also get one's share of experience ! The advice of our respectable father and of the other persons instructed by experience should not be useless to you. As for me, I cannot be of any use to you in questions of detail, because for any such it is necessary to see and hear, to speak, decide etc. ; but in questions of some importance, you do not disdain to share your thoughts with me, and if you allow me to share mine with you, although the usefulness can only be extremely slight for you who will have other surer and more effective means of enlightenment, however it would have an effect on our friendship, it seems to me, and on the intimacy of the relations which we are privileged to have together, of something sweet and which does the heart good.

I cannot but approve, my very dear friend, your resolution not to adopt completely the rough habits of the inhabitants of the countryside, and not to forego society. Man is made for society; and society is impossible without politeness and without urbanity. And the other exercises of your country life, how could I blame them? Oh no, my very dear friend, they are in accordance with order and reason.

Only one thing would have given me pleasure : and that is a word that proved that in the midst of these occupations, you find the means of combining with the world which is not to be condemned, when one knows how to use it as I am persuaded you have the good sense to do, the holy obligations of our adorable religion, which I hope you will always put in the forefront of your duties. You are undoubtedly aware of the firm obligation we have to be religious even in the midst of the world, and at the same time that this it is not very difficult.

For if you forgot it for a single instant, I admit that my sorrow would be great, it would be proportionate to the love I have for you. And how could I not be despondent, I who have left you to teach barbarians to know and to love Jesus Christ, if I knew that he who is closest to me in the world, after my own parents, is himself, were it even for a moment, in this fatal ignorance. Alas! The Lord knows that I carry to the foot of the altar a similar sorrow with regard to certain of our relatives and friends ; may he be pleased to preserve you always from their misfortune !

God be praised ! my dear friend, who overwhelms me with joy in the midst of the trials and tribulations of the missions! Oh his words are true, and how senseless would he be who would cast doubt on them for a single instant. He has said that he who leaves everything for him will be rewarded one hundredfold! And truly, a single one of the consolations that he places in the heart of the man who strives to love him is worth more than all the world's consolations. This is what I feel each day, my good friend, and what I would like to make those I love understand.

One of these days I am going to leave for the missions in the interior, I have no more paper to tell you about it, for I have let my heart pour out its feelings into yours, and have had to restrain it, else it would never have finished.

A Dieu, my very good friend. Write to me often. I will write to you also and we will love each other more every day if that is possible.

Your good brother.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 20 February 1843)

Sent_0078

Sent_0078 - à son père - le 30 avril 1843 -/11

Sent 0078 - to his father - 30 April 1843 -1/11

Sent_0078 - à son père - le 30 avril 1843 -/11

Sent 0078 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 82-86

(to his father)

Report on his first journey in the country inland from Pondicherry to Covilour, in company with Mr Triboulot and Mr Roger at the beginning. He is accompanied by a disciple with whom he speaks Latin. Emotion at leaving Pondicherry. Penetration into the truly Indian India. The animals do not fear men. The pagodas. Meals under a tope. A pagan feast. A baptism on the way. How the savady are organised. Marvels of nature: the crops in the fields. The religious practices of the poor Indians. Look out for robbers! Appearance of a comet. What heat! Need for making a pause in the middle of the day. Sadness at the poverty of the church at Salem where there are very few Christians, and moreover divided. Administrative formalities at Salem. Arrival at Covilour. What a din! If you could send me a little money.

Index : astronomy, kindnesses, missions (thoughts)

__________

Tiroupattour, 30 April 1843

My dear Papa,

You want details, so I am going to try and give you very circumstantiated ones, by sending you the report of my first journey into the interior. I do not know either how many times I will interrupt my letter, or when I shall end it; forgive my repetitions, my crossings out, my bad French, forgive me also for my bad writing, for I don't always have a pen, and even more often there is no table on which to lean my paper.

Since His Lordship had announced my destination for the mission of Salem, or Selam, I only had time to make some hurried preparations for departure and entered into retreat (as is the custom before leaving) on Sunday of the Sexagesima, from which I came out the following Saturday, to leave early in the morning of 28 February. It pleased the good God to send me from the outset certain troubles and concerns that are quite ordinary for missionaries.

It appears that the climate of Salem is not of the most salubrious ; the water is bad and often causes fevers ; thus fear gripped the persons who were to accompany me and each one, promising me one day and going back on his word the day after, were abandoning me one after the other, to the point that I did not know, up a few hours before my departure, if I would have a trusty person to help me on a journey as novel for me as that I was about to undertake, above all since I still do not know the language of the country sufficiently to make myself understood.

The good God came to my rescue and made my distress itself turn to my greatest advantage; for, seeing me abandoned in this way, the Gentlemen of Pondicherry and His Lordship allowed a pupil of the seminary to come with me whom they would not have lent me otherwise, and who proved to be of the greatest help. This is a young man who has many qualities, and above all his share of piety and who also knows enough Latin to act as interpreter for me.

In fact it was 28 February when we took to the road at four in the morning, after receiving His Lordship's blessing and the kiss of peace of our dear confreres. Three of us left together: Mr Roger who was returning to his mission, Mr Triboulot who at the same time as me had received his destination for (the) Nilghiris, and myself. We formed a numerous procession, since the customs of the country require that there always be many people.

The missionary in India, poor as he is (he has less than 30 sols to spend per day) is not allowed to go without being accompanied by a man to do his cooking, another man employed exclusively to look after his horse, and a disciple. The latter is often merely a trusted man, whom however he instructs from time to time really, in the hope of bringing him to the ecclesiastic career. Finally he has to have the necessary persons for carrying his belongings.

Thus we left by the light of two lanterns which lit up the half-joyful and half-sad troop ; for the Lord has made man's heart in such a way that he always attaches himself to something, even when he has resolved a thousand times to care for God alone. Thus, there is always something painful about departures, and it was not without some emotion that I saw our venerable bishop's arm raised to bless us and that I felt the hands of our confreres press mine as they embraced me.

There was nothing very remarkable about the first part of our way. If I except the poor equipment of our horses (my horse saddled and bridled cost 51 francs 50 centimes), their feebleness as well as that of the oxen pulling the carts filled with our belongings, everything went well; the roads were passable, and we would have arrived without incident at our first staging post if it hadn't been for crossing the Villenour river.

There our oxen sank in the mire and our horses had some difficulty in carrying us to the other side ; mine even, when his back legs failed to hold him, collapsed right in the middle of the quagmire. Happily I felt him give way underneath me so that I avoided his fall by jumping down into the mud. I got off with a few splashes which created a diversion on the spotless white of my brand-new angui (a sort of white cassock). At last we got over not without hearing a good many shouts and wails, especially when a troop of donkeys loaded with soap arrived. They sunk down in their turn. Some of them emerged from the quagmire more dead then alive, others with a layer of slime covering them from their feet to their ears, while others in the manner of La Fontaine's fable, were overjoyed at seeing their load in the river, or at least lightened because it had melted.

However, our eyes remained gazing at the fine pagoda of Villenour that I had not yet seen and that I would have admired if, beneath this curious architecture, infamous mysteries and abominable idolatries were not celebrated each day. The enormous floats which are used for the famous feasts of this pagoda also drew my attention. These are great masses of roughly sculpted wood, but the pieces of which are rather well arranged more or less in the shape of a pyramid. Several of these floats are a full twenty feet high. They are carried on four or six great massive wheels, and not the least in the world suitable to facilitate the advance of the weight they are carrying; thus it is said that, during the feast, men in their thousands consider it a duty, an honour or an obligation to pull these heavy masses.

Soon we found ourselves outside of everything that conforms more or less to European ideas, as happens in the big towns where the Europeans live and in their environs. We were able to enjoy the appearance of the purely Indian India and see its inhabitants in their sweet and natural simplicity. Why is it that this good people is still in darkness? If once they embraced the truth, it seems to me that we could make good Christians of them ! Everyone knows the gentleness of the Indians; thus nothing fears and nothing trembles at man's side in those places inhabited by the Indians alone.

The blows suffered from a perfidious weapon had never troubled the rest of the turtle dove, who came and cooed close beside us, perched precisely on a branch of the tree bordering the path where we were to pass ; a troop of quail seems even not to want to run away. Later on, we were to encounter flocks of birds and domestic and wild herds, all friends of man, and still with no distrust of him. Why do we oblige them to be fierce, by teaching that we ourselves are fierce. Alas! It is we who are the first to give this bad lesson : a hapless gun that a disciple of Mr Roger's had brought with him, served to shoot down several of these poor innocent beasts which were included some hours later in our small meal on the grass.

The heat was increasing, for the sun was rising fast, when we arrived at the tope where our first halt was to be made. A tope is a clump of tufty trees created either by nature, or by art, that is found more or less everywhere, for letting the heat pass between ten o'clock and two o'clock when it is unbearable. Our group stops; someone cuts down some old wood; on three stones, someone else firmly sets the rice-pot; we see the feathers of a turtle dove and of a cuckoo victims of our barbarity, flying in the air, and a piquant sauce is improvised on the spot.

In this way our dinner is ready in less than two hours ; we set down our travelling cushions on the mats, and reclining like the patriarchs of old, we partook of our Mardi Gras refreshment not sumptuously, but quite gaily. Some (those who had not forgotten to bring their fork with them) ate European style and the rest Indian style, that is to say with their fingers, for the Indians have no other instrument for eating rice or anything else.

Besides, we still had a little bread and two bottles of Bordeaux wine that a Christian had given me when I left. And if the word Carnival means, according to the etymology of some, carni vale, we bade farewell to flesh with a cuckoo's wing and to wine with two flasks of Château-Lafitte. However to meat we were only saying farewell for forty days, whereas the bread and wine were dismissed for a much longer time.

Missionaries have only water to drink in our missions in India and often very bad water at that! In fact this is one of our greatest deprivations. One gets accustomed quite soon to the lack of bread, but not to the lack of wine, because of the bad taste and the quite usual insalubrity of the water all over the country. Besides, it would be curious if, having embraced a calling in life in which we considered mortifications as one of its most precious benefits, we should have nothing to suffer. I hope that this will never be the case, otherwise what advantage is there for us in being missionaries?

I do not know if the demons of India had agreed with those of Europe to make every sort of din on earth that day, but in the course of our evening march, our ears were almost continually bombarded by the shrill and piercing sound of the instruments and the drums in honour of I don't know what pagan feast, being celebrated in several pagodas. Now all of this reminded me of the snubs my compatriots make themselves guilty of on such a day, by disguising themselves and abandoning themselves to disorder, as if they were pagans. As we passed close to a big village, night had already fallen, but we could see by the light of numerous fires lit at the sides of the streets where a diabolical procession was due to pass.

That would have been the only remarkable thing in our evening, without Mr Triboulot's fall from his horse. How did this happen? I have no idea, for night had already fallen. However the good God preserved him from any harm and this was a further ground of edification for us. Since this good fellow is extremely godly, the first words that he uttered were pious ones.

We arrived late, and our fatigue was great. Here our stage was merely a miserable bungalow and our rice was not ready until after eleven o'clock. However, our mats were soon laid out on the ground and before the meal we took an advance of sleep, to resume it immediately afterwards, for we had to interrupt it very early in the morning. Thus before daybreak we had left the bungalow of Voujapuram and were directing our steps towards the village of Enadimangalam.

Since we had lost sight of the church of Oulgaret, a village close to Pondicherry, no sign of Christianity had met our eyes. Thus, what was my great joy when I noticed an isolated wooden cross in the middle of a field. It must be, I was told, that a Christian died as he passed by this place, and this is the cross marking his grave. Great God! How that cross spoke loudly to my heart! It told me that it was there like a silent form of preaching addressing itself to all passers-by and above all as a stone waiting for the edifice that we will have the opportunity, I hope, of building one day, in the midst of these lands abandoned to the demon of idolatry ; let us trust that the day will soon come when not one cross, but thousands of crosses will shine in these places.

We went on in magnificent and quite cool weather; we forded the great river of Pounarou where the water was low and arrived in good time at Enadimangalam. Just as we were entering the village a woman rushes to our knees in great distress, her hair dishevelled, and throwing herself at the feet of Mr Roger whom she knew, she cried out : "What a misfortune; Samy, o Samy what a misfortune." (Samy, priest). What is it now, my good confrere asks her, upset. "Cholera," she resumes, "has just killed such and such a relative of mine. I searched in vain for a Samy to come to his aid. I searched in all directions, but there was none! O, why did you not arrive a few days earlier? He has just died, his grave is quite fresh, you would have opened up Heaven to him."

The good missionary tried to console her as best he could and told her to come and find him in the bungalow with her family, which she did. Among her children, there was a little boy who had not yet been baptised by a priest. Since one cannot greatly trust the persons who baptise in this country, we always give another baptism on condition. Mr Roger begged me to carry out this ceremony which I performed with great joy.

Father Roger (for they call us fathers) was already in his mission. He had just seen some of his flock in this family which is the only Christian one in the village. We had to leave that same day and it was with some pain that we were thinking of this forthcoming separation. In fact it took place at four in the evening. O when will we enjoy the blessed stay where friends no longer have to leave one another! Let us pray to the Lord that he will soon reunite us in his presence where we will be able to enjoy the stability () of true love.

Mr Roger took the road to Attipacam, while we, Mr Triboulot and myself, made for the bungalow of Tirouvanellour. Our eyes were once more offended in this place by a pagan procession, in honour of an infamous divinity called Marivalliyamaï, that these poor blind people invoke to save them from the cholera. We went to bed early in order to be ready to leave at three in the morning.

The bungalows are posting stations that the English have had built at a certain distance from one another for the convenience of travelling Europeans. The Indians have something similar in their savady(), but the latter are much less well arranged ; they don't have appropriate distances between them, and are also quite without all sorts of facilities. On the contrary, the bungalows are perfectly suited to the purpose they had in mind when they were set up.

Two clean rooms with small toilets constitute the travellers' accommodation ; it contains a large table and a rattan bed ; pions (sort of domestic servants) are attached to the service of the place and the travellers ; they advise people how to get hold of what they need and they supervise the keeping and safety of belongings. A kitchen is arranged nearby with all the necessary accessories, and a large space is laid out where tents can be set up for those travelling in style with a numerous retinue.

As soon as one arrives, the doors are opened and nobody comes to disturb you in your apartment and, providing you do not stay more than two days, no-one has anything to say. Finally, there is nothing to pay for having been so well accommodated, for the generosity of the English, it must be said, makes itself felt in India in all sorts of different ways.

One hour before departure, I myself was obliged to set things in motion, since none of our people seemed to have any intention of waking up ; indeed the difficulty of getting them up was no little one, even when I used every possible means of arousing them. Just imagine some dozen black stones in human shape, barely covered by a half-white sheet, here and there stretched out on the bare earth or on the paving-stone : here are my people seeing the night through. You call them, they give a sigh, but that is all; you shake them, and they turn over on the other side, but don't get up.

However, I put my disciple, who would get up willingly and promptly, on their heels ; and after half an hour of words and efforts, he had ordinarily managed to get some of them on to their feet. Then we lit a fire, made a noise, at times we gave a little coullou (which takes the place of oats) to the horses, and finally we were on the march, illumined by a large lantern.

On 2 March, it was only two o'clock when we took to the road. We had to do a long march to arrive at Oloundourpet. But what varieties on the road , what marvels of nature we were able to contemplate at our ease. First of all, a dark night but cloudless. The serene sky, adorned with its most brilliant stars, gave us the opportunity of admiring the immensity of Him who cast into space thousands of world, and who holds them in the hollow of his hand.

What drew my attention above all was the simultaneous presence of all the visible planets which, by quite a rare combination, were to be found at the same time on the horizon on the side of the East. Mars preceded the others by a few hours, then came Saturn, and Venus which surpassed in brilliance and beauty all the heavenly bodies then present; Jupiter followed her closely and finally, one and a half hours before the Sun, we had the spectacle of the presence of Mercury, so rarely visible to the naked eye in Europe and that one only sees, even in these parts, for a few days every two months if the weather is favourable. Finally the dawn appeared and grew brighter, dazzling and magnificent, until the sun effaces everything with its fires.

Here, as in every place, the sunrise is a moment of joy for the whole of nature : the song of myriads of birds and the different calls of the other animals moving in the country form a solemn and touching harmony. For us, we seek to render to the author of so many wonders a homage which is no less than that he receives each day from all of those beings without intelligence, which, however handsome they may be, lack a reason for knowing and a heart for loving him who created them.

The road is good and varied : here moors, then heaths (however without heather, but with low shrubs in their place), then cultivated fields, little towns and larger villages, lakes and streams to be crossed, nothing was lacking on this fine morning. If I were a painter, I would draw here a picture of a village which appeared to me to be in one of the finest sites that could be imagined. As soon as one passes the town a pond of several leagues in circumference runs away to the right. This ends in some rather low hills, but which border the horizon with picturesque indentations ; this lake is held back by a powerful dam where narrows have been created for the watering of an immense plain, in which the eye loses itself on the south-west side.

There, there are fields of rice, of sugar and of every other Indian production, with extremely beautiful trees. Millions of birds, all flaunting their shapes and their brilliant plumage, seem to have a rendez-vous on the tufty trees of the plain, while numerous flocks of ducks and water-hens pirouetted in front of us with a thousand turns and dives, without attempting to draw back from the edge and swim away until a mischievous companion troubled their innocent peace by throwing a stone.

However, we made poor progress. We had a bad ox who could hardly walk; he fell, he drew back, he prevented the troop from continuing satisfactorily on its way. We who ordinarily preceded it with our horses, had to stop from time to time to wait for him. Thus it was that, towards eleven o'clock, we found ourselves sitting under the thick foliage of a dozen big tamarind trees, planted close together and fed by the waters of a small reservoir that in their turn they guaranteed from the sun.

Then we descended into this water to bathe our feet and, lying on the greensward, refreshed by a breath of wind circulating among the trunks of these big trees, we would have been singularly invited to meditation and I know not what sweet reverie, were it not for the presence of an ugly figure of a devil who occupied in this locality, undoubtedly consecrated to the demon, the place which is due to God alone.

It is thus that everything that should be fine in this unfortunate country is degraded by the possession of it deliberately given to the demon, tearing it away from him who, alone, is master of all things. As in the past in pagan Europe, each place had its particular divinity, each household its penates, each fountain its Nymphs, etc., here you can still see everywhere these ridiculous gods. Here is the rough outline of the one which offended our eyes under the pretty grove where we were resting. From which you see that the devil here as elsewhere lacks the talent of making himself handsome.(

)

Under the clumps of trees, at the edge of the paths, beside the lakes, all too often black stones may be found burlesquely and ridiculously sculpted. One sees them ordinarily quite dripping with oil that the devotees pour over them in libation. The indignation that this infamous stone inspired in us being gradually replaced by the gaiety aroused in us, in their turn, by two big monkeys, who came in order to likewise enjoy the coolness of the place and the water of the pond, we resumed our road and arrived towards midday at the site of our station.

Our ox could go no further. I did my best to lay my hands on another one; but, either out of ill will, or the fear of robbers, or in fact no ox was available, our searches proved useless. Vainly did I try the ploy of raising my voice; vain words, trouble wasted. What was to be done? To resume our road with this poor beast seemed hardly prudent. The path was bad, dangerous, infested with robbers and we had a long way to go; to stay there until who knows when did not seem a good solution: Accordingly I took the first option. I told my people to be brave, that we would divide the day into two, stopping under some tope halfway along; that perhaps we would find an ox to help us out. At last, they agree, and we set off.

The troop walked in a compact group close together for fear of the robbers who are said to abound in the woods that we had to pass through all of that day. I made it go ahead, and followed on my horse like a policeman accompanying a convoy. I had put in the hands of my coudireicaren (groom), a gun which we were taking to a brother priest ; but I had forbidden it to be loaded, we didn't even have any powder. If the robbers' attack had become extreme, which was not very probable, I would have pointed the gun at them, saying : Not a step further, wretch, or I will!!...And if they had taken that step, I would have commanded: Hold fire!; and I would have said to the robber that, for a trifle, I did not wish to kill a man. At least that was the speculative project, but not a leaf was to be heard moving; and once the cock had announced the approach of the sun, we joyfully intoned this verse of the sacred hymn:

Gallo canente spes redit,

Aegris salus refunditur,

Mucro latronis conditur,

Lapsis fides revertitur. (

)

Until evening, the day was to be tiring and tedious, and moreover we found ourselves still travelling much earlier in darkness, instead of arriving at eleven in the morning, as was marked in our itinerary. That evening, some instants after sunset, I was struck by a light quite similar to that of a cloud, but in a position quite contrary to those (clouds) appearing at that moment on the horizon. I pointed this out to Mr Triboulot, and then still gazing at it and noting its immobility, tracking (?) finally the shape of a truncated cone, I judged that it must be the tip of the tail of a comet, as we had no longer any doubt the next day on seeing it re-appear larger, brighter and rising rapidly towards the East.

Meanwhile, the moon had left us, the shadows deepened, the feeble tropical light itself fell with Taurus, and we could see no longer. Since the path was not marked out, we lost our way ; we had to stop to go and ask a shepherd who was grazing his flock nearby to put us on our path again ; our horses could no longer carry us ; we even considered it prudent to dismount and went barefoot in order to cross the lakes and quagmires which abounded on our route.

Finally, with great difficulty, now pulling the ox, and now pushing the cart, we arrived at Coungueripaleam to find everyone in bed already, so that we could get nothing either for ourselves or for our animals. We were however lucky enough to lay our hands on an ox, which gave us the hope of continuing on our way the next morning early.

It was at two o'clock that we should have taken the path for Senna-Salem ; but no-one woke in time. I was on my feet at four only, and it was at least five before we were under way. We crossed an open and quite unremarkable country. It appears that many shepherds are intent in these parts on tending flocks. We found cattle, sheep and goats in large numbers grazing on the plains, moving from one place to another, in search of the best pasture. It appears that the shepherds lead them wherever they please, for I could not distinguish any clearly marked separation, and the grass on which they grazed had not been sown by man; but grows spontaneously in these practically uncultivated valleys.

Thus for a moment I could have believed myself at the time of Jacob seeing entire families whose calling is to graze the flocks which constitute their only wealth ; and at times, seeing that these poor animals had difficulty in finding sufficient nourishment in certain rocky positions, I considered the old white-bearded shepherd lavishing his care like the Patriarch on his tender lambs ; or then again, striving to understand what they were saying to one another, when there were several of them together leaning on their long sticks, I could imagine myself hearing these words : Eamus in Dothain. ()

The heat was extreme ; and we were to repent of having started off so late. Our horses could continue no longer, I was even astonished that they were still going, since they had eaten practically nothing all night and had been pushing forward for a full seven hours in this unbearable heat. In fact just imagine a mass of fire falling on your shoulders, that a large umbrella is no longer capable of repelling, and that the earth bounces back on you a second time, through the reflection of the sun's rays that are perhaps worse than the sun itself, and you will have a slight idea of what we had to bear from ten o'clock until one in the evening when we arrived at the bungalow.

Besides, it is an imprudence to travel at this time of day in such great heat ; it would be better to stop under a tree and resume the road towards three in the afternoon, for one is too exposed by acting otherwise ; and in fact, I was suffering from such a severe headache and general prostration on arrival, that I could not prevent myself from entertaining some fears. However, the Lord preserved me from all evil, let us render our homage to him.

The next day, we had only a few miles to cover in order to arrive at Talevassel where we wanted to spent Sunday. There the bad path ended. Before arriving, we came to a fine European road which was to take me as far as Covilour. Today there are a large number of these roads that the English have built in all directions and which make communications between the principal points of India extremely easy. We arrived in good time at the bungalow where we said holy mass in one room; then we rested all the rest of the day, for it was the day of rest, the day of the Lord!

We left this place on the 6th at half past two in the morning. The road was magnificent. It was bordered by tall trees from one end to the other; in several places, these formed an arbour that covered the road completely, sheltering us very well against the sun so that we had no need of parasols, until we came to the fine village of Attour, where we arrived early.

A few Christians had come out to us on the road. However they are few in number still in these unfortunate parts. Several of them came to see us in the bungalow and brought a child to us whom I baptised. Poor Christians, so few and almost abandoned! I learned that they had been guilty of many defections, that on several occasions they had been persuaded to participate in the ungodly practices of the country! How I pitied them. Alas, when will they be effectively succoured? When will the Lord take pity on their weakness and their abandonment? If they had a priest who saw them often and instructed them, who encouraged and helped them, assuredly they would be better!

As far as Vagapetti, where we were to have slept, we found a few rare Christians on the road, who never failed to come to us, no sooner had they seen us, to ask for our assirvadam (blessing). At times my eyes filled with tears, on seeing them hasten to leave their flocks or their pickaxe, and run at top speed to the feet of our horses that we were obliged to hold back so as not to trample them. As soon as they arrived, they flung themselves flat on the ground, saying : Savesouvaram tostiram, which means : Honour or glory to God ; to which the priest answers : assirvadam, that is to say may God bless you .

Apart from the joyous recreation caused by the numerous monkeys thronging the trees and which we were to encounter thereafter for the rest of our way, the evening was not in any way remarkable.

Now we only had one day's journey more to arrive at Salem, the main town of my mission. We left at four in the morning, travelling always with the monkeys which do not bother to move away when you pass, which walk about gravely, with their tails in the air, in the middle of the streets and public places of the villages, and we arrived at Calepatti, whence we left early so as to arrive before nightfall at Salem.

In fact, the sun had just set when we made out the towers of several pagodas surrounding the town. The town soon spread out in front of us. Immediately my eyes searched for the cross which must inevitably surmount the Catholic church, but which I could not find. So where is the church, I asked the Christians surrounding me whose numbers were growing as we went further into the streets of the town. O my father, it is still a long way away, it is right on the outskirts. This word grieved me beyond measure. In a big town, a single church and on the outskirts!

However, I forgot my grief for a moment, trying to give a good reception to the Christians who detached themselves from the crowd to come and offer us their homage. An oratory, which did not seem decent to me, would have passed unnoticed if the bell had not rung as we passed. At last, having left the main streets of the town and having turned to right and left, in miserable quarters and in poor dirty streets, a fine tamarind met our eyes and, from the midst of its thick foliage, the sound of a rather cracked bell was heard, for this tree serves as bell-tower to the church of which it occupies one corner of the courtyard.

How my sadness redoubled on seeing this church. In a town of 25 to 30 thousand souls, not a church, but an ugly hut without decency! Without honour! It is true that the Christians are not very numerous at Salem. But alas! How can one form any new ones? Nothing to indicate to them the majesty of the Catholic religion. If only there were a priest! But nothing at all. When will it be granted to succour Salem?

It was not long before I learned that, to crown it all, the demon, strong in our weakness in this place where paganism triumphs and marches, head high, that as I said the demon had recently thrown a seed of discord among the small number of Christians constituting this desolate church, so that instead of being a germ of salvation, for the pagans they are a subject of scandal. O my God, when will you have pity on Salem!

Meanwhile, the Christians had assembled, the doors of the church opened, a few prayers were recited, we distributed holy water and the whole evening we were surrounded by Christians. Unfortunately, I could not say a great deal to them and had to be content with addressing a few words to them through my disciple. Since I still did not have a clear idea of how things work, I did not wish to refuse their presents consisting of bananas, bread and sugar, which would have been the greatest sign of displeasure possible.

However I received them, at the same time informing them clearly that my acceptation would not influence at all any action to be taken by the respectable Mr Ricaud, principally entrusted with the mission. This present was offered by the pariahs() who unfortunately were responsible for the disorder. Already a Christian Malabar had sent me some butter, milk, eggs, rice, cakes, bread, bananas and sugar that I had received with pleasure. And in this way this day during which the good God had distributed to me many joys and many sorrows, came to an end.

The next day, we had the solace of saying holy mass in the midst of quite a vast concourse of Christians, and the rest of the day was employed somewhat sadly in preparing to part from Mr Triboulot. Until then we had been together since our departure from Paris. May the Lord grant that our separation is only momentary and that one day we will have the happiness of meeting up again no longer to part in his loving embrace!

This worthy and pious brother, after three times confiding himself to God's protection, after greeting his angel and having remembered himself to Mary, continued on his way on the 9th, leaving me at Salem which I was only to leave the next morning. After having administered several sacraments, I also prepared to depart. The day was in fact not without employment, with first of all a process, then numerous visits by Christians that filled the evening. As regards the process, this involved a young man of about twenty who, having married a wife at the age of fourteen or fifteen years of age, while his wife was no more than twelve or thirteen, as is the unfortunate custom in this country, had still not lived with her. For you should know that when the pagans marry their children very young (among the pagans, this is sometimes at the age of two or three or even earlier), the girl's parents take her to their home, and the young man does not leave his father's house until they are of an age to set up house together.

Meanwhile, the young man in question wanted to have his wife at last but his father-in-law refused obstinately for some reason or other. Inde ira. Now the missionary is also the judge in almost all of the processes of some importance arising between the Christians, and it is there that I began my duty of peace-maker.

Among the visits, one above all struck me: it was that of a good Christian woman who came to ask me if I could not stay on a few days more. On hearing me say that it was impossible, she submitted, shedding tears, and then lying full length on the ground, she asked me amid her sobs for a blessing for her and her family, and as she got up again, I heard these words: we were only happy for two days!

On the 10th, I was on the road early, and before the sun's rays became too aggressive, I had reached the next bungalow. There a large number of Christians from Settiepatti came to find me, pressing me to visit their homes. Their village is close to the road and I acceded to their desires when they told me that they had a sick person in danger and several children to be baptised. I was to feel gratified for having consented to deviate somewhat from my route, and this is why:

At about ten in the evening, when I was lying in one of the arms of the cross of the church, a poor miserable building open to every wind, separated from the nave by a great blue veil which I think is a pall, when the thunder rumbled, and the wind, entering from the four cardinal points of my improvised apartment, had twice put out the wick burning in an earthen vessel, I heard cries and sudden blows at the door. My disciple goes to see what it is. Now, having forgotten to comply with a police formality when passing through Salem, the Collector was sending out a soldier to demand that I send in my passport or that I go myself if I was not provided with one.

Accordingly I had to forego departure early in the morning and, after some embarrassment that it would be useless detailing here, I was free at nine o'clock and left. Fortunately the Collector was only one mile away from Settiepatti. If I had not stopped at that village, I would have been fifteen miles away from him, and I don't know how much time and trouble this unfortunate affair would have taken.

We left in good number, for several Christians of Settiepatti had wished to accompany me. – How do you think that I can visit your homes? I had said to them, I have to arrive Saturday evening at Covilour, and I still have a long day and a half's journey to do. – O Father, they replied, it is possible to arrive tomorrow at Covilour if you leave very early in the morning. – Yes, but you know very well that it's not possible to cross the mountain at night-time because of the tigers infesting it. – That is true, Father, but do not be afraid, a large number of us will accompany you, you will have nothing to fear. They kept their promise and so here we were, a big group of us, on the way to Covilour. However, we were not able to arrive by evening at the bungalow in the mountain; by starting from there at one or two in the morning, we were hoping to arrive early on Sunday to say mass; in fact we were on the road within the hour.

The moon lighted us for some time, but at last it disappeared under the mountains and we were enveloped in deep shadows, in places that were dangerous on account of tigers and also robbers. My people, in a dull silence, form two hedges on both sides of the road, and soon after that we all stop to light a fire. This was for the purpose of stretching the skin of an old drum in order to tauten it, which took some time ; and then, making the sad musician march on ahead, they followed without fear, guaranteed as they were by the sound of the drum, they said, from the two enemies dreaded in these gorges. They resumed their babble with the dawn, while the fear of the robbers took to its heels with the night.

The inhabitants of Covilour and of the other Christian villages in the neighbourhood had heard from a man from Salem that a samy () was to arrive on Saturday evening. Thus they had come out to meet me and, having seen nothing arrive, they had returned to their home mortified. But as soon as the sun touched the hillsides, some of them notice my bright red hat through the branches of the trees. The signal is soon given. The whole village knows that I am coming. I see this movement in the distance and soon groups of men set out, and draw closer until finally they reach me.

As soon as they got up to me, they all bowed down to the ground, saying according to the custom : Savesouvaram tostiram : and with a constantly swelling crowd, I entered as in triumph a village which however does not have the appearance of a capital. The earth houses, low and poorly put together, are no higher than a hedge of calli surrounding the village; even the little church itself occupying the centre of the village is not high enough to be seen at some distance, so that I would have doubted if there were inhabited houses behind this hedge, without the crowd of women and children running out from all the holes, thus giving me a full assurance of it.

And so we saw them showing first of all their nose, then their head, and finally crossing the ditch and lining up on the other side of the path to form a second wall. Everyone having lain down on the ground together as soon as I laid foot in the village, and having got up forthwith, I entered to the accompaniment of a noise and a din that can be easily imagined in the middle of such a crowd, among so many women and children, above all if we add to this natural hubbub the noise of music, of the little bell of the church and of the tins which made themselves heard simultaneously.

And thus it was that the good God permitted me to enter into the first village where I was to carry out my apostolic ministry ! It was more or less like this that he himself entered Jerusalem and that was the preamble to his cruel passion. May I, following the example of that sweet saviour, see this day of feasting followed by the continual sacrifice of my whole self ; this is what I ask you to request of the Lord, with me, my very dear and beloved father.

Now that is quite enough for this time. I received your letter of 1st January, it contains some questions which I will answer in another letter. As you see, I know how to fill the paper, I even know how to fold the sheets in half, which you don't seem to know at Monestrol. Say to Mr Mazeroles that I wrote to him by the ordinary post some time ago, and to Mr Taurines that I have received his letter of 21 December, that I cannot write to him this time, which in no way dispenses him from writing to me.

I have been tried somewhat by the new climate of the interior, but now I am very well. I confess, I baptise, but I don't preach because I still do not know the language well enough.

All the best to you all. It must be your poor harvest that has prevented you from sending me some little thing this year. Imprudent! In the six months that I stayed at Pondicherry I had employed a good part of what you had the goodness to send me at the beginning ! It would have been very useful to me here. I am telling you this because you often asked me to speak to you frankly, saying that you didn't mind. However little you can send me, it will be of the greatest help. However, I repeat, it is not that I am in real necessity; so, do not fear; only, by sending me some small things, you will help me a great deal. I haven't a moment more. Remember me in all of your prayers. Kiss tenderly on my behalf my dear mother, Henri, Bathilde and Félicie. Farewell.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

The most respectful of your children.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. I am writing to Mr Tesson and would you be so kind as to give him a copy of my report on this journey. Would you hand it over to him as soon as possible together with the little letter enclosed with the present. If by chance, in any of my letters, there is something that you think might be of interest for the annals of Propagation, send a copy of it to Paris or to Lyons.

(Tiroupattour (20 N. leagues of Salem), 30 April 1843)

Sent_0079

Sent_0079 - à M. Tesson - le 4 mai 1843 -/2

Envoi

Sent 0079 - to Mr Tesson - 4 May 1843 -1/2

Sent_0079 - à M. Tesson - le 4 mai 1843 -/2

Sent 0079 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 383-385

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

I cannot write for the annals my thoughts on the measures to be taken for the religious good of India. It would not be edifying. The authority that a bishop should have. New vicariates would be necessary in India, but there is a lack of superior men to direct them. For the Catholicism of the people of India, the French are better than the English. Need for Indian priests.

Index : authority of the bishop, MEP, missions (thoughts), native clergy

__________

Tiroupattour, 4 May 1843

Sir and very dear confrere,

I have received your short and very kind letter of 6 March. I am as busy as could be; however I do not wish to let this steamer leave without writing you a few words. I am writing to my father asking him to send the report that I am making him of my journey from Pondicherry to Covilour. If you consider it suitable for being included in the annals, include it, if not, I will omit from writing specially, because I am not capable of doing any better and I don't want to work in vain. You say that my letter to the seminarians of Carcassonne is too long, but would it not be possible to cut it in half and give it in two instalments?

It would be difficult for me to respond properly to your desires by making for the annals a letter containing my thoughts on the measures to be taken as well as those now implemented for the religious good of India. I would be forced to skimp and to truncate my thought or else my letter could not be included in this journal which must contain only edifying things.

For the last few months I am here in the country. I confess, I baptise, but I do not preach, since I do not know the language well enough. Perhaps, nay quite probably, this will be my lot for a long time still, as it is that of almost all my confreres. I will console myself easily enough for it, I assure you, letting the world go by and content myself with my moments of reverie of castles in the air, which will have the sole result of testifying to God what I would desire for the good and the glory of his Church.

I do not know what is going on in Pondicherry. Those Gentlemen do not share their intimate thoughts with me, which I could not expect them to do, since I have no right to it. It appears that there will soon be a meeting of missionaries at Pondicherry. I expect no good to come of it. Spirits are divided and not sufficiently content. His Lordship is the kindest of persons, everyone loves him as an individual and he is esteemed above all for his private virtues; but you should know that he is far from being a good bishop. He does not dominate his subjects. The latter, seeing his inferiority, do not have that passive submission which would be desirable, each one thinks differently and acts as he pleases.

Do you want me to give you an example in the costumes? One has kept the ancient angui() with a red hat, etc., another has removed the coulla() that he has replaced with a white, red or black biretta ; a third is black from head to foot ; a fourth in white cassock, red belt, red biretta and red shoes. This one has a long beard, that one is all 'young France', while another is beardless.

I don't know what people are doing between Rome and you. The Society of Foreign Missions could play an important role, but would need not to yield an inch of ground. It would need far more with the new apostolic vicariates if it does not wish to be suffocated under the Jesuit or English ideas which do not all appear to be of the most wholesome. In a word, we would need to have bishops who dominate by their talents; we would need to have some Ambroses and some Augustines. We are far from it. It appears that Mr Charbonnaux is appointed coadjutor. I do not know him; but I do not believe him to be a superior man. The bishops of Madras and of Calcutta are, I believe, much too dreaded by ours and Mr Charbonnaux, according to what I have heard, fears them supremely. He regards them as eagles beside him. This could be called humility, but also called weakness or sentiment of his inferiority, praiseworthy perhaps in the individual, but very unfortunate for the community. I don't have the time or even the desire to enlarge further on all of these things which perhaps do not regard me, but you see that I would not be able to write the letter you ask of me.

The house of the catechists? still to be done! The seminary? It's pitiable! The printing press is going quite well, but this is a weapon what we are using only by half. However, Mr Dupuis knows what he is doing; and he is a man whom I esteem highly.

To tell the truth, of all the confreres that I have seen thus far, he is the one who seems to me to possess the most qualities, the only one who is really distinguished. Perhaps he is too slow (in what) he does, but this fault is sometimes a virtue.

We (are ?) very small in India. If we shrink (any more) we will soon be nothing. The English do not love us, they despise us even. How can we do anything as far as they are concerned if we do not dominate by the prudence of our thoughts and the clear evidence that our works are those that are required? Will it be said that the English bishops, naturally better regarded by their people, will do what we fail to do ourselves? I hope so with all my heart; but I think that for the Indians, we are better than they are. They are excellent for Madras and Calcutta, that is to say for the English who fill those towns and to which their interest seems almost exclusively confined; but what are they doing for the Malabars? I can't see anything. I do not think that it is from them that we should await for a long time the Catholicism of the peoples of India. However what I am saying about the English bishops is not based on enough proofs for me to be able to say that my thoughts in this regard have a solid foundation. I have not yet found sufficiently powerful or numerous ones. I am conveying these ideas to you as they are in my mind without trying to give them greater value than they have.

A Dieu, my very dear and respectable confrere, excuse the disorder of this hasty letter, write to me from time to time and above all remember me in the very holy Sacrifice of the altar. To God. In India we would need ten times more bishops and one hundred times more native priests above all.

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Tiroupattour, 4 May 1843)

Sent_0080

Sent_0080 - à M. Vian - le 12 mai et le 26 juillet 1843 -/4

Sent 0080 - to Mr Vian - 12 May and 26 July 1843 -4/4

Sent_0080 - à M. Vian - le 12 mai et le 26 juillet 1843 -/4

Sent 0080 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 87-90

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Since it is raining, I cannot go out, so I will write to you. Thank you for all the news on the religious situation in Europe. Continue like that. One could do a great deal of good in India. The difficulties in India are increased by the division between Christians. Need for a good native clergy. It is necessary to create a religious movement in India. Pray greatly that I may be an instrument of salvation for India. Love to his family. If possible, have this letter published. Publication of "Lettres à Mgr l'évêque des Langres" where the author insinuates our thoughts.

Index : inculturation, missions (thought), native clergy, attachment (seminary)

__________

Salem, 12 May and 26 July 1843

My very dear friend,

Would you believe that on 12 May, in a country of plains, when the sun has already passed once over our heads and is still almost in the plane of our zenith, would you believe, I say, that I should be suffering from the cold ? And yet here I am besieged by the bad weather in the poor and puny church of the little village of Nellimatampatty; the wind comes in from all the points of my humble apartment which, quite despicable as it is, has however served this morning as the abode of our divine master and loving Saviour. The rain penetrates by the thousand chinks in the roof open to the daylight, and my disciples around me shiver, as you would conceive in your country in the month of December or January.

Meanwhile, the good God had done me the grace of confessing the whole village, no-one excepted ; I have completed my task and I should already have gone to another village where they await the Samy with impatience. The heads of the village are there waiting for the first instant of fine weather to give the signal for departure, for without doubt they have prepared, before coming, both the music and a large number of pandels (sort of triumphal arches), which will no longer be fresh on my arrival if the bad weather goes on.

What more favourable moment to think of you, my dear Vian, and how this forced idleness, in which I find myself, is agreeably filled by the sweet intercourse, which I imagine established between you and me, when my pen tells you that I have not forgotten you and that I love you. Your kind letter of 7 February came to tell me the same thing on your part; it brought me the renewed expression of your sentiments of friendship on which I have never had any doubt. Would you too be so kind as never to doubt of mine towards you, I beg you. Ah, how I thank you for the charming panorama on the religious state of Europe that you have passed on so delightfully, but a little too rapidly, under my eyes.

Are we destined to see great things ? More than ever one can hope, it seems to me, in the infinite mercy of God, at the sight of everything that is happening in the world; and we must all encourage one another to contribute, with all our feeble efforts, in hastening the happy moment when our holy religion will be known, practised and loved from one end of the world to the other, and our loving Saviour glorified throughout the universe.

Continue always, my very dear and pious friend, to give me the picture of everything that God's mercy is doing in your country ; accompany it with your reflections, your thoughts, your fears and your hopes. I wish I could always pay you back in the same coin, by telling you that there is good in these parts, that above all there is hope for the future. When I can do so, I will not fail to, I assure you, and I will do it all the more willingly since it seems to me that one could do a great deal in this country, so unfortunate thus far, because it has remained so profoundly idolatrous.

The history of our holy religion in India has undoubtedly not escaped your investigations, and you must have groaned more than once at the lot of a country which has opposed so much resistance to the Gospel, offered so many difficulties and given so little consolation to the Bride of Jesus Christ. Many different causes have contributed to this deplorable result. Apart from those to be found in all infidel countries, India contains, in its constitution and in its form of social being, quite particular difficulties.

And, to cap it all, to these intrinsic causes which are so powerfully opposed to the development of the truth, have been added the scandals that the Europeans brought in almost together with the gospel, and the poisoned teachings of schism and heresy and, what has perhaps been more disastrous still (here let us adore with humility and with awe the impenetrable designs of divine Providence who permitted it thus), the evangelical workers themselves have not always been in agreement. They have been far from understanding always the nature of the soil where they were called to plant the vineyard of the Lord and their works, despite the purity of the intention which produced them, have not always been according to the science of the faith.

The enormous difficulty of knowing a people whom we still do not know well, of appreciating their customs so different from ours, of distinguishing what there is of religious or simply of social in their innumerable and so extraordinary ceremonies, the scant liking that exists between our character and theirs, the disastrous and for ever deplorable error into which we have allowed ourselves to slide, by this last reason above all, that it is impossible to form a good native clergy, capital error on which we are finally beginning to open our eyes: these are just some of the reasons which have enslaved the truth, obliging us for the last three centuries to drag on almost without progress in the old Christian communities which we have had great difficulty in maintaining faithful, without having had the consolation of reaching beyond their narrow confines.

Perhaps you know all of this, but what we will learn with joy, is that the reasons for such a great and profound misfortune are today either destroyed or diminished and above all liable to be victoriously reversed. This is not to say that as from today we can blow the trumpet of victory. No. The numerous pagodas rising on all sides, even close by our humble chapels, too small to strike the eyes of the passer-by, would powerfully belie this.

The trumpet I would wish to raise to my lips is the trumpet of combat, but of a combat that is prudent, closeknit and well ordered. The time has come to organise a religious movement in India which, if well conducted, will regenerate it. How great the future is if we are able to put into effect the measures which should subject it to our holy cause! Oh, my friend, the evil goes too deep still for me to have the hope of personally seeing a Catholic India.

However, if we do not retreat in the face of the undertaking, if, instead of allowing ourselves to be discouraged by the difficulties, we strive to reverse them, if we seriously study the needs of the country, if they let us form a native clergy as Rome desires (Rome on which we should always keep our eyes fixed, and which we should heed unreservedly. To our irreparable misfortune we earlier declined ever so slightly its teachings and we wandered in darkness); as Rome desires, I say, and as is personally shown to me that it is possible ; finally if you pray for us, you priests of France and of the Catholic world, if the members of the Propagation of the Faith do not cease raising their arms to heaven while we fight all the enemies of the Lord, we may hope to see India on the way to conversion in the direction of Christianity.

How I wish I could pass my convictions into the soul of those who hold the means of this action in their hand! Pray greatly, my dear friend, and ask the Lord to make these truths heard by those who should understand them. That will be the day when the mercy of the Lord will allow a word of grace and of salvation to fall on India.

These thoughts which I am merely setting in motion, as you see, would deserve a great development, which neither the limits of this letter nor the short time I have to devote to you permit. Perhaps I will do it one day in another way and then I will share it with you. A Dieu, my very dear and worthy friend. Pray for me that, in the hands of the Lord, I may become an instrument of salvation, and not of ruin, for the little corner of India which I have been called upon to cultivate. For when I tell you we can, we must, it is not that I in particular can do anything. The last and least of all, I can merely hope and share my hopes with others.

Only, I like to merge with the sentiments of those that God has chosen in his mercy for the spiritual government of India ; and as they give me some parts in their works, I sometimes have the temerity to claim for myself certain of their merits. Excuse the expressions which by this comment may appear to you to exceed the limits of saintly humility, which should be my only share and that I would ask you to request for me from the Lord. You ask me for edifying things, I would have plenty of them to tell you, but I have been too long about this letter, so it will be for the next missive. A Dieu.

12 May

I don't know how I can forgive you for not having gone to Monestrol. If you do not carry out this charitable project this year, you are absolutely inexcusable.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your family's sentiments towards me. Tell the respectable members that compose it that they all have an active part in my unworthy prayers, providing they will not forget me either in their fervent and so pious orisons. Remember me above all in your brother's holy sacrifices, and you, keep for me my accustomed place in your daily mementos.

No news of the minor seminary. I have every reason to think that these Gentlemen are not speaking to me. My last letter to the seminary was accompanied by a small one to Mr Arnal who has not replied: What to do? I will revenge myself by loving them twofold before the Lord. The Gentlemen of the major seminary have answered my first and my second letter in a very kind way. May this correspondence, which will last as long as the good God wishes, help us mutually to grow in the love of our divine master and to fortify ourselves in the saintly vocation that God has so gratuitously and freely given us. Once more A Dieu.

Let us love each other always in the holy embraces of Jesus and of Mary, his tender mother, who will never be loved as she deserves to be.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Salem, 12 May and 26 July 1843)

(on a separate little piece of paper)

For you alone. Not only do I permit you publication of my letters, but I would strongly desire that when there is something good, you take the necessary steps to make it known. It is a duty for us, above all at this time – keep this to yourself – when we hope to get the missions, and those of India more than the others, out of the old rut where they are dragging miserably along. This will be the task of the young missionaries, but we have to take things slowly.

One of my close friends has just had a work published, entitled "Lettres à Mgr l'évêque de Langres", where he insinuates our thoughts. I would very much wish this letter to appear in the annals. If it is well received, it would mark an actual step towards going even further. If at Lyons they should refuse to insert it, would you kindly send a copy of it to Mr Tesson, director of the Seminary of Foreign Missions, Rue du Bac 120, in Paris, without mentioning to him the refusal of Lyons, but merely telling him that I asked you to send him a copy of my letters, when you should judge appropriate. I would prefer it to appear without having to send it to Paris.

(Salem, 12 May and 26 July 1843)

Sent_0081

Sent 0081 - to Mr Luquet - June 1843 -2/2

Sent 0081 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 1ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

O, what joy that you have been appointed to India! We have the same ideas on the missions. Let us be very frank with each other. I can't wait to receive your book. Poverty of the seminary of Pondicherry. Greetings.

Index : friendship, frankness, native clergy, seminary of Pondicherry

__________

Salem, June 1843

Dear confrere and very dear friend,

Allow me to greet you with these two names so sweet to my heart, as soon as I have learned of your arrival in India. But rather, and above all, may he who granted us to find ourselves re-united once more for working on the same cause, against all my expectations and my hopes, be blessed, which I hope should not be in vain. As for you, are you then a prophet without knowing it? For tell me, why did you put on the precious image that you gave me on leaving: Au revoir bientot!

It would be difficult for me to say, my very dear Mr Luquet, what unexpected joy the news of your destination for us caused me, and the assurance of it brought me a few short days after by your kind and very amiable letter of the following month. You know in part what my thoughts are and I believe I know part of your ideas and sentiments. It seems to me that we do not differ very much from each other; and if the good God has given you more graces to turn to advantage the holy cause of our faith, he has granted me the goodwill of contributing to it with my feeble efforts. Let us be united and faithful.

The short and charitable opinions that you give me in your two letters have been even more precious since I can well recognise their truth. However I must admit that it would be difficult to correct myself of it because the root of these faults is the frankness which I cannot depart from and that I cannot decide to abandon. Why must it be considered a fault, even among the children of God ? But with you, my very dear friend, who I think understands the work of the missions, I hope I may always say all my frank way of seeing and thinking. _Which I will do with an open heart, I assure you, if you do the same as far as I am concerned, which I dare to hope from your zeal and from our common vocation. When will it be granted for us to see each other and speak to each other? How many things I would have to say to you, and how much more, without doubt, would you communicate to me? Meanwhile, I hope that an active correspondence will be established between us, only to end when we have made India Catholic.

There is plenty to be done ! You tell me that you will send me your book (), I think by Mr Fricaud ; may it come then. I can't wait to make the acquaintance of your eldest son; may he be followed by many more. Mr Roger is soon going to Pondicherry; he is an excellent confrere whose ideas are healthy and his zeal ardent. He understands the need for a native clergy; perhaps he will soon be at the head of the seminary (secret); I entrust him to you, take care of him.

What shall I tell you about my position ? Since Easter, I have thrown myself into the Malabar ministry and have confessed over 1200 persons, baptised 117 children, etc. However, with my ideas and yours, supposing that each of the two months that remains for me to live should be multiplied by over 1500 confessions and 200 baptisms of children, I would consider that I had wasted my time if I did nothing else, and I would fear not to have fulfilled my vocation.

Write to me soon ; tell me your first impressions of Pondicherry. Will you have arrived in time to witness the wretchedness of our seminary that, they say, is due to be reformed? Present my respects to Mr Virot and to my other confreres both old and new. Among the latter is there anyone that I know? Assure Mr Pelletier of my friendship; he is a man of the good coin, isn't he? Has he received my letter? Kindly ask him, would you, and let me know.

A Dieu, my very dear Mr Luquet, take good care of yourself for the glory of God ; and when your health is fully restored, take care again ; believe me it is absolutely necessary in this country. Marie Xavery, my excellent disciple who is a pupil of the seminary, asks for your (Tamoul word that means "blessing"). Would that we had four hundred like him, and what a good priest he will make if they do not allow his vocation to be debilitated by icy slownesses!

A Dieu, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

missionary

(Salem, June 1843)

Sent_0082

Sent_0082 - à M. Luquet - le 22 juillet 1843 -/2

Sent 0082 - to Mr Luquet - 22 July 1843 -2/2

Sent_0082 - à M. Luquet - le 22 juillet 1843 -/2

Sent 0082 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 5ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

I have just finished reading your book. I wish I had written it myself. How I long for the opportunity of conversing with you. I had begun a study on the state of religion in India. I hope to continue it later. The perseverance of Marie Xavery would be a good argument for the native clergy. This young boy's past.

Index : friendship, native clergy, religion in India, thoughts on the missions

__________

Salem, 22 July 1843

My very dear friend,

Yesterday evening I finished reading your well loved Lettres à l'Evêque de Langres (). My very dear friend, I cannot tell you what joy and holy emotion I felt in reading those lines which I would have liked to have written and signed by my hand, if you had not done so yourself. Please receive my very sincere compliments for it. And may it not please God that I should awake in your soul those sentiments which are so far from your heart and which would spoil everything.

Yes, let us say frankly to the daylight the good as also the evil that we see in those we love in Jesus Christ and who have the strength to understand it. The first opinions will encourage us and will give us the means of advancing in this loving career of good works which stretches out in front of us and of which we will never reach the limits; the second ones will verse us in a prudent mistrust and in the sentiments so precious and so necessary for a holy humility. Accordingly be blessed, my dear friend, for having had the courage to pick up your pen, to insinuate (for you had understood sufficiently that the day had not come to strike great blows on the anvil) truths still so little known, and yet so well grounded, so well authorised, so much in conformity with the needs of all times and with ours in particular. Be blessed for it. Be blessed for this wise moderation that the Lord has given you the grace of maintaining from one end of the work to the other, and which assures you that the field is clear for people to listen to you still, when the moment has come to speak out more loudly and forcibly.

Will it be granted for us to see and to converse with one another a little? I very much hope so. If the Lord so wills, we will have this pleasure shortly. I hope that you will not have left Pondicherry by the time of the general meeting which His Lordship tells me today should take place on 15 January. I will have many things to say to you.

As for me, I had laid at Pondicherry the first bases of a little work that I wanted to tidy up here during the two months of rest that I proposed taking ; but now I have to leave earlier than I thought. It will be an overview of the present state of religion in India, followed by the causes that have thus far stopped its progress, and the reasons which give us the greatest hopes for the future. I lack the means for obtaining the necessary facts for myself . But what I cannot accomplish immediately will come later with the grace of God, if the Lord blesses our works and our intentions. May the Lord give me a part of the spirit of wisdom and moderation that you possess in such abundance, and that virtue of prudence of which I am not exceedingly fond but which is so necessary, even when dealing with men who love God.

Some time ago you promised me a long letter which never arrives. However I have witnesses of your promise, namely: Messrs Roger, Leroux, etc. This morning I received a letter from His Lordship who urges me to keep Marie Xavery with me still. I do this very willingly, because I believe that this is for the young man's good, then at the meeting we'll see. If the good God continues to pour his graces on him, and if Marie Xavery has the good fortune to be always faithful, I will have a powerful argument in my hands to prove that it is possible to make priests and good priests. We will not lack trials either to prove that it is possible to make many priests in India. The history of this young man's vocation is also very remarkable. He has needed a strength of will that one would find sublime in our country to resist all sorts of temptations, and above all those that his relatives aroused and continue to arouse in him still every day, without him noticing. I intend to gather together all the details of his life, and draft them, with a view to using them when the time comes. Unfortunately, he has been so poorly attended to that his education will be weak. However, since he possesses means that are at least ordinary and even a little more, and that besides he has good judgment, I hope that he will serve us in all senses. But what strikes me most, is that the good God has given him thoughts and sentiments so similar to ours on India's needs that I need only moderate him.

Farewell in the holy embraces of Jesus. How happy is he who is able to do something for the love of Jesus!

I am leaving on Saturday at 3 in the morning. You have just time to write straight back to me by the next post.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Salem, 22 July 1843)

Sent_0083

Sent_0083 - à son père - le 26 juillet 1843 -/2

Sent 0083 - to his father - 26 July 1843 -2/2

Sent_0083 - à son père - le 26 juillet 1843 -/2

Sent 0083 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 78-79

(to his father)

Thank you for your last two letters. The vicariates in India. The size and future division of that of Pondicherry. Why Catholicism is difficult in India. Now we are going to deal more with the pagans. Some words on the Turks, on the English, whose money helps the development of Protestantism, and on the schism of Goa. Administration of the English. I have no news of the world.

Index : attachment (family), vicariates, Protestantism, pagans, news, thoughts on the missions

__________

Salem, 26 July 1843

My dear Papa,

I was quite right in feeling some scruples in writing the last few lines of my previous letter. By the same post I received, two or three days later, your letter of 8th March, in which you announced the dispatch of 200 francs, which I received one month later. For as soon as it has been received at Paris, the general bursar informs the local bursar of the mission, who does not wait until he has received it to pass the sum on to the missionary. And this explains how it is that I receive so quickly the money that you have the goodness to send me, but not the letters or packets which come out only slowly by an occasion or by a ship that is known to be sailing for Pondicherry. Thank you very much for your attention and your remembrance. May the Lord deign to pay it back to you, for it is also a sort of alms.

In my last letter dated from Tiroupattour or from Covilour, I don't quite remember which, I did not answer some questions in your earlier missives. First of all, the apostolic vicariate of Pondicherry doesn't extend as far as you think. In the peninsula beyond the Ganges, quite apart from the see of Goa, unfortunately sullied by schism at the moment, there is another apostolic vicar at Calcutta, one at Madras, a third one at Bombay and another at Verapoly.

Moreover, although the jurisdiction of H.L. of Drusipare, our apostolic vicar extends as far as Cape Cormorin, for some years now the southern part comprising principally the former kingdom of Madurai has been given back to the Jesuit Fathers, who administer it at the present time. The island of Ceylon likewise forms a separate apostolic vicariate. At the present time, the Holy See allows us to hope for new divisions which will multiply the apostolic vicariates, something that we desire greatly, for the too great extent of ground under the domination of a single bishop is a very great misfortune indeed. Our vicariate will be divided into two, it appears ; the bishop has already been appointed, and I think they are only waiting for the final news from Rome to consecrate him.

It is the pagans that are responsible for the greatest difficulties against Catholicism in India. Their customs, their castes, their contempt for all that is foreign, the great custom-based law which is the Indian's reason of last resort, and above all their indifference, will for many centuries to come still be a generally invincible obstacle.

But in the midst of all this, there are privileged souls who open their eyes to the light. Each year, we count quite a large number of them, and we hope to bring many more to the fold of the good shepherd when we can turn our attention to the pagans. Thus far, we were too few in number even for the care of the Christians; the arrival of new missionaries, the part which has recently been handed over to the Jesuits, and above all the division of the apostolic vicariates, allow us to hope that it will soon be possible for us to tend to them.

As for the Turks, it is no more possible here than elsewhere to convert them. Today without any real power in India, they do us neither good or harm; but in all probability they would be very contrary to us if they should ever seize power, which is not at all probable.

The English are not generally opposed to us, and at times they even favour us ; thus far, I personally have had no grounds for praising them, however certain of our missionaries have received good from them, and they generally speak of them with praise. Protestantism is everywhere where the English are, and not elsewhere. But once three or four English live in a place, a temple is set up; this is inhabited by a minister who pays several catechists, hands out books and above all money, the most effective means by which he manages to corrupt a few Catholics, this is his proceeding. It is the plague of the towns at this moment. For, although the Christians see clearly that they do not possess the truth, and they declare out loud that it is a religion of posts and money, the scandal is always great and the pagans are all the more wary of us when they see Christians in disagreement.

The schism of Goa is diminishing day by day, and since the new generations practically no longer know Portugal even by name, we hope that it will gradually die out.

In fact your last letter found me in the interior, as my last one to you must have indicated. After my first round, I came to rest a little here at Salem that I shall be leaving in two days to visit another part of the district. There are no longer any nababs, or rajahs here, but only Englishmen who dominate alone and in peace, whatever is said in the French papers about it. I think even that they will rule for a long while more because they understand perfectly well how to govern the colonies. Besides, all the better for us that they are here rather than others. We would be extremely sorry to see them conquered. In fact, I do not know how things are going in the north, but here, no-one would dream of quarrelling with them.

I did not dwell on the news you gave me on China. Nothing was said about it in the news of the East that we get before you; and although I do not receive any newspaper, I get any big news from Pondicherry. I expected to receive a letter from you by the last steamer; I was mistaken in my hopes. It is now quite some time since I last heard from Abbé Mazeroles, kindly scold him for that on my behalf.

What more can I tell you ? I have no news to give you; lost in a world which concerns itself little with what is happening elsewhere, I myself know nothing. I see no Europeans, for the English have only occasional dealings with us, and it is not to the Indians that one could usefully ask what is going on in the world. Providing they have a large leaf piled high with rice once a day, and enough money to fill their mouth with betel nut five or six times a day, they care little about all the rest. I confess all day long; I give baptisms by thirty at a time, etc.

This is what the good God gives me the grace of doing in this country, where for my consolation he grants me peace of heart and joy of the soul. Let us pray together that all of this be for his glory. A thousand kind thoughts to Mamma, to Henri, to Bathilde and to Félicie as well as all those who speak to you of me; and to you, my dear Papa, the assurance of my perfect love.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Salem, 26 July 1843)

Sent_0084

Sent_0084 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 8 août 1843 -/2

Sent 0084 - to the Directors of Paris - 8 August 1843 -2/2

Sent_0084 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 8 août 1843 -/2

Sent 0084 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 436-439

(to the directors of the Seminary of Paris)

We have just heard of the martyrdom of the missionaries of Korea. If you are looking for volunteers to replace them, I am one of those, even if I feel great joy at being in India. In such a step I am merely seeking God's glory. Perhaps I might have a second volunteer.

Index : God's will, glory of God, martyrdom, joy

__________

Coulavarumpatty, 8 August 1843

Gentlemen,

In his circular of convocation for the general meeting of the missionaries, His Lordship writes : ˝I have just received a letter from Mr Libois, bursar for Foreign Missions at Macao ; he says: "Mgr Castro, administrator of Peking, writes that in January 1843 he received news from Korea announcing that Mgr Imbert and Messrs Chastan and Maubant were beheaded in September 1839. 70 Christians were also beheaded and 180 strangled. No details available". It seems to me, Sir and very dear confrere, that the absolute lack of news from Mgr Imbert and his two missionaries for the past four years, the news that it is reported have been given by kind persons in the Korean embassy at Peking and what Mgr Castro writes are reasons which leave us no room to doubt of the precious death of our dear confreres. Accordingly kindly celebrate for them the three customary masses."

I hope, Gentlemen, that for the glory of Religion and of our Society which today has the honour of finding itself in the forefront of all the bloody combats of the militant Church, I hope I say, that we will not consider ourselves as vanquished by this second defeat. The world must know that we have not exhausted our efforts, that the ungrateful land of the infidel will grow tired sooner of sating itself with our blood than we will of shedding it !

Perhaps you have already chosen, in the wisdom of your counsels, new apostles to take the place with joy (I feel sure) of those whom the persecution has just taken away from us. But if you should not yet have fixed your choice and if you should have need of a man who was devoted to you, who had already done half the journey, and his first attempts at mission, I make haste to write to you, Gentlemen, to inform you that I am at your service, and that I would receive with a very great joy a destination to which I do not dare lay claim, but which I desire with my whole soul.

I beg you, Gentlemen, not to attribute my request to other reasons than that of the desire I have to see our dear missions of Korea perpetuated, despite all the rage of the tyrants and of Hell. You have been witnesses of the joy with which I received my destination for India. Suffice it for me to tell you that, thanks to the almighty mercy of God, this joy has not diminished since I have been here; that indeed it increases daily since I have had the fortune of carrying out the holy ministry a little. So that it is not out of disgust for my position.

Please believe me when I say that neither is it inconstancy or spirit of change. I want change only for the greater glory of our master. Finally, do not say that this is hasty enthusiasm. That it is enthusiasm, if such enthusiasm is for the good cause, you will not condemn it; and if it is true that I am somewhat hasty in making my request, this is because I fear to be preceded by more generous hearts!

Accordingly, Gentlemen, kindly consider my request before the Lord. God knows that I only desire in this, as I ask him only to desire in everything and always, one thing : that his holy will be done both on me and on all creatures. If his will is that I make haste to Korea, open up the way for me, Gentlemen, and pray that I march there with a firm step and according to the rules of the holy faith. If God's will is not in accordance with my desires, you will tell me so, Gentlemen. Since for this kind of thing, divine Providence has established the interpreters of the Supreme Will, and I will regard your word as the clearest manifestation of the designs of the Lord regarding my person.

Pater mi... non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu ! ()

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen,

In the union of your prayers and sacrifices as well as in the sacred union of the hearts of Jesus and of Mary, your very humble and very devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. If I were one day so happy as to follow in the steps of Mgr Capse (but without the episcopal character, which does not become me), I might perhaps have a second Joseph. If your answer is favourable, we can come back to this point. Excuse this paper, but it is all I have here.

(Coulavarumpatty, 8 August 1843)

Sent_0085

Sent_0085 - à M. Luquet - le 9 août 1843 -/1

Sent 0085 - to Mr Luquet - 9 August 1843 -1/1

Sent_0085 - à M. Luquet - le 9 août 1843 -/1

Sent 0085 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 269ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Thank you for your long letter. I have two goals: the native clergy and the pagans. The multiplication of vicariates would make it possible to multiply seminaries and to have finer churches. I have just written to Paris, volunteering to go out to Korea.

Index : native clergy, pagans, seminaries in India, thoughts on the missions

__________

Coulavarumpatty, 9 August 1843

My very dear friend,

I only have time to write you a few words in haste. I have received your long letter for which I thank you very much, as well as another one dated 29 July. It goes without saying that when we have some praise or some blame, all the merit of the little good that we have been able to do through the grace of Jesus must and will always be referred throughout to our good master, and the faults to our wretchedness. Let this be said once and for all and agreed between us.

I am forever running through the fields, I give plenty of baptisms and a great many confessions, but without losing sight of our two principal goals : the clergy and the pagans, and I try to take advantage of everything to establish my convictions which are becoming deeper day by day. I think I may say today that there would be no lack of subjects; only they should be given the means of developing and of making themselves known. A single educational establishment at Pondicherry, even if perfect, would not be sufficient; others are necessary in the interior. Just imagine that Pondicherry, a great way away for us, is at the end of the world for the Indians, not particularly desirous of an instruction that they do not know: Ignoti nulla cupido (). This establishment of several houses of education in the countryside will undoubtedly make for very great difficulties ; while with a large number of bishops, it would be the simplest thing in the world. Each bishop would have a decent church (whereas there is not one based on common sense in the whole mission of Salem, forty leagues in diameter). He would have at least several priests, an educational establishment, etc.

So now the mission of Korea is absolutely destitute of pastors. Who will now take the place of these noble victims? Will we become discouraged and leave those parts without priests and without bishops? I am writing by this post to Paris, to say to the directors of the Seminary that I hope they will not consider themselves vanquished; and I add that if they have need of a devoted missionary who has already made half the voyage and his first attempts at a mission, I am at their service (silence). I have little hope of being heard in the second part of my proposal. If, however, the good God desired account to be taken of my request, I believe that we should be very thankful; and if you think you could help me in this cause, the silence indicated above no longer applies.

I have considered it my duty to inform His Lordship of my action, requesting him not to mention it unless need be.

A Dieu. Glory to Jesus. Love to Mary. Pray for me, Marie Xavery requests to be included in the memento.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Coulavarumpatty, 9 August 1843)

Sent_0086

Sent_0086 - M. Luquet - septembre 1843 -/1

Sent 0086 - to Mr Luquet - September 1843 -1/1

Sent_0086 - M. Luquet - septembre 1843 -/1

Sent 0086 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Have you any news of the forthcoming meeting ?

Index : synod, glory of God

__________

September 1843

I have only one minute, my dear friend, and yet I am writing you just a few lines having nothing to say to you except to write to me soon.

How are preparations for the meeting going ? What steps are being taken to ensure its success? Are you acquainted with the intentions of the missionaries? etc. As for me, for over a month now I have been wandering in a true desert. The good God has not wished me to leave my skin in the mountains where the sun however has tried to tear part of it from me, while the tiger swallowed under my very eyes the harmless pig who was rooting in the foundations of my humble dwelling.

God be praised ! Will it ever be granted us to do something for his glory !!! A Dieu.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(September 1843)

Sent_0087

Sent_0087 - à M. Luquet - le 27 octobre 1843 -/5

Sent 0087 - to Mr Luquet - 27 October 1843 -5/5

Sent_0087 - à M. Luquet - le 27 octobre 1843 -/5

Sent 0087 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 14ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

God certainly wishes to see us working together to pull the same plough. For a long time now I have been thinking of the local clergy. The disagreement of a Jesuit on this point made me decide not to join them. Praise of the Jesuits, except in mission. Mr Aulagne agrees with me. Are you not the one sent by heaven to make our cause triumph? His ideas on native priests and the multiplication of episcopates in India. Resumption of two passages from the abridged Account of religion in India. Need to raise the level of studies at the college of Pondicherry : subjects to be taught there. Another establishment would be required for those studying theology and the Fathers of the Church. Is there no other supply chain but the seminaries?

Index : native clergy, seminaries (the) in India, vicariates (multiplication),

__________

Idapady, 27 October 1843

My very dear friend,

I couldn't wait to receive your news, for if I am not mistaken the Lord has created us and put us into the world not only to work together in the great vineyard which extends its branches from one end of the world to the other, not only in the same portion of this heritage, but also as two oxen who have to pull in harmony the same plough, since divine providence which governs all fortiter et suaviter() has caused us to meet in these parts against every human prevision, while, on another hand, it has given us the same thoughts, the same sentiments and the same will. Thus it seems to me that we should write to each other often, until such time as it pleases this same adorable providence to bring us close enough to converse together directly.

Since here I have a little more leisure than when I was running over the mountains beyond the Cavery, I am going to try and gather my memories to chat a little with you on the different questions contained in your three last letters. More fortunate than you in one sense, and more unfortunate in another, because grace has remained without fruit thus far, although it was long ago thrown on to the sterile ground of my soul. It is a long time since the good God (for I cannot believe there is any other origin) gave me the sentiment of the native clergy: I may say that it was born with me, and I remember that still quite young, when I heard people speak of the works of the missionaries, and that, quite naturally, I compared them to what I found in my summary of saintly life or of the acts of the apostolic centuries, I wondered why we do not do as they did at that time. Later, I asked this to grave men whose answers never satisfied me. Later, almost at the time of leaving for Paris, I had a conversation with a celebrated Jesuit, master of the novices of Avignon. I remember that I put up a feeble defence of my position, and yet all that he said to me, although more syllogistically conclusive in appearance, merely served to fortify me further in my as yet not fully matured opinion.

Since then I felt a decisive reluctance to become involved in the body for which I had some inclination, that I respect, that I venerate and that I even love still everywhere except in mission, that I would like better in mission if it was as it seems to me it should be there ; but for which I am not made, as I saw clearly at that time. A few months afterwards, I left for Paris where my vague thought on this important subject took the form of an opinion better founded every day, to arrive at the point where it is today, that is to say in a state of almost mathematically demonstrated certainty.

And yet, alone, I could not do anything much here, because the Lord has not given me that prudence which edifies and protects, which smoothes the way and leads to a good result. Or rather I have dissipated this grace like so many others. Thus, I clearly saw my weakness, and one day when I was conveying the whole of my thought to the respectable Mr Aulagne, whose white hair had inspired in me a singular confidence, he said to me: your thoughts are those which should dominate in India, but be careful not to speak too much; people are too far removed from these ideas for them not to be rejected with violence. And we expressed our wish that a powerful man would be sent by heaven to make what our feebleness had to forego, prevail. And we left each other, saying to God: Mitte quem missurus est.()

Since we agreed to tell each other everything unreservedly, and that it seems good to me to say everything, when one can make to oneself the prudent testimony that one will refer it all and immediately to God, I will not conceal from you that, in this jaculatory orison, on leaving God's heart, my eyes fell on you ; and I turned them away as an illusion of vain hope. For I would have given anything for you never to have been sent to India. I admit, my dear friend, that the antecedents give me great hopes. However we must not conceal from ourselves the enormous difficulties that await us in the task that it would seem the good God is asking of us ; but to which powerful men, including religious and saints, will be opposed, sometimes openly and sometimes by undermining our little expedients which will appear to them vain, useless and at time dangerous.

On another hand, it could well be that the good God, whose adorable decrees are impenetrable, did not yet want the catholicisation of these parts, as he has not wished it thus far. For while it seems to us that the men who have preceded us were wrong, it is the Lord who permitted it. In that case, why should the Lord have given us this vocation and this training? To put to the test our particular fidelity, and the detachment in which we should be of our own thoughts and of our own desires, whenever these are not in perfect conformity with the designs of God: Pater, non sicut ego volo sed sicut tu. () Whatever happens, let us work with the same courage and the same charity as if we were to succeed, so that it may be said, after our death, not: Ita homo perfecit mirabilia (), that is not necessary, but rather : Iste homo perfecit omnia quae locutus est ei Deus. ()

As regards my thoughts both on native priests (that you know perfectly) and on bishops being multiplied and preferred to Apostolic Vicars, here is a copy of two notes I put to paper to serve for the small work of which I have already spoken to you and which I have left for the moment, because I have insufficient facts to make something worthwhile. In a short time, I could do it perhaps more fruitfully:() "A Church without a bishop, is a society without a head, it is a headless body; or rather, it is a fœtus which is still not formed, which is living on an extraneous life ; if it remains longer than it does in this state of constraint, it grows weak and finally dies. Or else, it never gives more than a pale and sickly fruit which drags on rather than lives. Oh how well the first apostles had understood this ! Not only did they leave priests in the places where they passed; but the most worthy of them was always elevated to the order of the pontiffs, and the Church had a real foundation. I am not one of those who blame everything that exists, and who claim that the Church is degenerating. May it please God that I never utter a word so far removed from my sentiments and from the principles of my faith, etc.

"And how could one make bishops since one is not even making priests? Meanwhile among the small number of those existing today, some of them could already be elevated to this higher dignity, above all if one were content to give them a single town or a very small diocese as their jurisdiction, as the Apostles did. For it is always on the Apostles that we would want all eyes to be fixed when carrying out an apostolic ministry. This elevation would be not only an infinite good, because it enters into the constitutive and vital order of the Church, but it would stimulate the emulation of the native priests who would be re-animated to become worthy of the lofty dignities from which they would understand that they are not excluded.

"Since these bishops are the fathers of their flocks and the natural heads of their clergy, they would be set on seeing themselves replaced on their death, by priests of their country; they would make such priests, and they would encourage them. However more powerful European or native bishops according to the need of circumstances, would hold in their hands the high jurisdiction of these newborn Churches; they would be the channels communicating with the centre of Catholic unity whence they would draw both the insight and the graces of the apostle and the pastor, in order to shed them on the backward but faithful churches.

"And if we could see them, these bishops, meeting often, as they did at the time of the Cyprians, to reach agreement and to proceed in harmony in their provinces, what demon of idolatry could resist for long this army arrayed for battle?"

And another :

"To make priests, to make bishops, to establish true Churches, this then is the apostle's real mission. To increase and extend this tree of life planted by the Lord's messenger, to ensure that day by day it bears more abundant and sweet fruits, to gradually pull up the foreign weeds opposing its complete development, such is the mission of the parish priest and of the canonically established bishop. While the missionary has yet other places to clear.

"Wherever there are thousands of Christians, I deplore the state of mission pure. There should be Churches there, and the mission should be working elsewhere. These Churches would be the door of the missions. But for all of this, priests and bishops are needed; we must hand over to them our establishments and our temples, they must regard us in their home as beneath them, and as strangers; and finally stripped of the fruits of our long labours, we must go naked still as the first day, to the peoples who give us only troubles. Yes, it is in this way that I see it, and this is our glory; that is our vocation, it is our work. Once we degenerate into parish priests or into bishops, we no longer deserve to be called missionaries.

"When I say degenerate, the fact is, although it may be that in the order and spirit of the Church a parish priest is more elevated in dignity than a missionary priest and that a titular bishop is more than an apostolic vicar, for us it is a veritable degeneration, because we come out of our vocation and out of our work, etc.

"We have set up sees in India and have had occasion to repent of so doing. Of course, I feel sure, and I hope that this will be an example which will live long to say to the princes of the earth that they may make themselves the masters of a country, but that they are never the masters of consciences. And to the bishops that it is they who should ensure the administration of the faithful, and not set themselves up as governors of the Christians whom they only know by name and whom they only direct from afar. Foreign bishops who are not actual missionaries (for the name means nothing) are in my eyes, the greatest sore for the places where they are imposed that the Lord could permit in his anger. The disastrous example given us by Portugal goes completely in our direction. Let us not say that we have tried to establish sees in India, at least such as I ask for, etc.!

My dear friend, my letter interrupted by my modest dinner, I was smoking my cigar (do not be scandalised, ordered by doctor Jarrige as a remedy for the requirements of my bad intestines and for the salutary effects of which I am grateful), as I was smoking my cigar to help the digestion of my rice, and in order not to waste time, I was at the same time taking a look at no. 87 of the Annales de la Propagation de la Foi which I received as the same time as your letter. My eyes fell on a letter by Father Louis Saint-Cyr of Madurai which you will undoubtedly have noticed. But in case you do not recall its expressions, I will transcribe the passage:

"Here a very striking reflection arises. That is, that in a certain radius around what we might call the centre of the mission, all the villages, with very few exceptions, are Christian, or include Christians; once you exceed that radius, and go further away from the residence of the fathers, you find yourself once more in the land of the Gentiles. This incontestable fact proves how precious the presence of the evangelical workers is in the land, and how vivifying was the influence spread by the exercise of the holy ministry. If those former converters of souls had been more numerous, all this part of India would today be illuminated by the light of the faith."

What would have happened, my dear friend, if these former converters of souls in fact, but not proper for forming Churches, had established a bishop and some priests within this small Catholic radius, and if they had done as much elsewhere, returning if necessary, from time to time, to re-animate the fervour and encourage the newborn zeal, which is perfectly their work, that they understand how to do perfectly? The former fathers did not understand this. I think the present ones are still far from understanding it, and I am very much afraid that they will never understand it.

If the college of Pondicherry went according to my desires, there would be two or three missionaries employed for this task, plus a sufficient number of lay teachers who would only come in to give their lessons and who would be paid well so that we could make demands on them, and it would be easy, with the talents and the exactitude desirable. I would not be too much concerned, above all from the beginning, whether they are good or bad Christians, Christians or pagans. I would want from them only their erudition; and since their only relations with the pupils would be those required by their lessons, supervised moreover by the missionary, there would be no danger.

In this establishment ordinary Tamoul would be studied in the lower classes, and advanced Tamoul in the upper classes. Latin would provide the basis of the classes, and yet it need not necessarily be learned up to a certain age. Greek would not be studied, but would be replaced by the study of Sanskrit in the upper classes. As an accessory, and for those who should wish to learn them only, French, and English above all and one or two native languages would be taught. Finally I would like a science course to be held, without speaking of geography and history which would quite naturally accompany the courses, not dwelling too much on the history of the Greeks and Romans, but paying more attention to the history of India and to ecclesiastical history.

For all of this another establishment would be necessary, and if the number of those studying theology was only three or four, another missionary would be exclusively entrusted (in the house that exists today, however on condition that the Malabar priests were withdrawn) with their ecclesiastical education where, together with theology, they could be given some idea of the Fathers of the Church. If the pupils were numerous and capable: some notions of Greek to certain of them might not be out of place; and above all they would be formed in the virtues of a priest, and would be inspired with a tender and enlightened piety, without neglecting the other means indicated by the first bishops of holy memory of our company, such as that of sending them out for a certain time in mission to another experienced and pious priest.

This plan would appear to many of our brothers and confreres as something like castles in the air, and yet this is what it would be possible to achieve tomorrow if it were conceived and desired in the right way. However we would still only obtain a slight minority of subjects that we could introduce into the sanctuary, if we were restricted to this establishment; we would need other less extensive ones but no less well set up in the interior of the Mission. Finally, we must realise that, in a country which is not above all Catholic, there are other ways than the supply chain of the seminaries of bringing people to the altar.

As for what you tell me about Bangalore, I wouldn't worry overmuch. It will go as the good God wishes. I do not know two words of English, and would be almost pleased if some circumstance should oblige me to study it. For if the good God blesses us, there are three points on the globe where we must make our opinions known: Rome, Paris and London.

A Dieu. I believe I have answered your desires. You tell me nothing on what I asked you in my last few letters. Do not let a single day pass without praying for me to Jesus and his divine and beloved Mother. Let us be pious above all, and we will always save our own souls. Let us be faithful to grace, and perhaps the Lord will deign to make use of us for saving some others. Fiat fiat! Completely yours in the hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac

Marie Xavery asks you for your assirvâdam.

Write to me soon. My respectful homage to Mr Jarrige.

(Idapady, 27 October 1843)

Sent_0088

Sent_0088 - à M. Tesson - le 14 novembre 1843 -/2

Sent 0088 - to Mr Tesson - 14 November 1843 -2/2

Sent_0088 - à M. Tesson - le 14 novembre 1843 -/2

Sent 0088 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 583-586

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director of the Seminary of Paris)

His hopes for the future. Soon the synod of Pondicherry. Some errands to do for him and put on his account: crucifix, gun, lamp, stove. Could he send a copy of Mr Luquet's book to the seminarians of Carcassonne with dedication.

Index : difficulties, hopes (in the future), synod of Pondicherry

__________

Idapady, 14 November 1843

Sir and very dear confrere,

As we agreed, I am sending you the letter for the seminary of Carcassonne in reply to the second letter that I received from those Gentlemen a few months ago.

I don't know anything else new except that spirits are moving, it seems to me, in the right direction. I hope that the good God will bless us and that at last we will get out of the rut where the difficulties of these times have cast us for so many years now.

However there are immense difficulties, and I notice in the distance more dangerous ones than those that it seems we are in the process of reversing, but with which it was necessary to start. If the good God blesses our first efforts in this way, are we not entitled to hope that his infinite mercy will not stop there and that days of salvation will truly dawn for India?

Here we are soon about to meet in Pondicherry. First of all I did not hope great things from this meeting, but everything has changed so much in the space of six months that today I expect a great deal of good; May the grace of God arrange spirits and things in such a way that we can lay solid bases for religious regeneration!

A long while ago I received the 200 francs that my father passed on to me through your good offices. If you receive any further money for me, I will be obliged if you will buy me : 1) two pretty identical crucifixes in copper and wood, of which the vertical branch is much longer than it ordinarily is, so that it is easy to hold in the hand and show them to the people (the Christ should be gilded and as carefully crafted as possible); 2) a repercussion rifle that is as light as possible, but solid, accompanied by a matrix for making bullets to fit it, and two or three boxes of caps; 3) a little hanging kitchen such as I have seen samples of in your house before leaving Paris, for one or at the most two persons, as light as possible; and 4) a lamp as you could imagine it would be most convenient for a man who is always out in the country, who has to carry all his luggage with him, which is always light. If even you would have the goodness to advance me the price of all these objects so that you can send them out as soon as possible, you would be doing me a real service. I don't doubt that my father will send you money shortly; and if he should not, as soon as you like, I will tell him that you have advanced so much for me, and you can be sure that the amount would be remitted at once.

Lastly I would ask you to kindly send with the letter to the seminarians a copy of the book () by Mr Luquet. I am telling them this, as you will see if you take the trouble (to) read the letter. I would like it bound simply, but with gilded edges, and with the following inscription on the back: To the Seminarians of Carcassonne, Abbé de Brésillac their friend. The price to be put on my account.

Forgive me please for the trouble I am giving you, I don't have one instant more. A Dieu. My respectful regards to all of our confreres and especially to Mr Dubois of whom every step retraces the memory for me here.

In union of prayers and of sacrifices

Your devoted confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. Since I have written it, I am sending this letter in that for the Seminary which I have not had time to finish. That will be for next month.

Kindly put the enclosed in the post for my mother.

(in the margin) Could I ask you to prepare Mr Luquet's work so that you can send it with my letter as soon as it arrives.

(Idapady, 14 November 1843)

Sent_0089

Sent_0089 - aux séminaristes de Carcassonne - le 14 novembre 1843 -/4

Sent 0089 - to the seminarians of Carcassonne - 14 November 1843 -4/4

Sent_0089 - aux séminaristes de Carcassonne - le 14 novembre 1843 -/4

Sent 0089 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 404-443

"Souvenirs", pp 262-267

(to the seminarians of Carcassonne)

Thank you very much for your last two letters. The future is full of hope. Some words on the development of the native clergy. How the missionary travels, who accompanies him, where he stays, what he eats, the problems of his horse, how they pass rivers in full flood in a bamboo basket, the churches of the little villages he crosses. Great fervour of the Christian Indians at the coming of the missionary, animation in the small communities when he passes by.

Index : ministry in India, native clergy, missionary (life of the), hope (in the future)

__________

(Idapady ?) 14 November 1843

Gentlemen and dear friends,

Your two letters have come just at the right time, I assure you, to refresh me from my first apostolic fatigues and to encourage me to undertake fresh works. I will not return to the interesting things you tell me in your two kind missives. Oh! How the memory and attention of my former pupils, who have decided to write to me in particular, have been appreciated and agreeable! Perhaps I should complain about the compliments that you make me; but I prefer quite simply to thank you for them. The prescription has for a long time now granted patent letters of exaggeration. Respectable people use them without scruple of falsehood, and it seems to me that they are not always wrong for, in their mouth, it is an honest form in which charity is clothed to say to others rather what they should be, than what they are in effect. It is in this sense above all that I accept without reserve your salutary opinions and that I cordially thank you for them...

Am I very much mistaken, or is a new era preparing for the missions in India, and perhaps for the missions in Asia? The future seems to me full of hope. We have been dragging along for the last two hundred years, it is true, but it seems we have now just put our finger on the sore. We have discovered the cause of the ill, I am confident, and strong and enlightened spirits, above all filled with the love of God and with courage, are quite ready to defend God's cause. The carriage is stuck in the mire, but it is beginning to move, and we are expecting good horses ; we nourish some on the spot, which grow up and which will also give a thrust to the wheel. Later, I truly hope to see them harnessed on their own and pulling it with ease.

Already, a few stoles float with honour on the black shoulders of the native priests, the mitre shines on the head of one of them. Let us wait a little, we will no longer consider impossible what was considered so yesterday, and religion is taking root in India. Finally we will have Churches where thus far we have only had floating Christian communities, and believe me the demon is burning with rage on his embers, at the sight of the coming achievement of the work of the native clergy, which he has so successfully managed to paralyse, despite the efforts of several great men; despite the exhortations and encouragements of the sovereign pontiffs; despite their solemn decrees and the institutions that they have established for tending to this so desirable and so capital end.

I will stop now, for it is not the moment to make a dissertation on such a grave subject. Perhaps that will come later. Today, I will be content to relax with you while telling you the way in which I have worked and lived in the last few months...

When I walk, my whole household follows me : furniture, library, kitchen utensils, clothes, everything necessary for saying mass and administering the sacraments, in a word, everything in the strict sense of the term. However, it should be said that, in the principal churches, most of the furniture is left in set positions, ordinarily consisting of a bed, a table, two chairs and a few books that one risks finding eaten by the "carea"... (ants). However, do not believe that for all this a great deal of luggage is necessary. We learn in our school to make do with what is strictly necessary to man. Three to four porters are sufficient for my house and my sacristy: I still have three disciples who should one day become good priests, I hope, and a horse whose privilege it is to carry nothing but his master, not even the oats to sustain him at the halfway point. No hostelry where we can find sustenance on the road. At times, we manage to procure a grilled seed the taste of which is similar to the large broad bean cooked under the cinders, or else rice soaked in water and then cooked in the hot sand, of which you will get a perfect idea, as regards the taste, if you recall what you undoubtedly did in your childhood, at the corner of the family hearth, with grains of millet that you made to explode like popcorn...

However it is quite rare that, in the lost and mountainous regions that I am obliged to cross to go from one village to another, one should have this resource. Thus it is always necessary to bring with one what is to be boiled in one's pot, and even the pot itself. I always have an earthen pot, round, without handles or spout, for boiling rice, either on the road, or in the house. Then the missionary has to have a cook, or rather a poisoner who is decorated with the name of cook, without his knowing sometimes, like mine for example, how to cook an egg or make boiled pepper water. However mine learned some time ago to make a passable omelette, though he still cannot make the pepper water.

Furthermore, it is an absolute necessity to have a second servant, for the noble steed : 1) it is the custom, the great law of India ; 2) since one finds even less hay than provisions to buy, the "coudireicaren" (which is the name given to him) must provide for the horse's food. If, by any kind of accident, it is impossible for him to find any grass to be torn up, the horse goes without eating that day : there is nothing for it; then he exercises patience, a dominant virtue in beasts and people alike in this country.

So it is then that, escorted by three disciples, a cook and a "coudireicaren", by three or four porters, and more often than not by a catechist, here I am, from three in the morning as far as possible, wending my way through the bushes, the thorn-trees, the rocks, precipices, by the light of a great lantern when there is no moon. I have plenty of time, I can assure you, to do my meditation and to recite my breviary, for I don't understand much of the noisy and joyous conversation of those around me. And, when I ask them some questions, they answer by a big "Yes" or by a big "No", with a great deal of respect, since decency does not permit them to say very much more...

Now, would you be curious to know how one surmounts certain obstacles, for example, how one passes the rivers ? I distinguish: now, there are rivers which have water in them; or there are rivers which do not. The latter are the more common, and the difficulty is immediately removed. However, at times they may decide to flow, and then they are impetuous torrents rolling stones down in their muddy water. When one encounters them in such a crisis, one puts into practice the great virtue of India aforementioned: patience. One sits down quietly at the edge, until the water has run away, which does not ordinarily take more than a few hours; and, as soon as there is no more water above knee level, one quite simply crosses, and continues on one's way as gaily as before.

As for the former, like the Caveri, sacred river (and itself god) which I have had the honour of crossing three or four times in two months, I would distinguish further. Either it is at a time when the rivers themselves carry little water in them and they can be forded. Or, there is a lot of water and, in that case, one climbs into a basket, and the nacelle sails along. A basket, you may say, it's not possible! However it is the true truth, a real openwork basket ; no other craft than that. This requires an explanation. Well then, a real basket of bamboo, round, covered with buffalo skin, that's the mystery! A full five or six persons can fit into it with their hand luggage. And a single man, by means of a simple branch in front, leads you to the other side following a more or less elongated diagonal according to the violence of the current. Besides, it doesn't cost him much to go and disembark far from the place to which the nacelle has to return, for he does not take the trouble to make it float back against the current. He finds it easier, more rapid and simpler to put his boat on his head, and to carry it in this way as far as the place where he has to take on other wayfarers.

The church of the little villages ordinarily also serves as domicile for the missionary. In fact, how could one build so many houses which, in order to be decent, would each cost the goodly sum of forty to fifty francs? This is above the resources of most of our poor Christians; and the missionary, entrusted with over thirty Christian communities, cannot afford it either. These poor churches, ah! If you were to see them, it would make your heart bleed. Four earthen walls around a space which does not always measure twenty square metres even, covered with palm leaves or more often with straw, without any windows, without any other opening than the door, at times closed by means of a bamboo screen, without any other image than a crucifix and two or three small statues at times of monstrous shape. This is the place where we have to lodge, sleep, eat, confess and celebrate the holy mysteries. The structure is so low that when putting the amice on my head, I often need to take my precautions in order not to bang my wrist against the main beam. This state of the churches has been, in these last three months, one of my greatest sorrows.

What consoles me a little is that, poor as they are, these are still the finest houses of the villages and, since the pagans have a large number of pagodas which do not surpass them in beauty, for this people it is not such a great scandal as it would be in our country. Finally, the ever growing merits of the work of Propagation of the Faith enable us to gradually make up for this great misfortune... In short, Our Lord, who decided to be born in a crib, is perhaps less shocked than us at this poverty.

Please God that the hearts of those who throng these humble temples are always pure. Besides, I do not doubt, my dear friends, that many prayers agreeable to the Lord are raised from there. If you saw the fervour of these poor Indians, you would be edified more than once. In the course of the brief stay that the missionary makes in each village, the church is always full at the time of mass and, on Sunday, those of the neighbouring Christian communities go there on occasion from over four or five leagues away; and this includes the women and men alike; even wet-nurses do not consider themselves dispensed from this pilgrimage. Ordinarily they carry their baby in their cloth, sometimes in a basket, and lay it down beside them during the prayers at whatever time of day.

When, because of departure or some such, I said mass at two or three in the morning, I have happened to see infants of two months old sleeping quietly in a rag, without being distracted, as often happens during the day, as a result of their innocent wails, without doubt disagreeable for the priest celebrating, but which cannot be without some sweetness for the tender heart of the good Jesus...

Thus, the smallest Christian village becomes for a few days a small centre of religious action, which is not without interest for places which are naturally silent and monotonous. There is almost always a crowd around the missionary, either for dealing with some business or other, or on account of those who come to confess, for one has to hear everyone at confession without exception. No-one here is dispensed of this duty. And it is taken to such a point that one is obliged to remain on one's guard in order not to be pestered by the great sinners, for they are unfortunately to be found everywhere. These like the others are anxious to confess, but not always to correct themselves. It's up to the confessor to distinguish. The difficulty is far greater, when one does not understand the language well, as is the case of your servant. But there are some graces of my calling too.

However, I admit to you that nature shivers when on entering into a village, I find myself surrounded with a numerous crowd that has to be dealt with in six or eight days. Pray to the Lord that he will not make me give account of all the faults that I have committed in this formidable ministry. He knows that I only want his love. If I have made a mistake, it is while working for his glory; this is what consoles me and maintains me in the holy peace of the soul, despite the innumerable faults of my nature.

Just imagine a poor priest confessing to right and left, giving baptism to thirty children at a time who weep, who bang with their fists and kick, for they sometimes are over one year of age and no longer in swaddling clothes. Then, explaining a little the catechism to the children who, the whole day through, recite the letter out loud under a tree, beside the church, or under some other shelter. Then working to sort out the various impediments of the marriages that are presented to him to solve, and for which he is obliged to chatter for two hours in order to be sure that the fiancée has reached the age of twelve. Then, again he is called upon on one or the other side of a quarrel that has to be settled. After that, he has to re-establish peace between estranged couples, and reconcile enemies. Finally, when everything is settled, it only remains for him to leave, to go and start all over again in another village.

This then, my dear friends has been my way of life for some time now. As you see, I am in need of the succour of your prayers. Thus I count on it firmly and ask you not to frustrate me in my expectation... ()

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Idapady ?, 14 November 1843)

Sent_0090

Sent_0090 - à M. Luquet - le 22 novembre 1843 -/2

Sent 0090 - to Mr Luquet - 22 November 1843 -1/2

Sent_0090 - à M. Luquet - le 22 novembre 1843 -/2

Sent 0090 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 30ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

To do great things, God has never chosen those who have led a tepid life, but often those who had formerly been great sinners. Has he not perhaps chosen us? Trust and fear. But the Lord can do a miracle and bring about a revolution in our lives. Let us pray that he will transform us. Let us pray to Mary, let us pray to the angels. Mr Barran thinks quite differently from us.

Index : trust, fear, weakness, humility

__________

( ?) 22 November 1843

My very dear friend, yesterday I received your excellent letter of 12th. It is impossible for me to speak to you at any length today; since the affairs of this Christian group have been settled somewhat, I confess the whole day. Suffice it for me to tell you that, while my trust increases and my hopes grow on seeing, in the desires of your heart, those that my own has been dragging along for so many ineffective years, my fear and my confusion are also at their height, when I consider our wretchedness. You have been a great sinner, and I have resisted grace; you have erred in the shadows of the passions, meanwhile I resisted the Holy Spirit by not responding in any way to the graces it gave me to advance in perfection. We see that the good God has sometimes made use of great sinners in order to make them into great instruments of salvation; we do not see that he has ever drawn these great instruments of grace from among those who had led a tepid life. Accordingly will we be destined never to do anything great for the glory of our holy religion and for the love of our good master whom however we would wish to see glorified and loved throughout the whole universe?

So why then has the Lord given us this thought and this desire ? Why even has he gone so far as to reveal the possibility, and almost so far as to indicate to us the road to be followed, while however still tying our hands and legs, so that we cannot enter it. O sorrow, worse than a thousand deaths ! However the Lord can do a miracle; he can sanctify us, one and the other, and perhaps there is only need of that in order for our bandages to be torn off and for the course to open up freely before us. But what a revolution remains to be made in my heart, in my senses, in my habits, in my whole being! I declare that I feel my heart faint and that the greatness of the task makes me abandon it. Meanwhile I declare that I truly want to change and to respond a little more to grace. Pray for me that it will be thus; without that I see clearly that we will never accomplish anything. With all of this, God is all-powerful. We want nothing but his glory, we invoke the intercession of our good Mother who is also His Mother, and who is so jealous of seeing him glorified; we invoke the intercession of the Angels who surround his throne and those who groan on earth at not seeing him loved who alone deserves to be loved.

Farewell. Ask God to establish between us a union of intimate charity which attaches us to the same work with an unspeakable courage and with all the graces that are necessary in order for all men to tend to the same goal, meanwhile offering each other mutual succour without ever hurting one anything in any way.

In the hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Your devoted

Mr de Brésillac

P.S. My respectful homage to Mr Jarrige. I have forgotten to tell you that some time ago I received a letter from Mr Vachal who conveys his kind regards to you; he wishes to know certainly if you are here, in order to write to you. He says to me that if we want to know the number of Chinese converts in Siam, we would do well to made a subtraction from the accounts rendered even in the Annals, otherwise we risk being far from the truth. I have again received a letter from Mr Barran which is discouraging as could hardly be otherwise, for you know that he has practically not accepted our ideas.

( ?, 22 November 1843)

Sent_0091

Sent_0091 - à Mgr Bonnand - début décembre 1843 -/3

Sent 0091 - to Mgr Bonnand - early December 1843 -1/3

Sent_0091 - à Mgr Bonnand - début décembre 1843 -/3

Sent 0091 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 533-539

"Souvenirs", pp 307-310

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The questions to be dealt with at the synod : catechism, conversion of pagans, native clergy (great insistence), need for public education, itinerant preachers. Need for seeking out the means of discovering vocations: searching for young people and having good schools. Taking them from all castes, even if this means setting up several seminaries so as not to mix them. Beginning the Indians on the sciences and the arts. Questions regarding the printing of classic books; a place for the outcasts in the churches. An account should be drawn up of all that is done in each church.

Index : catechisate, pagans, native clergy, preaching, vocation, caste, synod

__________

( ?), early December 1843

Your Lordship has so often urged us to write our thoughts on the various questions to be dealt with in the synod, that I cannot prevent myself from throwing some lines on to paper, without failing in the condescendence that I owe to Your Lordship's desires. However, there are certain of these questions on which I cannot write anything, because I am too new in the Indian ministry. For example, on the question of the catechisate, I am absolutely unqualified to give a well founded opinion, above all on the details that it implies. The only thing that I see and that I know is the incapacity, the lack of zeal, and the ignorance of the present catechists. It if it possible to form better ones, it seems to me clear that we need a catechisate.

As for the question of the conversion of the Gentiles, I will not fear to give my opinion. First of all, I thought that the work of the conversion of the Gentiles should be placed in the forefront. But here it appears to me to depend so strongly on the existence and the cooperation of the native clergy that, if the two works could not be done at the same time, I would not hesitate to leave for a while the work of the pagans for that of the clergy. But I cannot see why the two could not proceed abreast. Only, our action on the pagans would become more and more active, insofar as we will have more native evangelical workers, until, at the head of a numerous army of Levites born in the country, we can fight a pitched battle against paganism. There is much talk of undertaking great missions with much pomp and ceremony. I do not think that this kind of preaching brings in many people, and even less that it is of any great usefulness for the improvement of the Christians. However, if the resources in men and money permit, I would be of the opinion that we should not neglect it. My principal reason for this is that, seeing the knowledge that the pagans already have of the Christian religion, no isolated means will produce much fruit, whereas one could on the contrary hope for everything from a combination of different means.

Let us form priests, slowly undermine the ramparts of paganism by big works of public education..., the day will come when we will see this formidable citadel collapse bit by bit. If we do not live long enough to rejoice on earth at this sight, we will have prepared the instruments of victory for those who will see it.

Accordingly I would like us to employ all possible means at once, and above all for us not to neglect those which come closest to the simple and completely evangelical preaching of the apostles; we should not abandon the holy folly of the cross. I wish that, if two or three missionaries are employed on big missions, there should also be those who would do as Saint Francis Xavier did, roaming through the pagan villages, preaching the Gospel quite simply, and sanctifying their preaching by the exercise of mortification and by prayer.

I would like us also to use the contribution of the lay to prepare the ways and predispose spirits. And not to fear to neglect the Christians already existing for the large number of missionaries, who would have to be employed in these different works. Even if we were three times more numerous than we are only for the Christians that we already have, we will not prevent them from degenerating gradually, of weakening in the faith and becoming corrupted. Only the conversion of a large number of pagans can re-animate the courage of the Christian communities...

Neither can I say anything on the baptism of the children of pagans, or on the bull of Benedict XV, or on superstitions, or on the "pottou", or on the costume of the missionaries... But I would dwell willingly on the means to be taken for discovering vocations for the ecclesiastic condition. And first of all, I will say that, in order to try and find those whom the good God is calling, we should consider not only one corner of the Christian population, but the whole of society, that is to say all the castes without exception. Who are we to fix limits to the spirit of God? To take those we please, and to reject those to whom the Lord has given a vocation? For while the requirements of caste should be respected up to a certain point, it is up to us to find the way of mixing their unfortunate caprices with the divine will. And when we cannot do this, to offend a thousand times all the castes together, rather than to thwart God's work.

Who has told us that it is not a pariah priest that God may use to convert the whole of India ? Are not all instruments good in God's hands, and is he not in the habit of availing himself of the least on the earth, and the most despised among men, making them the instrument of his mercy? May we set up first of all, if it is necessary, pariah seminaries, seminaries for the middle castes, and noble seminaries; this distinction does not go against the faith, but let us make priests of all ranks, and may we impose no laws on grace.

[...] Once these principles are admitted..., we should inform by means of finding a large number of pupils. For the moment, I see only two ways. The first, is that the missionaries themselves should search out, in the districts, the children in whom they believe they can lay some hope, they should keep them to examine them for several months, and thereafter direct them to the seminaries... The second would be the establishment of good and numerous primary schools under the supervision of the missionaries..., following a common rule whereby an attempt would be made to couple piety with a solid instruction... Later on, the missionaries would direct the wisest of them and the best endowed with talents, to establishments of complete education. Finally, it is by giving young people a frank, solid, generous and liberal education that the truth will take root in the country... We have the truth on our side, why should we dread the light...?

In order to be able to achieve this completely later on, I would like us to put ourselves in a position to give the Indian people a complete series of treatises on the sciences and the arts, beginning with those that are most within their scope, and to ensure that they are capable of understanding, by means of good and solid lessons, both private and public.

While waiting for the translation one after another and the updating of the classic books necessary for the schools, a missionary with a good knowledge of the language should be entrusted with this task, and a new and well served press, quite apart from the existing one, should be placed at his disposal, with any aids he may need, both for translating and for printing.

Lastly, to say just a word on the questions we have ventured to send to Your Lordship, in accordance with your desire, in our little meeting of Carumattampatty, it seems to me that, without too great efforts, we could make the cult more proper and more dignified. For example, is it not a great indecency to go to the threshold of the church to give communion to the outcasts, in those churches where there is no place for them? And yet we cannot insist that they come into such churches. Should we not then require that, in all churches, a place be foreseen for the outcasts? Besides, why not have everywhere baptismal fonts, and registers? I request that the ecclesiastical authority take exact cognisance of the practices in each church, that it lay down regulations..., under pain at times of not being able to celebrate the holy mysteries in places where they are not observed. This would be a means of making the missionaries vigilant, at the same time as it would spare them a great deal of pestering on the part of the Christians, who rebel against their legitimate requirements, under the pretext that it is not the custom. The missionary would merely have to answer them that, without such or such a condition, it is not up to him to say mass to them.

(Mr de Brésillac)

(early December 1843)

Sent_0092

Sent_0092 - à M. Luquet - le 3 décembre 1843 -/4

Sent 0092 - to Mr Luquet - 3 December 1843 -4/4

Sent_0092 - à M. Luquet - le 3 décembre 1843 -/4

Sent 0092 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 287ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

The works of the Jesuits in the world. Religion must exist in the midst of combats. He does not agree with the creation of a new Society too close to the Jesuits. What would be needed for the conversion of the infidels. A single aim: to convert to Jesus Christ. We must do as the Apostles did and what the Apostles did. We need twelve new apostles, twelve of the most able bishops to go out and preach the folly of the cross. They would follow the gospel counsels. They would be closely united to Rome, would cross the continents leaving Churches behind them Rome should find these twelve saintly and able bishops. As for us, we could walk together to Rome to present our ideas to the Holy Father, then return to India to live there in oblivion. Think of all this.

Index : Jesuits, thoughts on the missions, conversion, Gentiles

__________

Idapady, 3 December 1843

My very dear friend,

When the great Saint Ignatius was meditating the plan of the sublime order he was going to found, it seems to me that he must have had the thought of entrusting it with the great work you are speaking to me of. As far as knowledge is concerned, the Jesuits have fulfilled the aim of their founder, up to a certain point, and perhaps as much as it is granted to an honourable Society to accomplish it. If they have not done more, if their presence in almost all the regions of the globe has not achieved your thought, from the point of view of books and of foreign translations, if in the civilised kingdoms their schools so well begun, so well provided with men of great knowledge and of penetrating mind, if their colleges so rightly famed and which would have been capable of regenerating society, were unable to resist the violence of the storms, it is to man's malice that this is due and to the power of the wicked. This malice will always remain, the power will always be inherent in it, for it is always in the midst of combats, constantly more feeble humanly speaking than its adversaries, and yet always supernaturally victorious, that holy Religion our Mother must exist until the end.

Will the Society that you are talking about be more able and more saintly than the Company of Jesus? I believe it would be rash to think so. Will it be sheltered from the vices attached to everything human and of which the admirable Constitutions of Saint Ignatius proved incapable of always preserving his children? What miracle that has not been granted to the prayers of any saint founder of an order! Would the wicked be without envy, spite and rage? Assuredly not and their efforts would paralyse ours, and perhaps they would wipe them out at the first blow. So that I do not think that such a Society is possible, besides it would have the fault of being so similar to the Jesuits that the latter would very probably oppose its institution. And Rome would not want to have two Congregations whose principal ends would fit one into the other. No, I don't think we should consider a new institution in that sense.

The idea of making everything that already exists serve for the achievement of our thought attracts me much more. It seems to me to be even more in conformity with our vocation since this comes closer to the general work that Jesus Christ established, that the apostles practised and that the Church has always continued and continues still. Only we would like to help in its development and to contribute to its perfection in the regions that are still idolatrous, that is to say the work of the Churches, one could say the work of the Church, work for ever general which makes use of everything because it is the beginning of everything and remains independent of this or that fashion, of this or that particular rule.

Just as all that is religious, in the widest sense of this word, is only so because the Church must gain some succour from it, in the same way it would be necessary for everything to be an instrument at our service for the establishment, the consolidation and the preservation of the new Churches. The Jesuits and the children of Saint Vincent, the Marists and the Missionaries of Paris, and even the native ecclesiastics should all be ours, and for that is any new institution necessary ? Yes and no: Yes, if we want it in the form of what exists today. No in its essential basis and in its Original form which would be no other than the oldest of all, the most respectable of all, issuing from the hands of our adorable Saviour himself when he said to the twelve : "Go out and convert the nations".

That unbearable idea, perhaps, of thinking of establishing an institution above all those that exist and which come so close to Jesus Christ ! Ah, the fact is that the work to which we aspire is the greatest of the works that Jesus Christ came to bring us on earth, the work for which we exist in the world. Just as they are at this moment in my mind, here then are the ideas that strike me most, which I beg you to commend to Our Lord through the intermediary of his divine Mother. Meditate on them and see if, merged with yours, we could not make of them a single compact and coherent one that we would mature more and more, prepared to push with all our strength for its accomplishment, once the time has come.

Why are the missions far from their natural state ? In my opinion, it is because we do not act like the Apostles in an apostolic ministry. I know very well that people will tell me that times have changed, that men are no longer the same. I do not put much store by these excuses and I believe, on the contrary, that apart from certain accessories, times and men are very similar to what they always were. My whole thought is thus reduced to these two words : do what the Apostles would do, and as the Apostles would do : nothing but that, but all of that. Accordingly I would like to have an absolutely and purely and really apostolic institution. Now what form should it take? What manner of preaching and of action should it adopt on the whole world of missions? This is the purpose of our future meditations, the subject of our prayers; what I am expecting from the grace that will enlighten us if our thought comes from God, and if we are faithful; but that will leave us with our sterile ideas if all that God wants of us is the desire to work for his glory.

For the form, my ideas will undoubtedly undergo countless modifications. The main thing is to make them follow as closely as possible those of the Apostles. At this moment I dwell from time to time with complacency on the vocation and mission of twelve new apostles. Twelve of the ablest, most saintly and most devoted bishops in the world, like our first apostolic vicars, would immediately be sent out by the Sovereign pontiff who would be the head of the new college which would vest them with all of its authority, placing its full confidence in them, thus renewing the times of Peter and Paul.

Like the former, these new apostles would preach first of all and in person the folly of the cross. Those who would be nothing less than the immediate representatives of the Holy See, its permanent legates, under another name if you like, they, so great, so above everything that exists of missionary, their heads, their natural heads and delegates, would be poor and denuded, without money, in an age where it seems that money makes the world go round. They would always go on foot, in an age where the steamer has given wings to things and ships. They would have a tunic as their only clothing, and only a stick to lean on as they walk. They would only take the ship when, between two continents, no isthmus joining them exists.

That is what their folly would be. But the steamer would be at their service for the active correspondence they would keep up with Rome, between themselves, and with all the Missions. But the press would be at their service to publish their works, and to bring out those that they would entrust others with carrying out. The religious Congregations would be at their service, both on behalf of the ecclesiastics, and on behalf of the lay with whom relations would be all the easier since they would be preceded by great fame and endowed with great knowledge. Thus with the contribution of everything that exists, they would achieve the greatest advancement possible of the cause, at the same time as they would communicate a twofold strength, by giving it the unity of action it lacks, and of which they themselves would become the most powerful means. And they would make priests and bishops; and they would cross empires leaving Churches behind them; and they would protect these newborn Churches; they would encourage and fortify them; they would nourish them as good fathers with the bread of their words, of their knowledge and of their experience.

There are no lands that they have not seen with their own eyes, that they have not sanctified with their feet ; they would be everywhere, they would see everything. Since they would not depend on testimonies proven to be almost always more or less wrong, they would appoint saintly bishops, almost always on the spot, either from among the missionaries, or among the natives, and they would protect the weakness of the latter under the mantle of a great authority. However all of their works would be the work of the Sovereign Pontiff, their father, their friend, their head, their only head, to whom they would be devoted until death, without whom they would do nothing, and through whom they would do everything, from whose breast they would draw all their strength, and to whose breast they would come from time to time to renew themselves and draw fresh inspiration.

For example, every holy year they would all be in Rome, spending the year in continual prayer and meditation, in a new upper room, whence they would leave once more filled with the saintly inspirations of the vicar of Jesus Christ. Thus, unity would be perfect; all their works would be the work of the Holy Father, that is to say, the work of the Church, the work of Jesus Christ, the work of God. And what is necessary for all of this? Money? Not a penny. Twelve saintly and able bishops ? No more. The confidence of Rome. Complete. As regards the bishops, I do not think we should be troubled about them ; for I feel persuaded that there are still some saints on earth. Miserable as I am, in my little so limited sphere, I seem to see more than one man who would carry out this noble and saintly function with courage and devotion. What would it be if the eagle eye of Rome cast a glance at the globe and chose its elect like the finest flowers in an immense garden!

The second condition could be the fruit of our works, of our troubles, of our prayers, of grace above all. It is at Rome that these thoughts should be debated. After having been bound by a vow well meditated previously, and having received from Rome itself the authorisation to go and lay it at the feet of the common father of the faithful, we would begin by preaching by example, by arriving in the capital of the world on foot and barefoot, if you like, above all without money. We would cross India, Persia, Russia, or else we would follow some other itinerary laid down by Rome itself. There, would open up a fine career of suffering and humiliation for you and me who are in need of it. At the same time our ideas on the missions would become practically more general, and we would be capable of speaking of the needs of the peoples, since we would have seen them.

Finally, without wanting to lay down conditions on divine providence, it seems to me that for a work such as the one we are considering, it is certainly permitted to ask of it a sign of approval. Of course if we do not remain on the road, we will have a sufficient one, it seems to me, above all after the prayer that we offer to him () a thousand times a day to remove us from this world rather than permit that we take part in a work which would not be according to the ways of God.

And if we had the happiness of seeing our thoughts appreciated and put into practice, after having kissed the feet of these angels, we would come back by the same road to end up our career in the administration of the smallest Christian community, under a thatch-roofed church. Or, even better, we would build a little cell in one of the deserts of India where our voice would die away, singing the hymns to the Lord to which we would invite other solitaries or other Indian monks to take part, for the country also lacks this essential part of the Church and one cannot understand why.

So that for the moment is the bulk of my thought, which, as you see, is still only a statue in the block of marble that the worker has merely sketched out. It is barely possible to see where the head will be, the arms, the feet, etc. All of this will become clear later if the thought comes from God and if God wishes it to have any follow-up. Meanwhile, should we not agree together on a way of life which will prepare us for the one we foresee later on? Should we not combine more closely our intentions, our work, and our will at the feet of the altars? I would ask you to think carefully on all of this and to tell me your thought and your desires on this point.

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Idapady, 3 December 1843)

Sent_0093

Sent_0093 - à M. Tesson - le 11 décembre 1843 -/3

Sent 0093 - to Mr Tesson - 11 December 1843 -3/3

Sent_0093 - à M. Tesson - le 11 décembre 1843 -/3

Sent 0093 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 494-497

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

He declares himself once more a volunteer for Korea, for his first letter did not arrive. Elsewhere than India, he could be the echo of Mr Luquet's thoughts for putting them into practice. Soon the synod; the reform of the seminary of Pondicherry must go through. The house of Meudon is due to be abandoned, what a shame! What I wrote on the comet during my journey.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, thoughts on the missions, joy, MEP, astronomy

__________

Salem, 11 December 1843

Sir and very dear confrere,

I have just received your kind letter of 5 October. It informs me of the loss of September's ship in the Red Sea. It carried two dispatches from me, one for my friends, the other one addressed to the Directors of the Foreign Missions. That is what has given rise to this one. Please forget for a moment that you are the representative of India in order to pay attention only to the responsibility weighing on you as representative of all our company's missions to see if it would not be advisable to re-present to all of our Gentlemen the request I made them, in which case I would ask you to renew it officially on my behalf. I no longer remember the terms of that letter, but it was couched more or less thus :

"Gentlemen, in his circular of convocation, His Lordship expresses himself thus (and I gave the passage which leaves no doubt on the death of Mgr Imbert and of his two missionaries Messrs Chastan and Maubant). Once more we are faced with a widowed and afflicted mission. I sincerely hope that others will take the place of those who have so gloriously succumbed. However, if you should have need of a missionary devoted to you, who had made half of the journey, and his first arms in the mission, please believe that I am at your service. On receiving this request, I ask you not to attribute this step to anything but the desire I would have to go out to replace my martyred brothers. You have been witnesses of the joy with which I left France. The Lord has deigned to keep me always in this happy disposition that I owe to my vocation. It is not a spirit of change. I want no change except for the glory of God. But if this same glory so requires, I request it ardently.

"P.S. If I ever had the happiness of following from afar in the footsteps of Mgr de Capse, I would perhaps have a second Joseph. If your answer is favourable, we will return to this point".

At the time I was unaware that another bishop and one or two missionaries had been once more directed to Korea, which is what prevents me from renewing my petition directly. However, since it is certain that the former are dead, others are needed. If before God you do not consider it inappropriate to convey my request yourself to the council, I beg you to do so.

Quite apart from the personal happiness I would feel at being employed in those parts, there is another more serious reason that I would ask you to kindly consider before the Lord. You know my ideas and I have the solace of seeing that you do not disapprove of them. It seems to me that if I could carry them further with greater possibility of having them put into practice by the apostolic vicars, over whose minds I could hope to have all the more influence since they would have less missionaries with them, I would render a far greater service to our work than here where I very much fear, despite your encouragements, that I will always be a useless member, whereas Mr Luquet, far above me (and I am saying this without the slightest affectation), would act here more effectively perhaps if he had an echo elsewhere, for you know that our thoughts are very nearly identical. To your prudence and your conscience for the glory of God alone!

Well, here we are on the point of leaving for Pondicherry. What will be done? I have no idea. Let us see. Without doubt very little. Please God that this little will serve as the path forward towards a better condition. As you know, the half-reformed seminary is all of a sudden risen to a point of prosperity which is astonishing for those who had not sounded people's minds, but that I had the happiness to foresee. The reform is far from being sufficient. And if we leave things as they are on this point you will see the soap bubble die away in less than an hour, however if we then understand by this attempt that it is possible to set up good educational establishments, that it is the only way of knowing, of forming and of carrying through the vocations of which there is no lack. etc., I hope we will undertake a complete reform, and finally, if we spread our wings and thus give the vocations of the interior the means of making themselves known and of developing, we should soon have even more priests than we desire.

Ah, my dear Mr Tesson, why are you not bishop here ? And why is our Society conceived in such a way that when a missionary occupies a post, it seems impossible to pull him away from it in order to put him in some other if so required for the best. Is the mission of Siam, of Korea or of Cochin China not also ours? Are the directors of Paris no longer missionaries? Without doubt these changes must be rare, but that they never happen! Why! Useless wishes without doubt, but how I would like to see you arrive as a bishop carrying my passports for Korea!

The news you give me of Meudon saddens and surprises me. To tell you what I hoped for from this establishment and in what sense, I think I could not do better than transcribe what I was saying to myself on this subject in an article on the Seminary of Foreign Missions that I confided to my diary while I was on board ship (diary, p. 85):

"This house of Meudon is one of my great reasons for hope, for the future of our company, not so much as a result of the persons who will be formed there for the mission as because of the essential modifications that it must imply, it seems to me, sooner or later in the manner of acting towards the aspirants, a manner which leaves not a little but everything to be desired at the present time. I will not enter into the details which etc." The seminary of Paris is much too much a seminary for the priest arriving there after several years of ministry, it is far from sufficiently so for the Levite who needs to form his budding piety and to devote himself to a completely scholastic study still. I could develop, etc.

The success of the house of Meudon would lead me to hope in a total separation of the priests from those who are not so, so that it would be possible to act more appropriately towards both one and the other. However it should not be felt that this is the only good that I expect from this establishment. It would already be great, for I do not doubt but that the manner in which the aspirants find themselves in the seminary has a great influence on the company in general, both because of the first impression which is rarely effaced from the minds of the missionaries, and because of the impression that they make on the minds of those to whom they write under the influence of an inspiration which is never completely concealed. However I hope more of Meudon, let's see in the future. For the moment, etc. Benedic Domine Benedic Domine Deus locum istum (), etc. You see that I am telling you my secrets.

Since you only saw the comet 17 days after me, it will perhaps give you pleasure to read the small remarks that I made, although not provided with sufficient instruments and instructions to know on what points I should focus my attention.

On 3 March, towards 7 in the evening, at approximately the 11th degree of latitude and the 76th of longitude, I noted a light that I took at first to be a cloud. Its different position from the clouds which crept along the horizon and above all its truncated conical shape made me suspect the presence of the star, and I said this to my travelling companion. On the 4th, the comet appears bright and dazzling. Its bright light forms an immense conical trail which is still not terminated because of its too close proximity to the sun. On the 5th the comet is truly beautiful, it appears in its entirety, but the core is barely visible to the naked eye.

It was not until the 18th that I could make use of a poor sextant to measure the length of the tail which seems to me to exceed 51°. The core always indistinct, not bright, vaporous, the light continues to diminish in splendour, it follows a more or less straight line, parallel to Rigel and at x from Orion making for the head of the Whale. The other days: clouds. On the 23rd, great reduction in the visible length of the tail; it did not appear to exceed 38° ; it drew closer to the x of Orion than of Rigel, with its light becoming fainter and fainter. On 24th and 25th, clouds : at times it appeared in the empty spaces, very weak. On 26th, clouds. On 27th, clouds: it is now difficult to make it out in the spaces. By the end of the month, it touches the two named stars of Orion's shield, being of an extreme weakness; my occupations do not permit me to follow it any longer.

Mr Triboulot whom I saw two months ago was in perfect good health at the time ; Mr Fricaud, whose toupet is beginning to grow white, sends his respectful homage ; Mr Luquet is well, I have not seen him yet, but we write to each other sometimes and get on well; may the good God bless his efforts. In the last few days I received a visit from the old catechist of Tiroupattour, a man named Rayapen, former disciple of Mr Dubois. He asked me to present his respects to his former master. I do so with all the more pleasure since you will also add mine, I hope, to this little bouquet of good memories.

Would you kindly pay my respects to all the directors and other confreres of Paris. In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary and union of prayers and of sacrifices.

Your devoted confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. In applying for Korea, I felt it my duty to inform My Lord Bishop of my letter. His Lordship tells me that he wrote to you on this subject, I don't know in what terms. His letter will have perished along with mine.

Kindly pass on the enclosed letters to their addresses as soon as possible. That for Mr Verget with that for the Gentlemen of Carcassonne.

(Salem, 11 December 1843)

Sent_0094

Sent_0094 - à Mgr Bonnand - entre le 5 et le 10 février 1844 -/4

Sent 0094 - to Mgr Bonnand - between 5 and 10 February 1844 -1/4

Sent_0094 - à Mgr Bonnand - entre le 5 et le 10 février 1844 -/4

Sent 0094 Original, AMA 2F1A

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 637-644

"Souvenirs", pp 363-367

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He would like to direct the seminary, but not immediately. He would need to be as free in the seminary as a missionary is in his district and to be superior only in name. I am too young; I do not know the language of the country well enough for the pupils and all external relations. I know little about Indian customs. If I fail, it is the seminary that will suffer. Let me leave again for a certain time to Salem and appoint to the seminary the priest in charge of Pondicherry on a provisional basis. The good of the district of Salem is also at stake. But may God's will be done.

Index : seminary, native clergy, will of God, superior of the seminary

__________

Pondicherry, between 5 and 10 February 1844(

)

My Lord,

It is sometimes easier to explain things in writing than aloud. Accordingly would you kindly weigh up carefully the reasons that I am taking the liberty to explain to you here and submit them to your council, so that it can consider their validity.

First of all, My Lord, may I say that the difficulty that I have in taking on the post that Y. L. does me the honour of offering me is not inspired either by indifference for this fundamental establishment, nor by my refusal to contribute personally to the good that we may obtain from it. I would go further even, and venture to say that it is the desire of one day being employed usefully in the administration of the schools that makes me ask Y.L. not to entrust me with it yet. This desire which goes against my natural inclination for exercising the holy ministry is the fruit of the devotion that I have by now vowed to the cause of the native clergy, and it will be sustained, I hope, with the grace of God, by the wish of finding no longer a possibility which I was seeking thus far, but the best way of applying that possibility which has become certain for me.

Thus it is with joy, and with great joy, that I feel more and more gratified by the future position that Y.L. holds out for me; and yet the desire to contribute to this immense good makes it necessary for me not to expose myself to hindering it from the outset, not to make myself unfitted to carry out a role for which I feel an attraction that I am pleased to attribute to grace, and thus to oppose myself with all my strength to immediately taking into my hands the reins of the establishment.

It is the head of an establishment that makes the establishment. For whatever reason, if he is only head in name, or else if he does not do justice to his position, he will soon see the house he should be sustaining collapse. Now I have too much reason to fear that one and the other of these two faults should be applied to me not to tremble. I don't want to risk such big stakes.

I will not dwell again on the condition of trust that should surround a true superior. Y. L. could develop for these Gentlemen, better than I would be advised to express it in writing, my scruples in this connection. In fact they diminish the more Y.L. insists on giving me a post of trust, but it is necessary for me to say how far this should go as regards its consequences, without which I would only enter into this new career, as I admit quite frankly, with extreme reluctance which, alone, could spoil everything. And in order not to depart from our speciality, and give an example which is no different from what we have under our eyes, I will merely say that I must be as free and as much a master of my actions with regard to the seminary as any other missionary is in the administration of his district.

It will be seen, by comparison even, that I have absolutely no intention of not fulfilling the obligation weighing on every good priest, and on every good missionary, to come to an understanding with the authority on important matters, and even less of going against its clearly evinced intentions ; but just as one does not enter into details with the missionaries of the interior, allowing them to act as they see fit in almost all of their operations, important even, and being content with the account they render of it, etc., in this same way I desire to be master in the administration of the seminary, just as if the seminary was ten leagues away from here.

And it may be easily conceived that, in order to be equal in its numerical value, if I may put it this way, the trust which is due to the superior of a seminary thus envisaged should be far superior to that granted to an ordinary missionary in its relative value. One should not therefore be astonished if I fear that I have not deserved it in one and a half years.

And then, if this first condition, however essential, were met, I would still have some fears that I was not truly superior. Will not my inferiority as regards age to those to be employed in the same work constitute an obstacle? It is true that Mr Leroux seems well disposed, but is his character not such as to afford me some apprehensions? I do not yet know whether Father Lazare will be the third, which is why I have not been able to come to an understanding with him and sound out his sentiments in this regard.

Thirdly at last, it would be necessary for me to be in touch for study purposes with the foremost pupils in their classes. Can I be, without sufficiently knowing the language of the country?

And now I pass on by this last consideration to the second defect which is no less capital. Let us suppose that everything is smoothed out, that my superiority is not in name but in fact, can I hope to respond worthily to this quality all at once? Is not the defect of language one of the most dangerous obstacles, both in the domestic economy of the house, and in the external relations that I would be obliged to carry on with the parents both verbally and in writing? Who is not aware of the disastrous effects implied by this shortcoming? At times nothing more is required to excite at the very least schoolboy jokes, which discredit the superior and weaken his moral action.

To avoid this evil, would it be necessary not to appear in those circumstances where a superior should show himself? And these are the most solemn ones. But then, will this not give rise to another kind of more harmful contempt, followed by a defect of organisation and order? Secondly, the present state of things, both with regard to the Christians of Pondicherry, to the government, and to the missionaries, is such that even the cleverest will be embarrassed. What can I do then, I who know neither the children, nor the parents, nor their business, etc.? I see myself condemned either to allow myself to be led as it were by leading-reins, which will create a very bad impression, or else I expose myself to failure from the outset.

Perhaps you will say that, if I fail, I will be replaced by someone else and that thus I will be quits to offer to God with humility the humiliation which will be personal to me. I reply to this that I accept in advance, and with joy, everything personal there is in this failure ; but the harm done to the seminary will be the first thing to deplore, and I cannot be indifferent on that score. If I fail, the first attempt will be replaced by another one, followed by more and more attempts, that is to say the ruin of the establishment which has dragged on by dint of attempts and that fresh attempts may wipe out irremediably.

From there, I conclude that my entry into the seminary is a real gamble. Perhaps I will succeed, and perhaps not? And it is a gamble that is all the more hazardous since there are more chances of the second opinion than of the first. Once again, I don't want to play such big stakes,

And now let us come to the means which appear to me capable of conciliating everything. For you may say to me perhaps, Your Lordship, that while recognising the truth of the hazard that I have just established, you are obliged to accept it, for lack of a better alternative. I cannot presume to enter into the details of the general administration of the vicariate. I find it difficult to reconcile both the needs of the various districts, and the decisions of the synod, the character of our dear confreres etc. But finally, there are many combinations to be tried, and perhaps it may not be rash of me to indicate one of them which I find very reasonable and that Y.L. may not have considered.

You want me in the seminary ; I do not refuse to enter it. You want me at the head of the establishment; I do not refuse the responsibility. I only ask you to postpone it for a while. This waiting period will not be disastrous and it will serve well to reconcile interests, and will not shock any propriety. Say openly, if you see fit, that I am appointed superior. If the name is to be of good augury, the effect will be produced all the same; but say also that, since I was not expecting to be entrusted with this office, I had left certain business pending at Salem which I was obliged to go and wind up in person.

Meanwhile, I will take with me a man who knows both French and Malabar well. By offering a good wage, I don't doubt but that some such will be forthcoming. With him I will deal with the language; I will preach to the people so that they can tell me my defects, etc., and I will study my position, I will work out my means and my resources, in a word I will prepare myself. How can one do anything well without preparation? If this preparation cannot be as long or as perfect as I would desire, it will be absolutely sufficient.

But who should be put there meanwhile ? The synod has already decreed that there would be another priest entrusted exclusively with the Christian community of Pondicherry. This missionary, however clever, will also need, believe me, preparation for his new order of affairs. Since he will undoubtedly be one of the most experienced, he will know what I do not know. Could he not prepare himself for the functions of parish priest while, for my part, I am preparing to act as superior of the seminary? Where could he be better placed for that than in the seminary?

Since he would know why and how it is that he is there only for a short time, he would be in no way shocked at this provisional status. This would be his work that he would have carried out by a certain time, and that he would leave with as great joy as he accepted it; so that in this way instead of making it disastrous for the establishment, he would make it all the more profitable realising that the success of the seminary in fact depends on this provisional status.

It is said that Mr Lehodey is designated for this post. In that case, things could not be better, and I am doubly delighted with my proposal.

Meanwhile, things would be taking a certain turn, some kind of movement would have been imparted, and I would arrive there, once the impulsion is given, contenting myself with introducing thereafter, little by little, quietly and without shock, any improvements that are necessary. Thus, if in the operation of making this movement, some serious fault occurs, the superior is not involved; he remains intact with all of his strength, and the damage caused is much slighter, for the person who loses his authority was not expected to maintain it.

Finally, this course would have the advantage of letting things go on after the synod, in almost the same way as they did before, without any great haste, and without astonishment for the people. Even the Christians of Salem would gain greatly thereby. Mr Fricaud has informed Y.L. of the state of things in this last district. Whether he returns there or not, it would be important for these poor Christians to have me still in their midst for a short while. The good of a district, above all when this corresponds to the general good, I think should not be disdained.

If Mr Fricaud returns to Salem, my presence will suffice to stop the effect of the malicious gossips who will not fail to take advantage of this circumstance to push even further certain deplorable remarks they have already made, and Mr Fricaud will maintain the necessary authority to continue the good that he has already done in this part of India. If Mr Fricaud does not return, I will prepare the ways in which the busybodies embarrass his successor.

Would you be so kind, My Lord, as to submit these considerations to the Gentlemen of your Council, asking them to carefully consider them, being on their guard against the prejudices often implied by a decision once taken. And whatever happens, while declaring that my reluctance to immediately take on responsibility for the seminary is very great, I ask the Lord to permit me to be employed solely for his glory and according to his holy Will.

(M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

apostolic missionary)

(Pondicherry, between 5 and 10 February 1844)

Sent_0095

Sent_0095 - à M. Tesson - les 5 et 16 février 1844 -/5

Sent 0095 - to Mr Tesson - 5 and 16 February 1844 -3/5

Sent_0095 - à M. Tesson - les 5 et 16 février 1844 -/5

Sent 0095 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 693-698

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Some questions close to my heart. Mgr Charbonnaux will not be a great bishop and we need a great one at this time. We need three or four new vicariates. I see one man who would make a great bishop; we should let him grow old in India. Why not appoint an Indian bishop? Few would accept it. Mr Dupuis would make a good bishop. Dangers from the Jesuits in the south. The English are English for the English, the Jesuits are the same as they have always been. Salvation will come from us. We must multiply the vicariates and also obtain new ones. Let us leave the English to deal with the Europeans; let them leave us the natives. As soon as possible, let us give way to the people of the country. I am appointed superior of the seminary. Total poverty. All the reasons why he should not have been chosen.

Index : synod, bishop, vicariate, Jesuits, native clergy

__________

Pondicherry, 5 and 16 February 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

Although it is not so long ago that I had the pleasure of writing to you, I believe I should not return to my forest beyond the Cavery, without saying a word to you on the present state of things and without revealing to you the basis of my thought on quite a number of points : united in vows and action for the holy cause that we must serve in common, I know that you have the patience to listen to me and I would consider myself guilty of leaving my pen inert when it is a question of the interests of our holy Religion. Accordingly I am going to start the ball rolling on several subjects which appear to me to be particularly topical and to hold great interest for you and for me.

I would ask you to read what I say carefully, since despite the fact that I am obliged to write extremely fast, because time presses, I have reflected for a long time already on the thoughts that I am going to outline to you here, I will re-read my letter to correct any false expressions which may perhaps escape me. Please God that I do not depart for an instant from the most rigorous truth. May it please him to obtain some fruits from these words.

As you know, we entered the synod about the beginning of the month of January. I will say nothing to you of this synod, the story of which is however quite remarkable. First of all it is not yet ended and others will without doubt not fail to speak to you of it at length. Besides, I keep down to the slightest details of it in my diary which is at your service whenever you want. Suffice it for me to tell you that all our dear confreres are gathered here with the single exceptions of Mr Mathian and the Malabar priest Sima Sami(). So that I have had the pleasure and the time and means to get to know them and to appreciate them. It would perhaps not be indifferent to you if I were to give you a sketch of each of them which would renew the portrait that you have conceived of them, modified as it must be by the influence of India and by the sort of affairs to which they have been applied since you knew them. However I am reluctant to undertake this task because I cannot prove to myself that I need to, so I will limit myself to speaking to you of those we have a particular interest in considering.

I do not know if you remember a letter that I addressed to you from Tiroupattour nine or ten months ago. In it I took the liberty of expressing a few of my thoughts on some influential members of the mission; and I spoke to you with such an open heart that, after having put the letter in the post, I had some scruples about having spoken so clearly, fearing to have hazarded certain rash judgments or to have touched a chord that did not concern me. Today, I am delighted to have written to you and I hereby declare that I have nothing to retract.

Among other things, I said to you in that letter that I still did not know by sight Mr Charbonnaux, but that according to what I had heard said, I feared that he was not the man of the moment for the episcopate. Since that time, my fears have increased greatly. And how could I not be alarmed by these words that he not only pronounced, but that he wrote in his own hand: I will never lay my hands on a black man. Today after I have seen him and conversed with him, my fears are in part diminished because he truly seems to have modified his thought, he almost made excuses for them and one day when we held a long conversation on this fundamental question, we ended up by parting almost in agreement. Nonetheless it remains true that he is a meticulous soul, although at first sight he appears strong and vigorous; he will not resist the unforeseen movement of those surrounding him, and other prejudices that it will be very difficult for him to throw aside. He will not be a great bishop and we need a great one at this moment.

If we had the fortune of seeing the apostolic vicariate divided into four or five vicariates and if we could moreover form some further vicariates in the north of India, oh then I would no longer be troubled : give us bishops like our very respectable and virtuous bishop of Drusipare, like the excellent Mr Charbonnaux and the seraphic Mr Lehodey, all men of God in whom the lofty virtue which constitutes the finest ornament of the priest seems to require the complement of the priesthood. The Lord knows how much I would rejoice in that. But that among these bishops there should be one who emerges by his genius and who is capable of bearing the blows threatening us on all sides, is a condition of life or death for us and perhaps for Christianity in India.

Finally, with things at the point they are today, will Mr Charbonnaux be bishop? It is still a mystery. He has written to Rome. He appears not to care about the mitre and I do not think that His Lordship presses him much; for although he lets nothing transpire on the exterior, I would be astonished if he were very satisfied with this choice. If Mr Charbonnaux is not coadjutor, who will be? I believe it is very important for me to tell you my thought, and you can take your precautions to see whether it is right or wrong.

Among our dear confreres of the mission (since it appears that the mamoul() in our company is not to look for bishops anywhere else than in the respective missions) there are those that it would be very unfortunate, in the present circumstances, to see elevated to the episcopate ; there are others of them whose elevation would appear a matter of indifference, if there can be indifference on such a delicate point so fecund in consequences ; then there are others again that we would be overjoyed to see grow in stature. These last are rare ; and my eyes, when I seek out a man, stop with complacency on a beloved head that you know well, I don't need to name him. But I cherish little hope ; it would have to be a miracle ; the time has not yet come ; he will have to grow a little older in India.

After him, I wonder what drawback there would be to put the big coulla () on a head burned by the sun of his country ; when one is such an accomplished man as he who was once your pupil. Once more, the time for all this has not yet come. Whatever progress has been made by the ideas of the native clergy, at this proposition almost all would draw back horrified, except for Father Olagne who says very softly, and only to those who can understand him, that no more favourable occasion could exist. But why delude oneself with a hope which cannot be satisfied for a long time ?

Since we have to search for a bishop from among the whites and the elders, I see Mr Dupuis alone who gives us any real chances of success. To such a point that, except for him, I would just as soon see or even prefer Mr Charbonnaux as bishop rather than any other. The more I study Mr Dupuis, the more astonished I am at the soundness of his reasoning and the honesty of his views. Now that is what we need above all and before everything else here: a man who sees things as they are. Give us a man, and we will hope.

But at the forefront of those whose elevation would be a misfortune for India, I will not hesitate to name Mr Lehodey. At the present time (for it is always in this hypothesis that I speak, be so kind as not to forget it), such misfortune would be all the greater since this confrere is not generally loved, although everyone esteems his virtue; and I admit that the limitless trust that His Lordship evinces in him and even the friendship that he has for him make me quite fearful on this point. Enough said on that point.

And now for something more serious, forgive me my lengthiness. You follow carefully the religious movement in India. You see a something which cannot be clearly defined, but which is smouldering under the ashes; things cannot remain as they now are for long. Take good care, for this movement may be for the salvation or else for the ruin of India. Our vocation, it seems to me at this moment, is more necessary than ever; if our Society did not exist, it seems to me that we would have to invent it and lodge it in India; and yet we run the risk of seeing it suffocated quite soon; if we who are advanced sentinels do not sound the alarm; if you who are at the head of our interests sleep on our hopes and on a dangerous confidence. For first of all it is the Jesuits who threaten us in the South, and believe me, we should fear them and fear them greatly.

The English apostolic vicariates spread out and are strengthened, for in fact the government no longer conceals its thought, it is reluctant to see foreign bishops on its soil. I have said this many times, and I repeat it: Please God that others cleverer than we were here to do what we cannot do and we will go elsewhere to pitch our tent, there where there is still not a single Christian. But I do not believe I am moved by the esprit de corps when I give the opinion that it is from us above all that the Church must expect the conversion of the infidel peoples, and when I see almost all the other bodies follow a very different course from that which would be necessary in order to achieve this end.

The English bishops are English for the English, and that is all ; not only do they do almost nothing for the Malabars, but it appears clear to me, by their acts, that they do not even know the religious genius of this people whom besides they only know in the stations of Madras and of Calcutta, without understanding one word of their language. And the bishop of Madras not so very long ago spoke a word unfortunately provoked by the imprudence of the admissions of one of our young confreres, but anyway it is a word which deserves to be wept over with tears of blood. The Jesuits are Jesuits as they have always been. It is from us that salvation must come. Let us not forget that we will be answerable to God for this.

Now if we do not take an imposing attitude, believe me, we will not resist for very long and I will weep over the lot of India. What should be done then? 1) numerous apostolic vicariates: 2) two centres of action. We see, in our own mission, apostolic vicariates which have not more than three to five thousand Christians. Now the district of Salem alone counts thirty thousand of them, etc. Why not immediately make as many apostolic vicariates? You will perhaps tell me that, if I am embarrassed to find one bishop, I shall be much more so to find ten. Far from it, for I do not deny that a large number of my confreres possess the apostolic virtues worthy of the episcopate, only I do not see who at the present time would meet the conditions desirable in a bishop of India.

If there were several of them on the contrary, the hope of seeing elevated the man from whom salvation in India will come would be greater, and it only requires one man of calibre. The others would merely increase tenfold our power without needing to show themselves in full daylight.

This alone would still not satisfy me. I would like us to work to achieve new apostolic vicariates in such a way that they would be detached from the former and would form two very distinct points where our action would be carried out in the same moral sense, but with a force all the more powerful since in this way we would be encompassing the whole of India instead of focusing on a single point and being as it were an exception in India.

But already the government is making a grimace, what would it do then ? We must prevent the impediments that it would not fail to cause for us, by first of all negotiating the question with it. We must make it understand our institution, and begin by preparing, ourselves, to carry it our well. If it saw clearly that we are what we are intended to be, and if for our part we did only that for which we are created, I believe that no government would fear us. We should leave to them all the military posts and, even better, everything regarding the Europeans which would fall within the competence of European and national bishops, while they should leave to us everything to do with the natives, since the latter are no more suited to be governed by French, English or Portuguese bishops than the Europeans are suited to be spiritually ruled by native bishops.

There are two peoples in the same country, so two clergies quite different from each other are needed. We, missionaries of the Foreign Missions, we would go native, and completely native, working to establish a native hierarchy that we would form as soon as possible, and may this possible not be moved back by one century, for certain places, if the man that I am awaiting for India finally came down from Heaven.

When they would see that our words are no longer vain, that we are not setting ourselves up in their parts, but that we merely seek to introduce Christianity on natural and visible bases, when they see that we no longer make of missions any form of property, that we are only here temporarily, but that we are not by any means French priests, but Indian priests in India, Chinese in China, and only until such time as someone else can be put in our place, I believe that they would not have such a horror of us. And our work would advance all the faster if we were rid of those posts that flatter the missionary placed in them, diverting vocations, to the point that from the missionary that he was on leaving the Seminary of Paris, he becomes a parish priest or a chaplain of European regiments above all, but not Indian for anything in the world.

In this way a man who would understand our position well and who would combine a saintly activity with a prudence out of the ordinary should become the active mediator between our apostolic vicars, the government and the Holy See. The affair is worthwhile and I am not talking to you in the air, believe me. Delay may put us two inches away from our doom. Negligence appears to me to be the vanguard of our ruin and of a great misfortune for our Religion. Please God that we prevent its disastrous accomplishment. May this man turn to good account all there is of strength in our institutions, of hope and of future in their application, of happiness to be awaited, both for the Church and for the government whose cause essentially we serve, whatever they may be. And these governments will see the disappearance of the too natural umbrage produced in them by the spirit of nationality.

This man would have to be a politician and a theologian, but above all a missionary of the Foreign Missions. They say that Mr Dubois sees our future in very sombre colours. I am far from sharing this view, on the contrary I see him full of hope and of future consolations, but take care my friend, this is all on the condition that we are prepared to respond better than ever to our vocation and to work with courage.

I will stop here, though I still have a great deal to tell you, but our retreat is beginning tomorrow and I don't have one minute more. After the retreat I will finish the page if it is possible. I have just received a very bad piece of news. A Dieu. In eight days' time.

Pondicherry, 16 February 1844

This bad news has in fact come about. I have just been put at the head of the seminary. I who know practically no Malabar, I who at times think with an imprudent liberty and do not please everybody. At a time when a few confreres had the desire to take on this burden, when there is a miserable difficulty aroused by the rumours that have gone about that we were proposing to take pagans, I who do not know the pagans and not very much the Pondicherrian mind, at a time when the government will very probably oppose our work and perhaps even put a stop to it with a fresh order which places us under the yoke of some Commission of Inquiry, and which it seems quite prepared to have enforced point by point, I who am not even a bachelor of arts, etc. etc. In vain I brought all of these reasons to bear, out loud and in writing. I had to yield, and so here I am in the seminary with over 70 pupils, between boarders and day boys, without books, without dictionaries, without any means of success except the grace of God. We do not even have premises. The pupils are obliged to eat under the varanyio(

). See if I am happy.

I do not know how the storms which are preparing will end. The synod has voted to put the seminary far from Pondicherry if difficulties should continue to increase, which prevents us from enlarging a little as is becoming urgent.

Pray to the good God that he will give me the virtues necessary for a difficult position that is tiresome in the extreme. Moreover, you know the mean administration which directs us and the reality of few resources that the Bursar's office has for this work, so that I cannot see how we will be able to get hold of the things which would be of essential expediency.

I don't dare to ask for anything immediately. But if you could send something or at least prepare in advance so as to be able to send it as soon as I have made you out the legalised request, you would do me a great service. The first thing we would need will be books, some instruments, globes, models for drawing and writing, initialled paper for laying out certain models of writing, etc. etc. I've had enough, and I don't have a single minute more. Excuse me if I end there. My respects to all our confreres.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. Don't forget my request for 3 (miseries?) for spring.

(Pondicherry, 5 and 16 February 1844)

Sent_0096

Sent_0096 - à M. Luquet - le 22 février 1844 -/1

Sent 0096 - to Mr Luquet - 22 February 1844 -1/2

Sent_0096 - à M. Luquet - le 22 février 1844 -/1

Sent 0096 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 291ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

I am far from being superior¸ we are too close to the church. Will I have the strength to stay on? When I am calm, I say yes, even if I am tempted to leave.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, superior of the seminary

__________

Pondicherry, 22 February 1844

Before leaving Mr Triboulot handed me a letter to be passed on to you. I don't have a moment for putting pen to paper. Mr Roger left this morning with tears in his eyes. Yesterday evening he came in to make his children's beds. He played mamma right up to the end. I admire him more than I blame him, I assure you. If there is something curious in the form, it is that the man is always there, and the heart is bigger than ten missionaries' hearts in the case of Mr Roger.

I cannot say even how our seminary will go ; it could go perfectly, and this appears to me unquestionable; it will drag on still, this is what I have good reason to think, etc. As for me personally, I cannot be content. First of all I am far from being superior, it is very much as it was at the time of Mr Leroux, and I very much fear that it will be like that until we are far from the church. Will I have the patience to suffer until then, that's what the devil who pushes very powerfully does not leave me the liberty of hoping?

No, I believe that I will not have the strength to remain in the condition of a machine, more or less well considered, it is true, but which nevertheless remains a machine. Would it not be better to leave the game before things go any further? This is not what I think when I am calm, but what I am tempted to do a thousand times a day.

A Dieu.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. My respects to Mr Jarrige.

(Pondicherry, 22 February 1844)

Sent_0097

Sent_0097 - à M. Luquet - le 3 mars 1844 -/1

Sent 0097 - to Mr Luquet - 3 March 1844 -1/1

Sent_0097 - à M. Luquet - le 3 mars 1844 -/1

Sent 0097Luquet Fund (Langres) 260

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

My soul fares not too well, the seminary...

Index : seminary

__________

Pondicherry, 3 March 1844

My dear friend,

I don't have time to write you more than two words. My body is well, but my soul less so; the seminary is not going too badly, it may even come to go very well, with the possibility of dragging on as heretofore.

We still have Father Arlanda here. When!!!...

Completely yours,

Mr de Brésillac

(Pondicherry, 3 March 1844)

Sent_0098

Sent_0098 - à M. Luquet - le 7 mars 1844 -/1

Sent 0098 - to Mr Luquet - 7 March 1844 -1/1

Sent_0098 - à M. Luquet - le 7 mars 1844 -/1

Sent 0098 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, p 295

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

To send him back a letter that he had returned, Write to me.

Index : friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 7 March 1844

My dear friend,

The other day, when sending you the papers that you had asked for, I forgot to put into the packet the letter that you had sent me lately.

I am taking advantage of an occasion indicated by Mr Lehodey.

We no longer hear anything of you. Is it that, by taking a vow not to speak any more, you have also promised to give up writing?

A Dieu.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 7 March 1844)

Sent_0099

Sent_0099 - à M. Tesson - mars 1844 -/3

Sent 0099 - to Mr Tesson - March 1844 -1/3

Sent_0099 - à M. Tesson - mars 1844 -/3

Sent 0099 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 529-532

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

How pressure was brought to bear on Mgr Bonnand for him to be entrusted with the seminary. He speaks of his letter to Mgr Bonnand refusing the post (0094). Everything is lacking except children, and the bursar's office keeps its purse closed. As long as I believe that God wants me there, I will stay on. In order to do something, I must be master of the house. If that does not work, people should not say that it is impossible, but it is because I haven't been given the means of succeeding. A great deal of work. We lack good books. We need a library.

Index : will of God, superior, seminary, fidelity

__________

Pondicherry, March 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

I told you last month, hastily, that I had been entrusted with the seminary. I explained to you my dismay on this point, my reluctance, and my fears. It is in order to speak to you once more of all these things that I am taking up my pen today, as usual in haste, for I am overwhelmed with work.

And how could I have undertaken with pleasure an establishment that lacks every means of success, knowing the administration of Pondicherry !!! Thus I entreated His Lordship to kindly exempt me from this responsibility. The reasons I alleged must, I believe, have made quite an impression on His Lordship who, I think, has no more confidence in me than he should have. But it appears that they were embarrassed and now maintain the proposition strongly. Mr Luquet who then seemed inspired (now I think he is a little less so) held out strongly for that; Mr Lehodey feared that my refusal would oblige him to take over the college provisionally, etc. etc. In short, they insisted so much that I didn't see how I could decently refuse.

However, I wrote out a list of the reasons which led me to refuse, and of the conditions without which, in any case, I was not prepared to accept the post of superior of the establishment. The reasons were rejected and the conditions accepted. Now some of them were the following: I will be superior in fact and not merely in name, as free in the administration of the seminary as the missionaries are free in that of their districts, the seminary should be considered as if it were ten leagues away from Pondicherry, etc. From the little you know of the history of the past, you will understand the reasons for all of these requirements. All of this is granted. Could I refuse for the fear that I still had that these promises were merely illusory? I did not think so, and so here I am installed as superior of the seminary with two priests for collaborators, and when the parents and children see that there is a real possibility of someone taking an interest in them, they arrive in crowds; in fact they number 89 at this moment.

First of all, my fears have not failed to materialise. This throng of children, in a house that is not a house, calls for many changes which had to be obtained by dint of entreaties, and of discussions, things that I cannot suffer; we need books and we don't have any; we need masters and we have only a few, we need money and the bursar's office keeps its purse-strings tight. So that I am superior in name, but it doesn't go much further.

I don't need to tell you that more than twenty times I was tempted to throw in my hand, and to beg His Lordship to let me return to my dear beasts of Salem, however I restrained myself and thank God for that, for my retreat at this time might very well destroy the good effect of the first impression, and God help me from thwarting his work by my private inconveniences. Although my conditions have not been maintained, I will stay on for as long as I believe myself to be in God's order in the post I am occupying. Only I do not think that it can be for much longer if things do not change face; I believe even that it would be harmful, for we will soon see the subsiding of that élan which arose all of a sudden, unless our house meets the general expectation, which to my mind is impossible, if the superior is not master of the house. I didn't ask to be there, I am not asking to stay there, I even ask to be removed from there, if people don't have sufficient confidence in me; but I cannot consent to stay there for long and I will withdraw, if I cannot be master as is only fitting.

However, my dear Mr Tesson, let people not try to tell us that there is nothing to be done with the Malabars ; I would like to see you here for a week, and for you to go into our classes, you would see how they explain that it can be done and yet we had believed that it could not be done. You would see here three or four pupils who have been dragging along for years now and who would have a hard time to explain the epitome historiae sacrae, and yet they are not unprovided with talent, one above all has more than the usual share in mortals. Last year, Mr Leroux, whose humility goes to prove that his devotion to the cause of education came from God alone, managed by dint of efforts to get a semi-reform adopted eight months ago, he was then permitted to deal a little with the seminary. Besides this, Mr Roger took care of the children that he pushed out of the rut of the mamoul() and entrusted to us after the synod (not without trouble unfortunately, and not without regret that they were not put in the seminary as he hoped, let us pray the good God to give him the strength to bear this trial which would appear extreme, given his character), and yet these young people have no difficulty in translating Phaedra and Cicero ; they speak French so well that I take the class, I who do not know four words of Tamoul ; I teach them arithmetic in French without it being necessary for me to repeat a word, etc. Meanwhile vocations to the ecclesiastical calling seem to be numerous.

And this is how things are now, my dear Mr Tesson, and meanwhile no house, no books, no money and no superior.

If you are anxious for your house to prosper, and I see this as depending on the seminary to a large extent, use all of your influence to procure for this establishment a superior, books, money, rooms and courtyards for recreation, without which before long you will witness the collapse of all of this scaffolding and people will still say impossible, whereas it all collapsed for lack of support.

A Dieu. Forgive me for leaving you, for quite apart from all the details which embarrass every moment of the superior, in a house containing over 100 persons, and where everything is new, a class of logic, another of Latin, and a third of arithmetic, without counting confessions and a catechism, leave me without a free moment. Give me what is necessary, and I will guarantee to form a college of Malabars as brilliant as any distinguished college of France, and we will see native priests coming out of it who know how to do other things than reading their breviary.

Despite some difficulties that I may have to put up with, I think I will stay here for at least one year, for I don't see how it is possible to withdraw earlier without doing harm. But after that, God alone knows what will happen. Let us pray that he makes things turn for his glory alone.

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. We have had the grief of seeing Mgr de Bide and Mr Journet return to France. This causes me all the more sorrow since these are still two of my fellowcountrymen who misfire. This is not going to re-establish the reputation of the bad Carcassonnian heads, for sure!!! Pray the Lord that he gives me the grace of not being from Carcassonne, but of remaining faithful to the end by keeping the love that he gave me for the Missions and which I would not give up for all the gold in the world.

One of our most pressing needs, not only for the college, but for the Christians, and the further we go the more this need will make itself felt, is to have good books for people to read. Almost all the classier Malabars can read or learn to read French, and to satisfy their avidity or their curiosity, they only have the royal library filled with bad books or the private libraries which are even worse. Accordingly we need a library where we could bring together a large number of books on religion, history and literature that we could even loan out. And where could this library be better placed than in the seminary? But how would it be possible to achieve this goal ? How many people might perhaps be pleased to give you each of them one work if only they knew of this project ! For we only want French or Latin books. See what you can do, invent, imagine, propose, but we must have a library.

(Pondicherry, March 1844)

Sent_0100

Sent_0100 - à M. Luquet - le 15 mars 1844 -/2

Sent 0100 - to Mr Luquet - 15 March 1844 -1/2

Sent_0100 - à M. Luquet - le 15 mars 1844 -/1

Sent 0100 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 299ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Some ironic remarks on the habit of leaving the native priests on one side. Attitude of Mr Roger who is more a mother than a father for the children he has sent to Pondicherry. A word on the qualities of these children. Let us become native with the natives, otherwise it'll be the end of the missions. In India, there should be two separate administrations, one European and the other native. The seminary is not going too badly. Money is needed.

Index : thoughts on the missions, seminary, local clergy, will of God

__________

(Pondicherry) 15 March 1844

And now it seems that Mr Jarrige is no longer content with letting the tip of his ear grow! He's begun to explain himself, all the better, we'll know what to expect now. We have to ensure that the very reasonable and essential rights of the native priests are recognised. That would be a prelude to the establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in India.

Here it's always the same thing on this point. Father Arlanda has finally come out of the seminary ; he has been placed in the big room of the pharmacy, with considerable difficulty, because really it was too much for a native priest. For a native priest, the little room occupied by Father Jarrige during the synod was more than enough. Luckily for him Father Arlanda felt strong, and he made the most of his position. Perhaps he even went too far, although I would find his behaviour quite reasonable if he were not a native priest.

In short, he has obtained his little castle ; and now walks up and down in it ; only although he works beside us, and with no confrere to hand, he is not allowed to take his recreation with us. As if we were afraid that he might hear what we say; for clearly one cannot say everything in the presence of a native priest. We prefer him to be nettled with us, thus entitling him to be suspicious of the words we hide from him, instead of encouraging him to identify himself with us, by trying to identify ourselves with him.

It is true that Mr Roger is angry, indeed to such a point that he is furious about the whole matter, and I fear greatly for him if the grace of the good God does not put some calm into his mind. I think the way his children are treated is merely a pretext. The true cause is his excessive attachment to them, and his apparent desire to be in the seminary. This last cause however depends on the first, perhaps, so much is he a father, but with a mother's heart that spoils everything. This is the direct conclusion of the letters that he writes at every moment to his children and which alone would be sufficient to destroy the most solid vocations.

Thus I am filled with fear in this regard, so close are the extremes. The position of his children is too natural for there to be the slightest reason for anger. But Mr Roger has become blind. Divianaden gives his course of logics and helps us by taking the small children's class. Seemingly it is on his account that there would be most to say, for it is true that if we were organised differently, he would be capable of doing other studies and making better progress; however it is not so much on his account as on that of the two others that our dear confrere is spitting fire and flames.

He would have liked to have these in philosophy, but really is there any sense in that ? They haven't done even one year's Latin, and they don't know that language. It is true that they are very resourceful, Aroulnaden especially, but however talented, can one learn Latin in one year? Letting them leave their ordinary studies so soon would have been doing them the worst possible service. So I resolved, when I saw this, to teach them myself, in order not to leave them with Mr Leroux so as not to shock Mr Roger, and I brought in with them the brightest in the seminary, thus forming a class of 7 really interesting pupils. At the end of the year, I do not know who will do best. Mr Roger's children know no grammar and so were beaten by the others in composition. I believe that Aroulnaden will soon be top of his class in everything, and the second in the middle, at the most; except, what is far more important, in virtue, which will perhaps see him come first in the seminary.

In short, these are three charming children who themselves do not seem at all annoyed at their position, and who would become perfect if Father Roger encouraged them in the saintly path they have to follow. Just recently they have written a perfect letter to Father Roger, too perfect even, for I fear that the latter will not believe that they wrote it without my help. I chose even not to change this too perfect, so that I could say that I didn't put a word of mine into it.

Pray for these poor children and for our dear confrere.

I don't know what to think of our neighbours in the South. Please God discussions never arise between them and us, the good would lose in any case and we would not gain the upper hand, above all if we remain in our present state.

The British domination seems to me more to be feared at the moment. There is no longer any pretence. Undoubtedly you will have read the notice awarding Mr Jarrige 50 rupees a month, in which the desire is expressed to see English citizens occupy such a post. I do not think that, by confirming our outlook as Frenchmen we can parry the blows threatening us on that side. How I would prefer to see us become native, and completely native. If we take over the whites, and should have the misfortune to see a bishop at Pondicherry like those at present in Madras and Calcutta, it will be the end for the missions, and above all for the conversion of the heathen.

The further I go, the more my opinion is confirmed that there should be two separate administrations in India, one all European and the other all native. European posts, higher sees, may be set up if desired, providing the principle is not exclusive; and they may be given some sort of surveillance, necessary from the outset, over the sees in the interior. Oh! I am very quickly with you. But I still do not see that in the present state of things H.L. of Drusipare should be bishop of the white town and of its mission.

Our seminary is doing quite well relatively speaking. It could work perfectly very soon, if there were a superior and some pecuniary resources; the second thing would perhaps be less difficult to obtain that the first; thus nothing would astonish me less than to see this scaffolding, which is not sustained by the base, fall into pieces. At the moment there are 89 pupils, 23 of whom are boarders, divided into 6 or 7 classes for Latin, and into four classes for French. There is urgent need of a master for English and another for Tamoul. I do not dare ask for them. I would wish with all my heart to draw up and circulate a prospectus. I have begun to speak of this adopting your system, so as to accustom people to the thought. Say something about it to His Lordship, letting him know that I have spoken to you about it. Some small repairs are being done to the house that I do not approve of.

A Dieu, pray for me. I often wonder whether it would not be more worthwhile to withdraw than to stay here. Pray that I desire God's will alone. Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 15 March 1844)

Sent_0101

Sent_0101 - à M. Luquet - le 26 mars 1844 /2

Sent 0101 - to Mr Luquet - 26 March 1844 2/2

Sent_0101 - à M. Luquet - le 26 mars 1844 1/1

Sent 0101 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 307ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

The seminary is going pretty well. I am for the double ecclesiastical administration in India (white and black), but the MEP should be considered as native. I would like to go to Rome to defend this idea. Father Lazare. You have lost your influence with Mgr Bonnand. At Paris they don't trust me.

As a PS : Look out for the Jesuits ; may they be given India to convert, and we be left there for making priests and bishops.

Index : native clergy, ecclesiastical administration (double), Jesuits, thoughts on the Missions, role of the MEP

__________

Pondicherry, 26 March 1844

Your little errand-boy handed over to me in good order your letter of 19th. The one for Mr Charbonnaux left, I think, the day after. I have not received any news of Mr Roger. I hope that grace will bring about what nature was not able to, let us pray for him.

The seminary is gradually getting going. I do not know it if would be better if it were elsewhere than at Pondicherry. But what would really be needed is for it to be absolutely separated from the administration of the mother house, which it is not. Pray hard for this poor establishment which promises so well if it is well directed and which risks being very poorly so. I am very pleased to see that you conceive of the need for a double ecclesiastical administration in India. I seems to me that the country's conversion and the establishment of veritable local churches depend on this distinction.

But do not believe that I want two bishops in Pondicherry. I would want one only and I would want him French; but I do not want us to be entrusted with it. Our congregation, in order to have the right to be everywhere, and to bring about the immense good that it seems to me called on to produce, should, I think, maintain itself in the purity of its foreign mission. If it remains French, the English will no longer want to have anything to do with us, the natives will distrust our bishops, they will continue to consider them as dominators, and our missionaries will never fraternise with black men whom, in their capacity of Frenchmen, they always believe they are entitled to consider as beneath themselves.

Our bishops and our missionaries must be Chinese in China and Indians in India. And if it is wished to give the bishops whether European or native (and we should be counted among the latter), a local jurisdiction, then a French or Portuguese or English bishop should be put where the Europeans dominate either numerically or morally, and they should be indirectly entrusted with the Blacks who are on their territory and whom they will lead to salvation as they see fit; while native bishops should be established where the Europeans are merely a feeble accessory of the population. If a personal jurisdiction were given to these different bishops, I would consider that solution better, but more difficult to achieve.

However that may be, our congregation is going to lose all of its influence if we remain much longer where we are now. The bishops of Madras and Calcutta get things moving and impose change by the brilliance of their undoubtedly very fine works, but quite European and consequently highly defective for the mass of the peoples entrusted to them, and such as will never be found either in London or in Rome. Also, I don't know if it is the result of impatience or if we should follow up on this thought, but I often feel tempted to write to Rome to ask for permission to carry out the vow of going to that city in order to convey our views on the good to be brought about in India. Giving Rome, and myself, as guarantee of my good intention, an absolute abandonment to divine Providence, in a journey on foot, laying all human prudence on one side.

Father Lazare lacks an open spirit, he does not communicate freely with us. I think that this is the result of the state of subjection in which the native priests are accustomed to see themselves kept which prevents him like the others from fraternising. It is unfortunate. If he had a European friend whom he could trust, and if together with him he could work on improving his priestly virtues, I believe it would not take much for him to arrive at a desirable point for the achievement of your designs. I do not know what can be done as regards Karikal. There is no opening towards me in His Lordship's cabinet and, let it be said in passing, it would appear that you yourself have lost some of that influence that Our Lord seemed to have given you over His Lordship's mind. It appears that your last words to the synod very much shocked everyone. Which confirms in my eyes the great extent of the ill and the need for a powerful remedy.

I would have felt uncertain what to say to you about Mr Christôme's letter. It appeared to me to correspond perfectly to our view, leaving too indeterminate the manner of the publications which seems to us so necessary for everybody ; only I think it goes too fast on the question of a religious body to be adopted. May the good God enlighten us on this point as on many others.

I did not think that you wanted at once the letter for Saint Nicholas ; if you really do want it immediately, tell me in what sense, how and why. Gnanadicam has given me a relic of the true cross, I will pass it over to you at the earliest opportunity.

No letters from France. It would appear that the cabinet of Paris distrusts me just as much, and even more than that of Pondicherry. Although on the one hand I am quite indifferent to all of that, on the other at times it gives me pain, for it seems to me that we need men's trust in order to work fruitfully in God's cause. Besides, if the good God does not want me for his cause, I would not wish to do it without his will.

A Dieu. Pray for me.

It is said that you are going to separate from Father Jarrige, Is it true ? Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest

apostolic missionary

P.S. I have just heard that Father Bertrand has made a remark : that they suffer us in their missions, but as soon as the time has come, they hope to revert to all their rights, and that at that point just a few missionaries will be quite sufficient at Pondicherry, etc., that the Pope should re-integrate them in their former missions, etc. That is only the sense of what he is believed to have said.

Perhaps he is made to say more than he actually thinks himself. All the same this proves one thing, and that is that the fairly well known character of the Jesuits makes people other than us suspect what will happen one day if we do not take steps to forestall them in their project.

And, good God ! thus give them the whole of India to convert, but leaving us there for creating priests and bishops!

(Pondicherry, 26 March 1844)

Sent_0102

Sent_0102 - à M. Luquet - le 4 avril 1844 -/1

Sent 0102 - to Mr Luquet - 4 April 1844 -1/1

Sent_0102 - à M. Luquet - le 4 avril 1844 -1/1

Sent 0102 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 303ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Failure to take the right measures to procure a numerous clergy for India. The Goa schism risks developing. For everything concerning the attitude of the Church in India, it is necessary to have a common way of doing things and in harmony with Rome. A man of action is needed for taking the initiative of this action.

Index : schism of Goa, Indian customs, native clergy, Rome (authority)

__________

(Pondicherry), 4 April 1844, Easter Thursday

My dear friend,

A bad headache prevents me from writing to you at greater length. Some time ago I received your letter of the Saturday of the fourth week, but you should have received one from me since then. I have told your little Alfred to come and see me every day, but he hasn't turned up yet.

I think that we are still far from taking measures for procuring a numerous and integral clergy, if I can call it thus, and nuanced with all the nuances of the Indian population, something which is however possible as from today. I have received a letter from Mr Richon who confirms me at this very instant in this truth. I do not know what people think, and even less what they propose to do regarding Karikal.

It appears that the affairs of the schism are taking a very sad turn. Each day brings new proofs of the bad intentions of the archbishop and of the courage that the priests of this unfortunate party are regaining. I admit that I am frightened for India's salvation. Now that the schismatics will have a bishop, and a bishop who, far from disavowing the Pope, bases himself on his authority, how can the ignorant people be expected to distinguish the truth in the almost identical messages of the two contrary parties? It seems to me that on this occasion other measures should be taken than merely groaning in secret about the misfortunes to come. Disorderly activity has lost many causes, but I believe that nonchalance, laxity and inaction have lost religion in India, have halted its progress, etc.

How sad I am when I see that at Pondicherry they seem unable to decide if such or such a mark is superstitious or not. And, in this doubt, they vigorously demand the enforcement of the bull (and really, I do not know exactly how one could do otherwise so long as no fresh agreement is reached with Rome), while those who are under the blows of these terrible decisions know that under certain circumstances the pouttou(), even red in the north, is allowed, that people close their eyes to the sandal pouttou,+ etc. etc. O, when will the good God give us a man of action, of vast intelligence, and a heart whose integrity matches his intentions.

A Dieu.

Completely yours in the sacred wounds of our divine master crucified also for the poor Indians !!!

Mr de Brésillac priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 4 April 1844, Easter Thursday)

Sent_0103

Sent_0103 - à M. Luquet - le 6 avril 1844 -/1

Sent 0103 - to Mr Luquet - 6 April 1844 -/1

Sent_0103 - à M. Luquet - le 6 avril 1844 -/1

Sent 0103 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 313ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

How to find an opportunity for meeting in order to say things to each other that it is not always advisable to write.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, exchange of ideas

__________

Pondicherry 6 April 1844

My dear friend,

When I recently answered your letter, I forgot, I think, to answer you on the question of whether we could not go one day to Manjacoupam with our day-boys. If I was master of my actions, nothing would be simpler, all the more since I propose to give them a special holiday some time during Easter week, and that I would be quite embarrassed to find some point of interest for this little festivity. An excursion to Manjacoupam would fit the bill perfectly! but I fear that, if I do this without saying anything about it, people will find it very strange! If I ask to do so, they will, I think, find it strange also, so that I think it might be better to give up the idea. However I would very much like to find a day when I can see you since I have various things to say to you. Could we not arrange the affair in such a way that we can say to each other what it is not always advisable to write!

If you approve the following project, it would seem feasible to me. Next Wednesday, I will give the special holiday mentioned and the place we would celebrate it would be Ariancoupam. There, we would go to spend the whole day. Without saying anything to anyone, I would order a palanquin which would take me to you and in the evening I would return here as if nothing had happened. Or else if you go yourself to Ariancoupam, the joy would be even greater and perhaps the thing would appear more natural. See what you think and write back immediately.

I have heard nothing new. The ceremonies of the Passion are very curious to see, but I believe they are not very fruitful in terms of conversions, although of course I approve of them.

Mr Roger goes from bad to worse. He suffers from the delirium of a cruel disease of the heart, he can no longer reason. Pray for him.

Completely your in the pure joys of the holy Hallelujah.

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry, 6 April 1844)

Sent_0104

Sent_0104 - à M. Luquet - le 13 avril 1844 -/2

Sent 0104 - to Mr Luquet - 13 April 1844 -2/2

Sent_0104 - à M. Luquet - le 13 avril 1844 -1/1

Sent 0104 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 317ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

We should try and win Mgr Bonnand over to our views. How? I really want to do something for the Church, but I am not sufficiently mortified. I take life as it comes. Perhaps my life style is an obstacle to the success of our plans?

Index : mortifications, merits, vows, resolutions, native clergy

__________

Pondicherry, 13 April 1844

My dear friend,

My orders have not been difficult to keep, since no-one has asked me any details of your private life. But I learned today that you had been called, or that you will soon be called to come and spend a few days here as well as Father Jarrige. It appears that His Lordship is going to consult us on certain grave questions, which will give us the pleasure of seeing you earlier than I was expecting. Consider please the opportunity or the importunity of trying to get His Lordship himself to enter into our projects. The affair is a difficult and delicate one, but the more we give it a character of regularity, the more chances of success we will have, and the more also we will be able to testify that we are in the way of God.

It seems to me that the idea that we have come up with, wisely matured, skilfully prepared, and piously carried through could be fruitful in terms of salvation and could give us the hope of doing something for our good Master's Church. This is a sort of ambition that dominates me, I don't know if there is something human and misplaced about it, but truly I feel a veritable envy for those who have the fortune to do great things for God, without however wishing to disregard their good works, but desirous of doing like them.

However, what makes me fearful of never succeeding, is the little love I have for mortifications and crosses, above all in little things, that is to say in those things that, coming at every moment of the day and of life, make a mass of great merits which elevate the great saints. If I was mortified like you, I would have more hope, but I do not hope to acquire this happy life of continual abnegation unless I enter into a sort of new career which only commitment by vows could, it seems to me, open up to me certainly.

As regards resolutions, I am too weak to keep them for long, and as for vows or the real obligations of a contracted commitment, it seems to me that, with the grace of God and the succour of his good Mother, I would be faithful. I admit however that I do not feel myself to be impelled towards vows. I feel myself much more attracted by this frank and free life in which one would go so to speak with God in an above-board manner as with men who know our good intentions, taking the good when it comes, without refusing to adopt some evil that may arrive when it likewise comes, drinking with pleasure wine at Pondicherry, but not refusing to go to S. where the water is but foul-tasting mud, etc., desiring even up to a certain point a condition which implies mortifications, but without myself creating any such frequent mortifications.

Is this last condition not too natural, too clumsy, too little in conformity with grace, and do I not have reason to fear that it may be an obstacle to the success of our plans ? Kindly consider it before God and we will have a conversation on these different points on which will depend a kind of life that should be, as far as our weakness is able to determine it, in conformity with the views that the Lord might have on us and of which he will demand account from us.

Convey my friendly greetings, please, to Tambousamy moudeliar(), whose acquaintance I am delighted to have made. I pray the Lord to rain down on him and his family his most abundant blessings. His son Anna is doing well, and we are a little more pleased with his work than at the beginning of the year. My regards also to Pounnousamy poullé () and to his little boy Amouroudesamy. Aguysamy is doing well ; all his pimples have disappeared and he has come back as well as his cousin. Tell all these good Malabars that I love them as much as you do, and I really hope that once they are persuaded that we are for them and that they are for us, that is to say, for the religion of Jesus Christ, our common master, we will march more powerfully and in greater harmony to the glory of Our Lord and the destruction of paganism, a destruction which appears to me possible in the more or less near future, if the Christians march after us to the fight, until such time as we put them themselves at the head of the holy militia. May they back us up, and their children will see fine days!

A Dieu in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 13 April 1844)

Sent_0105

Sent_0105 - à M. Tesson - le 20 avril 1844 -/2

Sent 0105 - to Mr Tesson - 20 April 1844 -2/2

Sent_0105 - à M. Tesson - le 20 avril 1844 -1/1

Sent 0105 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 93-96

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Let us give thanks to God for sending us Mr Luquet. His knowledge and his talents can save India and even Asia. I will back him up with all my strength with my bad Carcassonnian head. The seminary is going well, but I have no material at all. Some orders for scholastic material and another one on behalf of a Malabar.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, talents, thoughts on the missions

__________

Pondicherry, 20 April 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

One word more by this steamer, for business is pressing, it is marching towards India's salvation if we are intelligent and faithful, towards its ruin perhaps, and this perhaps makes us tremble if we close our eyes or cross our arms ; a day is a year, and a year is a century. Thanks be rendered to the good God who permitted, who desired that our dear confrere Mr Luquet should come out to join us. The good God had given me some insight, but I had neither the necessary talents, nor the indispensable saintliness for making them noticed and even less for ensuring the adoption of measures that are at one and the same time measures of salvation and measures of progress. If Mr Luquet's plans which are mine are frankly adopted, supported and pressed, I hope everything for India and even for other missions in Asia. If not, you will see us in a short while enveloped, suffocated and driven out of India, take my word for it.

Besides, the proceeding of our neighbours in the north and south have come to such a point as even the least farsighted person cannot fail to notice today. The evil is already so advanced for any remedy to be difficult. If Mr Luquet had come two years ago instead of me, people would have believed him more than me and we would be in a lesser predicament; but there is still time if we are supported. I think that this dear confrere will be writing to you at length on it. I see him without envy at the head of a salutary movement which I will back up in the second ranks where I hope that people will not mistrust my bad Carcassonnian head (alas did not this word start off from Paris! It is fatal to our holy cause. But of course they were not wrong, for I am fully aware that more prudence is required in the forms than I have, and the Carcassonnians do not accomplish the building of our Society). However that may be, God's cause is in your hands as well as in ours. Pray the good God to bless our efforts and to purify more and more our intentions.

The seminary is going well as a beginning. But we will soon fall back into the deplorable state of the past if we are not effectively backed up from all quarters. I have 88 pupils, but no books, no money, no teachers and not enough trust.

Prepare to send us out as soon as possible books and some physical instruments. I should need at your earliest convenience a number of complete courses of literature, mathematics, physics, astronomy, and other things yet.

A rich Malabar has asked me to have sent out to him a daguerreotype of medium size with all the accessories and instructions necessary for working it ; written ones must exist. If your experience has anything to add to the written instructions, I count on your zeal in a detailed letter. Mr Lehodey must tell you that this Malabar will certainly pay and that you can make the advance with a quiet mind, accordingly kindly send it out at once.

A Dieu. My kind regards to all our respectable confreres, and above all to Messrs Dubois and Langlois. This morning 8 Jesuits have arrived en route for Madurai. When will we have some missionaries for ourselves?

Pray hard for India, for our work, and for the seminary. Get moving on setting us up as we should have been for the last ten years, and still we have nothing!

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 20 April 1844)

Sent_0105a

Sent 0105a - to Mr Joseph Pacreau1/2

Envoi 105aAMA photo copy

To Mr Joseph Pacreau

apostolic missionary

Our seminary goes well, but in order for it to go perfectly, our fellow priests must send us children. A question of caste for entering the seminary.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, caste

__________

Pondicherry, 9 May 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

Some time ago I received your letter dated 4 April. Since the news on your health is getting better and better, I contented myself with asking H.L., without referring to you directly because of the distance separating us and my innumerable occupations.

Our seminary continues to go well, but when will it go perfectly ? When my dear confreres in the interior start working with us, by sending us children, and we get to work on their education and formation. Thus far this has not happened; but it will come, I hope (for I) ask it of the good God.

Is your disciple of too low a caste to be admitted among the boarders ? If this is the case, I strongly urge you to send him to Verapoly until we have the happiness of being able to receive all castes. But if he is of good caste, why not send him to Pondicherry?

You must already have received the long circular from My Lord? Things have been set in motion, they are proceeding well and, if the good God blesses us, I hope everything of this movement which should get us out of the present rut. It is a real miracle to see how things have come about, how they have immediately grown, and how finally they have come to the point where they are now. Digitus Dei est hic. ()

I will say no more to you now, for I think that My Lord will be writing to you at length. Father Lazare is ill, so I don't have a single minute from one midday to the next. Excuse my brevity and my bad writing.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Pondicherry, 9 May 1844

Sent_0106

Sent_0106 - à M. Tesson - le 14 mai 1844 -/2

Sent 0106 - to Mr Tesson - 14 May 1844 -2/2

Sent_0106 - à M. Tesson - le 14 mai 1844 -1/1

Sent 0106 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 769-772

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Mr Luquet is to go to Paris. He has managed everything with admirable skill. He has rallied all suffrages. In order for it all to succeed, Paris must help Mr Luquet in Paris and in Rome. I count on you. Mr Luquet is bringing my detailed order. We need to know exactly what Propagation of the Faith is sending for the seminary.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, thoughts on the missions, finances

__________

Pondicherry, 14 May 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

I am just writing you a few lines, for Mr Luquet will be there to speak to you at length. When I told you a month ago that days were years, however I did not think things would proceed quite so quickly. I was aiming at what has just come about, we had talked about is with Mr Luquet, but if we calculated one or two years still, we feared we were being imprudent. Thus we can well say that it is the good God who has done everything, that it is his divine providence looking after India, and this makes me hope all things for this country.

One may well say without fear of contradiction that human prudence has not achieved this. However it is true that Mr Luquet behaved in all of these matters with a skill that I cannot help admiring. He has had the talent of stirring up his whole world and making them come over to his idea with a sweetness of means which merely increases his power, since it leaves each one the leisure, the will and the means of seeing and further exploring the truth of which Mr Luquet had merely made himself the faithful organ.

I would have wished that all the missionaries were present at these two councils where he triumphed over so many prejudices, so many old routines, so many contrary convictions, to the point of gathering unanimously the suffrages of My Lord Bishop, of Mr Jarrige, of Mr Lehodey, of Mr Dupuis, of Mr Pouplin and of Mr Leroux. He had already acquired mine for the last two years, since his cause is also mine; what he sees, I saw on entering, what he says, I said it on entering (on a more limited scale, it is true), what he desires I have desired since my childhood. But my voice was destined not to be heeded, whereas his voice, stronger, sweeter and more nourished with the spirit of God, was. Deo gratias!

Yet, this is only the beginning, since the good God has already done so much for India, he will not remain at that point, I hope, or rather I do not dare think that he has disposed all that only in views of justice and not of mercy for this country. Which would happen if the present movement were not pushing us into the way that we must follow. It is a question of life or death, as we cannot afford to be dissuaded. Thus I do not doubt but that our dear confreres of Paris will back up with all their might Mr Luquet in Paris and in Rome. Certain of them will at first be astonished; but I feel sure that they will be of the same opinion as us once they have let us have our say, and once they have deigned to hear us out to the end.

I was authorised by His Lordship to make a request to you for books and instruments of physics for our seminary. Two weeks ago I showed him my list, when we still had no idea that Mr Luquet would be leaving by this steamer. I am not sending it since Mr Luquet will tell you our needs himself. Only kindly send this material to us by the first ship possible. Our seminary is going well, but we are so lacking in everything that I would not be surprised to see it drag along still; help me, please.

Would it not be possible for the alms of Propagation of the Faith for the seminary to be separated from those entering confusedly for all the works into the funds of the bursar's office? For the position of the seminary as far as the bursar's office is concerned is so abnormal as to be one of the causes liable to lead all too soon to its ruin. If it were not wished to specify this distinction in the annals, which would perhaps be imprudent, at least it would be necessary, in some way or other, for the seminary to know what it could count on.

A Dieu. My respects to all confreres.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 14 May 1844)

Sent_0107

Sent_0107 - à M. Luquet - le 12 juillet 1844 -/1

Sent 0107 - to Mr Luquet - 12 July 1844 -1/2

Sent 0107 - à M. Luquet - le 12 juillet 1844 -1/1

Sent 0107 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 321ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

The seminary has begun its debacle ; our weakness is extreme. The missionaries seem pleased with your mission. We are ready to follow your initiatives.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry

__________

Pondicherry, 12 July 1844

My dear friend,

I will only say a few words to you : the seminary has begun its debacle : However everything that has happened thus far seems to me to be an effect of Providence, and I would have hoped more than ever if we were strong elsewhere, but our weakness is extreme.

What has happened has allowed us to get to know certain persons thoroughly. Divianaden is no longer with us, he refused the tonsure and he is now with Father Roger, unless he is roaming the fields. Father Roger continues to do us a lot of harm, while desiring to do only good; if His Lordship does not permit me to direct him elsewhere before he comes here (and he has a plan to come here in a few days' time) I will answer for nothing.

Father Lazare has also left us. In all of these latest questions he let us see to the bottom of his soul. How far he is from what we thought. I believe that we may forego seeing him elevated one day to the dignity where we hoped so much to see him arrive. He is a good priest, but with ordinary virtues, and not at all lacking in the prejudices of the country.

Practically all the missionaries seem happy with your mission although they have different hopes from it. His Lordship is full of courage and of hope, but he cannot prevent himself from fearing and it is evident. Mr Jarrige has not budged one inch, which merely confirms the miracle for which we have already blessed the Lord. The Jesuits go about things in their own way, sowing thousands of rupees and laying the bases of their system.

Whereas we will be like the snails which draw their horns back into their shell. Until it pleases someone to do us the honour of gobbling us up, we will remain there quite still, unless the good God has sent you to force us to put them out once more, and you find in Rome the right way to give these feeble horns the strength of the horns of the Unicorn to establish the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Adieu, etc.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. I am writing a letter to Mr Tesson in which I express the desire to have separate funds for the seminary. I have not indicated any form in order to see his thought and what he would advise us to take. Help me. Should we push the idea that we should be reimbursed on the basis of the pupils we might have, for the fees that we would be abandoning at Pinang? Or else should we adopt some other path and strike directly at the offices of Propagation of the Faith? See what you think.

(Pondicherry, 12 July 1844)

Sent_0108

Sent_0108 - à M. Tesson - le 12 juillet 1844 -/2

Sent 0108 - to Mr Tesson - 12 July 1844 -2/2

Sent_0108 - à M. Tesson - le 12 juillet 1844 -1/1

Sent 0108 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1259-1264 et 811-812

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Regarding the objects requested. Why does it take so long to get them? How fine Mr Luquet's mission is! It must be supported with all your strength. Here, must we mistrust the Jesuits, the schismatics of Goa and the English? False principles of recruiting for the seminary exclusively in the upper castes. We should be taking vocations from everywhere. The seminary of Pondicherry is insufficient by itself, and it is absolutely necessary to have a seminary separated from the college, with separate finances from those of the bursar's office.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, native clergy, finances, castes

__________

Pondicherry, 12 July 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

I had started a long letter that several days of inconvenience made me interrupt ; I cannot find the first pages, and I abandon it, proposing here merely to say a few words to you on what is most topical and most urgent. Incidentally you have never answered me except by half-pages on very serious points, that I felt I should raise with you; this does nothing to encourage me; for it would be wonderful for me to know the extent and bottom of your thoughts on various points that you see, I believe, better than many others.

I will say further, in order not to come back on your answers, that I have some fear of not seeing the arrival of all the objects that I asked you for, which would however be useful here as elsewhere, indeed even the hanging kitchen. If you have not sent them on already, kindly do so at the earliest possible opportunity, as well as the books and other objects requested since, to which I would ask you to add, on my own account, about thirty or so little devotional books in French or Latin proper to ecclesiastics and half of which should be bound and gilt-edged. I will have to wait a long while still for these objects; for I cannot see why, despite the steamer reducing by a full third the time for passages back and forth, at least one year is still required in order to receive an object from Paris ; even more !! It is unfortunate!!!

And now let us come to the serious matters. You must have Mr Luquet with you, if this dear confrere has not already left for Rome. How fine his mission is ! How great! How necessary ! I do not think that today there are two missionaries who can fail to be gratified at the proceeding started ; and who are not more satisfied today than two weeks ago. Besides, since Mr Luquet's departure, the reasons for this proceeding have grown both with regard to the Jesuits, with whom and near whom it seems to me to me clearly demonstrated that we can never live and be assured of a single year's peace, and to the schismatics who add at the present time scandal on scandal as a result of the pastoral visit that Texeira is now undertaking in his claimed jurisdiction, and on the part of the English, were it only for the coolness and reserve that prevailed on the occasion of Mr Luquet's reception at Madras.

Thus I hope that in Paris you put no impediment to his glorious and I might almost dare to say divine mission ; but that you will encourage it, support it and protect it in such a way as to make more certain for us the fruits of salvation that we expect from it with impatience.

Second question, the seminary. So here I am in the seminary completely absorbed in this work, making it the single object of my thought from morning to evening, not allowing my mind to stray from the precinct of the establishment except to dispose of a plan of seminaries which may provide us with the means of exploiting to the utmost the immense quarry of ecclesiastical vocations which are in no way lacking, but which we cannot discover or direct or lead to a successful conclusion with the few resources we have in our hands, and under the influence of the false principles which we are still obliged to observe. The worst of these principles is admitting only the high castes to the priesthood. This has the twofold drawback of both rejecting those whom God calls, and of authorising pride in a calling which should begin and end in holy humility.

I will not enter into the broader details on this point today ; I will not say what I have already suffered, and what I foresee by way of suffering in the path that I have to tread ; you will conceive of them all, you who know India, when I say to you that I have decided to help with all my strength in forming a native clergy. God knows that I would like to see numerous priests, educated, etc. God knows that I would like to see many of them and everywhere ! When will it be possible for me to go and take them everywhere where the spirit of God has placed a vocation ! While I am also strongly decided never to contribute to the formation of a priest in whom I do not see the ecclesiastic virtues (and even humility) powerfully guaranteed.

However, I believe that it would be wrong to think that one can arrive at the desirable goal of a good clergy by means of the seminary of Pondicherry alone : and in any case, it is however necessary to start up from there and then bring it in some ways to its degree of perfection in order to make possible the other institutions which would only serve until then, I believe, to prevent everything and destroy everything.

Now, in order to arrive at this degree, there is a point which seems to me sine qua non. This is an entire separation with the other house. Without this, we will merely be a feeble branch of the tree, merely an accessory of the administration which has many other things to see, to arrange... in short, it would not be possible for us to be an establishment. Besides, it would be vastly deluding ourselves if we were to think that we could carry out our work without big expenses; and how would the bursar's office ever consent to give us even half of what would be necessary, since it can only consider us as a small fraction of the soil that it is obliged to fertilise using those round manures without which the best land will always remain almost sterile?

Also, and this is above all what I want to get at, it seems to me that we will never do anything if we do not have any separate funds. This point appears so capital to me that I am persuaded that, without that, we will soon be dragging in the same old rut as before. From time to time we will make a few priests, but a clergy, never! Of course, I admit that if I am condemned to cringe as we have done thus far, I would consider my position as thoroughly deplorable, and I would consider it as a sort of punishment. Tell me, please, what you think on this capital point, and what in your view would be the best means for creating a life of our own corroborated by our vicinity to the bursar's office, but not depending absolutely on it.

My paper is running out. A Dieu. My respects to all our dear and venerable confreres. Pray hard for India. She sorely needs it! But we also have to get down to work.

Completely yours in union of holy sacrifices.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 12 July 1844)

Sent_0109

Sent_0109 - à M. Luquet - le 10 août 1844 -/8

Sent 0109 - to Mr Luquet - 10 August 1844 -8/8

Sent_0109 - à M. Luquet - le 10 août 1844 -8/1

Sent 0109 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 69ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Fine successes at the mid-year examinations held with solemnity and pomp. I was unable to get the prospectus printed as I wanted it. Marie Xavery has been tonsured. Divianaden refused the tonsure. History of the pineapple following which the Jesuits proposed to Daïriam and Valernaden to go and study in Europe. Intrigues of Father Lazare, Father Bertrand and of the Christians of Texeira. The missionaries hope for the success of your mission. As for me, I don't believe that the new episcopates are for tomorrow. Regarding the critique by Father Cahour of your book, I agree on a solid and powerful answer, while charitable and not to be published. There have already been too many polemics in India. Let us avoid all conflict. Since we met in Paris, God has led us both. He considers in detail Father Cahour's book with a paragraph at the end on the pride of the big Orders.

Index : religious, my thoughts on the missions, bishops, seminary of Pondicherry, customs, Goa

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1844

My dear friend,

I am going to try to take advantage of the few moments of spare time that the short half-year holidays afford, by writing to you a gazette which will inform you of more or less everything, at the same time as I will outline to you my thought on the state of our cause. Thus I will also fulfil the undertaking I gave you, as I feel sure that you will not fail to do yours. I will speak to you first of all about the seminary in detail, then about the condition of the Christian communities, then I will convey to you the thought suggested to me by reading the pages of the appendix to a book by the Rev. Father Cahour against your book, pages which were sent us by the last steamer intended for you.

We have just held the mid-year examinations. Despite the fact that our classes were mutilated, crossed, taken and left by different masters, the result of this examination was very satisfactory. I gave it an air of solemnity, by having it taken before all the pupils and teachers gathered together. His Lordship came in one day. Several missionaries almost always honoured us with their presence. The Indians are very sensitive to this pomp, to a good or a bad mark, etc. One of the three-monthly reports was a great help to us and the marks for weekly conduct are extremely salutary. One may say without exaggeration that these moral means are sufficient for their management and make useless the daily punishments to which furthermore the Indians expose themselves much less than our European children, since they are without that petulance and spirit of mischief that I would almost wish to see a little of sometimes in them. I don't doubt that the prize-giving, quite brilliant and made public by the printing of the names of those specially distinguished, is of the greatest possible effect.

If to all this were to be added a prospectus which contributed with the means indicated to making us known far and wide, I don't doubt that one could have here the finest house of education to be desired for the Malabars. You will be sorry to hear that I was unable to get printed the prospectus that you saw before leaving. I will refrain from speaking at length on this point, because since I am one of the parties concerned in the affair, my judgment could be false. I will only say that the reasons given to me for opposing it, made little impression on my mind. They were exactly those which committed me to producing it. Thus I was not prepared to consent to an essential change proposed to me, which would not have regarded words, but the content itself.

And yet, dear friend, I am far from being without fear, for several reasons. The diabolic mind of the Pondicherrians, and their state of irritation, is one of the principal causes for this. It is due to this spirit that we owe the first storm, which seems now to have given way to calm and serene weather, but which one cannot depend on. I have to speak to you in detail of this business. Marie Xavery had just been tonsured. Divianaden had refused the tonsure. He refused it in circumstances such as make me fear very much that all that you had foreseen regarding him would come about one day. At the time of refusing it, we had decided not to elevate him to the clergy, but it was important that he should refuse it of his own accord, which occurred the morning of the day when we would have been forced to take the initiative. This was the day before the retreat, Valernaden could not bear not having been called.

Meanwhile, I was desirous of beginning to establish more ecclesiastic practices than those governing the education of priests today. I was obliged to seize this opportunity all the faster since I was sure of Marie Xavery, and it would have been difficult for me to have found anyone else who would have blindly done what I asked him. All the authorities of the seminary were greatly irritated at this. Their pride could not bear to see Marie Xavery behaving like the other pupils, submitting to the same rule, following the same usages, attending the same lessons. The fire fermented in their hearts, and they only needed an occasion to vomit it, nobody said anything to me, but I saw clearly that the Christians were not content, that even Father Lazare, to whom I had spoken earlier of my project and who had approved it, was no longer interested in what he called a humiliation for the priesthood, etc. etc. However I could not deviate; it seems to me that it would be better to be condemned to not seeing numerous priests in India for a long time, rather than to forego preaching to them the practical Gospel, which is certainly ignored in this regard even by the priests.

The occasion did not fail to present itself. The month of Mary had ended with a great deal of joy and pomp; as a reward, I gave a special holiday at Ariancoupam. After dinner, I wanted to share out a pineapple for the pupils: Alas! I had the imprudence to cut it with my outcast hands, and what is more to place the pieces in a pyramid on a plate! All at once a glance of disapproval is given by the bigger boys, which is sufficient to prevent the little boys from touching this impure fruit, and each one pushes it away with his hand (undoubtedly the left one). I could not help but feel this affront. However I said nothing, but my silence spoke volumes!

However the occasion was good. Instead of leaving in the shadow of silence their father's fault, if any such fault there was, the older boys sound the trumpet of rumour, and the whole town is informed of my imprudence. They felt strong, for Father Lazare backed them up, in the sense that he behaved from that moment onwards in a way absolutely contrary to the line that he should have taken. I blame him less than I feel sorry for him, and I feel sorry for him insofar as I loved him. This is a fresh proof of the absolute need for us to give the young clerics a truly ecclesiastical education. To tell you all the stupidities that were uttered on this subject, all the absurdities, the contradictions which are still flying around etc. etc., there would be no end to it. At one moment I want to mix up all the castes, and at another I myself place on the seminarians' leaf the impure remains of my table! And, just imagine, it is also said that when they (the seminarians) eat saliva, they will be tonsured, when they eat sh.. they will be made bishops!

In any case, it was no longer possible for Father Lazare to remain with us, not only did he not communicate ; but he set himself up in direct and secret contradiction, having at all times the big boys with him and giving them advice the results of which will soon become clear to you. In fact it would seem that his intention was to prevent our presence both in the refectory and elsewhere, and he complained about the way in which we lived that was not in conformity with the castes. It was probably following these private meetings that he advised, or at least he supported the advice that others had given to Daïriam and Valernaden to report to the Jesuits with a view to going to Europe. It seems that they were told that we would never elevate them to orders without subjecting them to shameful things, etc. etc.

Only a few days later, Father Lazare received a letter from Father Bertrand telling him that he would be pleased to receive these young people and take them to Europe. I do not know if Father Lazare had any news, but I doubt if he answered Father Bertrand. If he did so, I have no idea to what effect. But the father wrote a short time afterwards to the young people themselves saying they only had to come. I think however that he requested some permission from His Lordship, for Daïriam came to ask for them. The Jesuits must be aware that Daïriam was a pupil of the boarding school and that Valernaden is in the seminary. However all of this took place without either His Lordship or myself having received a note from them on this subject. All that interests them in fact is to show that they take as much or better care of the native clergy than us, achieving what we have not yet done, and what we should have done a long while ago in my opinion, and in yours.

When Valernaden saw that all of this was serious, he drew back. From that moment, it is incredible how many efforts the Christians have made, headed by Pounnou poullé(), the doctor, to urge Valernaden not to withdraw his word and others not to give it. There was not one pupil, I believe, of the bigger boys having some desire to enter the ecclesiastic condition who was not tempted. Thus far it would seem that Daïriam is alone. A month ago he said he was going to leave tomorrow. I doubt very much if he will arrive in France. It is said that Divianaden, Mr Roger's favourite, will follow suit, for he is no longer with us, no more than is Malezam, who have all shown that they are far from wanting to be good ecclesiastics if they still want to be priests, which I doubt very much. Divianaden asked, a few days after the event of Ariancoupam, and after making some very inappropriate remarks, if he could go and spend a few days with him.

These few days having been prolonged for over a month, I deviated him straightway from Mr Roger who is more exalted than ever and who has picked a quarrel with us. At the moment he is here, doing us the utmost harm, I do not know what will come of it; but his presence will be more disastrous than all the rest, unless the good God accomplishes a miracle(). Let us forgive him with a good heart, for he knows not what he does. He is blind, he is deaf but not mute unfortunately; but since he does not see and does not hear, his words, while they are hurtful, are at least not the outcome of bad will ; let us pray for him. So that is where we are now. However if Mr Roger were not here, I would hope more than ever, for our few boarders are now doing very well, apart from two or three pupils whom I believe not to have any vocation. The others seem to be doing their best to make themselves worthy of the saintly condition that we would so much like to see them assume. But Mr Roger!!! Let us pray.

This state of things is perhaps still serious as a result of the irritation reigning among the Christian day boys and the bad spirit which has been guiding them for a long time now and which seems to get a stronger hold on them as we become more prepared and more capable of producing some good. Unfortunate country! Just as a force arises, it is destroyed by another diabolical force which arises at its side. It is quite certain that defiance reigns in the majority of the Christian day boys, they spy our every move, our words, etc. If we take a step, we are trying to crush them, if we move a finger, we want to mix up the castes, but what is terrible and frightening is that at least the name of the Jesuits always arises in the question. Whether as the effect of some chance, or the result of the spirit of contradiction of the Malabars, or... ? One hesitates even to suspect; and in any case I don't believe a word of it; there is absolutely nothing, nothing to prove it to me.

In any case the spirit of contradiction of our Christians, together with certain absolutely indirect or only imprudent remarks by the Fathers, could be the cause of these expressions : our young people should go with the Jesuits, they say ; they are much more distinguished men than our missionaries ; they will take them to the Pope who will at last know what is happening. Or else we will call in the Jesuits and they will do what we want them to. These remarks are made, people say, by the Christians of Nellitope on the occasion of a great quarrel which broke out in that village. The whole village is practically up in arms against His Lordship on account of some consideration of caste regarding places in church. More than one problem exists however, and I don't think there is a missionary in the interior who doesn't have his share .

Besides this, Texeira has made a pompous pastoral visit in what he calls his jurisdiction, dressed in violet, and carrying the cross, accompanied by a large number of pions and a few ecclesiastics ; he has given many confirmations, but without seeming to trouble overmuch about the administration of the Christians, admitting them even without prior preparation and without confession, to the sacrament of confirmation that he prefers to give above all in the evening. It is said that his visit was extremely wretched, however I have no doubt but that it did a great deal of harm. He had the audacity to come into the church of Pondicherry, where he was received as he deserved. It must be admitted that the affronts of which he has been the object were well deserved and benevolently sought. However the scandal exists nonetheless.

It appears that the missionaries are very content with your departure since they all ardently desire the success of your negotiations, and they express their best wishes for a successful conclusion. I desire it no less than them, only I do not share the hope of seeing episcopates created as quickly as some people seem to expect. This is too important a question, and too serious for it to be concluded hastily in Rome, even if you had only to fight against the novelty of the undertaking, but it would appear that further obstacles yet are reserved to you. The appendix that we received lately addressed to you from the Rev. Father Cahour, directed it would appear against the partisans of the university, and consequently against the enemies of Religion, an appendix completely consecrated to the refutation of your letters, without prejudice for the future, is a fresh proof of this.

It remains for me to speak to you of the effect produced here by the reading of these 47 pages. This is what I am going to try to do immediately. Every person first of all was angry to see this appendix coupled with a book which must be read by all the impious souls in France, and the irritation that surfaced in this brief exposition which is to be followed, it would appear, by another longer book, is not of a nature to tranquillise us on the forms to be taken by an open discussion, if the good God did not preserve us from this misfortune. However, this first refutation is so feeble that it may provide you with the opportunity for a brilliant response. I will take the liberty of running through the principal reasons that he opposes, in order to indicate to you the side that appeared to me the weakest. It is not that you have (not) read it already yourself, but we have promised to tell each other everything, and a word may give rise to an idea.

But before that, may I tell you what I think on the answer to be given to Rev. Father Cahour, some thought that you should simply keep silent, while others that you should answer. These two opinions are ordinarily accompanied by certain modifications as that must be. Tot capita quot sensus.() But what is remarkable here, what consoles and edifies me, what makes me hope even for our Congregation, what confirms me in the persuasion that the good cause is on our side, is that charity is never for an instant separated from any opinion. It is out of charity that some believe silence best, it is out of charity that the others desire an answer, wishing it to be accompanied by circumstances which do not shock, which do not poison, etc. etc. Nolite timere pusillus grex. ()

As for me, I willingly share Mr Dupuis's thought. I do not know if he will write to you to inform you, but since it is also mine, I am going to explain it in a few words. It would consist in giving a solid, even strong, and above all charitable answer. This answer would not be printed, but merely lithographed in a quite small number of copies, that you would hand out only to those who were interested in knowing our question, and who can make our cause advance. You would show by that, and you could say it too, that you are far from wanting to establish a public quarrel always accompanied and followed by scandals inevitably disastrous to the respective missions of the divine bodies entrusted with them, as the example of what happened alas! proves only too clearly.

It seems certain to me that India is at the point where we have the sorrow of seeing it today only because of these unfortunate discussions. The Jesuits were undoubtedly in the wrong, but has not the victory of the Capuchins perhaps been more disastrous for India than the errors of the former? Let us adore God's impenetrable providence which has permitted all these things and let us pray it, further, to remove fresh ones at a time when Protestantism and the schism of Goa suffice, if God does not help us, to destroy the little faith that remains in India.

Meanwhile, the Jesuits, seeing that you do not fear them, that you can make an answer appear that you keep as secret only out of charity, would be a little more on their guard. And with your presence in Rome giving you the opportunity to judge of the effect of this lithography on the spirit of the Cardinals, and of those that God will not fail to attach to our cause, you will see before God what is to be done later.

Besides, my dear friend, I do not doubt but that everything that you do is done in the presence of the Lord : I do not doubt but that you often see before your eyes your own weakness, and that you humble yourself before the God of sacrifices, who has blessed your works thus far in proportion to the spirit of sacrifice that you have practised, as you admitted to me more than once. However, you are only just beginning, take care not to depart from this way of renunciation that you have adopted, and that alone makes for your strength. You have far to go: Grandis enim tibi restat via.() You have still to fight famously, arm yourself with the name of the Lord Jesus alone, so that you may say : Ego autem veio ad te, in nomine domini exercituum. ()

By saying these words, I even desire that you avoid a true struggle, and if it had to come to that, never arm your hand with any other than charity. Forgive me this advice of a friend, I would be failing my promises if I did not make use of the holy liberty of which we made an obligation. In any case, even if it is useless for me to say these words to you, I feel a pious consolation in writing them, and that alone should suffice for you to see that they are accepted with indulgence.

Where are you and what are you doing ? We are impatient to have your news. I have the sweet confidence that the angel of the Lord will guide your steps. All we want is God's glory, and the only resource we have to obtain it is God himself. This is what makes me hope and, my God, have you not conducted events in a marvellous way! Who would have thought in fact, dear friend, when we were in Paris, that you were perceiving your work, that I myself was informing you of the thoughts that the Lord caused to be born at that time in your soul and that he had placed in mine for a long while already, but with much less force for putting them into effect; who would have said then that we would be called to work together for the dearest cause of our hearts.

And when you were on the point of throwing your manuscript into the fire by pure renunciation, did not the good God see that it would be these same pages which would make enough impression here to smooth the ways that appeared insurmountable ?

And when you thought in Paris that it was to Rome that we should go and that you abandoned the means of carrying it out that seemed to diverge from the ordinary ways of providence, was it not this same providence that made you take the road for Rome passing by the Cape of Good Hope in order to gain the support of a remarkable bishop and of a whole mission ?

And when we said to each other in our correspondence from Idapady to Gondelour, that Rome should not be lost sight of, but that it was necessary not to do anything that in any way resembled an impulsive act, and that, if we remained faithful, the good God would suitably dispose the ways, was it not the Lord who was pushing all of our confreres to the synod, namely even Father Bertrand whom we saw there with some diffidence, and yet, without all of these circumstances, would we not still be far from where we are today ?

And when I went to see you at Manjacoupam, when I told you that your last word to the synod was singularly unpleasing, that it even seemed to have cooled off the missionaries of Pondicherry with regard to you ; there where we still turned our eyes on Rome, and said while walking in the evening, that you seemed to be prepared enough to hazard a simple opening, or a simple letter ; when seeking to calculate in our human reason, and to think of probabilities, we consoled each other in the hope that in less than ten years God would certainly have led us there, and that it was sufficient that very day, for God to dispose so marvellously people's minds that, in less than a week, they proposed that you make the trip to Rome, you were approved, given instructions, recommendations etc. etc., that is to say everything we would have asked for in a dream, or in a fine castle in the air.

And here you are returning to Europe via the Red Sea before the ship which carried you to India has touched the coast of France again!!! And after all that, should we not be filled with hope ?

As for me, I am filled with it. It even increases in me after reading Father Cahour. This circumstance arranged before the Lord will make our work advance, instead of destroying it. But meanwhile I have forgotten to consider it in detail. I will do so very rapidly.

The preamble or beginning seems to suppose that all is lost, that you do not leave the religious any consolation to be gathered in the countries which, with reason, should be dear to them, that they are without any further resource for doing good, whereas in our mission plan, the religious would be called on to play the greatest role, to preach and convert more than they now do and than they have ever been able to do, while they should enter essentially into those Church bodies where they would be one of the most respectable and most powerful members. We would not want them to say with us: Take me and throw me into the sea (), but only : "Take me and put me in my place". In what place ? In that place where the Ignatiuses, the Francis's and the Benedicts wanted us, and that in their language they called the last, etc. By placing the words quoted in their place, and by developing your thought, it should not be difficult, I think, to show the whole truth of the end of the paragraph on page 324, and of the rest.

The lamentations which follow appear to me as excessive as they are useless. To curse the day of one's birth, one would have to be unable to do any good, while we (only) rise up against one of the branches where the Company of Jesus operates, and in a single form of that branch, but very serious as a consequence.

It is true and very true. What follows is radically false, once more because of confusing the different ways in which the religious may be employed, and have been employed in the mission. It is really unfortunate that the author of the appendix has immediately gone so far as to seek to put you into contradiction with the Holy See. Whereas it is the Holy See that provides our strength, it is it alone that we defend, it is its interest alone that we are anxious to maintain. It is natural that attempts are made as far as possible to weaken our arms on that count, but I hope that you will not lack reasons for showing that the cause of Rome is our only cause.

The Holy See has not been under any illusions, and the Church has never been indifferent on this point, you will find more than one monument to this, our very existence is a quite powerful protest, I hope : It was not necessary for it to complain in this way in the places where the Religious appoint bishops, as occurred almost everywhere, except among the Jesuits. Let us leave the words of infallibility, of deviation, etc. Let us leave the comparison he insinuates of our Congregation and of the Company, and all that follows. It is easy to reply. But, in order to respond calmly and without letting ourselves become the prey of a disastrous irritation, we need to resort continually to God.

Let us go on to page 333. His Lordship should draw your attention to the legend of the breviaries of Saint James and others. The fact is moreover so certain that you will find a host of reasons in the history of the general Church and of the particular Churches. The appeal we make to the Original Church could not be injurious to it, since we do not claim that the Church of Gregory XVI had degenerated, indeed it is certain that the church of the beginnings is incessantly referred to us as a model, impelling us to achieve the virtues practised in it.

Undoubtedly here it is merely a question of administration. Now this administration was still perfect, doubtless formed as it had been by the will of the Saviour, while later, it became necessary to have laws, precepts and bulls for the direction of the administration of the Churches, for the correction of abuses, for the reformation of various things, whence it is easy to see that one might still aspire to the Church of the beginnings from this point of view, without denying that the difference in the times should bring much into the form of government of the Churches, all the less however the more the Churches resemble the Original Churches, as in mission...

And here we are on the point of fostering the schism of Portugal ! I still say nothing...

On the whole of page 335, the author is in open contradiction with himself. Thus there were religious who had the intelligence of the missions, and who appointed bishops. This explains the uselessness of the complaints of Rome, etc. That the Company of Jesus does well in taking the vow not to accept dignities! I would not attempt to deny it, only it should not prevent others being bishops where the Jesuits cannot arrive, and it is from this vow itself that I would start off to show that it should not be alone in a Church.

What follows makes me sure that we will have Saint Ignatius for protector in heaven for our cause, since when he was alive, he however permitted that from the outset of the company, at a time when it seemed so necessary not to alter the roles of its institution, that Ethiopian patriarchs were taken into his Company, Saint Ignatius must therefore have been firmly convinced of the need for bishops and doubted that the religious would suffice.

As regards the contribution of the courageous Father de Rhodes, either he ignores his history, or else he wants to take some of the merit by allowing it to be believed that the Seminary of Foreign Missions owes its existence in part to the Company of Jesus. This is certainly curious, but you will have no difficulty in showing the truth, by referring to the facts and persons concerned. In all bodies, there are individuals whose opinion differs from that of the Society to which they belong. The Company of Jesus without doubt would not wish to approve everything that certain Jesuits do, and I doubt very much that it approved and backed up the Seminary of the Missions.

If he accuses us of favouring the schism of Goa, could you not accuse him of following the Protestant errors in this word of the Saviour which he affirms without hesitation does not exist. We recognise other sources of truth than the Gospel. And the fundamental principles for which he asks your forgiveness are singularly introduced. Have you ever thought that their delegations were not legitimate? Truly, where have we got to ? And the honour of the Holy See, and the tu es Petrus(), who would ever have thought that they would enter into a refutation of the letters ?

I do not understand how he was able to reply no to question 20. Is everything said in the Acts of the Apostles? And because the sees founded by the Apostles no longer exist, did they not in fact exist? And is it not once more pleading our case, for finally what does that prove, except that the Apostles founded sees wherever they could, without worrying too much about whether they would last for ever. They knew full well that nothing in this world is stable, and did not expect a town or a kingdom to be converted for the purpose of establishing bishops there. Precisely for this reason, many sees must not have existed for a long time, however they were too much concerned to have a large number of bishops to wait to establish them exclusively in places or at times that gave them guarantees of long duration. They needed to have sees, that is the fact, and they established them before having a Christian Rome or a Constantinople.

I come back to the conduct of Saint James and of Saint Peter who consecrated his bishops newly converted for a province where everything was still pagan, and we too want a necessity of the places, it will not be difficult to find, and capacity of men that is above all relative. For Saint Epiphanus wanted no others, and with some effort, we will find them easily, I believe, in all the places of the world. And what a combination of big words, what a luxury of history to say what we would say ourselves, that one's steps must be assured, that the times are not so favourable as the time of Peter and of Paul, nor the places so advantageous as those of the Mediterranean basin. Of course, if circumstances were absolutely the same, we could not in any case excuse those who preceded us for not having walked in the tracks of the Apostles. I do not think either that we can immediately build as many Churches as the Apostles, but between that number and nothing there is a vast difference.

Between the holy patience and the salutary moderation of Saint Philip deacon and of the Apostles, and that of the religious of Jesus in India and Japan, there is again a great distance, and while the religious orders have been marvellously proper for founding Churches, it must be admitted that they have been marvellously unfortunate ! And, great God, should we reproach them with their wounds? No. Should we reproach them with their devotion ? far be it from us. Should we make the slightest reproach to a single religious in particular? Far from us. But the orders do not rise up as orders after having tried to dominate where they should have served in the second rank, for having wanted to be masters where they should have been merely auxiliaries. This is an enormous fault that it will be difficult to make public and remediable, without a great deal of trouble. For there is pride in this body where so many members practice humility.

I will not speak of the word disloyalty introduced into one note. This just shows how quickly we get irritated, and warns us to be on our guard. The example of Turenne could not be more pertinent here. Do we say that Turenne had to make other Turennes? We would say that he should have trained generals! Did he not do so? Should we say that there should always be Carlo Borromeos to govern Milan ? But we rejoice that Milan always has a bishop without the ecclesiastical administration being conferred exclusively on delegated religious. And is it not ridiculous to say that there should be an intermediary bishop at Rome if our desires could come true? Do people not realise that the Pope is the bishop of Rome?

And that is quite enough, perhaps it is already too much. It is to you alone that I am speaking, so please take for yourself whatever seems good. This is a complete conversation which I have just had with you, that hopefully you may return soon.

A Dieu. Let us meet up each day at the altar. I say mass for our work almost every day, except when I apply it for the seminary which is a part of it, the only one where I can now do some good.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Marion Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Your assirvadam to the seminarians, in particular to Marie Xavery and to Aroulnaden who, knowing that I am writing to you, humbly ask it of you.

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1844)

Sent_0110

Sent_0110 - à l'abbé Mazerolles - le 18 août 1844 -/1

Sent 0110 - to Abbé Mazerolles - 18 August 1844 -1/1

Sent_0110 - à l'abbé Mazerolles - le 18 août 1844 -1/1

Sent 0110 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 92-93

(to Abbé Mazeroles)

I am working on the cause which is dearest to me : the cause of the native clergy. Pray greatly for this cause.

Index : native clergy

__________

Pondicherry, 18 August 1844

My dear friend,

It is now a long time since you last wrote to me. Is this because your health continues to be poor? And yet Mr Tisseyre wrote to me not long ago that you were fairly well.

As for me, I am in good health, above all for the last month when some rain has fallen for, since the great heat which took place here towards the months of April and May, I have been dragging on to varying degrees. But it's not worthwhile to speak of that. Perhaps you will tell me what has happened of interest to me since my last news. I will tell you in a few short words, since I don't have time to write a long letter.

Called to Pondicherry to take in part in a synod which took place here in January, I was retained here by my bishop to act as the head of the seminary. Thus I have left the life of the fields, mountains and deserts for a sedentary and office life. What does it matter in what work the Lord employs us provided we do his holy will. I am here with all the more pleasure since I am in a position to work on the cause which is closest to my heart, since it seems to me the most fundamental and urgent at the present time for the missions, I am speaking of the work of the native clergy, to which I have vowed my entire existence since my departure from Paris.

There are several of us who are pushing at the wheel with all of our strength for that, and our efforts have already produced some results ; while we hope for yet others if God blesses us as we hope, above all if pious souls and if priests according to his heart support us, in their prayers and holy sacrifices, as I beg you to do. I hope that you will write to me soon and tell me many things.

What can I tell you, I who am always within four walls, in the midst of little and big negroes who stutter in Tamoul the language of Cicero and that of Racine or else who attempt to construct a syllogism or to penetrate a question by Saint Thomas. This is no longer anything new for you.

I would like to say to you that we have held an ordination of 50 priests, as many deacons and other orders in proportion, and that we have consecrated two or three black-faced priests. Alas! I can only tell you that my disciple has just been tonsured and that I dispose of a few other young people to share the same favour. Pray for us, pray earnestly and ask others to pray, and the rest will come.

Remember me to our old acquaintances, to Monsieur le Curé de Lasserre in particular. A Dieu.

In union of prayers and of sacrifices.

Your devoted friend

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 18 August 1844)

Sent_0111

Sent_0111 - à M. Langlois - septembre 1844 -/3

Sent 0111 - to Mr Langlois - September 1844 -3/3

Sent_0111 - à M. Langlois - septembre 1844 -1/1

Sent 0111 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 714-722

"Souvenirs", pp 403-407

(to Mr Charles Langlois)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Happy to see that you agree with our views for the multiplication of episcopates. We need archbishoprics with suffragans of medium calibre. The castes? For the moment, they have to be tolerated and then, after all, they are less offensive that the condition of slavery. If religion takes root, the castes will disappear on their own., We need a seminary in the interior, but let us not abandon the Pondicherry establishment. But what about the money? The native clergy is truly possible, and a good native clergy. But the formation of these priests to piety? What means will they have for living?

Index : bishoprics (multiplication), castes, seminary of Pondicherry, native clergy, formation, finances, my thoughts on the missions

__________

(Pondicherry) September 1844

Monsieur le Supérieur,

The three new priests who have just arrived have handed over to me your good and kind letter of 12 April...

I had reason to fear that your many occupations no longer permitted you to think of one of the youngest and least missionaries of your Society. But the good God, who showers you with so many graces, grants you, for us, that of not forgetting anyone. May his holy name be blessed.

Another thing which gave me even greater pleasure, is to see that you enter perfectly into the sense of the thoughts which dominate some of us, which appear to us truer and more salutary day by day, and that we hope to see blessed by the Lord, backed up by those which can make effective any remaining vows, without them, sterile in our hearts. It is true that you are aware of great difficulties, but believe me we have no illusions on this point; we see them too, and they are absolutely the same ones. Only, they do not seem insurmountable to us. With the help of heaven first of all, without which we know full well that nothing is possible here on earth, but also with the powerful help of those who hold in their hands the means of the missions, and who have consequently become the instruments of grace, on which we base all our trust.

However, the work which we have in mind and which seems to us to be no other than the achievement of the great thought underlying the foundation of our Society, and which animated our first apostolic vicars of precious memory, is not the work of a day. Happy if, before dying, we can give it a general impulsion such as to ensure its success in the future. Now it seems to me that, for this, we should start to get down to work, as far as possible, at this moment, without fearing certain imperfections from the outset.

For this reason we would like to see work immediately take place on the multiplication of the bishoprics, the only means of establishing, gradually and in its plenitude, the so desirable ecclesiastical hierarchy, and without which nothing seems to us to be assuredly stable and really founded. Perhaps, by encompassing the whole of our plan, you will recognise, Monsieur le Supérieur, that the numerous bishoprics we desire are still not so numerous, and need to increase if the good God is to crown even ever so little our efforts with some measure of success. Besides, we do not expect this to take place in a day. You approve the division in principle, that is all that we desire at the moment; the future will show whether we have to push any further.

As regards the article on the castes, we cannot conceal how opposed these are to the spirit of Christianity, and how much they will always embarrass the perfect establishment of religion. However here still much remains to be said. First of all, we should not imagine that we can destroy them through religion, before the majority of the Indians become Catholic. We have embarked on this way of tolerance, and there is no possibility of going back on it. It will be difficult to decide if our predecessors were wrong or right to tolerate it, but in any case now it remains to suffer that decision, and I think that much evil has come about, is maintained and will continue to be done, by the imprudence of the missionaries in their relations with caste, and by their different ways of seeing and acting, both as individuals, and as members of different bodies. Perhaps this is what will prevent India from ever becoming Catholic. Thus we must take the country as it is and try to establish religion there with the castes, without thinking of first destroying them. However the episcopate could be recruited in the higher castes where we find men who, through their education or their liberal ideas, are really above these unfortunate prejudices, despising them in their hearts, and detesting their consequences.

In fact they are the first to observe all of its laws abroad, because, more than the others, they care about the social relations that tie them inviolably to these practices, under pain of being absolutely despised and rejected even by their own family, to the point of no longer being received in the houses of their closest relatives, on the occasion of marriages or in the other solemn circumstances of life. If such men had their share of piety, I don't see why they could not be bishops. They would observe the usages of politeness and nobility of the country, without thereby despising their inferiors, to whom they would give the care of their ministry, as well as and better than the present priests who, it must be admitted, pass over the question of caste, when they are called to an outcast's deathbed.

Finally, as regards the basis of this distinction, insofar as it is merely social, as in the case of the Christians, I assure you that it appears to me much less offensive than slavery, that we did not try to destroy first of all, but which religion has softened and then modified, and later denatured, finally to abolish it almost everywhere.

May the religion of Jesus Christ come to be dominant in India, and the castes will disappear ; but we must not try to begin by destroying caste. The examples you have the goodness of quoting to me, regarding a few bishops whose consecration provides no grounds for congratulation, are still not such as to discourage me. Perhaps prudence was insufficient in their regard, and more was required of them than should have been expected. This is one more reason why I think that we need to have numerous and not very large bishoprics. In this way I would hope to see a native episcopate formed, which should start off slowly, and gradually grow as the clergy of the second order.

For if you suppose, Monsieur le Supérieur, that we believe it possible to immediately put a Tamoul bishop in the place of our beloved and ever respectable apostolic vicar, allow me to inform you that that is not our way of thinking. This vicariate that we already find to be too extensive, I find twenty times too big for a native bishop. But if Pondicherry, for example, or Madras, or Calcutta, were the see of a veritable Primate or Patriarch outside of any nationality, and the other main points referred to a few archbishoprics having jurisdiction over their suffragans, and the bishops were merely the heads of a diocese in relation to their capacity, it seems to me that the cart might perhaps move. The natives would not be excluded from anything in principle, but they would only advance to the extent they became capable of doing so. And this is quite enough on this big question that I am sure Mr Luquet will develop better than I can and with far more sagacity... Besides, we are all ready to modify this way of seeing things, once reason or authority makes it our duty to do so.

Now a word on the seminary. Many missionaries think like you, and I could easily be of their opinion, that there would be great advantages in having the seminary in the interior. Only I do not believe this possible at the present time.

[...] Today it is absolutely necessary to have a house of solid education in Pondicherry. This necessity of circumstance assumes fresh force from the establishment that the Protestants are proposing to set up here. They are incessantly about to build a temple. If we were not there to prevent them from seizing hold of young people's education... all would be lost. So that our seminary is a house of education, and this is what will explain the impossibility of having only boarders, an impossibility that I deplore as much as you do as regard the vocations the germ of which is already known. Also, in my opinion, we should aim at forming later on another establishment in the countryside, which would meet all the conditions that we desire. Perhaps the future catechumenate could meet our goal on that point, without our abandoning the establishment of Pondicherry... In this way, it seems to me that we could procure many subjects from the interior, who will never come to Pondicherry, which is the end of the world for them.

[...] A single serious objection seems to me to oppose this plan, and that is the vast expenses of such establishments... At the present time we have twenty-five boarders of whom twenty are, in name or in fact, ecclesiastical pupils whose expenses fall on the mission... Quite apart from the maintenance and food of the boarders, we have to pay for a large number of masters who however are already not sufficient. Finally, the premises where we are now can no longer contain us.

Thus, Sir and respectable confrere, if you will allow me to call you by this name despite the respect I owe you and feel for you, this is our situation at the present time, since the beginning of our work, for it is only just started. Where will we go from here? I admit that I close my eyes, when I glimpse all the difficulties, all the perils, all the reefs on which we could run aground, however all my trust is in the Lord. From another point of view, if we remain as we are now, religion will not take a single step forward, rather it will fall back. The native clergy is possible; no-one dares deny any longer that it is possible, even easy, to make a large number of priests. Vocations are not lacking, they even abound considering the number of Christians... Whereas the possibility of inspiring in them all the virtues of their condition is much more doubtful.

As an individual, I feel quite sure that they can be formed, and that we will have a very good clergy relatively speaking, if we are given the means of producing it. Despite the impulsion provided and the help of people's wills, we are still without the most essential means for forming and nourishing piety: we have no books, no chapel, no religious instructions proportionate to the capacity of the pupils, etc. Education is becoming good, however it is still far from being perfect; and the older pupils, who lived at the time of its abandonment, are very weak. However I am filled with hope, because things are improving day by day and I feel I can almost see, in the designs of Providence, some means of salvation.

But I cannot conceal the obstacles from myself. We are going to make a large number of priests. But what means will they have to live on? What different careers could they follow according to the nuances of their vocations? What means will we have of exercising an active surveillance over them and of exciting their emulation? etc., etc. A whole administration has to be created and foreseen as from today, in order to introduce it thereafter gradually without commotion and without upset. It seems to me that we would have a great deal to expect in that sense from the institution of numerous bishoprics, entrusted to superior men and who were in agreement with one another. But can we hope to achieve that? Are not these last two qualities almost always mutually exclusive? And I finish by flinging myself once more on God's infinite mercy, hoping against hope, helped by the succour of your prayers...

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry ?, September 1844)

Sent_0112

Sent_0112 - à M. Luquet - le 21 octobre 1844 -/3

Sent 0112 - to Mr Luquet - 21 October 1844 -2/3

Sent_0112 - à M. Luquet - le 21 octobre 1844 -1/1

Sent 0112 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 99ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

His Lordship would like to send young people to be formed in Europe. Who should be chosen? Let us not go too fast. How can we maintain a numerous clergy in India? Some ideas on means to be taken. And if Propagation of the Faith founded some benefices in India, we could be its instruments in India. Basically it's not very important who is chosen to preach this work. Missions should not be created in the air, but fixed on solid bases. Don't trust the Jesuits.

Index : formation, native clergy, benefices, finances

__________

Pondicherry, 21 October 1844

Dear confrere and friend,

I was not intending to write to you by this steamer. I don't even know if this little missive will leave this time, since it is already the last hour of the last day. I feel impelled to write to you under the inspiration of two thoughts that I saw yesterday in a letter written to you by His Lordship. He speaks to you of the salutary thought he has of sending a few young people to Europe to give them a real and solid ecclesiastical spirit which will ensure the bases of a good clergy on which His Lordship has the very determined will to work with all his strength. May the good God be blessed. I still regard this as a case of the assistance of the Holy Spirit that is reserved to the episcopate. For this thought of sending young people to Europe was as spontaneous for His Lordship as that of delegating you to prepare the ways of so many great things which appear possible and which it will perhaps be granted us to achieve one day.

I don't doubt but that you are using every possible means for the achievement of His Lordship's projects. I just want to inform you of a few thoughts which could influence the manner of the steps you will be taking. I consider this as very salutary. But there are also major difficulties, first and foremost regarding the subjects. His Lordship mentions to you Gnanapragasam, on whom I count extremely little, and Aroulnaden. I have great hopes in this child. But he gives me well founded fears for his health which might even affect his morality. Solundranaden seems to be more solid from certain points of view, but his will is not sufficiently firm. After them, I count on Nallatamby, but he is very young, on Appavou, but he does not have the qualities required for going to Europe, and a few others such as Gnanadicasamy, Valernaden, Mariapragasam who are more or less on the way to becoming good priests.

A newcomer from Karikal might be of the right stuff ; as for the others, we'll have to see. So these are the subjects on whom we can hope. The first who are more advanced may be missed by us, but perhaps they may not even wish to go to Europe; finally, even they are not ready for the moment. We should not hasten overmuch, but prepare things well so that we can make it a real success.

There would be other things to say on the way of carrying it out, but since we consider the project as some way off, we will come back to those later. Paris, Saint-Sulpice, that's very good, that is where it should end up ; but is that where it should start ? We should remember that Paris is not France, and that France is not Europe. The fact is that we should take care not to produce merely French priests, and even less only Parisian ones.

Before arriving at my principal thought, let us go on to that in which His Lordship tells you that he shares my fears on the means of maintaining a numerous native clergy. These fears do not fall on the substance, but on the way which will make this impossible if we do not take care. As things are today, if other means are not taken, with an essentially different administration, it seems to me certain that a numerous native clergy would lead to the ruin and not the edification of India.

But there are other measures to be taken. It is urgent above all to establish Churches in fact, and not merely in name, livings and other benefices, without other denominations if wished, but in the hierarchy of which various different nuances of incomes are placed, to establish a orderly diocesan administration, into we could introduce all those who, by their talents and piety, might be judged worthy etc. We should work on all that, and our fears will disappear, they will even turn to hopes. And what is this other than the work of the native clergy, a work to be done, a work to be preached and in which, as it should be clearly stated, it is not just a case of making priests. That is the first condition, but alone it will not found the native clergy.

How I would love one day to be the preacher of this new crusade ! How I would like to do also what I told you a few days ago, like Mgr Flaget; what services did that holy bishop not render to Propagation of the Faith and to the missions! Prepare the ways for this great work. In the name of Propagation of the Faith we should preach the native clergy. It is necessary that it should first of all have this great thought itself, and to the glory that it has acquired for having revived the missions, it should bring that of consolidating from the foundations what it insinuated by its first funds, when it consecrated 500,000 francs each year to found benefices; and two or three bishoprics with some twenty livings, canonicates or other benefices would be founded each year quite apart from the resources present in each country. What a fine cause and, great God! Could we not become its instruments. Let us hope.

In order to preach such a work, it would be necessary quite apart from an abundant grace, to be provided with a certain authority. Mgr Flaget had that of his saintliness and of the episcopal character, neither of which we can lay claim to. But could we not be clothed in that of Propagation of the Faith, or of another such which would give us a special mission of the Holy See. And would not the carefully handled appearance of a few good Indian subjects in Europe likewise come to our aid ?

Besides, when I say we, it is even more in the aim of granting my heart the hope of contributing to a work that has been expressing its strongest desires for over twenty years now, than in not allowing this so fundamental task to be entrusted to some other more capable of making it triumph over a thousand obstacles that the demon will not fail to create. In fact, my career could very soon be finished, for I feel my strength diminish day by day, and with my physical strength my moral strength also ; it is said that in mission, each year counts for two. I think that as far as I am concerned, this multiplication should be increased even more. I am becoming old, morose and nonchalant.

No matter if some other takes over the work that the good God gave me to conceive and love since my childhood (for that was the case with me). But may he seize it from its base, may he preach the native clergy in its true constitutive principle, may he preach that it is not sufficient to create missions in the air, but that finally these must be placed on bases, these bases being the Churches, the bishops, parish priests, canons, chaplains and the benefices of whatever kind they may be. May he preach your thoughts and mine, for I believe that they are those of Our Mother Church whose holy institutions we wish to see established throughout the universe with the same spirit which led to their creation and maintenance everywhere where she was able. Forgive me for my bad pen and my bad jargon, I have no time either to cut or to polish one or the other.

His Lordship speaks to you at length of the Jesuits ; I will say nothing of this to you, only it seems to me that it might be that they were a little less culpable that it appears in the detail of the misfortunes that have come about. But as regards their way of seeing things, as regards their general and future views, I believe we would do well to thoroughly mistrust them, for their principles are diametrically opposed to ours, and they are powerful and shrewd. If our principle is good, it seems to me that it is without prejudice that it appears to me such, we must not let them get hold of our field. Which they will manage to do if we do not take vigorous measures to increase our authority in India.

A Dieu. I will return more than once on the thought underlying this letter that I am writing in haste in the midst of the masons, the noise of the classrooms, etc. You do not forget me, I think, in your prayers. I think every day of you. May God come to our aid. It is only for him that we work, let us pray to him to destroy our plans if they are not in accordance with his heart. Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 21 October 1844)

Sent_0113

Sent_0113 - à son frère Henri - le 8 décembre 1844 -/3

Sent 0113 - to his brother Henri - 8 December 1844 -2/3

Sent_0113 - à son frère Henri - le 8 décembre 1844 -1/1

Sent 0113 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 112-113

(to his brother Henri)

Write to me sometimes, it is relatively quick. I am sending Papa a mat through Father Bertrand. No rain and rice is very expensive. We are going to have a coadjutor; the consecration will be delayed, since we need the authorisation of the French government. News of the seminary (building, pupils). Luckily there are the funds of Propagation of the Faith! Mr Triboulot's death. Now it is raining: good prospects for the rice harvest.

Index : friendship, correspondence, famine, seminary of Pondicherry

__________

(Pondicherry) 8 December 1844 ()

I received your good letter of 4 October, my very dear friend, on 22 November last. As you see, the steamer that the English know so well how to use, enables us to receive news which has not had time to become old in the crossing. It is easy to write from Europe here with almost the same certainty and the same promptness as from one point in Europe to another. Each month, and sometimes twice a month, in this way we have news of our friends. I am saying this in order to engage you to profit from time to time from this marvellous means of communication which no longer leaves you any excuse for laziness.

Perhaps you are going to send the ball back to me, however my innumerable and continual occupations shelter me from all reproach, leaving me the liberty to call you lazy, when you let a long time pass without writing to me yourself. Lack of paper will not be a sufficient excuse for, without it costing any more, you can make your packet consist of 4 sheets of ¼ like this one, that is to say 17 small in-folio pages, and you won't have any fear of lacking material, for even the slightest things that happen around you all interest me always.

Rev. Father Bertrand, a Jesuit from Madurai, has just left for France and I have entrusted him with a mat to be passed on to you ; it is addressed to Papa, at Castelnaudary. See what needs to be done in case it should arrive when you are not in that town. The Rev. Father, making his voyage round the Cape, should take four to five months to complete the journey, for he has to stop for a while in Bourbon ; so that the mat could arrive towards the months of April or May. This is one of the prettiest objects that one can send from India, but also one of the most difficult because of the customs which absolutely prevent its entry. It is necessary for the traveller to make it pass off as an object for his personal use, which prevents him from taking several. This is the reason why I am sending you only one ; and will it get through ? I hope so, you'll see.

As regards that, how is it that you send me nothing from Europe ? You would be doing me a good turn. But what? Whatever it is, everything here is precious when it comes from afar. It is true that you have had a poor harvest, which even prevented you from sending me the little accustomed adjutorium ; I say you, because I think that you must be beginning to concern yourself with business, even the business of the purse.

As you see, I have taken care that it does not rain too much in the Lauragais, and also that it rains ; here, we are still without rain this year. This is a veritable calamity for Pondicherry. The price of rice is now sky-high and I haven't a single grain over in the seminary. However it appears that the drought is not general and that the present shortage will not last. If it should last some time more, there would be famine like they had twelve years ago, when this terrible scourge wreaked havoc throughout the peninsula.

What more can I tell you ? I practically never leave my cloister, and in fact we have nothing new here except what is brought in from France or from England. However, I must tell you that we are going to have a new bishop. My Lord Bishop has appointed his coadjutor who would already have been consecrated if the French government had not had the ridiculous pretension of stopping the ceremony, under the pretext that the king of the French has to approve a subject having any sort of administration over his possessions. Now, you should know that the French government has an apostolic prefect in charge of the colonies here, and that we are exclusively for the Blacks, without any relationship with the ministry.

Moreover, the vicariate is almost completely in the English possessions. In addition to which, our Society, approved by the French government, has enjoyed, from the outset, the right of appointing its bishops and coadjutors exactly as it pleased. But yet, the governor has placed his veto. We could easily have vexed it by taking a last-minute walk, and proceeding to the consecration on the territory of Queen Victoria; but what is the point of nettling people? My Lord of Drusipare preferred to practise patience and wait for the confirmation of the French government, which delays the consecration by three months.

Would you believe it ? I have become an architect. Since we need to build new premises for our pupils, I have been entrusted with drawing up the plan. It is already being carried out. Not that we are building all of it at once; for I have made a plan which can be enlarged on as need be, while maintaining its unity, so as not to look later like a jumble of houses added on to one another, which is ordinarily the case when building just what is needed for the moment without foreseeing the future. All of this gives me even more to do, for from time to time I have to go and see how what is on paper is being carried out on the spot.

Now we have about 80 pupils, both boarders and day-boys. Later, we may well have far more, and the establishment, on the scale that it is being built could, when completed, contain as many as 200, with a complete separation of the day-boys from the boarders, courtyards, gardens, chapel, etc. Fortunately the ground costs us nothing and the materials are pretty cheap. Despite which, it will take a lot of money: here as everywhere money does everything.

Without Propagation of the Faith, we would be obliged to abandon all of our establishments. The French government does not give us a sol, nor the English government either. When has is ever been that governments fostered the work of God? However, we must not complain, God himself has provided and much better, by creating the charity of Propagation of the Faith. The good God always places the remedy beside the ill. How admirable is his Providence! And how entitled to our love and our gratitude!

I have to inform you of the death of my travel companion, Mr Triboulot. This dear confrere, this good friend, has already finished his career, he has gone to receive the reward for his sacrifices. He was carried off by cholera in a few short hours. He was alone in the interior, so that he did not even have the consolation of being attended by a priest at his death. But he was such a fine soul! I am sure that the angels surrounded his deathbed and that they laid his mortal remains in the grave to come and seek him in the days of the general manifestations. However, cum vix justus sit securus (). Pray for him.

I have racked my head, but in vain, for I can't find anything else to tell you that could be of the slightest interest to you. However, in order to end up with the rain and the fine weather, I must tell you that, since I finished this letter, that is to say two days ago, it has rained and continues to rain still. The price of rice at once fell by half. You may perhaps be astonished at that. You will understand it when you know that the time of the rain is more or less fixed. Already, it had practically passed and if the new moon had come once more without rain, almost certainly there would have been no harvest this year.

Now all fears are allayed, for the reservoirs of water, by means of which the rice is watered, are partially filled, and if the rain lasts a few days more, the previous prospect of famine will be replaced by one of abundance. In fact such famine is becoming all the rarer the more the European governments extend their prudential measures, but is always to be feared in these parts.

Please convey my friendly greetings to the whole family, as well as to each member personally.

I am writing a few lines to Papa to give him the news and details of the death of the poor Maxime de Gonzens, who died wretchedly at Madras. This is almost always the fate of those bad characters who rush, without prudence or wisdom, in search of a fortune which evades them.

Say a thousand things to Mamma on my behalf. Tell her for me all of those sweet things that your good filial heart inspires in you on such occasions.

And please do the same as regards our dear and beloved sisters, my aunt Julie who loved us so much when we were children, and who without doubt has not ceased to love us, and whom we will not cease to love and to respect.

Give my compliments to the people of the neighbourhood, that is to say your neighbourhood, etc. etc.

A Dieu, dear friend. It is to God that I commend you in closing, as I so often do in my prayers. I pray that he will lavish on you his most abundant, his sweetest and most effective blessings. May you by your fidelity to him make yourself, day by day, more worthy to receive fresh graces. I hope that you address your thought and actions in that direction. Do so always and pray for me also who love you so much. A Dieu.

Your good brother.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Pondicherry ?, 8 December 1844)

Sent_0114

Sent_0114 - à M. Albrand - le 12 décembre 1844 -/2

Sent 0114 - to Mr Albrand - 12 December 1844 -1/2

Sent_0114 - à M. Albrand - le 12 décembre 1844 -1/1

Sent 0114 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 913-916

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

The demon works against the establishment of a good native clergy. What a pity that the Directors of Paris have not entirely adopted Mgr Bonnand's views advanced by Mr Luquet. Only the multiplication of bishoprics can get us out of the present difficulties: the schismatics, the Protestants, the bad Christians, the Jesuits. We need your assistance if we are to triumph. If we are wrong, may the Lord point it out to us clearly.

Index : native clergy, bishoprics, Jesuits, MEP, my thoughts on the missions

__________

Pondicherry, 12 December 1844

Sir and very dear confrere,

For a long time now I have been wanting to write to you and I can't understand how I could have delayed so long. Excuse me, please, and do not hold it against me.

As you may know, I have been attached to the seminary for almost a year now. Although this work is not naturally to my taste, I fulfil my duties with pleasure and try to discharge them as well as possible in the founded hope of working for the establishment of a good native clergy. The demon who is too much afraid that this work may succeed creates all sorts of contradictions, the biggest of which at the moment is the anger of the Christians of Pondicherry against His Lordship and the missionaries. It is unfortunate that we are forced to have the principal establishment of this kind here; but this is a necessity and it would be most unfortunate to change this situation for the moment. However we need another establishment in the interior, otherwise we risk only carrying out the work by half and not succeeding.

The good God seems to be making us enter into the path of progress. However the devil loses no time. He could even turn to evil what will be the beginning of an immense good if things are conducted well, supposing always the grace of Heaven. But it is no longer small resolutions and no longer small measures that have to be taken. It is the most serious of affairs and the most important for the future that necessarily have to be dealt with. If we are wrong, these are blows that may lead to the death of God's work and if, for fear of making a mistake, no action is taken, death seems no less certain to me. We have to act, we have to act greatly, we have to act prudently; action or rest are no longer indifferent.

I was very disappointed to see that the Directors of Paris did not entirely adopt the views of His Lordship and of so many missionaries. Each day I believe more firmly that the measures indicated as conveyed in the memorandum delivered by Mr Luquet, are greatly necessary and at once. I am even persuaded that several Directors of Paris, if not all, would think like us if they were on the spot here.

I saw with great pleasure that My Lord the Apostolic Vicar of Siam did not find the project of the titular bishops contrary to the institutions of our body. For if it were so, that would be unfortunate and when such action becomes necessary, it would be necessary to then forego either the advantages of our dear Society or else to leave on one side a capital good of the missions. I have no doubt that, for India in particular, the time has come for this measure to be at least highly desirable. It would give us strength and we have great need of that in the face of the schismatics, the Protestants, the degenerated Christians and the Jesuits. These good Fathers will make life difficult for us, believe me ; the way in which they have acted recently and have pushed on to the dire end gives me the greatest fears. However I love them, I venerate them and would like to have them in our midst. With the bishoprics, all of that could work out perfectly. If we stay where and as we are, and they where and as they are, may the good God do a miracle, or else we will be witnesses of great woes, and past times will be repeated.

  * Forgive me this outpouring of the heart ; however mischievous it may be, it seems to me that on such ground, it beats exclusively for God's cause. We have before our eyes a future of prosperity or of ruin; can we remain without great fears side by side with great hopes? In any case, if we are to overcome these obstacles, we require all of your assistance. I know that is assured us in advance for everything that you believe to be good, but unfortunately we do not always see this good in the same way. May the Lord show us that we are making a mistake, if we maintain even a single point contrary to the truth, and may he give us his divine light to help us in the resolutions he inspires in us.

A Dieu. Completely for the glory of this good master before whom I ask you to remember sometimes your very unworthy but sincerely devoted confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 12 December 1844)

Sent_0115

Sent_0115 - à M. Luquet - le 18 décembre 1844 -/5

Sent 0115 - to Mr Luquet - 18 December 1844 -5/5

Sent_0115 - à M. Luquet - le 18 décembre 1844 -1/1

Sent 0115 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 107ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

What we want above all, is to do God's will. I have managed to bring Mgr Charbonnaux round to our views, but I distrust a mind that changes so quickly. The missionaries have forgotten what they signed at the synod. The seminary of Pondicherry goes well, but we need to have separate finances. The Jesuits are convinced of our weakness. I would be tempted to go and seek another corner of the earth. His Lordship no longer speaks of sending young people to Europe. In India, people are beginning to distrust you; I remain completely devoted to you, and the apostolic vicar of Siam is full of your praises. Thoughts on the catechists: functions, qualities, but they have neither vocation nor special graces for that. This is an unsound institution. Going back in history we see, instead of catechists, porters, lectors, deacons, etc. For the moment, it is a necessary evil.

Index : catechists, my thoughts on the missions, will of God, finances, Jesuits, formation, resignation from the seminary

__________

Pondicherry, 18 December 1844

I think I have answered the letter that I received from you dated from the Foreign Missions. Last month's steamer brought me another one from Malta written much earlier. His Lordship has also received one from you from that same island. At the present time, you are undoubtedly in Rome. What are you doing there? Does the Lord permit you to advance our cause, or has he decided to test us by the humiliations and other trials that a complete failure would certainly cause us? May his will be done, may his glory alone find its advancement thereby, and that is all! However let us never be discouraged.

Without doubt it is not for nothing that the Lord has given us such a powerful conviction that the truth lies in the work that we are pursuing ; he knows well that we are telling him no lie when we address to him the prayer of not allowing our views to come about, if they are the least in the world contrary to his designs. Accordingly let us arm ourselves with courage, ready to abandon everything when we notice anything human in our works; let us walk without hesitating if the conviction remains still that the work of God is there. Now that is my conviction more intimately than ever, dear friend; may we be faithful to grace.

After that opening up of the heart, let us come to the state of things on this side of the Red Sea, (if ?) you don't allow us to hope in what is happening on the other. Mr Charbonnaux, whom people no longer call anything but Mgr Charbonnaux, who has been clothed in violet, while awaiting the confirmation of things through the proceeding of the French, and who seems to have come back (like may others) on his hesitations, Mgr Charbonnaux is here then. He arrived filled with prejudices against the seminary, prejudices which seem to have disappeared almost as soon as they had arisen. He did not speak of you. However I think that he dreads your lack of experience.

He seems no longer to be opposed to the native clergy, however his ideas on this point have no basis. They are it seems to me, we should, I believe, etc. which are exchanged one for another. However, he seems to be favourable to the impulsion provided, and is beginning to share my views on this point gradually as I explain them to him. This disposition of yielding to a demonstrated truth appears to me of good augury in this respectable prelate. However, I always mistrust a mind that changes so quickly, above all when it has such definite opinions as Mr Charbonnaux had on such serious matters, but that a few short days suffice to wipe out. He must then have formed these opinions without any basis. And that is very dangerous for a bishop. However that may be, I believe that we must bless the Lord for his promotion; in others there would have been more to desire, and the grace of the episcopate, that we will request very sincerely for him on the day of his consecration, will perfect what the grace of the priest has begun.

All of the missionaries seem up in arms against Pondicherry. It is incredible to see how inconsistent they are with themselves. What we are doing is merely the immediate consequence of what they voted for and signed in the synod. But they no longer remember that. Otherwise, I do not know that there are any great news on the part of these Gentlemen. Mr Roger is dealing a little with the pagans, and I believe is doing enough to prove that there would be an abundant harvest to be gathered from them if the labourers returned to this abandoned field. Mr Méhay is going to be employed for certain precise missions it would appear, let us see what transpires.

The seminary is going its own pace. The boarders are doing quite well, three newcomers have been tonsured, a few others give me great hopes, many others a more or less founded hope. The day-boys are not doing so well, with many children withdrawing under the pretext that they are always being taught Latin. I am convinced that the state of irritation of the Christians towards the missionaries has something to do with this, but I also believe that they are a little bit and sometimes quite right. Latin is not very useful to them; on the other hand, if we stopped teaching it, there would be drawbacks. What should be done for the best? I don't know. I do not have a sufficiently well grounded opinion to even ask that the question be examined since it could be treated all too lightly. Although I said that the boarding school was going well, I still consider it to be a hundred leagues from what it could be now with more resources. I persist in saying that if we have no funds for the seminary, we will never really get on. What we need is ten thousand francs assured in the hands of the Superior with the obligation to account for this to the bishop alone.

Father Bertrand has just left us, for he came to embark at Pondicherry, taking with him Daïriam and two other Indians. To tell you how I suffered during the time he stayed here, above all at the sight of our weakness, would be a difficult task; right up to the end we have been the dupes of the Jesuits, we have closed our eyes to the most obvious things, we have allowed them to put their foot on us, and we have said: it is good. This affair is one of those which make me fear most for the Society of Foreign Missions. For we must have a great feeling of our inferiority to allow them to treat us as they have done, and they must be firmly convinced of our weakness to dare to do what they have in fact accomplished: I will say no more, I already had great difficulty in rejecting all the temptations that came to me on seeing all of this.

That telling me to go and seek another corner of the earth was not the least strong. The Lord did not allow it to get very far. However I admit that if the Seminary of Paris is not strong or not clever enough to prevent the future proving disastrous for the missions, by directing things as from now in such a way as to prevent all serious conflict with the Jesuits, and to ensure not being suffocated by them, I might well not regard this thought as a temptation.

I very much doubt that despite having seen Father Bertrand take three Indians with him, people are very much inclined here to let subjects leave for Europe. His Lordship no longer speaks to me of that and I think that if we were to put such a project into execution, we would find a great many obstacles. In addition things are not ready, however we should arrange it so that they are ready in two years' time. Then, I who do not lose sight of this, hope to be in a position to provide three or four subjects who would be all that we could desire.

Now people speak very little of you, and when they do say a word, it is clear that they are filled with distrust. They mistrust all your proposals, regarding them as arising from an exalted, fiery mind, of a young man in short. What we need, my friend, is a victory, without which even the most reasonable and best founded of your words will be without any effect; avoid anything resembling enthusiasm. But if the good God gives you some success, things will completely change; do not hurry, sound out the ground at Rome, see what it is possible to do, what it is profitable to prepare for the future, and do not forget that you can count on me as on yourself. I am not able to give you the notes that you ask of me, you have had my diary in your hands, and I don't have any others.

I think I will be incapable of helping you from the point of view of the publications which would be so necessary. The good God will create others. The only thing I can do would be to inform them of my thoughts on the various points concerning the missions. Full liberty to use these materials, cutting, trimming like a mason the stone which would otherwise not fit into the building. I am going to send you as a specimen an article on the catechists. I took this subject by chance, it would need to be much more carefully adjusted. However I think that the thoughts in it are true.

Providence which does not yet allow us to come to the end of our resources let fall into His Lordship's hands a letter from My Lord the Apostolic Vicar of Siam, which undoubtedly His Lordship will inform you of. This is just what we needed after a long visit from Mr Jarrige who is as you know him to be. He had written, not very long ago, that we were wrong to be in such a hurry, that it would have required, etc. etc. and that finally you seemed too exalted! And – keep this strictly for yourself if you do not already know it – that you seemed to him too eager to manage the business and His Lordship. It needed something to offset that. Now the Bishop of Siam praises you and your book in the highest terms, and moreover, he is perfectly in agreement with what My Lord of Drusipare said, and finds nothing in it contrary to our Society's Constitutions. Deo Gratias!

Thoughts on the catechists. What are the catechists? Men not of ecclesiastical character who carry out the most saintly functions for which there is need of all the graces of holy orders. Ordinary laymen who read in church, preside over meetings of Christians, preach, baptise, turn away the faithful from the holy table, or admit them to it in some sort, ordinary laymen finally who perform precisely all the functions of the first deacons, functions for which it was necessary first of all to choose men full of wisdom, enriched with the graces of the Holy Spirit, and that the Apostles sanctified finally by the laying of hands. However, the difficulties of spreading the Gospel have not diminished. So is it not natural that Religion drags on, and makes no progress, that the Christians themselves lose their first faith and their first fervour in a country where rough peasants, ignorant labourers, and cowardly mercenaries do the functions of the Etiennes, so full of the intelligence of the Scriptures, of the Laurents so full of zeal and of love, of the Vincents whose constancy and strength have served as models to so many holy martyrs? And what will replace in these men the grace of ordination, married most of them, full of solicitude for their families, but having on the contrary very little for the glory of God?

In this country, so long as the missionary remains in the district that the catechist administers, the latter ordinarily shows an assiduous zeal often designed to prepare the faithful either for confession or for communion, which is limited to doing a little catechism and to reading some prayers of preparation and actions of grace before and after the administration of the sacraments. It is true he still gives a more or less exact account of the state of the Christians, and that is practically all his useful ministry amounts to. Only rarely have I seen him sufficiently informed to undertake some reading with discernment and intelligence. An old book that he inherited from his catechist father and that he transmits in his old age to his indispensable eldest catechist son ordinarily forms his whole library ; sometimes he lets the feasts of the Church pass unperceived, when he does not make a mistake in the announcement regarding them to the people.

In almost every administration, I hear the Christians complain about the catechist, often with reason, and almost always also the catechist complains about the Christians, above all because they are not exact in giving him the salary agreed on. Finally, the care that the catechist gives to the sick is almost nil, often he dispenses with attending burials ; as regards the baptisms he gives, and these are very many, they are so doubtful that the synod of Pondicherry declared last year that these should always, without exception, be given again, conditionally.

You may tell me perhaps that this is not the case everywhere, that it would not be like this in this mission if we could found a catechumenate as desired for a long time now. This may be true, although I don't believe it. To my eyes, all of this is merely one more illusion added to so many others. I believe that for some years, in certain particular places, above all if we managed to form a good catechumenate, I really believe we could accidentally have some passable catechists. This would last perhaps for some time, to be replaced once more by the abuses we are deploring today, and to yet others that will arise in the future. Why? Because the principle will remain just as false, contrary to the Gospel and to the practice of the Church of establishing as ministers in holy matters men who have neither vocation nor special graces for that.

Earlier on the Jesuits had excellent catechists ; where are they today ? Should we say that it is because the Jesuits did not stay on that the catechists deteriorated? It would not be difficult to refute this thesis, but let us accept it, and we will say that it is a very great evil that men, whoever they may be, should establish Religion on foundations that only they could sustain. It is necessary to realise that nothing is stable on this earth, societies like men pass away, even the most powerful and respectable bodies pass, and who was more powerful and more respectable than the Jesuits? A storm arose, and they disappeared for a moment. Who can tell us what they will be in the future? Who can tell us what we will be also? But religion must remain without us as with us, and if we do not take care, if we attach the existence of religion in any country to one condition essential to ours, we are mistaken, as I do not fear to say, with all the respect that I bear to the Company of Jesus, that it was wrong about many things in the missions.

Let us ask ourselves now what is the principle of this unsound institution ? It seems to me to be the necessary consequence of the widowhood of the Churches. The Religious and above all the Jesuits do not want any native clergy, and desire the least possible bishops, (they) however needed collaborators from the country, it is impossible to do without these. Thus they created catechists. By their zeal and their competence, they were able to obtain a great deal from the catechists, but the principle was false, they could not withstand the times and the tempests. When a few bishops appeared thereafter in the vast regions administering themselves in this way for centuries, they let things go, several out of a dominant respect for the Jesuits, whose personal ability was well-known, trembled at doing things in any other way than them, very few of these bishops were of sufficiently powerful talent to return on the principles, study them, sound them out, even less did they know how to strip themselves of the prejudices of the Churches which had see them born; they felt obliged to model on the dioceses of France, of Italy and Portugal, each one according to the country from which it arose, the dioceses or vicariates of India and of China.

Now, they no longer saw in Europe deacons, lectors and other lesser clerics in office. They did not realise that they had exercised these functions in Europe when the European Churches were new; they were old now while we are young. It is true that they saw no catechists in Europe, but here they found them established, and it is easier to maintain what exists even when it is bad, than to create a good practice. The bishops therefore moved under the constraint of a twofold prejudice.

Without dreaming of the possibility of seeing reborn anywhere in the world the perfection of the Original Churches, however I think that in order to enter perfectly into the spirit of the Church, it would be necessary for the conduct of the new Churches to go back through the ages in church history to the time corresponding to the ecclesiastical age of the missions. It is thus that the bishops should have gone all the further back the newer their Church was. There, having regard first of all to the different characters of the peoples, they would have found, more or less, the form that they should have given to the preaching of the Gospel, and they would certainly always have founded on the clergy the basis of their spiritual resources, and the force of their preaching

Then, we would certainly have seen somewhere, instead of lay catechists, porters, lectors, acolytes and deacons employed according to their capacities and their talents as well as in relation to the needs and resources of the country. These clerics would thereafter have become priests at least in part, and the native clergy that was believed impossible, because we did not want priests and perfect priests all at once, would gradually have been recruited according to their means. The Christian settlements would have consecrated a part of their sacrifices to the upkeep either of a lector or a deacon, and in this way benefices would gradually have been formed, and the Churches would have found themselves already built on native rock.

I know that criticism is easy, but art difficult. It is easier to see after events above all, what has been badly done, than what should be done. Thus, I do not blame beyond measure those who went before us. They lived in bad times, only, I cannot help bitterly regretting their slight inclination for, let us say even their distancing from, the native clergy. This repugnance that is all the more to be deplored compared to the example of the Apostles and the innumerable decrees of Rome explains many things for me.

But finally, what are we to conclude regarding what to should be put into practice ? Should we immediately suppress all catechists? No, and in fact it would be impossible; catechists have become a necessary evil, and besides who should we replace them with since the native clergy does not exist?...

They have cut me off short. His Lordship has sent for the letter. I have not finished it...the rest will be for another time. I don't even have time to read it through, so take it as it is.

Farewell. I have learned that Mr Boucho is in the forefront for the apostolic vicariate of Siam. That makes me quite sad. You know the man. They say there is embarrassment, Good God, when here we have Dupuis's and Mr Lehodeys!...are we not of the same Society?

Pray for me.

Your best friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 18 December 1844)

Sent_0116

Sent_0116 - à M. Tesson - le 17 février 1845 -/2

Sent 0116 - to Mr Tesson - 17 February 1845 -1/2

Sent_0116 - à M. Tesson - le 17 février 1845 -1/1

Sent 0116 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 977-980

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director to the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the objects received. What we lack above all is the union of ideas between us in our institution. And yet, our mission is a fine one. You do not seem convinced of our views, but the time has come to act and it is up to us to do that. I beg you, back us up. If I were a little something, I would enter into discussion with Paris and Rome. Thanks for sending L'Univers.

Index : MEP, Jesuits, my thoughts on the missions, humility.

__________

Pondicherry, 17 February 1845

Sir and very dear confrere,

Our confreres of the Amable have just arrived. I have received several of the objects that you were so kind as to send us, while I await the others with impatience, hoping that it will be by the next ship. I will give you hereafter the list of the books received so that you can complete my requests as exactly as you can, if you have not already done so.

Yes, my very dear Mr Tesson, I am grieved that your numerous occupations do not allow you to enter into detail on the big questions of the mission. You know how much confidence I have in your views. It seems to me that if you were to deal fearlessly and confidently with the difficulties of our work, you would have some confidence in the future, the happiness of which depends largely on your efforts. I have seen with great sorrow that your last letter seemed tinged with sadness and discouragement. You said in your good and very amiable letter of 8 October that a community of views and union were above all necessary for us.

I am so convinced of that, dear friend, that my greatest fears arise from the fact that this union does not appear to be sufficient. Not only between the confreres of Pondicherry, but also between the missionaries and the bishop, between the bishop and the Seminary of Paris. This is what will lead to the failure of our projects, this is what will prevent us from achieving our institution's goal, what will make us fall and disappear under the power of the English and of the Jesuits in India, of the Jesuits and other adversaries everywhere.

And yet it seems to me that divine Providence has entrusted to us a very fine mission on earth. A mission quite different from that which the others are entrusted with and which they are discharging. Different, yes, but not opposed, for good never opposes good: only it might at first glance appear opposed to certain institutions, and consequently arouse on their part disastrous oppositions. Oppositions which will lose us if we are not faithful or if Heaven still does not consider the peoples worthy of the happiness which we could procure for them.

We are without news of Mr Luquet for two months now. I very much fear that his proceedings have been thwarted. You yourself, dear Tesson, do not seem to be convinced of the necessity of the works that we are so set on. I cannot enter into a discussion on this point, for I have neither the time nor the means to do so. Only it seems to me that if you were here, you would think like Mr Luquet and myself. I believe even that you will shortly see that none of our views is out of season and I can assure you heartily that I become more intimately persuaded every day of three things: 1) that the time has come to bring about in India, and perhaps in all the missions, a salutary and powerful movement; 2) that it is us who should be at the head of this movement; and 3) that in order to bring about this movement we need other means than those we have employed thus far. With that, I see the catholicisation of India possible, but without it not.

I assure you, dear friend, that one often has a broken heart when one sees something is possible, but one is prevented from carrying it out. As for me, it is my martyrdom. Let us pray heaven to bless us, everything is in its hands. But back up, dear friend, back up Mr Luquet's views and proceedings. Back up our undertakings, they will be for India's salvation, or for its ruin, for this is what makes me tremble at times. If we fail to do good, evil will follow on.

For example, we form a clergy on the possibility of which there is no longer any reasonable doubt ; this will have the task of overturning India, for the good if we prepare the ways, if we take the measures for initiating them to the priestly virtues and if we get rid of our prejudices perhaps more disastrous than those of the people whom we condemn so easily in theirs ; for the worse if, by our fault, for it will be above all through our fault that this misfortune will occur, for the worse if we are not able to see, foresee, act, and get out of our rut.

If I was something in the mission, if I were not the least of our confreres, I declare that I would enter into discussion on all these matters both with the Seminary of Paris and with Rome : but I will only allow myself, until God disposes otherwise, if ever he wants me to deal with this, now and then to open my heart to you, not as a director proper, but as to a friend whom I esteem and venerate.

Thank you for the issues of L'Univers that I received by the last steamer. Kindly continue like that. If you consider it appropriate to change newspaper, do as you think fit, that'll be for the best. I only fear one thing, allow me to say this to you as a friend, the fact is that your numerous occupations do not always permit you to send exactly and without interruption the sheets of each month; for this reason I had tried to obtain a free subscription which would never miss the post. But if the means that you have taken do not cause you too much trouble, I will be all the more satisfied, and I shall be grateful to you.

A Dieu, dear friend, may we do something for our holy Religion. Help me with your efforts and your prayers. The Gentlemen of the Amable will very probably be writing to you. These Gentlemen do not seem very pleased with Paris, this last remark for you alone.

Your very devoted and very respectful confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. My respects, please, to all the directors.

(Pondicherry, 17 February 1845)

Sent_0117

Sent_0117 - à M. Luquet - mars 1845 -/2

Sent 0117 - to Mr Luquet - March 1845 -2/2

Sent_0117 - à M. Luquet - mars 1845 -1/1

Sent 0117 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 124ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

I am sad. Once more a faux pas going against the native clergy. Valernaden was refused the tonsure and I was unable to persuade the council. I handed in my resignation: it is the only way of proving that they are making a big mistake. Consolation of the three tonsured. At Rome, get effective measures taken against the schism, the Jesuits and the English. Take care, some would like to see you retained in Rome or in Paris.

Index : native clergy, Jesuits, seminary of Pondicherry, my thoughts on the missions, resignation from the seminary, Rome (authority)

__________

(Pondicherry), March 1845

I did not want to write to you by this steamer, dear friend, I was too sad, for it is some time now that sadness has filled my soul and I live in suffering. But today, can it be a question of my sufferings at the sight of Jesus Christ expiring on the cross? No, for some time already, I am not content, may the Lord not permit that the evil I foresee actually happens: but I fear greatly that the good we still have to do will be much affected. The seminary has already suffered, the day school has suffered from the general course of things, the boarding school has been little affected by the commotions from outside, but it has suffered from inner blows which may have disastrous results in my opinion. These results are not of such a nature as to appear immediately, they are among those whose course remains vague and uncertain when we do not go back to the source of all things. It is a malaise, a mutual distancing, a disastrous distrust between the native clergy and the foreign clergy that the latter is preparing, for want of sufficient compassion, it seems to me, of human weaknesses, great everywhere, and greater here than elsewhere.

In this way we have indisposed the Malabar priests, we have saddened our young clerics, and we have troubled other aspiring ecclesiastics by declining to tonsure the poor Valernaden after having called him, having made him do the whole of his retreat, asserting a cause which was merely a pretext for hiding an allegation fairly grave in itself, but not clearly proven, saying externally that, by removing the cause, we would immediately proceed to the tonsure.

And the cause was removed and the tonsure was refused adding in this way, to the indisposition created, an apparent contradiction that we certainly do not need this year above all. By giving the tonsure quite plainly and simply, we would have changed to affection many sentiments which will now always remain mistrust, for first impressions are never lost. I had to fight in this circumstance against the whole council; everyone rose against me, thus everything that I have just told you is the result of my quite personal convictions. But I fear greatly that I am right against everyone and that evil will now follow.

This business together with other contradictions and interminable delays in obtaining what is required to make the seminary function really well led me to request my change, for, if things continue to go as they are now, success is very problematical, whereas the principles seem to me more and more certain as each day passes. By withdrawing, I will protest as effectively as possible against a course that appears to me vicious and, later, if the work is still proclaimed impossible, I can rise against this and say: it is only impossible because of the course that has been taken and against which I protected vigorously. Whereas, by staying on, people may say to us later on : there you see, despite your efforts, despite your goodwill, it was impossible to form good priests.

His Lordship does not want to consent to my change and perhaps I may not have sufficient strength to insist. However, our three tonsured clerics are behaving like angels, and would prove my consolation if I did not see their future too much crossed with difficulties for not entertaining fears. A few other ecclesiastic pupils are doing well, but sadness and distrust have spread in people's hearts.

I did tell you that if I picked up my pen, it would not be to voice my grievances, and that makes three full pages already. What more can I tell you? I saw the moment when it was decided to check the élan by opposing the erection of three vicariates. Opinions changed at the end of the council when it was proposed to join the district of Salem to the two future vicariates.

I think, dear friend, that you will not leave Rome so fast. Enlighten Rome fully on the deplorable state of this country. Can more effective measures not be taken against the unfortunate schism? And the Jesuits, and the English? Thus we will never act in agreement in order for the truth to triumph and to defend the interests of Jesus Christ alone. Ah, may my tongue stick to my palate if I ever use any other language. May our Society perish if it should ever oppose itself to the good that others might do without it. May the good God bless it if it should do a good that others might seem not to understand.

Dear friend, I have read in several letters, and with considerable grief, that the directors of Paris are working to retain you either for Rome, or for Paris. My heart revolts against this thought, but should my reason revolt? I do not know what to say, or to desire. I adore providence and wait for you to let me see how you view this whole matter.

You said to me, about two years ago, (that) a few bishops like N. in our society, and a few poor representatives like me of these bishops at Paris would serve, it seems to me, perfectly the common cause. Has the Lord granted your wish? Could you ever be the representative of a more worthy bishop than My Lord of Drusipare?

Farewell, dear friend, farewell, may the good God bless you and if you are destined to become the Joseph of our Society, do not forget the companion of your troubles, he who was your sincerest and most devoted friend in union and prayers.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, March 1845)

Sent_0118

Sent_0118 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - mars 1845 -/1

Sent 0118 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - March 1845 -2/1

Sent_0118 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - mars 1845 -1/1

Sent 0118 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 807-805

"Souvenirs", pp 443-444

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Bangalore)

If I am not well, it is because the primary goal of our institution is in danger, or on a path of imperfection. As a remedy for getting better, should I be removed from the seminary ? May it never be for that reason. If I have asked to resign, this is in protest against a state of things which prevents me from forming a real native clergy.

Index : resignation from the seminary, native clergy, seminary of Pondicherry

__________

(Pondicherry, March 1845)

My Lord,

Thank you very much for the interest you evince in me in your note of yesterday... However, allow me, My Lord, to say to you, with all the liberty of a confrere, since you honour me with this name, that this note also caused me grief, seeing that Your Lordship is mistaken regarding the cause of the decline in my health, and on hearing the thought that you supposedly had of sending me away, for this single cause alone, from our dear seminary.

My malaise is completely moral in nature. Kindly believe that it has nothing to do with the work or the sedentary life that are harmful to me. The Lord made me sensitive, and since I have received the grace of being engaged in his service in the missions, the sickness of the missions is my only sickness, and their good my only good. Missionary finally of the Foreign Missions, I do not think I can rejoice, when I see the first goal of our institution in danger or on a path of imperfection. So that is now my principal sickness.

You see, My Lord, that no remedy would be achieved by sending me away from the seminary, the interests of which will follow me everywhere Oh ! if I am changed in order to entrust some other confrere with the seminary, who loves the native clergy as well as I do or who has more qualities than I for bringing it to its perfection, then, My Lord, you will see me leaving with a great joy. But it should not be for preserving a life which I would be all too happy to give for such a cause. On this point, I cannot share your too great charity towards us, I who would willingly give twenty lives like mine for a single good native priest. Now we will have some good ones, if we take the means for obtaining them.

I insist on this, My Lord, since I have certain fears that the Rev. Father M...has suggested an idea of change that would very much please those gentlemen. The Rev. Father N... made this known in a letter to Mr Dupuis, and we know that the opinions of these Gentlemen are not isolated. Your Lordship may perhaps tell me that you are astonished at this language, knowing that I offered my resignation to My Lord of Drusipare, only a few days ago. It is true that I offered it thinking that it would be the strongest form of protest possible on my part against a state of things with which I am far from being satisfied, and that I regard as incompatible with the veritable intention of really forming a native clergy. This is my only reason, and not disgust at a work that I love above all others, because I consider it, as it says in our regulations, as the first and principal one in a society set up above all for this.

I beg Your Lordship not to be angry at the liberty that I have taken in writing you these lines. I believed it necessary, above all after the Rev. Father's passage and I beg you to believe me for life completely devoted to our work, with the feelings of respect in which I have the honour...

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry ?, March 1845)

Sent_0119

Sent_0119 - à M. Luquet - le 17 avril 1845 -/4

Sent 0119 - to Mr Luquet - 17 April 1845 -2/4

Sent_0119 - à M. Luquet - le 17 avril 1845 -1/1

Sent 0119 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 353ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

What we want is what Rome wants. Be more precise when you speak of the division of the vicariates of India. What is the latest on Goa? Mgr Charbonnaux does our cause a bad turn. The three tonsured. The missionaries of Pondicherry tend to be unfavourable to us. Mgr Fennelly is favourable to the creation of new vicariates

In reply to a soli in Mr Luquet's last letter: rumours are going around that you are in the course of favouring the episcopate for me. Take care, and be warned. There are four reasons that go against this: I know very little theology, my character is too quick, the weakness of my soul is extreme, and I am not trusted by my confreres. Why not Mr Lehodey?.

Index : resignation from, the seminary, division of the bishoprics, Goa, native clergy, episcopate, humility, Rome (authority)

__________

Pondicherry, 17 April 1845

My very dear friend,

So there you are still in the capital of the world. Is the Lord blessing your efforts? Have you the hope of achieving anything real which makes our work take a step forward? It seems to me that at Rome you should find a great deal of sympathy, for we only want what Rome wants, and as Rome wants. Without detour, and without any forced interpretation, all desires, it seems to me, are simply to see those of Rome achieved. Please God that we had everywhere and always followed the teachings of Rome quite plainly and simply! I hope that you will make Rome understand that this is the basis of all our thoughts.

I have seen your last letter to Mgr Bonnand and that to Mgr Carew. I do not know what will come out of all this but I still do not see clearly. You do not say what would be the result of the general division into vicariates, how many there would be in that of Madras, Calcutta etc. If the English bishops should not share our desires, would we still divide ours? Up to what point do you believe yourselves obliged to abandon the Tanjaour? etc. etc. I am much afraid that the presence of Father Bertrand will upset your business if you have not advanced it well before his arrival.

Meanwhile here things proceed in the same way as always. The Father Superior offered to come and be the witness of Mgr Charbonnaux's consecration, another father sounded the ground to see if he could make an outing to Pondicherry, Eh, my God, why don't we give them the whole of India, if that seems good, but we should not allow the continuation of a state of things whereby the missionaries working for the same cause observe, fear and avoid one another as on a battlefield. You can't imagine how much that hurts me.

Here people do not think you will achieve a great deal. They hope a bit, but fear greatly. Your proposal of (combination? division?) of apostolic vicariates was regarded at the least as dangerous, they think that you generalise your views too much and that that will cause the English to take umbrage. A bishopric in Tanjaour which still maintains a simulacrum of a king, another in Mysore for the same reason, and the other at Pondicherry would seem not to imply such great danger.

It is said still that if Rome maintains all its claims to the archbishopric of Goa, it will abuse of it as it is doing at present, despite everything that could happen, and meanwhile the schism is doing immense harm. Mr Lehodey would even regard as a great misfortune entrusting some new vicariate to the Portuguese. See in all of this what elements of the truth there are, and what there is of meticulous. I do not know very well what will happen, but I know that the state of religion in India is quite deplorable, and the little faith remaining among the natives will disappear completely if we remain as we are now.

As you know, Mgr Charbonnaux's consecration has been delayed, and will be so still until Saint Peter's. I fear very much that this prelate does not understand our position, he would not be favourable to it, perhaps even he would be opposed to us, unless facts clear as daylight come to avenge our cause. I consider Mgr Charbonnaux's stay here as having done us great harm, all the more so since he has acquired a certain influence over the mind of My Lord of Drusipare. The work of the seminary is far from prospering, and I do not know what will be the consequences of a state of things that is dragging on and indisposing everyone. As for me, I don't have a tenth part of the authority that a superior should have. That is why I desired to leave the post, and was very desirous of being able to withdraw without compromising our work already so compromised.

Meanwhile I have three tonsured. But can we count on their inclinations, when everything contributes to establish a mutual distrust, a distancing between the European and native clergy. The Tamoul priests are now extremely angry against us, and unfortunately it appears that they are doing their best to convey discouragement and mistrust to the minds of our young clerics. Unfortunately in the last six months we have been behaving in such a way as to give them an exterior of reasons; but I said this in vain to these gentlemen, they don't want to see, Mgr Charbonnaux above all, that it doesn't need more to sow the beginnings of destruction which will develop later, without our understanding why if we do not go back to the source.

It appears that Father Lazare is beginning to do less well, he has sold his horse, and no longer visits his Christian groups, it is said, in detail. Mgr Charbonnaux's face contracts when he thinks of this, and I believe that he would close the door of the seminary without much difficulty. Mr Dupuis agrees largely with the thoughts of Mgr Charbonnaux with whom he is on intimate terms. Mr Lehodey sighs, however he wants the local clergy. So you see, dear friend, there is still much to be done to prove our work in practice.

As for me, I fail to see in all of that one single reason that is really against us. The Malabar priests are suspicious. But we distrust them just as much. We do not love them, we do nothing to make them attached to us, or rather we will do much, but without delicacy, without leaving anything to the sensitive part of the soul, easier to convince than the purely intellectual and moral part. They do not meet our expectation. But we expect perfection! We would like them to be more missionary than us, humbler than us, poorer than us, more mortified than us. etc.

I am sending you a letter from our tonsured young men, it is from the composition of Aroulnaden. I have not touched a single word, and I've left all the stylistic and other faults. This Aroulnaden is a young man of very great means and whose lively mind will see things as they are. There is in this young man much to be hoped, and much to be feared. Marie Xavery is still a good child but his mind is small and all too easily discouraged. Pakianaden has so far all the makings of a little saint.

The aspirants of Paris have written a common letter to our pupils. I am sending you their answer to them, which is not marvellous, once more I have left the faults, for I wanted it to be their letter and not mine. I doubt of the good effect of this correspondence. Most of the aspirants who have written will no longer be in Paris when the answer arrives. So, please see if it would be better not to send it, do as you feel best.

As I draw to the close of this letter, I hear that Mgr Fennelly has written a letter to Mgr Bonnand in which he speaks to him of apostolic vicariates and bishoprics in India in a manner in line with our views. Mgr Charbonnaux who opened the letter has just given me a copy of the passage, which is as follows : In the division of vicariates, I hope the schism will receive, if not a death blow, at least a crippling. If new bishoprics be erected in India, every one must read the downfall of Goa at hand.

The French government has just authorised the building of a Protestant temple. The government's engineers are working to build it.

Farewell, pray for us. Mr Fages is at Karikal, he asked me to remember him to you and to tell you that you had promised to write to him. Mr Gouyon will be leaving for Salem.

Completely yours in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices

Mr de Brésillac, priest

apostolic missionary

Pondicherry, 17 April 1845

Just a word, dear friend on the Soli that you (added ?) to your last letter.

Oh, my dear Mr Luquet, take care not to go too fast, and guard against the illusions of friendship which also have their dangers. May the Lord enlighten you with his purest lights, so that any authority that you may ever have (and I would wish it to be truly great) serves exclusively for the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. At this moment may it be no other than the organ of the Holy Spirit to give you certain information on my count that it is important for you to have before continuing a thought of which it seems to me that I will probably not have to dread the realisation at the moment, but which could perhaps later become more disastrous, to me first of all, and to our cause thereafter. Ah, without doubt, I feel how desirable it would be for us to have bishops who understood!... and unfortunately!... No, we do not have to go back by one iota on the judgment that we very legitimately passed on Mgr Charbonnaux. May the Holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, on whose solemn feastday his consecration should take place, it is said, obtain from the Holy Spirit a change of heart which however we cannot hope for.

However, dear friend, if I had the happiness of understanding better than you the truths that it was given to you to understand so well, that would be far from sufficing in order to be a bishop. Here there are various defects which must constitute an obstacle, and please do not consider my words as the result of a humility which might still deceive you, I am speaking to a friend to whom I am opening up my whole heart. Beware of bringing in upset and havoc.

1) I know far too little theology. Now a bishop must be a doctor, and if he leads the blind, being blind himself, should he not merit the words of Jesus Christ: Si caecus, etc.?

2) If the good God granted me in general to see things quite clearly, and I think that I can to a certain point bear this out, it has not been granted me to make others see in the same way. I have always had the sorrow of not being able to persuade others of what (I) saw clearly myself, and this sorrow is repeated each day, and I recognise several causes for this unfortunate effect: my character is too quick, and my frankness too great. I indispose people instead of leading them gradually to my opinion, my soul becomes agitated and irritated.

Now I ask you, can one be a bishop with such inclinations, can one be such above all in a position where we will have so many enemies to fight and what enemies, respectable, venerable enemies, individually ten times better than us, enemies who consequently who are entitled to consideration without weakness ? I could never combine these two virtues.

3) The weakness of my soul is extreme, and this weakness increases every day. I have just had sad proof of this quite recently. A business that I regard as very unfortunate for the seminary troubled me so much that I do not know to what extent I offended the Lord. I would easily have thrown in the sponge, and oh how I would like still to be out of this establishment ! That is not the soul of a bishop!

4) Finally, and this is the consequence of all of this, I do not enjoy the trust of my confreres.

Thus, dear friend, put all this in the balance of the sanctuary before ever thinking of me, do it very seriously, for if ever I had the misfortune to be called to the episcopate (but I reject this idea) I believe that I would beware of those refusals which almost always end up later with a consent. In the name of the holy friendship which unites us in the cause of Religion in the missions, in the name of the dear mission whose bishops will make salvation or ruin, in the name of Jesus Christ, take care of what you are doing ; be all the more prudent since you would not have the hope of a refusal on my part.

Dear friend, there are other confreres who would fulfil your purpose better than I would. At the head of them, I would put Mr Lehodey. As you know the horizon of his ideas is somewhat limited. But in a secondary vicariate such as that of Tanjaour or of Coimbatore, it is not necessary to have an eagle of Meaux, and his sweet piety triumphs over all sorts of obstacles, and he understands the native clergy fairly well now. I really do hope that he will be one of the first proposed to My Lord of Drusipare, and I believe that you would do well to push for his election.

Ah, if ever the desire to be a bishop should fill my soul, I would like it to be in a different position from that of India. In one of those almost forgotten positions, where we could without obstacle, without struggle, and without discussion put our theory into practice. There are still some of these in the northern parts of Asia, in various positions in America, and above all in the almost unknown beaches of Africa. But I would prefer to all of these the beaches of Oceania. But there's no point in thinking of it even.

A Dieu, very dear friend, a Dieu. May the Lord fill you ever more with his wisdom, with strength and courage. Pray for me, and rest assured that you are never forgotten in my prayers.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 17 April 1845)

Sent_0120

Sent_0120 - à M. Tesson - le 17 avril 1845 -/2

Sent 0120 - to Mr Tesson - 17 April 1845 -2/2

Sent_0120 - à M. Tesson - le 17 avril 1845 -1/1

Sent 0120 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1019-1022

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Regarding the order for books, he adds some precise details and asks for others. Progress by the Protestants and schismatics. Mgr Fennelly agrees with the division of the vicariates.

Index : bishoprics

__________

Pondicherry, 17 April 1845

Sir and beloved confrere,

Thank you for the trouble you are taking to send me the newspaper correctly. This is a true service that you are doing me, added to so many others.

Almost all the devotional books that you sent us by the Amable have gone. In fact people ask us for more of them every day but we cannot provide them for the excellent reason that no more are left. This clearly shows the possibility of propagating good books and of establishing a work that I have asked for ever since I have been here. By means of the 13th copy and the discount, the costs are more than covered; by adding some farthings more to the value of the books, they will be even cheaper for the country and we will form a fund of books that we could even give later at a cheaper price once we have repaid the Bursar's office for any advances it may have made.

I count on your zeal for enabling us to obtain the largest discount possible. It is even said that there are bookshops which, beside the discount, give one copy every ten, it might be worthwhile consulting several houses to see which one has the most advantageous terms, seeing that perhaps we will be ordering over one thousand rupees' worth of books per year.

I am far from having received all the books and other objects that I took the liberty of asking you for long ago, we would really have need of them.

In the last dispatch of books, the complete theology courses were noted bound , whereas we received them only soft-covered, we paid 270 francs ; if there were some mistake, perhaps it would be worthwhile claiming the difference. In general, you should not send paper-bound books here. The class books should be cardboard bound or linen bound, and the others well bound. You will shortly be receiving a considerable request approved by all the authorities of the holy Sanhedrin and signed by Mr Charbonnaux. How beneficial it would be if you could send that out immediately! I am adding here a note of books which I would ask you please to buy at the same time, but for me personally. You must have received some days ago the sum of 300 francs from my home. You can pay yourself back from that, or else we will make arrangements with the bursar if you have already forwarded that sum.

My very dear Mr Tesson, last month I saw a letter that you wrote to Mgr of Drusipare and that you asked him to notify to me. This letter was a fresh proof of the generous sentiments that I have always noted in your soul truly devoted to the work of the missions. I hope that the good God will settle things in such a way that the greatest good is done in any case. I do not need to ask you to join your prayers to ours. I know that every day they are raised to this end from your heart. The Protestants are building a temple here and the schismatics continue to lay waste our Christian communities in the interior. When will we have more force and authority? Please back up Mr Luquet in whom the Lord seems to inspire thoughts of salvation.

The bishop of Madras had opened up very little and we do not know what he thought on the bishoprics to be set up or at least on the apostolic vicariates to be multiplied. This very morning he wrote to His Lordship in these terms: In the division of vicariates, I hope the schism will receive, if not a death blow, at least a crippling. If new bishoprics be erected in India, every one must read the downfall of Goa at hand". It is comforting to see bishops already on the spot concur with our opinion. Finally, let us pray to the good God and believe that I am, with a quite new attachment and a constant respect,

Your very devoted servant and confrere,

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 17 April 1845)

Sent_0121

Sent_0121 - à M. Taurines - le 20 avril 1845 -/3

Sent 0121 - to Mr Taurines - 20 April 1845 -2/3

Sent_0121 - à M. Taurines - le 20 avril 1845 -1/1

Sent 0121 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 94-95

(to Abbé Taurines, parish priest of Saint-Papoul)

(by Castelnaudary - Aude)

Thank you for your letter. It is Providence that led me to the MEP where I can achieve my deepest aspirations: the native clergy, the bishoprics, the ecclesiastic hierarchy. Much opposition on the spot. In a few words, the story of Mr Luquet since his arrival in Paris in 1841 until his journey to Rome. I will work on this cause until I die. Pray hard.

Index : friendship, native clergy, vicariates, my thoughts on the missions

__________

Pondicherry, 20 April 1845

My very dear friend,

I have just received your letter of 12 February and do not wish to let the next steamer leave without having answered it. So anxious am I, my dear friend, to prove to you that I had only one fear on seeing such a quick end to a correspondence which I had set my heart on and that I had hoped never to see finish except with the life of one or the other. This fear was that of having either displeased or offended you in some way. Since that is not the case, I cannot but rejoice and hope that you will never again be so cruel to me.

Without doubt you have not waited so long before asking of my news and you know of my change since you put on the address Superior of the seminary. In fact it is now close on one and a half years that I have been occupying this interesting and difficult post. Since you have the goodness to speak about yourself at some length, I will allow myself to speak about myself. Between friends, this is not forbidden, and that will give the illusion of a sweet conversation.

When your last letter reached me, I was far from here ; I was making my first frolics in a kind of ministry very different from yours and which has also its consolations and its sorrows. However the former always get the upper hand when one is a missionary. Then I went even further away and so ran for close on one year, when the time of a synod long desired at Pondicherry arrived. It was urgent for me to take part in it, for a movement was to come about and (I) wanted not to let such a favourable opportunity pass for pushing for this movement of regeneration.

In order to understand clearly what will follow, you should know that in the work of the missions a new school is rising up, if I can put it like that. I was of this school before knowing it, for it was the principles on which it is based that principally determined my departure for the missions. Guided by divine Providence, I fell (for at that time I had little acquaintance with the missions and did not know the different means by which one could arrive there) into the only Society in which it is possible to develop my thoughts, to push their carrying through, by showing that it is on views identical to ours that the Holy See established it, and that this had been forgotten.

Before I go any further, let me tell you what we want. We want: 1) the establishment of a native clergy capable of sufficing to itself; 2) the foundation of churches without which it seems to us that no-one will be able to say that religion is established in a country; 3) the ecclesiastical hierarchy, without excluding from it the episcopate, introduced among the natives whom we would like to see finally emerge from this state of dependence and submission to which they have been subjected thus far.

Perhaps these proposals will appear to you as quite natural and yet we are having to fight in order to maintain them almost against the whole body of missionaries. Almost everyone agrees in saying that it is impossible in practice, and it is against this asserted impossibility that we must rise, and seek to prove, not only through the history of the missions, but also by facts, that the possibility of a native clergy exists, that thus far very little work has been done to see it achieved when there has not been overt opposition to its establishment etc.

These thoughts were not very clearly defined in my mind when I left for Paris. There, they were fortified despite the little sympathy I found for them among the directors. A few months after me, a young man full of piety and talent entered the seminary, as aspirant, who had thoroughly studied the question of the missions. He was completely of my opinion and put himself in a position to enlighten the missionaries of the world on what appears to us the veritable state of things. For that purpose he composed, while he was an aspirant still, some letters to His Lordship the Bishop of Langres. However, it was necessary to use such circumspection that he had to compose his work and get it printed in secret, so as to bring it out only after he had left.

Providence willed that his secret was discovered a few days before his departure, which risked causing his expulsion. However, they let him leave for the missions, while his work, which he sent to all the missionaries of our Society, to other missionaries and to Rome, was in general received with approval, except by the declared enemies of the native clergy. Among us, above all it produced the utmost good, since it reminded our confreres, while it pointed out to others, why the Holy See has established our Society.

Divine Providence further willed that this same young missionary, Mr Luquet, was sent out to Pondicherry. I had been there for some time already. The synod took place a few months after Mr Luquet's arrival. His work, his prudence, his eloquence and his angelic piety all contributed to win all hearts to him and we had the happiness of seeing our dearest thoughts appreciated. Much more, the poor seminary which existed at Pondicherry and which was pathetic, was placed by the synod on a reasonable basis, and I, who had been taken away some months earlier because I was too affected by the mania of the native clergy, was placed at the head of this establishment because I possessed the spirit of the native clergy.

But Mr Luquet required a wider horizon. It is from Rome that the veritable impulsion must come, thus it is to Rome that divine Providence took him to defend our cause. For it is Providence which has done all of this. Events independent of this question required that a clever missionary be sent to Rome. Mr Luquet was elected our deputy to the Holy See, where he is to be found at the present moment, not forgetting the native clergy, very much appreciated in Rome, while I am doing all I can to form subjects who prove in fact that it is possible to find excellent ecclesiastics among the natives, if we have the means of forming them in the right way.

Unfortunately, I am far from having all the necessary means to hand, and I do not know if the time of the mercy of the Lord has come yet. I fear not, when I see how much I am still impeded in this fundamental work, how little it is understood still despite what has happened etc. etc., but more than ever I am convinced of the truth of the principle and I will work until I die, I hope, to make it prevail. However, dear friend, how many sorrows of the heart, how many concerns and contradictions!!! That is my lot, and sometimes my weakness is about to succumb ; thus please remember me always in your prayers and I beg you to recall in your holy sacrifices our seminary and the native clergy of all nations.

Kindly commend me also to the prayers of the good souls that you direct in the paths of salvation, and commend me to the pious memories of those I know, and in a special way to Ricaud's family.

A Dieu, dear friend ; may the pastor of souls shower you with his grace ; how I would like to have pastors in these unfortunate parts where everything is in the air, where nothing is firmly anchored ! What is religion without bishops, without parish priests? Missionaries are merely accessories in the Church of God. What a difference between your life and mine! There you are in peace, in tranquillity, in retirement, while here I am fighting a moral battle more painful than another and against what adversaries ! Venerable men, men who wish for the good, bishops, religious, etc.

Pray that holy charity be never wounded. Finally, while I am working on making parish priests and on preparing bishops, you should work on forming a few good missionaries who will come to give us a hand.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Pondicherry, 20 April 1845)

Sent_0122

Sent_0122 - à M. Luquet - le 3 mai 1845 -/2

Sent 0122 - to Mr Luquet - 3 May 1845 -1/2

Sent_0122 - à M. Luquet - le 3 mai 1845 -1/1

Sent 0122 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 361ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Present state of India : the Protestants, the schism, the Jesuits, the English. Here the priests stop the progress of the gospel. But the native clergy is possible and I repeat it. Future college of Jesuits at Tranquebar.

Index : religion in India, native clergy, Jesuits

__________

Pondicherry, 3 May 1845

Another steamer without us receiving any news from you.

At what point are you ? At what point are we? Mr Tesson makes us fear that you are not achieving very much. The Gentlemen of Paris moreover would seem not to sustain your cause overmuch since they have just frustrated His Lordship in all his projects in a letter of last month. It is true that they do not seem to disapprove of the simple division of the vicariates, however I doubt that they accept willingly even this thought.

Meanwhile, events are growing day by day and making it even more necessary to take an active, strong, farsighted course, advancing on solid foundations towards a goal.

The Protestants are redoubling their efforts, and our weaknesses, our slowness, the contradictions of our moves are helping them more than a little. The schism, while it does not increase, does not diminish either, but faith diminishes in the Christians and makes no inroads on paganism. Here the Protestant temple is almost finished, the college is dispersed, the Jesuit Fathers have a few children at Negapatam, in fact we will soon be receiving a visit from them here, for the little patient is due to come here to recuperate, and will be accompanied by Father Saint-Cyr I believe. At Madras, it goes without saying that the English priests are always the same, that is to say, the least in the world missionary. But what is sad is that the Oblate Fathers are about to leave the vicariate. It seems that they are totally thwarted by the bishop, so that this immense vicariate is about to be abandoned like that of Calcutta etc. etc., where the priests are for the English alone. Poor Indian people! When will it be recognised ?

But what breaks the heart is to see that it would be possible to bring it to God. Here it is the priests who stop the progress of the Gospel by their contradictions, their national prejudices, their reluctance to make themselves all things for all men. Through their pride by wishing to dominate spiritually over these peoples as their compatriots dominate politically. Of course, by the way the latter treat them, and crush them, it is not surprising that they hold in abomination, any priests who resemble them even if only by the colour of their skin, and please God they only resemble them by the colour of their skin.

The sacred cause of the native clergy should increase greatly in the face of all of this, but eyes are still closed. In the whole of India, we are the only ones who think of this, although we are very far from doing the hundredth part of what we should. But the little that we do suffices to persuade me more every day that the Indian clergy is possible, possible in its whole hierarchy, possible and easy if once we want it frankly, loyally, fraternally, and Indianly, for we are in India. Yes, Catholic priests, but not French, but not Italian, not English, are possible, and to them alone it will be granted to make the truth prevail over falsity. You may say to me that I am telling you nothing new in this note. It is true, but we have to repeat our convictions to satiety when they grow greater every day and they appear to us as alone capable of saving holy Religion from the dangers threatening it. If only Rome could see things as they are, I feel persuaded that she would take more effective measures.

A Dieu, pray for me.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. (College of the Jesuits at Tranquebar)

It is said that the Jesuits are going to set up their college at Tranquebar as soon as the English have taken over that town that they have bought from Denmark. It appears that this college is already going splendidly. It is unfortunate that we cannot be gratified at this, for finally it would be a good thing for them to have a well equipped college, if we had not to dread something else. Our seminary is not progressing. We have arrived at the fruits of the mistake made there two months ago. May all those that I foresaw, announced, and that I foresee will arise again, not take place. As you see, my ideas are somewhat sombre. I believe them to be without exaggeration and prejudices. A Dieu.

(Pondicherry, 3 May 1845)

Sent_0123

Sent_0123 - à M. Luquet - le 30 mai 1845 -/3

Sent 0123 - to Mr Luquet - 30 May 1845 -3/3

Sent_0123 - à M. Luquet - le 30 mai 1845 -1/1

Sent 0123 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 365ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

At what point is our business ? You are very silent. The schism is developing. No unity of action by bishops and priests. The English are not missionaries. The Oblate Fathers leave Madras, the Protestants progress. We absolutely need bishoprics subjected to general law, with the ecclesiastic hierarchy among the natives; we need them quickly, since the rot is setting in. Possibility of a concordat between Rome and England, attention! Some considerations on the missionaries present in Pondicherry. The future consecration of Msgr Charbonnaiux. How sad to see that God's work is not being done!

Index : religion in India, bishoprics, native clergy

__________

(Pondicherry), 30 May 1845

How your news are becoming rare, dear friend, and yet they have never been more desired. Mr Lehodey however has just received a small letter from you, but from some time ago and in which you give no details on our affairs. We do not know what to think really, we fear, and I admit that I fear also. Father Bertrand should have arrived in Rome a long time ago now. I am afraid that he is hindering your business. Mr Tesson also wrote to us that he hardly dared trust the first hopes that we conceived on seeing the fine welcome given to you first of all. Finally, your long silence increases our doubts. You only speak to Mr Lehodey of the printing of the minutes of the synod with notes. All of this is not very much. This synod was not so remarkable as to make an impression and your notes will be appreciated by some, blamed by many, and forgotten by all after a few months. We should not expect a solid benefit from that. As an accessory, it is good, but that is all.

But what about the essential point ? I see nothing shaping up yet, neither a plan, nor anything else tending to a goal. However the sickness increases every day and the remedy becomes more urgent. The schism is putting down roots, it wraps itself in a robe of legitimacy more probable due to Rome's silence and the impressions contained in the bulls of the archbishop of Goa. No more is needed to extinguish the little faith still remaining in this unfortunate country. Thus impiety grows perceptibly. This contradiction between priests leads to our being regarded as charlatans. We hear Catholic Christians say, if they are Catholics indeed: all these stories (speaking of the Gospel) are like those that the Brahmins tell to the pagans. To each his own. This is the fruit of the schism. If it lasts much longer the faith will be completely lost, unless God preserves it in certain hearts by a miracle of his mercy that we may hope for, but on which we should not count.

After the schism, I see as a fact that the diversity of action by Catholic priests does enormous harm. The bishops do not agree with one another any more than the priests. In fact the English bishops, and their priests in general, are not missionaries to the slightest degree. They are English for the English, while the poor natives are more or less abandoned.

The Oblate Fathers seem to have understood their position, and they would very likely have done a great deal of good in the mission of Madras. I do not know what occurred between them and the bishop of Madras: in short, they have just left, and it would not be astonishing to see this fine mission which gave so many consolations, fall prey to the schism or the Protestants. For the latter also take advantage of our weakness, and are strongly corroborated. They build temples where they were never even heard of, and feel themselves strong enough to also hold synods, etc. I will say no more about the temple of Pondicherry now nearing completion.

This is a sad picture, and yet I believe it is still far from reality. Could you not make it understood at Rome that, in the face of such situations, it is no longer permissible to remain immobile, prudence is undoubtedly required, but also strength and activity. And what would be needed? bishoprics, and if it is not possible to have bishoprics, more numerous apostolic vicariates, entrusted to men given to the Roman Church, who are neither French, nor English, nor Spanish, but only Catholic. I always come back to this, for the contrary and so common fault is what loses us. Finally bishoprics aimed at founding something, and not leaving everything in the air, under the pretext that sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.

May these bishops, or apostolic vicars, be given all episcopal rights. But may they be in conscience liable to the general law modified according to circumstances, but not according to each man's caprice, and according to what he saw practised in some Church of France or some other particular church. May they tend finally to establish the ecclesiastic hierarchy among the natives, something that I have always believed possible, like you, but that today I believe to be easy.

You will say that for this more than a century is needed. I say so too, however it is necessary to start and start immediately, lest it is not possible to do so again for several centuries more if we miss the opportunity. For the moment, we would need only a few more bishops, with recommendation or obligation to work with all their power on the foundation of a native clergy, in the spirit of the foundations, while the rest would come later. But if we let the schism and Protestantism grow any further, if we let the faith of the poor Christians exposed to so many scandals die out, what is to be done then?

Another thing. It seems to me that I see in England's affairs a tendency to draw closer to Rome. If tomorrow a concordat should be reached between Rome and England, you will see that only bishops will be admitted into the English possessions. This would be an immense misfortune. Let us prevent this blow by taking possession in advance. Mr dear Mr Luquet, do something else than write notes to Rome and tell us if we can hope to see the poor Church of India at last succoured.

What can I tell you about our internal affairs? The seminary is still going quite well, but it in the air like all of our works. We are far from having founded a seminary. Mgr Charbonnaux is far from having favoured us. I must admit to you that I have no confidence in My Lord of Jassen. The others are as ever towards us. The newcomers don't give the impression of being solid men. Mr Fages however seems to me a serious man, and seeing things clearly, but of short views. Mr de Kérizouët is a child full of means and of judgment, but he lets himself go and would need to start off his seminary. Mr Virot is very strongly attacked morally. If I was superior, I would send him back to France, and if I were something in the general administration of the missions, I would change his mission. I think that he will perish miserably.

The white town offers us the college. His Lordship has written to Paris, now the directors have replied unanimously that it should not be accepted. The offer had still not become official, but for the last two days it is. His Lordship is absent. I do not know how this question will end. My Lord of Jassen is going to be consecrated on the day of the Holy apostles Peter and Paul. Several missionaries should be gathering on this occasion. Mr Gailhot will be of the number. I think that the superior of the Jesuits will be invited. A month and a half ago the council decided that we should invite him.

What more can I tell you ? I do not see the future in rosy hues, all our hope is in Rome, but I believe it is not sufficiently felt; and perhaps Rome too is not taking sufficient care of us. Oh, if only we were Roman. But we are far from being that!

I do not speak to you of myself and my sadness at seeing this state of things. For the work of God is not being done, and perhaps it is our fault? How fine your position would be if you could ensure being heard and bringing other people's minds to share our views. How the missions are in need of reform! No progress is being made and above all we are not catholicising new parts. But also, how to go about it? It seems to me that people imagine rather too much that the world is Catholic, whereas the work of the Apostles still remains to be done, in certain places, and above all the work of the fathers of the Church, of the times when only a minority was faithful in Europe and the East.

This work remains to be done in over half the world that is treated inappropriately with the methods of the old European faith. The Church has not changed, what was good at the time of Saint Cyril and of Saint Athanasias would be excellent still in the same circumstances, although no longer practicable with regard to the Christians of Europe, and what is excellent for the latter is not so, I think, for Christian groupings which have not yet attained manhood.

I am merely throwing down on paper thoughts which would deserve a long development which I am incapable of doing. Farewell, pray for me, for our seminary, for our mission, for the work of the missions which I would wish to embrace in its entirety and believe in the unshakeable friendship of your devoted confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 30 May 1845)

Sent_0124

Sent_0124 - à M. Luquet - les 2, 4 et 5 juillet 1845 -/3

Sent 0124 - to Mr Luquet - 2, 4 and 5 July 1845 -3/3

Sent_0124 - à M. Luquet - les 2, 4 et 5 juillet 1845 -1/1

Sent 0124 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 371ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

A big correspondence arrives from Propaganda, the coming of the Benedictine Fathers, my appointment as bishop : I feel I cannot refuse. I consult with my confreres. Mgr Bonnand advises me not to accept before what appears irregular in the form of this appointment has been regularised. I find the decision just taken by Propaganda (Coimbatore and Trichinopoly, after Bangalore) excellent. Give me funds. copy of letter no. 0126.

Index : vicariates, episcopate, counsel (take)

__________

Pondicherry, 2, 4 and 5 July 1845

My very dear friend,

What a din must have sounded in your ears for the last three days, if it is true that what is said about an absent person makes the acoustic nerve vibrate at a distance ! We were precisely gathered in large numbers on the occasion of My Lord of Jassen's consecration when, all at once, your vast correspondence arrived, or rather the vast correspondence from Propaganda (without a single word from you), without it having been preceded by anything that could have prepared us for the effect created. To tell you the explosion of different sentiments produced at the sight of all these bulls, letters and notices which develop a gigantic plan would be impossible and trouble wasted. I will merely say that the most shocked minds are much less so today than yesterday, and that yesterday they were much less that the day before, so that I do not despair of seeing them, sooner or later, find all your operations admirable.

The Benedictine Fathers arrived just after the first firework went up, and the dispatches they brought with them served greatly to calm people's minds. However, regarding your proxy, the Council adopted an attitude which will perhaps distress you and that His Lordship will inform you of, I think. As for me, dear friend, I cannot tell you how much this affair in general fills me with joy before the Lord, although there are certain particularities that I still do not fully understand and which would require some explanations in order for my judgment not to be suspended. But what I cannot approve, is that you have brought me so quickly and so strongly to the fore. I believe it is rather rushed and you put me in a difficult position. The effect of my appointment is too natural for you not to have foreseen this.

I seem to hear you saying to me from Rome : accept this general coldness and these expressions of distrust as the sacrifice for the very legitimate contentment one loves to feel on such occasions in the contentment of those around us. However, if I accepted immediately, and unconditionally, I think that would have a bad effect, but in any case I do not think I can refuse before God.

I have not yet been able to speak at length of my thoughts in this regard except with Mr Jarrige and Mr Godelle who seem to approve my plan. I still have not spoken at length with My Lord of Drusipare whose opinion will be more decisive for me than that of various others. It would consist of saying clearly that I do not refuse, neither do I accept unconditionally before having written to Paris, for these Gentlemen do not seem to know of my appointment, and they might even be angry at my over-eagerness.

For the time necessary to get a reply from our Gentlemen, people will get used to the idea which will become less annoying, and I will have time to prepare myself before the Lord for the great burden that you have helped impose on me, and which makes me tremble, although without perplexity and without uneasiness, I do not quite understand why or how. Peace of the soul, and I would say even the inner contentment I am enjoying, is it a grace or a temptation, I do not know, only prayer can intimate it to me, but I need at least a few months of contemplative meditation.

A Dieu, superfluous to ask you to pray for me, the letter I will be writing to the directors of Paris will not be very long, if I can, I will give you a copy. (2 July 1845).

4 July

I have had two sessions with My Lord of Drusipare. His opinion was, and I fully agree with it, that I should not accept before you have ensured the regularisation of what seems irregular in the form of this appointment. For it is not obvious that you have presented three subjects, as is customary, etc. etc. His Lordship is to write about this to Propaganda, as well as to you, and I don't doubt that things will be settled as they should be before God. If after that I am confirmed in my appointment, non recuso laborem (). And if the good God wishes that these measures foresee the nomination of someone else more worthy of the episcopate, Deo Gratias.

A Dieu, pray greatly for me and above all, I beg you, ensure that friendship does not enter into it as the reason for your proceeding in my regard. I am fully persuaded that you (try) to set aside impressions, but we should distrust the inspirations of the heart.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. My Lord of Drusipare believed that I had nothing to write myself to the Sacred Congregation : I enclose copy of a letter that I wrote to our Gentlemen of Paris.

copy of a letter to the directors of Paris

"Gentlemen and very respectable confreres,

What was my astonishment on learning all of a sudden that the Sacred Congregation had fixed its eyes on me for filling one of the difficult posts that it has just created in some sort by its new ecclesiastical division of India ! The bulls of my appointment were handed over to me by our beloved and for ever venerable bishop of Drusipare, without my having had any prior knowledge of this, and without His Lordship himself, it would appear, expecting it, at least so quickly. Thus this appointment may have appeared somewhat irregular, and it seems to me that if I accepted unconditionally, without insisting that I desire a sort of regularisation, my confreres, whom I would hate to annoy and above all to scandalise, might quite rightly be shocked at my over-eagerness.

Thus I have written to Mr Luquet that, without absolutely refusing, I would only accept if he had arranged things according to the instructions he receives from My Lord of Drusipare and the notes that the Sacred Congregation send out to His Lordship. However, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, I felt I had the duty of informing you of what is happening with regard to me so that if you yourselves have any opinion to give me or measures to take, I shall never have to reproach myself with having neglected my duty towards those who are my superiors and with whom it would grieve me not to be in perfect harmony of sentiments.

Accordingly I hope, Gentlemen, that you will not refuse me, in this circumstance, the opinions that you may believe necessary, and that, if the Lord destines me to bear the heavy burden of the episcopate, you will always be prepared to help me with your advice and your aid in the works that the Lord may require of me and that, without you, I could never accomplish.

Kindly remember me, etc.

(letter of 5 July 1845)

(the 5th) Just a word, since I still have a little space. The more I reflect, the more excellent the measure just taken by the Sacred Congregation seems to me. I hope that the difficulties that I am obliged to make in my position, will not prejudice its execution, which would be a great misfortune. Another apostolic vicariate in Tanjaour would have been perfection. But supposing that I am consecrated quite soon (after your answer or the answer of the Sacred Congregation) what resource will I have there? Above all if Paris is not pleased, all the more since His Lordship has just provided for his coadjutor expenses that he will have no intention of renewing for a province which must shortly become a distinct vicariate?

If you could touch the heart of a few good souls in my favour, and procure for me either personal alms or ceremonial accessories? As you see, for the rest I abandon myself willingly for all this to divine providence. But above all, do not forget me at the feet of the altars.

(Pondicherry, 2, 4 and 5 July 1845)

Sent_0125

Sent_0125 - à M. Tesson - le 5 juillet 1845 -/1

Sent 0125 - to Mr Tesson - 5 July 1845 -/1

Sent_0125 - à M. Tesson - le 5 juillet 1845 -1/1

Sent 0125 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1067-1070

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Happy at the new divisions of the vicariates by Propaganda, but why think of me for Coimbatore ? It is too soon. I felt I could not refuse. I hope that you will help me to bear this weight. I also hope that you will find me some financial aid. At Coimbatore, I will have nothing.

Index : friendship, poverty, bishoprics

__________

Pondicherry, 5 July 1845

Sir and beloved confrere,

You must not know all the news that have arrived here in the last few days, for I feel too sure of the interest that you have in me for you not to have written a word on this subject. However, you speak of Mr Gailhot, so how is that? However that may be, dear friend, I did not wish you to receive only your share of the common letter that I am writing to all the directors. You know the confidence I have for us, and more than ever I need to open up my heart to you.

The division of the vicariates, as it has been done for the whole of India, appears to me the best possible solution at the present time. Apart from certain small particularities (and in order to blame them, we would have to know all the reasons that determined Mr Luquet and the S.C.), I cannot but applaud the thing with my whole heart. Only, I would not have wanted to be immediately put forward. Supposing I were to be a bishop, it should not have been yet, Mr Luquet and My Lord of Drusipare should have waited some time still (for I feel sure that His Lordship has something to do with it, although he is astonished that it is taking place so fast). But since the thing is done, should I refuse? I did not feel so before God. Various confreres thought in the same way as me, and I hope that those who have reason to be somewhat wounded will not be exceedingly so. However you can just imagine that my position is a very difficult one, and truly I do not know how I will get out of it.

Dear friend, you will be my second providence and I hope that on this occasion you will not withdraw the friendship evinced to me thus far, and that you will help me to bear the weight that the Lord wishes to impose on me.

And in order for difficulties to be at their peak from the beginning, just imagine Coimbatore without local resources, without any considerable establishment, etc. etc. Everything remains to be done. Thus I hope that you will testify to my cause before those that providence uses to provide birds with their nourishment. It is not only of rupees that I have a pressing need, but I have not a book, not an ornament, not a piece of church furniture, etc., if you do not come to my aid. I count greatly on you. But above all I count on your constant friendship and on the incessant succour of your prayers to which I refer myself more than ever, while assuring you of my unshakeable attachment with which I ask you to be believe me your devoted confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 5 July 1845)

Sent_0126

Sent_0126 - aux directeurs du séminaire - le 5 juillet 1845 -/1

Sent 0126 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 5 July 1845 -/1

Sent_0126 - aux directeurs du séminaire - le 5 juillet 1845 -/1

Sent 0126 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1073-1075

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

I have just received my appointment to the episcopate. What a surprise even for Msgr Bonnand! I need to have a sort of regularisation of this appointment. I have pointed this out to Mr Luquet. I wish to act in conformity with you.

Index : counsel (take)

__________

Pondicherry, 5 July 1845

Sirs and very respectable confreres,

What was my astonishment in learning all at once that the Sacred Congregation had laid its eyes on me for filling one of the difficult posts it has just created in some way by its new ecclesiastical division of India ! The bulls of my appointment have been handed over to me by our beloved and for ever venerable bishop of Drusipare, without my having had any prior knowledge of it, and without His Lordship himself, apparently expecting it, at least so soon. Thus this appointment may have appeared somewhat irregular, and it seems to me that if I accepted it unconditionally, without indicating that I desire a sort of regularisation, my confreres, whom I would hate to annoy and above all to scandalise, might quite rightly be shocked at my precipitation.

Accordingly I have written to Mr Luquet that, without refusing it absolutely, I would only accept insofar as he would have arranged things according to the notice he will be receiving from My Lord of Drusipare and the notes that the Sacred Congregation will send to His Lordship. Meanwhile, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, I felt it my duty to communicate to you what is happening in my regard so that, if you yourselves have any advice to give me or measures to be taken, I will never have to reproach myself for having neglected my duty with regard to those who are my superiors and with whom I would be disappointed not to be in perfect harmony of sentiments.

So I hope, Gentlemen, that you will not refuse me, in this circumstance, the opinions that you may consider necessary, and that, if the Lord destines me to bear the heavy burden of the episcopate, you will always be prepared to help me with your advice and your contribution to the works that the Lord may require of me and that, without you, I could never accomplish.

I commend myself in a quite special way to your good prayers, asking you to kindly accept the very sincere expression of my respectful sentiments with which

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen and respectable confreres,

your very humble and obedient servant

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 5 July 1845)

Sent_0127

Sent_0127 - à son père - le 6 juillet 1845 -/2

Sent 0127 - to his father - 6 July 1845 -2/2

Sent_0127 - à son père - le 6 juillet 1845 -1/1

Sent 0127 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 96-97

(to his father)

My occupations prevent me from writing to you more often. Death of Mr Taurines, and that of Mr Triboulot. Our life is in God's hands! Praise of Mr Taurines. I will soon be made a bishop, without doubt because of my opinions on the need for a native clergy. For the moment, do not speak of this, but pray for me.

Index : episcopate, native clergy, abandonment

__________

Pondicherry, 6 July 1845

I do not understand myself, my very dear father, how I have let six months elapse without writing to you. You are quite right to reproach me for that, but please never attribute the delay in my correspondence, if there is any such, to any other cause than my many occupations.

At the same time as your letter, I received another letter from my uncle Melchior and a third one from Félicie. I will not answer them immediately, for lack of time; but please say nice things to them on my behalf, as well as to all the other members of the family, Félicie informs me of her eye trouble which I was not aware of. She should take good care of the problem, and meanwhile she should have recourse to prayer, for he who gives us sight is the only one who can preserve it for us. However, she should submit herself humbly to God's will. He always hears a good prayer, though what we ask him is not always good. A refusal by Providence is always on the contrary merciful.

So that that dear and good friend Mr Taurines passed away so quickly. How impenetrable are God's decrees! Let us adore them and be silent; he takes those who seemed made for regenerating hearts, and he leaves others like us who...! Let us adore God. You see, dear Papa, if one should oppose becoming a missionary? Our life is in God's hands, he alone disposes of it. It has broken, that precious life of Mr Taurines, against a contemptible obstacle, while ours has resisted journeys by sea and by land, the heat of the torrid zone, where however my travel companion (another saint to be canonised) perished at the beginning of his career. Once more, let us adore God.

I will not attempt to tell you how much this loss has touched me ; he was a true friend who told me my faults. His was the only priest's heart in which I could pour out mine without reserve; he was the confidant of all my proceedings, to him more than once I owed an invaluable counsel of prudence, of moderation and enlightened zeal. He still wrote to me often, and I hoped that he would be for a long time still my guide in many difficult positions, for now that it takes little more than one month to receive a letter from France, one can really consult a true friend.

Alas, now I am deprived of this resource just at a time when I would have the greatest need of it, for you will learn something that will undoubtedly astonish you and that I will delay no longer in telling you, although you should not yet speak too much of it. This is that very probably I will be made a bishop. The same day that I learned of the death of the good Mr Taurines, the bulls of my appointment arrived for a new post that Rome has just created in the course of a new ecclesiastical division of India. Imagine my astonishment at this spontaneous announcement, I, one of the youngest priests working here, I who have no experience of the missions and who was certainly elected at Rome because of my well known opinions on the need for forming a native clergy.

My position is extremely embarrassing and I have to take care not to wound susceptibilities both here and in Paris. However, I did not feel, before God, that I could refuse, though I must delay my unconditional acceptance for some time still. Thus, I am telling you this almost in your ear; do not speak about it above all if you have the occasion to write to our Gentlemen of Paris, and above all, pray greatly for me who, more that anyone and more than ever, need the prayers of all those who truly love me.

Excuse my bad writing, I am in great haste. A Dieu. My compliments to each and every one of you.

Your very devoted and very respectful son.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

N.B. I am writing a note to Mr Laffon Médieu to ask him for an object which belonged to my dear but always living Mr Taurines.

(Pondicherry, 6 July 1845)

Sent_0128

Sent_0128 - à M. Luquet - les 5 et 9 août 1845 -/9

Sent 0128 - to Mr Luquet - 5 and 9 August 1845 -9/9

Sent_0128 - à M. Luquet - les 5 et 9 août 1845 -1/1

Sent 0128 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 377ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Comments after reading his Memorandum. Why was he so precise on certain persons: two bishops from India and Mgr of Halicarnasse? Errors as regards the question of rites, of the bull. I hope that you will retract on this point. There are certain negative remarks. Careful not to be too opposed to Malabar usages. Regarding the decrees of the Cardinal of Tournon, I will pass no judgment: things can always be interpreted in various was conflicting one with another. As for the lot of the outcasts, let us not search from the outset to eliminate this state of things, also India is not uniform. If a little shorter, your memorandum would be a masterpiece.

My plan? Instead of destroying, let us preserve as much as possible; instead of uprooting the tree to be replaced by some other exotic one, let us remove the parasitical bark (the evil) and keep the rest. Let us use the printing press, with a clear and frank exposition of Religion which makes it possible to return to the practice of the ancestors. He then resumes certain usages which could be accepted, the ox, ash, the pottou...Let us put ourselves in the place of the people of the country, let us not stay Europeans in India. The eyes and the senses are not identical everywhere. This book will be written by you after staying some time in India,. Mgr Bonnand agrees with all that I write. Some news of the seminary and the country.

Index : my thoughts on the missions, castes, pariahs, usages, the bull, printing press

__________

Pondicherry, 5 and 9 August 1845 (

)

My dear, my very dear friend,

I have read, re-read, and meditated on your long and magnificent "Memoir". You expected me to share with you all of my thought on such a serious subject, with the frankness that you know me to possess. I owe this to the sincere friendship I have for you, I owe it also to our cause. For do not believe, dear friend, that I have nothing but praises for you. Why should it be from my mouth that you should hear perhaps the first blame? Do not be angry. On the contrary try to see in this the proof of the inviolable attachment I have for you to which no other is equal, I feel sure.

Yes, dear friend, your work is fine ; it would be admirable, if you had not hazarded things that you cannot know well and where you got lost. How my heart was pierced with sorrow, thinking that such a fine work could become so dangerous, that I do not fear to assert that, if your "Memoir" should be made public, if it only spread around us, it would be the cause () of the ruin of religion in these parts. Let us now consider the details.

Your thesis on the native clergy is above all praise, it is captivating, irresistible. Only, I don't know why you thought it necessary to designate the two bishops from India whose deplorable words you quote to the point that there is no mistake about it. Did you not fear to wound charity? And why make us enemies without any absolute need ? By saying that you have seen, that you have heard? How many bishops from India have you seen or heard? Not everyone knows even that in Paris you saw the apostolic vicar of Agra, so that I fear that certain confreres will refer to Mgr Charbonnaux what you say of the former. By saying a bishop in general, one could have gone searching for him to the antipodes of the world and the effect would have been more or less the same.

Also was it so necessary to insist so much on the bad administration of Mgr of Halicarnasse ? It seems to me again that you could have avoided putting under the eyes of the cardinals some little family woes. However, I would excuse you more easily on this point than on others. In order to be entitled to say that there is evil in others, one must also have the courage to recognise one's own faults, and to admit them. Apart from that, one cannot help admiring you, and sometimes shedding tears of happiness, while following you in your rigorous demonstrations and your conclusions as rigorous as their principles.

But how mistaken you were, allow me to use this expression, when you entered into the detail of the mission.() How mistaken you are and how dangerous you have become in dealing with such a delicate question as the rites and the bull etc.) How mistaken you are in speaking of the unfortunate affairs of Nellitope and of Pondicherry which should have remained in the contempt of eternal oblivion. Oh how I hoped for something else! And I have not given up hoping, for I count on a sort of retraction on your part which requires that nothing is decided in Rome, that no new obligation is imposed, not even an exact observance of the bull which has already been modified by some decrees or permissions of Rome etc. until new order, and on your Memoir alone ().

Be persuaded, dear friend, that if we were under some obligation in relation with the spirit of your memoir, not only would we have to forego the conversion of the Gentiles in these parts, but it would be necessary to see the passing over to schism and even to Protestantism, of a good part of our Christians, perhaps even our Christians en masse, and perhaps even see them revert to being Gentiles(), while by making the contrary move () we could hope, it seems to me, for the happiest results, all of which while leaving the faith safe and morality sound. May my right hand wither if I dared ever propose or admit the slightest measure contrary to the integrity of the customs and of the faith !

But before speaking of my plan, the only one that appears capable of remedying everything at this moment (and I am not the only missionary who thinks in this way, Mr Lehodey, whose angelic piety and long practice of the ministry are well known to you, also said : it is the only way, and Mr Dupuis, of whom you are able to estimate the great learning, the habits of the Malabar and the profound piety, is of the same opinion; other missionaries, whose authority is less great, but (who are) numerous, zealous and enlightened, think so too); before therefore speaking of my plan, let us make a few remarks.

1) Who are always the most implacable against Malabar usages ? Those who know them least and who have exercised the holy ministry among these peoples least. Thus the Capuchins against the Jesuits. Now the former exercised the ministry among the Europeans only (), they had all the European prejudices which have been much more fatal to India than the prejudices of India.()

At the present time, is there a single missionary who deals seriously with the case of the Christians and who seeks to spread religion in the natives, who wants us to pass over the usages ? Not one.() On the contrary, all the new ones have revolted, and they remain even further removed from this native liking the less relations they have with them. We will see at times the missionaries employed principally with the English shrug their shoulders, which is not permitted by those who have become a little more the fathers of their Indian children. You quote the Irish! But should you not have quoted them to prove the contrary? Have they not ruined the Indian Christian groupings? They are successful with the English, and that's all. They eat beef, so much the worse!() Saint Paul knew that meat was good but he said that, if he were to scandalise his brothers by eating it, he would never eat it ever.()

Dear friend, you have fallen into this trap. I think that people praise you in Europe. That may be. But know that the more you are applauded on this point, the more you will harm yourself. Your last pages tore my soul to pieces. If they are true(), if they are approved, if they are published, it is no longer necessary for me to become a bishop. Let us close our seminary also before having the shame and chagrin to see it deserted by all the castes, even by the low castes that you would like to raise up.()

Another remark.() I would avoid passing judgment on the very respectable and for ever memorable cardinal of Tournon., I stopped without wishing to go any further when I saw that his zeal was pure, his faith great and his intentions honest. Should he or should he not give such violent orders? Let us leave all that: But let us say, shedding tears, that it is very unfortunate that he was obliged to give them. I do not know who, in this unfortunate affair, did the greater harm, out of the Capuchins or the Jesuits. The latter through the excess of their tolerance (for they went too far, I admit), or the former by the obstinacy they showed in having practices condemned that could very well have been treated with greater circumspection at least (), if war had not already broken out between them.

I consider the obligation in which the illustrious cardinal found himself of carrying his decrees, caused rather by the war of the two illustrious bodies in disunion, than by things themselves. How terrible if all of that were to start again! This time, surrounded by the schism and by Protestantism, weakened in our personal resources by the slight faith of the Christians, by the indisposition that centuries of continual contradiction have not ceased to arouse etc. , this time I say, it could mean the end of religion in these parts. What can follow from this type of discussions: all sorts of evil and not a single good.

Not a single good, no, not even the one sought quite directly, for the very judgments of Rome on these sorts of questions are insufficient and incapable of cutting out the root of the evil. In fact, they rest always on this presupposition, namely : if what we say is exact, if this explanation of such and such a rite is natural and true, if such or such fact is veritable etc. Now, it will always be impossible to enlighten these ifs, and consequently the force of condemnation will always be contested, interpreted, and practically more or less recognised or eluded.

All the same you would ensure the swearing of ten oaths clearer and more explicit that the one we take, even if all ten geniuses of Benedict XIV were to formulate bulls more admirable than the bull "Omnium sollicitudinum". In fact, since this famous bull, have we not had interpretations and some concessions, if I can use this term, on the part of Rome itself (), regarding the pouttou (), for example ? Concessions or interpretations always based on ifs. If, in fact, such a pouttou, in such a country, in such a way, of such a colour, is not a gentility, etc. Which yes, some solved affirmatively, and others negatively, today even, at this very hour, after all that has been said by the venerable pontiffs of blessed memory, Clement XI, Innocent XIII, Benedict XIII, Clement XII and Benedict XIV. That is to say it is a labyrinth which will for ever remain inextricable so long as we do not take the way of the bulls and orders of Rome. () A labyrinth into which the conclusions of your Memoir merely push us further without hoping for any good.

All of this is all the more true() as it is not difficult to show that most proofs introduced for the prohibition of these usages are always defective in some part. When I say that it is not difficult to prove, I mean : for those who are thoroughly acquainted with these peoples and who have been living for long years in their midst, I mean above all: to the Indians who are not at all persuaded, you can believe me, not a single one of them, that our reasons are peremptory ; whence the reproach that they address to us constantly of ignorance, that is to say of ignorance on the nature, origin, nuances, meanings etc. of their usages and of their castes.

But, on the contrary, it is very difficult to prove to the Europeans who fail to see anything in all this, who understand nothing about all these silly things, as they call them, and whose hearts feel repugnance at practices so opposed to theirs. Thus, do you believe that the example I have given of what happened to you at Oulgaret will make a great impression here? It may be something in Rome, but here, it is against you ; it will be against Rome, if she brought a new judgment.() For they will say with reason : you see, these are the testimonies on which Rome's judgments are based. While respecting the judgment of Rome, while admitting the infallibility of the Pope (), people will reject the particular case, for they will say : Rome necessarily infers in its judgments : if the reports that have been given to me are exact. Now the most indulgent will not hesitate to refuse the authenticity of your testimony. We others will say : Mr Luquet was mistaken ; others will say : he is in bad faith ; all of us will say that he was wrong to enter into discussions that he could not know (). For finally, your example is more or less impossible. It must be, dear friend, either that the child who was with you did not really understand the words of the gardener and of the catechist, who must have been speaking in low voices, or else you have not rightly understood the child's report, for perhaps he could not express himself very well in French, or that same child might have wanted to deceive you, which is not rare in this country where the malice of these young children plays with the novelty of the young missionaries; and knowing that the newcomers are curious about these things and amused by them, that they laugh about them, they tell them stories, if only in order to extort from them in this way an image or a medal.

Yes, it must be that one of these three hypotheses is true, but not the fact, for after all either these people regarded the cup as soiled or not. If they regarded it as soiled, and they wanted to follow the customs of the country, they could not purify it with fire. For it is only the vases of copper or other metals not used for milk which may be purified in this way, while the others must necessarily be broken. And remark that the vase in question was not worth more than one cache when new, that is to say a liard, a quarter of a sol that the gardener and the catechist would not have any great difficulty in obtaining if they had held to their usages.

Thus your example, which has already produced explosions of laughter will only inspire diffidence. Well then, what they will say with so many reasons about you, they will say about all the others and with reason.() So that, until we can get away from there, our conscience will be embarrassed, troubled, alarmed ; our Christians will be indignant, distrustful, shocked and not very submissive ; the faith tottering, for they will judge of the other decisions of Rome by those which affect them closely and that it will always be impossible to demonstrate to them as prudent, wise and enlightened. And we will have the sorrow not only of seeing ourselves incapable of attacking the pagans, but of being the cause of thousands of formal and mortal sins which are committed each day, where there would be nothing, not even a little venial sin sometimes. I could quote examples, but that would take too long.()

Third observation : I have very often deplored the lot of the outcasts. But I have also asked myself often if slavery was not more atrocious. Well certainly yes, more inhuman, more barbarous, I would even say more anti-Christian, than the state of pariah, at least as it exists among the Christians, and even generally everywhere.() And yet Religion did not begin by destroying. It put up with it for many centuries. However, it is Religion that destroyed it, for it was essentially() against the spirit of the Gospel that a man was in possession of his brother as he is of a beast of burden. But it did not begin like that.

It would be useless to recall the gradual course by means of which Christian charity finally led to the disappearance of this shameful scourge of almost all the earth, for in 1845 we must still say almost all the earth.

It will be the same here if we do as Saint Paul did. If we say to the pariah: be faithful to remaining in the line of your duty, respect and honour those whom Providence has raised above yourself, it is from God that the differences of rank in society come, etc.; and at the same time to the moudeliar () and to the poullé () : remember that this pariah is your brother, treat him with kindness and consideration ; for if Providence has led to your being born in a higher position than him, do not be proud of that ; if even in the church you are granted a place of honour, this is because the Church renders to each what is due to him, even civilly ; She has also, in Europe, thrones for kings, armchairs for magistrates, benches for nobles, etc. etc., but realise that your prayer will not thereby be any better, and we will not tear out of the sacred code the page where the humble publican is preferred to the proud Pharisee ().

And yet, this way of acting will permit us to spread, to form priests, even from the lowest castes, if we proceed slowly and do not shatter everything from the outset ; to convert even pagans, etc., and the effect of the equalisation of conditions will take place on its own, naturally, necessarily, protected by Religion, but not imposed from the first day.

This is what I wanted to say to you, or rather, this is the summary of the innumerable thoughts which have passed through my mind after reading your unfortunate Memoir. ()

What a pity ! You have destroyed with one hand, as the good Mr Leroux told me what you were building so well with the other. With some pages less, your Memoir was a masterpiece, it could have been spread and produce the happiest results! Whereas I tremble at the idea that our Christians become acquainted with it. Will not the Jesuits be in a position to let them have copies of it? Will Daïriam who is at Rome not write them at least something? For there is not one of them who would be capable of bearing the reading of it, not even Father Lazare, and less than anyone Tambou samy moudeliar, make no mistake about it.

Another thing on which we should be very much on our guard, is to compare the west coast of India with this one. There is as much difference between the other coast and the kingdoms of Mysore, Madurai and Karnataka, as between China and India.

Now that I have finished telling you all that I had on my heart, now that I have perhaps wounded yours, dear friend, but without wishing to do it the least harm, don't doubt it, let us come to the plan I referred to. However, I will necessarily have to be brief, for already I have written eight pages.

I can say that I have been thinking of this plan ever since I have been in India. Seeing that so many bad effects had been the only fruit of the innumerable efforts of several generations of missionaries; seeing that the decrees, orders, bulls etc. already sufficiently numerous for people not to know even a half had not led to introducing uniformity in the conduct of the missionaries, I won't say of the whole of India, but even of one single vicariate; seeing that the principal questions which gave rise to so many writings and scandals were still problematical for missionaries filled with the love of God and who would give their lives one hundred times rather than deliberately contribute even to a single venial sin, and who ask themselves very seriously if absolutely it would not be possible to permit such or such a thing, if without the ties of the bull we could not in conscience allow such a practice () ; seeing that, despite the rigour of the oath of the bull, the usage or the interpretation lead certain missionaries to believe they can do things that others will only very reluctantly undertake ; seeing that our most reasonable Christians are greatly astonished that we find so much immorality in certain usages, that they merely laugh at what makes us weep, that it seems finally that the public conscience (which is a witness of truth)() is completely foreign to our scruples ; seeing finally that we have condemned many things, but also that we have let quite a few others pass that we could just as well prove are superstitious and which, by this fact, are not so in the sense in which Christians do it () ; finally seeing and confirming my opinion more and more in this thought, gradually as I reflect on it, that almost all practices in India have two principles and also two goals : a principle of general usefulness, of public good, above all if related to the times where they were established (and these times have not changed much for the Indians), one principle at times profoundly philosophical and almost always principal, and the other superstitious and almost always secondary ; one goal of charity, if I can put it thus, arising from first principles and another of philosphical theogony invented for attaching, through superstition, to these good practices thus regarded as necessary, a people not very capable of reasoning, I wondered whether instead of trying to fight the evil with foreign arms, we should not go back to the origin, to the source of this deplorable evil, and instead of wanting to destroy everything, do our utmost to preserve as much as possible while effectively discarding evil ; instead of pulling up the tree, separating quite gently the parasitical bark devouring it, and which, once rejected, would allow the tree to bear much better native fruits than those of the exotic tree with which it was proposed to replace it.

But the possibility ? The possibility exists so well() that the thing appears easy today to various missionaries by means of the printing press and of the ease of spreading books. The idea would be to make a book containing a clear, frank exposition of the Christian Religion, as well as a complete refutation of paganism. We would show above all that by becoming Christians men are merely reverting to the practice of their ancestors who were that, who believed at least in the future Messiah, in the liberator of the human race, in Christ. We would make them see how the great wisdom, the profound knowledge and the lofty philosophy of their forebears were appreciated by the whole universe, and how they were rightly esteemed, Then we demonstrate how the great truths that they taught have been corrupted by ignorance and for other causes.

Their main errors ? at this point we would list for them the principal corrupted truths. You know how much people respect their ancestors, they would be flattered by these references, and would come a little closer to us. Then entering into the details of their usages, we would show them the useful, good, reasonable, or indifferent side. We would also make them see the spoiled and superstitious side. After which we would declare solemnly that we only accept the good side, since we abhor the superstition that ignorance, malice or corruption have attached to it. We would make them see that all our external acts, from which the Christians do not hide, are a continual and ostensible negation of it.

And from there, how many things could we not allow ourselves ! How many practices these people are attached to all the more since they are blamed for them which will end up by falling into disuse through the example of the Europeans, by that very example given by the most perfect of the native Christians, by neglecting or despising them. How many others that are really good, that it would be regrettable to see destroyed could exist without danger.()

I would like to enter into a few details, but I would be too long. What could I say, for example, on abstinence from beef, on the custom of ash, on the pouttous(), on respect for birds of prey ! etc. etc. Get rid of the birds of prey, the crows, the kites, the garoudels, and India would be uninhabitable, the country will be ravaged by plague. The pouttou! But they are more the mark of caste distinction than of superstitious vows, or they are at least as much so.() Ash ! why, it is extremely salutary for people who have no underwear, both because of the sweat that it makes inoffensive, and because of the cleanliness that it makes obligatory in the form of frequent baths, baths that, as you know, are more a simple manner of washing the body rather than baths such as they are understood in Europe. When someone is ill, he will not be put into a bed with three or four mattresses of wool and feather, but on a simple mat, sprinkled with ash, and that is worth more than all the rest in this country.

Beef ! it was essentially philosophical in a country where the ox is the only resource of the ploughman, of the carter, of the merchant, etc. etc. to preserve as something precious, in a country where agriculture without progress and without encouragement does not have the talent for producing on the soil as in Europe ten or twenty times what the earth produces spontaneously of cereals or animals.() Whence the explicit law not to eat of it while, in order to not to waste anything, they are given (after they are dead) to be devoured to the lower castes ; so that there is not a single horned beast that is not eaten by men after its natural death.

This double law, to accommodate both parties (each according to his taste), has given an innate horror of the flesh of this animal to all those who are not outcasts, so that they cannot even conceive that an honest man, in the sense of a man of good birth, can bring to his lips a meat more revolting in their eyes than dog or cat meat would be in Europe. What should we say of a missionary from Tong-Kin who came to convert to the faith the peoples of Alexandria and who, under the pretext that he has seen divine honours rendered to these animals in Egypt, is reported to have begun by demanding that these peoples eat dog as in his country? For, he is believed to have said: it is by superstition that you do not eat this meat! that I know from experience to be excellent.

Let us put ourselves in the place of the people of the country and let us not stay Europeans in India ; let us not require above all that the Indians become Europeans ! (for) (that is what kills us !), and we will understand (then) these reasonings. Now we would say, we would publish, we would write and would promulgate everywhere our faith and our practices. We do not eat beef, we would say, because in this country the custom is not to eat it and because we do not find it good, that is all. We put whitened pots in our fields, yes, because we need them in order to protect our crops against a thousand birds. We use cow dung, yes, because there is nothing more salutary for keeping our houses clean, for frightening away the thousand insects that would devour us without that.

You others, Europeans, you find this neither fine nor agreeable, while we, we find it agreeable and fine. The eyes and the other senses are not identical everywhere. The French love above all black clothes, while we find them hideous. Your women put on rouge to make themselves beautiful, while we, we burst out laughing when we see them got up in that way; but in revenge, we find our women very beautiful when they have spread a layer of yellow over the whole face; you find it pitiable; and we pity you, so we are quits.

Immediately all scandal would cease and, with the holy liberty of the Gospel, we would leave it to Religion to reform in all of this what it absurd, what is less good, what is improper but which would no longer be a sin. These reforms would take place quite gradually, naturally, and not by shattering everything from the outset.

This book, reproduced in all formats and circulated in all parts, will open to us only the door of the pagans and will reconcile us with the Christians of India. We, missionaries, we will continue to do as we are doing, that is to say submitting to what cannot (at first) be rejected without revolting the peoples, but maintaining the line of perfection that we will not impose on anyone, but that we would preach by our example alone.

This book, you would write it, you, dear friend, in an admirable way, after having stayed for some time in India, and I feel sure that it would be, after the general good of the missions, the most beneficial thing that you could do for the particular good of these parts. Otherwise, you are going to see the future worse than the past, and nothing more! May the good God have pity on India and may he not permit that our sins be the cause of its ruin. And I will stop here; may you come back on your principles on this subject and be so happy that your Memoir is not known in this country! ()

Pondicherry, 5 August 1845

(The following part of the letter is not reproduced in the Souvenirs)

9 August

I felt it my duty to read this letter to My Lord of Drusipare who approved it from one end to the other. His Lordship desired that I leave it open in an envelope to Mr Tesson, asking him to read it and to share it with the other directors as he felt was best. This venerable bishop is very sad since reading your Memoir, and I may say that we all are. However you know how much we here at Pondicherry love and esteem you. What will other confreres who do not have the same sentiments for you think? I do not think that His Lordship has told them all yet, the Memoir has not gone out of here. When they read it, I can tell you that there will be some who will be furious. Mr Jarrige came by just recently. I don't need to tell you what he thinks.

I don't have time to copy these two precious letters that you wrote to me from Gondelour and from Malta, but I am sending you the autographs, asking you to kindly send them back to me. Since I must leave this letter open, I am putting them in a separate envelope.

We are in the midst of exams. We are going to have a month's holidays. We deliberated at length if we would give holidays or not. As far as I am concerned, I fear them very much. So dangerous everywhere, they appear to be even more so here than elsewhere. However, everything considered, we thought we ought to grant one month. From now onwards, the school year will start after the feast of Ariancoupam and will finish one month before that time. The prizegiving will only take place one year from now, for this time, since we proceeded to this solemnity six months ago, we will only be giving a few small prizes of encouragement.

The seminary is going quite well, and the new building is advancing. We have followed a plan that I myself gave, but with certain courrouchels() which mean that the building will be far from perfect. At the present stage, despite my opposition, in my opinion a new fault has been committed which may have regrettable consequences.

The fathers in the south continue to behave as bad neighbours. It is very unfortunate that we were not able to set up an apostolic vicariate in Tanjaour, it would have been an immense good. And when will there be one in Madurai? Besides, the mission of the Jesuits goes rather badly, with schism rampant, the Christians in revolt and Protestantism fishing copiously, it would appear, in this troubled water. All of this must arise, from the way things are set up badly in this country.

A Dieu. What a lot of things ! I really crave your indulgence to forgive me for having taken such liberty, but I am certain that you will read what I have to say in the spirit in which I wrote it, and that, in the love of Jesus who unites us and through the protection of Mary whom we so desire to love, you will consider me more than ever as the most devoted and most intimate of your friends.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 5 and 9 August 1845)

Sent_0129

Sent_0129 - à M. Luquet - le 8 août 1845 -/1

Sent 0129 - to Mr Luquet - 8 August 1845 -/1

Sent_0129 - à M. Luquet - le 8 août 1845 -/1

Sent 0129 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, p 397

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Some reflections of fellow priests of Pondicherry after reading the Memoir of Mr Luquet. There is talk of you as coadjutor at Pondicherry. Do not accept.

Index : criticisms, friendship

Pondicherry, 8 August, 1845

I do not want to write what follows in a letter that could be read by others. Use it for yourself alone.

In order to make you understand how painfully affected by your Memoir all the missionaries who have read it are, I want to refer to you some of the words which escaped them in the fullness of their hearts.

"What a misfortune ! How he is mistaken! And in fact he is tearing his own mother's breast" (Mr Leroux).

"So this is where the pretension of writing leads ! What foolishness!" (Mr Pouplin).

"Perhaps it is because of our sins that the good God has permitted this misfortune" (Mr Lehodey).

"This work is capable of causing hereafter the greatest harm to our cause ; on reflection and after the first favourable impression has passed, it will be seen to be the production of an exalted head, which no longer kept any sense of measure" (Mr Dupuis).

"I heard him say at Gondelour that at 32 Alexander had formed the greatest of empires, let him beware he does not end up like Alexander at Babylon or Babel (confusion). I feel sure that if things go in this way, for they are becoming confused, half the missionaries of our vicariate will leave us; and I the first, I would retire rather than enter into disputes" (Mr Jarrige).

"Let him take care that his Memoir is not made known ; else he should know that he cannot put foot in this country ever again" (My Lord of Drusipare).

You must know however that the Sacred Congregation has the thought of appointing you coadjutor of My Lord of Drusipare. How pleased I would be in another circumstance. But at this moment, it is impossible for you to accept this post. See before God, and pray for me who never cease to raise to Heaven my hands and heart for you who are the best of my friends.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 8 August 1845)

Sent_0130

Sent_0130 - à M. Luquet - septembre 1845 -/3

Sent 0130 - to Mr Luquet - September 1845 -1/3

Sent_0130 - à M. Luquet - septembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0130 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 395ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

Pleasure of learning that you have refused your appointment as coadjutor of Pondicherry. Some news of India and on his Memoir. The main reason which caused me not to refuse the episcopate is that you told me not to refuse it. Return to India, I can't see you either in Paris or Rome. I will have nothing in Coimbatore. Christianity is going badly in India. The seminary is doing alright, but how much mistrust! Who is going to replace me in the seminary if I leave? The Jesuits have no more devoted friend than I, but their system of mission is deplorable!

As a PS : a paragraph on the decrees and the canon rules.

Index : episcopate (appointment), religion in India, seminary of Pondicherry, Jesuits

__________

(Pondicherry), September 1845

More letters have arrived without anything from you, dear friend. Even there is practically no more mention of you in the letters from Paris. One letter from Mr Tesson however contains these words: "the cardinal Prefect of Propagation announced to Mr Luquet that he had been appointed bishop coadjutor of Pondicherry. Mr Luquet refused". Everyone is pleased at this news, even I, despite all the desire that I would have to see you a bishop. India is not yet worthy of you. Let us wait some days more. I will not repeat the bitter words that have been spoken against you, and against me (for I have the happiness of being coupled with you whenever there is something to blame, a fact that intimately gratifies me) in this last month. Let us excuse the primo primum, and suffer in peace providing the work of God is accomplished.

I will not speak to you again of your Memoir, for opinions on it have not changed at all since last month. It has not yet been sent to Mr Gailhot who is clamouring for it, and who blames it sovereignly (without having read it). H.L. of Jassen has not read it either. He will be here in a few days' time; he is happy not to have had the occasion to read it yet. The bishop of Madras is sulking and seems indisposed to give up Vizagatam. He has refused powers to Mr Gailhot and is garrisoning the various posts in those parts. The whole clergy of Ceylon is on fire and seems prepared to suffer anything rather that consent to recognise Father Bettachini as bishop; while the bishop of Calcutta seems more reasonable.

Here, nothing has changed. Letters are being written in which I am not spared. I do not take umbrage at this, for time will settle everything. I await with patience news from Paris and from Rome, in reply to the letters that I wrote at the beginning of July, as well as H.L of Drusipare who wrote I don't know what. If they change my destination, it will be painless for me, I believe, to receive the news; if they confirm what has been decided, I will not consider it my duty to stop in the face of the discontent of certain confreres, all the more so since there are others of them who appear satisfied. But the slightest word from you would make me forego without ado the charge which you imposed on me and to which I feel myself bound by the single word that you said to me not to refuse, rather than any other reason. Speak to me openly always, dear friend, and before the Lord in whose presence I know that you weigh up all things.

Will you soon return to our midst ? I desire it with all my heart, not so much for the pleasure of seeing you, a pleasure that we can postpone willingly, you and me, until the time when God's friends will no longer leave one another, but because it seems to me that the very good of our cause requires you not to prolong overmuch your stay in Rome. Your mission is fulfilled for the moment. By withdrawing, you will leave intact the favourable impression which it pleased our divine Master that you should make in Rome, and of which we have such need for the future. As from now correspondence will give you more strength than your presence itself, and if later it becomes necessary to go and push more, we are not so far away when it only takes a month to get there.

I would not like to see you stop for too long in Paris either. I would not like to see you either bursar or director in either of these two capitals. Come back a simple and humble missionary, and your strength will redouble and you will find yourself capable of doing more thereafter than you have ever done thus far, if God wills.

The Gentlemen of Paris already speak of the new divisions as an accomplished fact, but say nothing of how things should be organised. If I were to leave today for Coimbatore, I would be in some difficulty, since it appears that H.L. of Drusipare is scarcely prepared to hand over either men or money. I trust that, since the three missions are quite separate, as proved clearly by your nomination as coadjutor, we will obtain some form of separate aid next year. Would you kindly get some idea of what the position is; but meanwhile?

Meanwhile, the Christian communities are going very badly. This uprising of the Christians, with the Nellitopians at their head, is spreading. Coimbatore is in revolt. Mr Fricaud is carried away like an old sheep in the midst of thorns, as he said. At Trichinopoly, we have to fear the desertion of Christianity in mass. Already, several other villages have given the example and have gone over en masse to the schism, while in addition a considerable proportion of them has in other villages. As for me, I think that the Christians are not sufficiently considered. I do not know what is to be gained by offending the usages of a people; and it is impossible that any good can be achieved in that way. May the good God enlighten us.

Our seminary is proceeding well still ; our four tonsured continue to behave perfectly. However, suspicions are still rife. Your thesis on the native clergy, in your Memoir, while it obtained the general admiration of those who have read it, however frightens certain persons, Mr Jarrige at their head, while His Lordship himself said to me, a few days ago, some rather strong words. I asked him, whether if I had to go to Coimbatore he could give me the young aspirant clerics in order to complete their ecclesiastical education, making him see that that would spare a missionary as from now indispensable for theology. He did not bite at the hook, letting me know that he feared that I would put into practice what you write in theory. "We don't have too much faith in your relics," he said to me.

I have no clear idea who will be entrusted with the seminary if I leave it. I would like it to be Mr Chevalier, who appears to me to be the only one who should continue on the same footing. He would willingly accept, and has written me a charming letter on the subject filled besides with devotion and faith, but he is in Mysore, and Mgr Charbonnaux is opposed to his leaving the mission designated for him. I do not know up to what point H.L. of Drusipare will insist. Everything is in God's hands. What is Daïriam doing in Rome ? I would be astonished that that young man ends up well, for he has not followed the straight road. If he is made a priest in Rome, I believe we should fear his return.

What will be the result of the failure of the Jesuits in France on the missions? This is a deplorable affair when one considers the way in which they have just been treated by the enemies of Religion, especially since behind them, it is religion as a whole that is being attacked. Certainly the enemies of the faith will not remain in such a fine way. It is unfortunate that, at a time where every generous heart is beating in their favour, for the single reason that they are being shamefully persecuted, we should have to complain about them from the point of view of relations outside of the European question, but which not all minds will find it easy to separate. Accordingly we should redouble in prudence and charity without ceasing to fight for the truth and for good principles. May people understand that we are in no way enemies of the Jesuits, far from it. Perhaps they have no friends more devoted than me, but this does not prevent me thinking that their system of mission is deplorable. If only you had put a bishop in Tanjaour! Or perhaps that will be done later.

A Dieu. I cannot think of anything else to tell you, except to redouble your prayers for your unworthy but very devoted confrere and friend.

M. de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Can you do nothing during your stay in Rome regarding this poor collection of decrees ? It is a great embarrassment that produces nothing, it seems to me. Besides, can we believe ourselves obliged to observe them without there being any marks of authenticity? Is not the refusal of Rome to print it sufficient to make us entertain serious doubts of its validity? I would like to see us rid of all that, and for us to be left with the common law.

H.L. of Jassen is now giving confirmation and administering in the apostolic vicariate of H.L. of Drusipare. Can he do this now that he has a separate vicariate, since it is prohibited for an apostolic vicar, even with the consent of the person in whose domain he finds himself, to carry out any episcopal act outside of his vicariate ? It is true that he considers himself today as the coadjutor simply of Mgr Bonnand. But what will happen once he has taken possession of Mysore? There are decrees that seem to be in contradiction, while others are abrogated by subsequent decrees? Who is to tell us if they are all in this collection that we cannot even read for as long as it is so poorly printed!

(Pondicherry, September 1845)

Sent_0131

Sent_0131 - à Mgrs Bonnand et Charbonnaux - le 25 septembre 1845 -/3

Sent 0131 - to Mgrs Bonnand and Charbonnaux - 25 September 1845 -3/3

Sent_0131 - à Mgrs Bonnand et Charbonnaux - le 25 septembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0131 Original, Fonds Luquet (Langres) 256

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3

"Souvenirs", pp 493-495

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Bangalore)

I was distressed on receiving my appointment, but I thought I could not refuse it, knowing that I was innocent of the suspicions weighing on me and on Mr Luquet. The discontent of my confreres led me to reflect. Then the appointment (refused) of Mr Luquet means that, now, he and I pass for ambitious intriguers. Our honour is at stake. Because of the opposition of my confreres, I forego the episcopate. I also hand in my resignation from superior of the seminary, for I cannot put into practice the ideas of Mr Luquet's Memoir accepted by Rome. Send me to some remote corner. I need peace of the heart.

Index : episcopate (nomination), resignation (from the seminary), native clergy, Memoir, submission, humility

__________

Pondicherry, 25 September 1845

My Lords,

When three months ago, I received the briefs of my nomination to the vicariate of Coimbatore, I had no illusion as to the adverse effects this appointment would produce on several of my confreres, for which I was profoundly distressed. At once I asked before God if I should not refuse immediately. I believed not. I had the intimate certainty of being innocent of the intentions that I saw people suspected me of, my conscience did not reproach me with anything for my part. Besides, I was thoroughly acquainted with the lofty virtue and eminent piety of our respectable colleague, Mr Luquet; I was as sure of him as of myself. I am certain that if he supported my election, friendship had nothing to do with it, absolutely nothing.

He believed in soul and conscience that he should press my promotion more than that of some other, for the good of the missions, above all for that of the native clergy. I admit that in all of this he may have fallen into a great error, but without committing any fault. Thus I was tranquil, perfectly tranquil as to the legitimacy of my election. Of course I still had to consider whether my unworthiness did not oblige me to refuse. But I soon saw that it was not I who could judge of that, any more than it is up to me at this moment to make a show of vain humility.

On another hand, I believed that divine providence could have something to do with this extraordinary appointment, and I hoped to be able to render the cause of the missions, and particularly that of the native clergy, more services in the episcopate than as a simple missionary.

If no outside obstacle had arisen, I would therefore have accepted with equanimity and even with a certain joy ; I would not even have waited for over three months to be consecrated, both in order to follow up on the spirit of the Council of Trent, and not to delay by an instant by my fault the benefit that the Holy See has granted to Coimbatore in the new arrangement of the vicariates.

However, the discontent of my confreres was also for me a second voice of providence which commended to me at least the practice of prudence and adjournment. I should allow sufficient time for reflection to discover the truth of my position and the rectitude of Mr Luquet's intentions. During that time still, I hoped to receive from Paris and Rome a rectification to the manner of presentation which, it is said, departs from the usual procedure of our Society, and I thought that in the case of a probable confirmation, I could advance, if not to the general satisfaction, at least with the conviction, in all of our confreres, that I was doing nothing either against conscience or against honour.

But it happened that, during that time, Mr Luquet has had the misfortune to be too clever and too virtuous. While we, his fellows, treat him here with an uncommon severity, exaggerating the faults which have escaped him in the midst of his delicate negotiations, without being duly grateful to him for his enormous efforts, the cardinals, unica voce, the Seminary of Paris and the sovereign pontiff, astonished at his work, edified by his virtues, convinced of the force of his logic, raised him to the envy of the very clouds and met (something that has never yet occurred for any bishop of our Society, from the time of our first and for ever memorable apostolic vicars), without Mr Luquet knowing anything about it, to elevate him to the episcopate.

Since then, he has been regarded by several of our confreres as nothing but an ambitious intriguer, him and his friend (and I am using the softest terms here), and I have the honour of being considered as his accomplice. Several of our fellows who have used a language so distressing to the heart of a priest and a man of honour, may be excused by the impossibility for them of seeing all the correspondence of Paris and of Rome. I protest here they have lost none of my affection, but the fact is none the less real, it is none the less serious, and it causes us to be accused of one of the greatest crimes that a priest can commit, and attacks our honour.

No sooner had I learned of the intentions of the Sacred Congregation regarding Mr Luquet, than I foresaw a redoubling of mistrust and of discontent on the part of my confreres, and I hastened to write to him to urge him not to accept. India is not yet worthy of him! But already his eminent reason, or rather the Spirit of God that he consults every day, had told him before me what he had to do. Thus, because of our weakness, he will not be a bishop.

Meanwhile, what should I do ? Mr Luquet had written to me from Rome: you must not refuse the episcopate. This word was more powerful over me than the humiliation received each day from my confreres. But finally, things have gone so far that it seems to me that Mr Luquet would today withdraw his word, becoming the first to say to me, if he were here: ah, since things are thus, do not accept. So that I have the honour of informing Your Graces that as a result of the constant opposition of our principal confreres, and not for any other reasons, I forego the dignity that the Sacred Congregation has offered me. I am also writing to the Sacred Congregation to let it know my decision, asking it to put in my place a priest, who by deserving more than I do the trust of his confreres, does not fail to be animated by zeal for the native clergy. I have the honour of sending you copy of the letter I am addressing to it.

There is another matter, My Lords, which pains me no less and which determines me to request you in grace to accept my resignation from superior of the seminary. People distrust both our zeal and my intentions with regard to the native clergy. This admirable thesis that Mr Luquet has so worthily and catholicly defended in his Memoir has not been blessed in the eyes of all of his confreres. They tremble to see such a theory put into practice. Now, I declare frankly that on this point I think absolutely in the same way as Mr Luquet, and would like to see this theory really put into practice.

But this, like all the rest, I only wish if God wants it, and as God wants it ; not by means of contentious and embarrassed means, by means of divisions with my confreres (these are not the ordinary ways of prudence). I would not be willing to modify my way of seeing and acting regarding the work of the native clergy, today less than ever when the opinion of the Sacred Congregation comes to corroborate ours; but I consent to withdraw since I cannot carry out this work in peace. Besides, whatever assurance I give to my confreres that there is not the slightest resentment, not the slightest bitterness, no diminution of affection, however my election which has just run aground on their opposition would merely have the effect of maintaining between them and me, for as long as I am in even a somewhat elevated post a sort of coolness and mistrust quite disastrous for the seminary ; of which we have already felt the unfortunate effects.

If the work of the seminary, if the work of the native clergy are the work of God, and if God wants his work to be carried out among this people, I do not have the pretension of believing that it needs me to accomplish it. But I have need of peace and am incapable of living in a state of mutual distrust. If I am the cause of the tempest, may I be taken and thrown into the sea. The Lord is also the God of the abysses. If he wants my ministry to continue, he will be capable of saving me from the watery deeps. But leave me the peace of heart already too painfully troubled for some time now. And since I desire nothing, absolutely nothing in this world, let me withdraw into the humblest corner of one or the other of your jurisdictions.

Do not cause me the chagrin of refusing me this grace. If I had left for Coimbatore, it would have been necessary to replace me at the latest within one month. Do me the favour, please, of acting as you would have done in that case. It is even my desire to leave as soon as possible.

It only remains for me, My Lords, to ask you to remember me in your prayers and to make my decision known to all my confreres, assuring them at the same time of the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being their very affectionate servant, as well as Your Lordships' very humble and very submissive servant and son.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 25 September 1845)

Sent_0132

Sent_0132 - à la Propagande - le 26 septembre 1845 -/3

Sent 0132 - to Propaganda - 26 September 1845 -3/3

Sent_0132 - à la Propagande - le 26 septembre 1845 -3/1

Sent 0132 Brésillac copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, p 410

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

Since most of my fellow priests are opposed to my appointment, I beg Your Eminence to accept my refusal and to proceed to another choice. For the cause of the native clergy, I would have felt a certain joy at my elevation. I remain prepared to serve the Church in whatever place I may be sent to.

Index : obedience, episcopate (appointment), Rome (authority), native clergy

__________

Pondicherry, 26 September 1845

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Quanta mea fuit admiratio cum, die 30 praeteriti mensis Junii, Sanctissimi Domini Nostri Gregorii PP. XVI litteras apostolicas recepi quibus Provicarius apostolicus in Coimbatore provincia constitutus eram. Praeter vero infirmitatem meam qua timore confectus sum, dolenter novi electionem meam nullo cum gaudio a confratribus meis videri propter diversas rationes inter quas numerari debet defectus presentationis a Vicario apostolico. In ea gravi difficilique positione quantumvis ardens habuerim desiderium respondendi benignitati Sanctitatis Suae et concurrendi ad felices dispositiones Sanctae Sedis Apostolicae erga regiones Indiae, coram Deo credidi me obligatum esse sin minus ad recusandum, saltem ad promovendum consensum.

Hodie vero tres jam elapsi sunt menses et dispositiones majorum confratrum in apostolatus munere in eadem alienatione perseverant. Certe imprudens essem si eorum contradictio vocem non haberem, saltem practice, pro voce Dei, et si, illis invitis, munus episcopale acciperem, quod Deus scit me nec unquam petivisse, nec sine clara manifestatione voluntatis Dei accepturum. Dignetur ergo Eminentia Vestra benigne recipere recusationem meam et providere ad aliam electionem quae confratribus in gaudio vertetur, sine praejudicio zeli et studii erga clerum indigenum cujus causa solum timeo, cujus gratia, fateor, aliquid percepissem gaudium elevationis meae.

Litteras institutionis hodie committo manibus Reverendissimi Domini Episcopi Drusiparensis ut secundum voluntatem Eminentiae Vestrae disponere possit.

Quamvis indignus sim, dignetur Eminentia Vestra pro sincera habere affirmationem, obsequii mei, et si Deus qui "infirma mundi eligit ut confundat fortia" (), me infirmum non recusaret at bonum aliquid conficiendum vel in missionibus in genero, vel in aliqua missione in particulari, certa remaneat Eminentia Vestra me, ad primum signum voluntatis suae et ad quodcumque officium usque ad ultimum terrae, magna cum laetitia ocius properaturum esse.

Faciat Deus Omnipotens ut tandem oriatur misericordia sua super istam regionem miserrimam, quod aliquoties sperandum, aliquoties desperandum videtur. Benedicat Deus per intercessionem Virginis Deiparae operi pietatis et caritatis dilectissimi Reverendissimi Domini Luquet eminenter intelligentis malum, sed cui difficile remanebit remedium inducere.

Parcite, quaeso, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, parcite effusioni animae meae, et credite me pro vita integra

Eminentiae Vestrae,

Servum obedientissimum et obsequientissimum.

Mr de Brésillac

(Pondicherry, 26 September 1845)

TraNSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

Pondicherry, 26 September 1845

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord,

What was my astonishment when on 30th of June last, I received the apostolic letters of our very Holy Father Pope Gregory XVI, in which he constituted me apostolic pro-vicar of the Province of Coimbatore. But, besides my weakness which makes me fearful, I learned with grief that my election was not regarded with any joy by my confreres, for several reasons among which I should mention the lack of presentation by the Apostolic Vicar. In this serious and difficult position, while having the ardent desire to respond to His Holiness's benevolence and to contribute to the happy arrangements taken by the Apostolic Holy See in favour of India, at the same time I believed, before God, that I should refuse, or at least not give my immediate consent.

Today, after three months, the inclinations of the majority of my confreres in charge of the apostolate remain marked by the same opposition. Accordingly I would be imprudent if, at least practically, I did not take the voice of their opposition as the voice of God, and if, against their will, I accepted the charge of the episcopate that God knows full well I have never requested and that I am not prepared to accept without a clear expression of God's will. Accordingly would Your Eminence kindly receive my refusal with benevolence and deign to proceed to another choice which will turn into joy for my confreres, without prejudice to the zeal and care to be afforded to the native clergy, for the sole cause which I fear and because of which, I must admit, I would have felt a certain joy at my elevation.

I am today putting into the hands of My Lord bishop of Drusipare the letters of institution, in order for him to dispose of the same according to Your Eminence's will.

Despite my unworthiness, may Your Eminence deign to accept as sincere the expression of my obedience and if God, who "chooses the weak to confound the strong" (), does not refuse to choose me, unworthy as I am, to do some good either in the missions in general, or in some mission in particular, may Your Eminence rest assured that, at the first sign of his will and for whatever work, I will hasten at the earliest possible opportunity, with great joy, to the ends of the earth.

May almighty God ensure that his mercy is extended to this region which is one of the most abandoned ; we see at times certain signs of hope, but at other times we lose it all. May God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, bless the work of piety and charity of the very dear Father Luquet who apprehends exactly the evil, which however it will be very difficult to remedy.

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord, kindly excuse me I beg you for having opened up my soul to you, and believe me throughout life,

Your Eminence's,

very obedient and very devoted servant

Mr de Brésillac

(Pondicherry, 26 September 1845)

Sent_0133

Sent_0133 - à M. Luquet - le 5 octobre 1845 -/4

Sent 0133 - to Mr Luquet - 5 October 1845 -3/4

Sent_0133 - à M. Luquet - le 5 octobre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0133 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 399ss

(to Mr Jean Luquet)

(apostolic missionary)

I am sending you a copy of the letters of my refusal. You will see for what reasons. By now, you will be bishop; here, indignation against you is at its peak; and then, why try to touch the problem of castes? Deplorable attitude of the bishop of Madras regarding Mr Gailhot. The missions are not the property of anyone : neither of individuals or governments. Do not be in haste to return. Who should be appointed for Coimbatore? Mr Jarrige? He is not the right man because of his ideas on the native clergy: Mr Gailhot? He wants the episcopate too much. Bad news from my family. The schism in Madras and in Pondicherry. The bishop of Calcutta. The gospel does not prohibit one hundredth part of the customs of caste. Some bitter passages from Mgr Charbonnaux's reply to my letter of renunciation. Mgr Bonnand's answer pains me. Let us accept with joy our humiliations and our sorrows.

Index : castes, episcopate (appointment), criticisms, my thought on the missions, humiliations

__________

Pondicherry, 5 October 1845

Dear friend,

Will your great courage always be strong enough to resist the formidable tests to which it pleases the Lord to subject you ? I hope so from the all-powerful grace of God, for it alone can inspire sufficient strength; I request it every day to Heaven for you. Today you will doubtless be receiving a fresh blow in the letter reaching you. As for me, faithful to the promise I made to you, I will try and let you know exactly the disposition of people's minds, and will tell you frankly my way of seeing things. Is this not the only way of rendering each other real services?

I will not speak to you of my refusal. I am sending you a copy of the letters I have addressed to the Sacred Congregation and to Our Lords of Drusipare and of Jassen in which you will see the reasons which made me act thus. I will tell you frankly that it was painful to me to have to take this line. I really hoped that this appointment was a stroke of Providence, in favour of our cause; today, the feastday of the Rosary and of Carumattampatty, I would have been consecrated in that very church if I had been able to act according to my desires. I would have invited there the apostolic vicar of Verapoly and even his coadjutor, if that had been possible, which, with Mgr Bonnand and Mgr Charbonnaux, would already have made a little group of four or five bishops, the only thing possible at this moment as regards episcopal gatherings, but in which we could have laid some bases for the future.

I have just received your letter of 30 July in which you announce to me your consecration due to take place on 8 September next. Thus I hope, at the present time, that it is you who will give me your pontifical blessing. May it have the effect of showering on India some of these effective graces of which it is in such need. When I say I hope, however I do not try to conceal the bad effect that your appointment will produce among our confreres, the indignation, one might say, is at its peak. How I would have liked you to wait a little. It seems to me, dear friend, that you go too fast. As for me, this is the only fault I find in you, and even there believe me I would truly like to find you innocent on this point.

In any case, however that may be, everyone is angry against you. In everything you have done, they can scarcely find anything good, and such good is repulsed in the idea that you allowed yourself to be made bishop with ideas that are going to overturn and destroy everything. It is true that the misfortune that you have had of touching on the question of the castes is very deplorable, believe me, and requires an explanation from you in the sense of what I indicated to you in my last letter. Without that, I must say frankly that I too am of the opinion that an era of misfortune the consequences of which cannot be foreseen is looming for India. Whereas we will arrive at a much more certain result, if we are moderate on this question and if we proceed in agreement. The outcasts even will come to us more quickly.

You know that the priests from Savoy are still here. The poor bishop of Madras is behaving in a quite deplorable way! What it is to have a national spirit! This for ever destructive idea that a mission is a property. He has not answered the letter that the Fathers wrote to him on their arrival. He has refused Mr Gailhot the powers that the latter requested of him according to the desire of the Sacred Congregation. But, what is even more deplorable, in order to prevent the carrying out of this project, he has had recourse to the Government of Madras, which has written about it to the supreme Government of Calcutta, which itself has written to England, it appears.

Just imagine a Catholic bishop who, at the gates of a schism devouring his own Christian community, a schism which has no other origin than the intervention of a government in the affairs of the Church and a Catholic government like that of Portugal when it has received such unfortunate concessions which today draw so many tears from us ! just imagine, as I said, that a Catholic bishop addresses himself to a Protestant government to stop the measures taken by Rome!

Where have we got to, great God ! Besides, this will prove, I hope, to the Sacred Congregation how necessary is the measure that it has just taken, a measure that it would have been easier to put into practice ten years ago than today, and which would become impossible in a few years from now. I hope that the Sacred Congregation will come to see that it is important, while shocking as little as possible without doubt, but maintaining at any price the holy liberty of the Gospel, for it to put itself outside of any civil government, and not to let people believe that the missions are anyone's property.

Two years ago I wrote to you that there were three points that we should necessarily agitate shortly with great questions : Rome, Paris and London. You have started in Paris and in Rome, the turn of London will perhaps soon be coming. Perhaps it will be good for this mission for you to be a bishop? Quam incomprehensibiles sunt viae ejus.() I think that you should not be in any haste to return. However completed your mandate is, find some way of staying on in Europe. I will not say like most of those I hear that it is impossible for you ever to set foot again in India. The good God has abundant means to make you return amidst the joy of those who are now so set against you. Only, do not be in haste.

However, if you consider it appropriate to be appointed Pro-Vicar of Coimbatore in my place, I would not know what to say. Perhaps that would be the best. Decide on that in God's presence. I fear that they will push the Sacred Congregation to appoint Mr Jarrige who is about to take possession in the interim of this district. I declare that I do not consider him the man we need at this time because of his ideas on the native clergy. There is another subject that I would be very sorry to see appointed bishop, and yet people would seem quite in his favour, and that is Mr Gailhot. If I am not mistaken, that man should never be made bishop, I do not say in Coimbatore, but neither at Vizagapatam or elsewhere. He himself is too desirous of the episcopate. He is not lacking in talents, but he does not possess the other ecclesiastical qualities which should characterise a bishop. Make of this opening whatever use you see fit, according to the saintly virtue of prudence and before God.

I don't need to tell you, dear friend, how torn my heart is. Since it was in the midst of sorrows that Jesus Christ gave birth to his Church, let us rejoice that he puts us on the cross. To ensure that nothing is lacking in my crucifixion, the Lord has permitted that the worst possible news of my family, and in vague terms but absolutely overwhelming, should have arrived by the last steamer. I do not know what it is, and do not even have the resource of a sick heart which consents to explain the reason for its sadness. God alone knows this and you whom I request keep this secret until I know exactly what it is. Pray for me. I do not know if I should call you My Lord, however I hope so. But in any case, I will call you my friend, and pray you to allow me always to declare myself yours.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary, with you at the feet of the crucified Jesus.

Mr de Brésillac, priest

apostolic missionary

Pondicherry, 5 October 1845

I do not know if you are acquainted with what happened at Madras. Mgr Fennelly told the story in his diary, but the Malabars tell it in quite a different way. The manner in which the bishop of Madras disdains the Malabars, and his whole behaviour to them, makes me fear that he is deluding himself, and what is quite sure is that very shortly he and we, if we continue to proceed as we are doing, will have no more native Christians. A mass of them has just passed over to the schism in Madras. Without the opposition of the government of Pondicherry, our Church of Nellitope would today be ministered to by the schismatics and perhaps a good number of Christians from Pondicherry would have passed under their domination. All of this is very natural to my mind. Moreover we can hope for no more conversions of Gentiles if we persevere in this path.

The bishop of Calcutta, who appears to be a true servant of God, is seriously seeking council of Mgr Charbonnaux to know if he should persevere in the path adopted in Bengal of not observing the customs of the castes, or not. He is frightened at the sterility of his ministry, which has not yielded one single conversion! A few old adulterers, and a handful of poor creatures in the hope of being fed, these are the people on whom we are from time to time letting the water of baptism fall. No. No, we will never convert a people by clashing with it head on.

But the Gospel ! The Gospel once more does not prohibit one hundredth part of their usages. There are those that we cannot tolerate; but there are many others that we should very probably respect, and finally others still which are only bad as regards the superstition attached to them. Which we could separate from the thing itself without danger and without sin. I fear that you yourself do not sufficiently understand this, dear friend, and it will be a great misfortune.

I will spare you the answer that Mgr Charbonnaux sent to the common letter on my refusal. It proves how annoyed he was at my appointment which in fact was well known to me. Here are just a few of the thoughts and principles expressed in this letter of which you will see more clearly than me the purport and the danger: "Allow me to say to you that with a little less obstinacy in the plans based on a pure ideal, precipitated by an ardent zeal, not backed up by local experience, opposed on the contrary by the most respectable of your confreres of both past and present... a little less of this presumption common to all the authors of new utopias... more self-questioning of your views.. would dissipate altogether this sort of opposition that everyone has shown against your election, etc.". "It was only a few months ago that you first came out to India... people are astonished that, in preference to others whose hair has grown grey in the holy ministry..., you should be chosen to be the first founder of this apostolic vicariate, there is something that goes against the grain in the mission at seeing preferred a man even if very knowledgeable in his books, inestimable as a confrere... but an absolute novice, not having studied the character... of the peoples of the interior except in reports or in his imagination...".

"I must admit, almost no-one believes like you, and even less like the great reformer of all the missionary congregations who is in Rome, the depreciator of all those who have preceded him here (read his Memoir)... that the time has come, that haste should be made to establish parishes for regular priests... Mr Luquet considers the day when he will see India in the hands of Indian bishops as the finest, the most glorious, while I, like many others, are persuaded that such a day will mark the beginning of a national religion." [...] "It is as your friend and confrere, not as a bishop that I am writing you these lines."

8 o'clock in the evening.

I have this minute received the reply from H.L. of Drusipare. It hurts me much more than that of H.L. of Jassen because of the harshness with which you are treated and the fear it makes me conceive for our work. I admit that I expected something quite different, and the words, as well as the behaviour of H.L. of Drusipare towards me, made me hope for a very different answer.

Dear friend, let us not be discouraged. Our principles are unshakeable; we may commit some faults. What man does not do so? But our good intention gives us, it seems to me, a sort of unpresumptuous assurance that we will not stubbornly insist on sustaining them. Let us ardently desire that God gives us the grace to see and admit our errors when we are mistaken, but never to allow ourselves to become downhearted in the cause of the so little understood missions!

Finally, dear friend, if our work is the work of God, it is only right that we should not be treated any better than our master ; let us accept joyfully our humiliations and our pains; they will perhaps give birth to success.

A Dieu. Pray for me, and believe me more than ever unshakable in my convictions. A Dieu.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 5 October 1845)

Sent_0134

Sent_0134 - aux directeurs du séminaire de Paris - le 7 octobre 1845 -/1

Sent 0134 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 7 October 1845 -/1

Sent_0134 - aux directeurs du séminaire de Paris - le 7 octobre 1845 -/1

Sent 0134 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1147-1148

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

I had first of all accepted, but have now refused my appointment to the episcopate because of the opposition of my confreres.

J'avais d'abord accepté, mais je viens de refuser ma nomination à l'épiscopat à cause de l'opposition de mes confrères.

Index : will of God, episcopate (appointment) native clergy

__________

Pondicherry, 7 October 1845

Sirs and very respectable confreres,

Three months ago I had the honour of writing to you to announce my astonishment at having received bulls for Coimbatore. Without doubt you are also aware that several of my confreres, above all the older ones, did not approve of this appointment. Seeing that, I should perhaps have immediately refused, however I did not do so, assured as I was of having done nothing that went against my conscience, or against honour, to arrive at that high dignity, which I recognise as being above my strength, and likewise certain of the rightful intentions of Mr Luquet.

From another point of view, I hoped to be able in the episcopate to render more services to the Mission and above all to the cause of the native clergy, than in the position of a simple missionary. However, since the indisposition of my confreres still persists, I felt it my duty to give way to this opposition, fearing to go against the will of God who without any doubt uses this means to make me realise that I must not accept this formidable charge. I have written to the Sacred Congregation informing them of my refusal, and I likewise hasten to notify this proceeding to you, while at the same time assuring you of my perfect devotion and of the high consideration with which

I have the honour of being, while commending myself to your prayers, Sirs and very respectable confreres,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 7 October 1845)

Sent_0135

Sent_0135 - à son oncle de Gaja - octobre 1845 -/1

Sent 0135 - to his uncle de Gaja - October 1845 -/1

Sent_0135 - à son oncle de Gaja - octobre 1845 -/1

Sent 0135 Brésillac mention, AMA 2F3, p 914

"Souvenirs" p 503

(to his uncle Gaja)()

Regarding the false news of the death of his brother

Index : attachment (family)

__________

(Pondicherry) October 1845

We do not possess this letter. The following is simply what Mgr de Brésillac writes about it in the "Souvenirs" on page 503, following the false news of his brother's death (see letter from Abbé Vian : "Souvenirs", p. 502):

"Immediately I wrote to my uncle de Gaja, asking him to reply to me by return post, however I had to wait at least three months before receiving such an answer."

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry ?, October 1845)

Sent_0136

Sent 0136 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - October 1845 -/1

Sent_0136 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - octobre 1845 -/1

Sent 0136 Brésillac mention, AMA 2F3, p 903

"Souvenirs", p 498

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Bangalore)

Letter of friendship on the occasion of his leaving for Bangalore

Index : charity, friendship

__________

(Pondicherry) October 1845

We have no knowledge of the Original of this letter. It is merely mentioned in the "Souvenirs". Mgr de Brésillac wrote it to Mgr Charbonnaux, when the latter was preparing to leave for Bangalore. This is what he says about it in the "Souvenirs" on page 498:

(Mgr Charbonnaux) "was about to leave for Bangalore, where he proposes establishing himself stably, and I wrote him a little note offering him a souvenir. My note was only four or five lines long. It is true that, precisely because we had almost never had a perfect understanding, I tried, before God, to make my expressions as charitable as possible."

(Pondicherry ?, October 1845)

Sent_0137

Sent_0137 - à M. Vian - le 9 octobre 1845 -/1

Sent 0137 - to Mr Vian - 9 October 1845 -/1

Sent_0137 - à M. Vian - le 9 octobre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0137 Original, AMA 2F1, p 98

(to Mr Victorin Vian)

(chaplain of the hospice in Draguignan, Var)

I beg you, speak clearly ; give me precise news of my family

Je vous en prie, soyez clair ; donnez-moi des nouvelles précises de ma famille.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Pondicherry, 9 October 1845

Yes, my very dear friend, in fact I have been appointed bishop of a new vicariate which the S.C. has just detached from that of Pondicherry ; but circumstances have not permitted me to accept.

I will refrain today from going into all the details of this matter, but ask you only to do me the favour of explaining the cruel news that you give me of my family, leaving me in an even more cruel uncertainty through your reticence. I am lost in the saddest of conjectures. Why did you not say clearly what had happened? I am all the more fearful since the time when my father writes to me regularly has already passed and I have not received a letter from my family. Accordingly, I entreat you, dear friend, answer me by return of post, and tell me everything, absolutely everything; I don't dare write home, not knowing what is going on.

A Dieu. Pray hard for me. Commend me to the prayers of your good family, whom I remember with happiness before God. I will write to you at greater length once I have received from you the letter I require you to write me as soon as possible.

In union of our prayers and holy sacrifices.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 9 October 1845)

Sent_0138

Sent_0138 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 novembre 1845 -/5

Sent 0138 - to Mgr Luquet - 8 November 1845 -5/5

Sent_0138 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 novembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0138 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 411ss

Brésillac copy (incomplete), AMA 2F3, pp 928ss

"Souvenirs" (incomplete letter), pp 511ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Reminder of the unanimously bad effect caused by your Memoir and your promotion. Why did you announce the latter first of all to Mr Charbonnaux? This is what is happening in Madras: Saverimouttou was refused burial. Practically all the Christians of Madras have gone over to the schism, even those of Rayapooram, for Father Michel has just died. All of this because people want to go too fast and make the people of India European. The English priests will never understand! And now, the English want to buy Pondicherry: their intention is clear. In India, hopes and storms succeed one another! He envisages certain remedies. Wait still before returning.

As a PS : your consecration causes general indignation here ; thoughts on the different clergies : English, French, Portuguese and Italian.

Index : Memoir, usage, religion in India, my thoughts on the missions, schism

__________

Pondicherry, 8 November 1845

(P.S. of 10 November)

My Lord and very dear friend,

So now you are a bishop ! Allow me to kiss your holy ring first of all and to ask for your blessing.

Now, without further ado let us get down to business, for I have many things to say to you and unfortunately they are not such as my heart would desire. God has undoubtedly permitted everything that has just happened. His almighty power may turn it all to the good; but his justice may also have permitted it for the misfortune of India. It is our duty to join action to prayer in order to ward off blows which risk literally destroying religion utterly in this country.

I will not come back to the bad effect produced on all the missionaries none excepted, by your Memoir to the Sacred Congregation. I myself have told you what I found was dangerous in it. But what has constituted the last straw to the general irritation, is your promotion. For some of them consider that it not worth attempting to excuse your intentions. What a humiliation for you! Dear friend! What merits it will secure you for Heaven! The pontifical grace that you have just received will give you the strength to bear it, and perhaps it is to this crucifixion of your heart that the grace that we implore for this poor country is reserved, rather than to all of your works. Let us pray then!

And yet, what prudence this position imposes on you, without however making you lose any of your courage or of your strength, for you have even greater need than ever of them. H.L. of Jassen is in Mysore. It is to him that you give the news of your consecration, one further aggravating circumstance; for My Lord of Drusipare would have tried to bring people round somewhat (which, however, would have been quite difficult), but at least our beloved bishop would not have immediately let everyone know the content of your letter to My Lord of Jassen, precisely to those who will be the first to read it in Bangalore.

What is happening in Madras at the present time contributes considerably to making our position extremely dangerous and difficult. In fact, in other circumstances, this misfortune could have led to good, but today when matters are so confused, I cannot help trembling for the present and the future. Very briefly this is what has happened:

Someone called Saverimouttou (the businessman of our Bursar's office, the one who counted out the money for you) has just died. This man was far from being hostile to Religion; he conducted for nothing our business in Madras. When he came here, he did not fail to pay a visit to His Lordship, who returned his visit; quite recently he came to see us in the seminary, etc. However, it appears that like many others, he had ceased taking the sacraments for some time now, and without doubt, he shared the indisposition of the Christians for the English priests who despise them too much to be loved by them. When he was seriously ill, an English priest was called, who went to his house (Saverimouttou knew English very well). On his entering the room, the sick man made some movements that the priest interpreted as a formal refusal of the sacraments.

The Christians say that Saverimouttou was suffering from an attack of epilepsy and that his movements were involuntary. Where is the truth? It is very difficult to establish. The priests of Madras, who know not a word of Tamoul, could very well have taken the words spoken at that moment in quite the opposite sense to what they in fact meant. From another point of view, the Christians may very well impose on them by their indignation and their wounded pride. Unfortunately, in the course of the terrible discussion which arose between the Christians and the bishop, and in the unfortunate leaflets brought out on both sides, the Christians seem even in our eyes (imagine what it must seem in the eyes of the Indians) to be right, or at least to be highly excusable, and the bishop appears to have at the very least precipitated his judgment on the basis of the statement made by his priest, a judgment the severity of which led to refusing burial for Saverimouttou.

At once the whole caste rose up. It appears that they tried to influence Mgr Fennelly who refused to listen to any pleas; so that in their despair the Christians turned to Texeira. The latter did not fail to take advantage of this occasion. He lost no time in summoning the heads of the caste, he made them sign a promise to abandon Mgr Fennelly's church, and he went in person, with his priests, to Saverimouttou's burial. At the present time all the choutre Christian community of the town of Madras is schismatic, with the exception of four families. Two thousand Christians at a blow, perhaps the most influential in India, headed by Saverimouttou's brother.

For a long time already, the Christians of Madras were asking for a church for the natives. Mgr Fennelly, by that anti-native spirit which characterises the English clergy of India, and by that European prejudice which is becoming a monster ten times larger than the caste distinction, made all sorts of difficulties. Today, this garden is the trysting place of the Christians to whom Texeira is sending out priests. They have set up a great pandel () where the holy mysteries are profaned by schismatic hands, and Mgr Fennelly still has the tactlessness in his journal to ridicule them, to challenge them, saying that they are incapable of building a church on their own, etc. That is to say, he is adopting just the right language to make them go through with their plans, and to make the evil incurable.

To add to this misfortune, Father Michel, the only priest who knew Malabar, whom the Christians loved, and the Christian community of Rayapooram respected, has just died. Without this misfortune perhaps this Christian community would have offset the evil, but today when furthermore it is delivered into the hands of the English, I consider it as lost. In fact it is said that over half of them are ready to go over to the schism, if they have not already done so.

Meanwhile, the fine Christians groupings of the north are languishing, breaking up, and will end up by lapsing to idolatry, if the Oblate Fathers abandon them as is almost certain and has already started. In a word, the Christians of Madras will soon be reduced, as regards the natives, to a mass of schismatics and of renegades ! And all of this through the imprudence of the priests who want to make the people of the country European! Who are not prepared to suffer a distinction which is the essence of their constitution and which is much less repugnant than slavery if we consider it properly, who want to go too quickly. For all these customs of caste will come to an end, providing we do not try to go too fast, providing we leave to Religion the task of bringing about that change. Now, in order for religion to do so, the distinctions must exist first of all, must reign for a long time with the distinction of pariah and others (which is quite possible if we do not exaggerate the drawbacks) that it will mitigate first of all, and thereafter transform, and that finally it will destroy.

Meanwhile, what do we propose doing in the face of these antecedents ? Impossible to foresee. You know what intimate relations our Christians of Pondicherry have with those of Madras. They are the same castes, the same big families; all the time marriages are taking place between them. Besides, you know their poor dispositions and their little faith. Thus a spark suffices to set light to the powder. If even a trifle takes place, I would not be surprised if we find ourselves the day after tomorrow in the midst of the schism as at Madras.

As I said earlier, in other circumstances, this misfortune terrible as it is, could have proved a blessing, for it serves very clearly to prove the need for this ecclesiastical hierarchy that we have called for so loudly, to reveal the impotence of our heterogeneous means for the direction of souls, to prove the incapacity of certain persons above all, for this work which should necessarily be either extraordinary in the form of a mission (and for the missions, we need missionaries, who have a particular vocation and who are formed for that), or ordinary, in the form of church and, in this case, we need natives. Two fundamental truths that have still not been understood, that are not understood, and that the English priests, mere gentlemen, and men of society with whiskers and not tonsures, remaining absolutely English, and only the English priests, I say, will never understand.

In the position we are in now, one single mistake could lose us a whole Christian community. And what man is not liable to make one? If a bishop is wrong (as certainly that of Madras was mistaken at least in the form), he is himself directly compromised, and every settlement becomes impossible. In the unfortunate affair of Madras, it is very probable that a priest from Pondicherry could easily have stopped the harm and even repaired the situation, if he had been able to take a hand in the matter. But what should be done? The bishop has not even considered the question. Proposing it to him would merely have irritated him further against us; in a word, it was impossible. We are like people who see a vessel going down without the possibility of going to its aid! It is enough to make one weep tears of blood! If there were a hierarchy, one could address the superior of a simple bishop; the person of the bishop would besides be sheltered by his grand vicar, etc.; finally all would not be lost in advance.

And now another grave matter. As you know, England has just bought Tranquebar from the Danes, it is now a question for it of buying Pondicherry. From the way this business is beginning, and with the provisions of the French government, I would not be astonished to see it concluded in less than two years from now. However, the English aim at removing the whole of India from foreign administration including ecclesiastical. Their desire is obvious, and they are backed up by the Irish apostolic vicars, as it appears clearly, and by the deplorable proceeding of Mgr Fennelly to the government to impede the affair of Vizagapatam, and by what Mgr Carew himself said (even though he appears to be a man of God), if necessary even of the island of Ceylon. Now was a good time for putting an Irishman there, he said. And yet Rome should not forget that the day when the Irish alone will be entrusted with Religion in India, it will be the end of the native Christian communities in this unfortunate country.

That is why I approved the happy decision of the Sacred Congregation regarding Vizagapatam ; However I expected to see more energy on its part. How is it that, by sending out these poor fathers, they have not been given direct powers in the case of a refusal by the apostolic vicar ? And now what is to be done?

One word from your letter to My Lord of Jassen makes me tremble. If the Sacred Congregation hesitates in the face of Mgr Fennelly's move, I really don't know where we will be; the near future may witness the collapse of all our institutions in one day. These good fathers could well leave without Mr Gailhot, if the intention is to avoid irritating excessively the English susceptibility by not sending French priests.

So that, dear friend, is the unexaggerated picture of our position. Six months ago a horizon of hope rose bright and magnificent; whereas today a storm has closed in and is threatening to swallow us up. And yet, if you think carefully, nothing has changed as far as the natives are concerned. They are what necessarily they must become with a poor administration and a behaviour that shocks them in all ways; they will be in future what we make them by our conduct.

May Rome maintain all of its spiritual authority, may it maintain above all completely the holy liberty of the Gospel, and you, dear friend, do not be discouraged, but listen, perhaps with a little more trust, to those who are fighting the eternal cause at your side, above all when they only differ from you in accessory nuances. Finally, let us pray earnestly, let us search fearlessly to enlighten ourselves mutually and we can still hope.

Perhaps you will ask me : But finally, what in practice should be done now ? I can only give you a few of my thoughts. If the Sacred Congregation yields, everything is perhaps lost. If on the contrary it remains firm, and if the good God gives you the grace of acting as far as you in particular are concerned with great prudence, I do not despair of seeing everything put to rights, and perhaps good will come of this tempest. It seems to me that the Sacred Congregation should write a letter to the missions which have not integrally implemented the measures of its letter of 12 May; should appear to be somewhat but not exceedingly angered; making it known that, in these difficult cases, it may well consider it necessary not to have regard for the previous usages which are in fact always accessory, since a Church is not founded on nor liable to common law.

That however, it is in these circumstances above all that zealous missionaries and priests anxious to do God's will owe a more prompt obedience to the arrangements of the Sacred Congregation which, being entrusted with all the missions, encompasses the general good that we impede by our resistances, even if the latter are utterly respectful. That it should not doubt that what remains to be done cannot be accomplished immediately. And, if it is possible, in this letter, to establish the principle that so long as a Church is not founded on the native clergy, it is not possible, and it is not good for us to pay attention to the different governments occupying vast foreign regions in order to give these regions priests of those governments, it would be advisable. etc.

Meanwhile, come only after things have calmed down, and try to reach an agreement above all with My Lord of Drusipare who is really angry that, without consulting him, he has been given a coadjutor whom he highly disapproves of in the present circumstances, but who is so good he will have no difficulty in forgiving you providing you are prudent and proceed gradually.

So this, dear friend, is what I think. You may perhaps find that I am speaking to you very harshly; but I prefer to tell you the naked truth so that you can decide appropriately. This is the only way not to betray the sincere friendship I have for you with which

I have the honour of being

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very devoted servant and friend

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 8 November 1845)

P.S. of the 10th

I have only seen a letter from the interior which speaks of your consecration. It is from Mr Jarrige. It's enough to make one weep, and in it I am scarcely less ill-treated than you.

Here there is genuine indignation. People almost never pronounce your name any more, or if it is uttered from time to time by someone, it is followed by a contraction or at least by a sigh. Mr Leroux himself, who was so devoted to you, is no longer on our side since reading your Memoir. Let us accept with a good heart this profound humiliation, dear friend, and let us pray greatly to the Lord through the intercession of Mary and of the Angels of these unfortunate parts. All our hope lies in the holy cause that we sustain. Let us continue to sustain it vigorously, but with calm, patience and humility, and without stubbornness above all as regards what is merely accessory or clearly untimely.

Besides, we will shortly be harvesting the fruits of the present administration. Things are in motion, and fortunately not thanks to us, in Madras and the evil will inevitably spread if we do not base ourselves on better principles, and if Rome, our only hope after God, does not maintain in this circumstance all of its authority and all of its vigour. Poor country of India!

It may be that the native priests would make mistakes, and mistakes that would revolt us more, because they would have a foreign colour in our eyes, but I do not believe that they could be any more dangerous than the mistakes made today by the European clergy. Of course, is it not the Portuguese clergy that is upholding the schism? Is it not the English clergy which provides the scandal of not making all things for all men? Is it not the French clergy which provides that of contempt of the bishops and of the superficiality of its views as fickle as its practices? The Italians alone seem to go more simply and straight to good, probably because they are more Roman and more native. It is true that their position on the Malabar coast is much more favourable. But the Oblate Fathers seem to do very well in the Telegu mission, and the priests of Annecy seem to me too perfect for God's justice to allow them perhaps ever to establish themselves in India ! Let us pray!

(Pondicherry, 8 and 10 November 1845)

Sent_0139

Sent_0139 - à M. Tesson - le 9 novembre 1845 -/3

Sent 0139 - to Mr Tesson - 9 November 1845 -2/3

Sent_0139 - à M. Tesson - le 9 novembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0139 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1181-1184

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the crates received. Mgr Luquet went far too fast. He should not have accepted anything for himself. May he not come back immediately. It is a pity: if he had waited, we would have done so well! Let us make every effort to prevent the English from being alone in India (civilly and religiously). We would need someone to inform Rome. Reminder of the story of Saverimouttou in Madras, to whom Mgr Fennelly refused burial; practically the whole of Madras has gone over to the schism of Goa. What will happen to Pondicherry?

As a PS: tactlessness of Mgr Fennelly.

Index : religion in India, English, my thoughts on the missions, castes, schism

__________

Pondicherry, 9 November 1845

Very dear confrere and friend,

I have not written to you since the arrival of so many fine and good things that you have sent, to me and to the seminary. The Bursar will have told you that, thanks to the care with which you undertook the packaging, almost nothing was spoiled. Only there are some books cut short which will undoubtedly be completed in the crates soon due to reach us by the Pondichéry. I hope you will continue to send us the deliveries of the Catholic Encyclopaedia of which we have only received seven notebooks printed in 1836. Thus many others must have come out. This is a work that appears to me excellent and which is invaluable for the seminary. As for the review Synthétique, of which you sent us a few volumes, spare me that. What an abomination! This work appears to me learned, but how impious! For us, it is a dangerous book. The Auvergne review is extremely gloomy.

It is now two months that we have been without newspapers. Last month, nothing came; this month, only five issues. It appears that the tape was jolted and the newspapers got lost on the way. If it were possible to bind them up with more solid paper and even to tie them together with string beforehand! But I know how much you have to do, and only ask you to do this if you can, without overtaxing your kindness. Let's go on to something else now.

Things are going very badly ! The way in which Mr Luquet acted at the end of his mission disappointed me very much, it is liable to compromise everything, and the circumstances seem to come together to imperil everything. How could he not have understood that his position made it impossible for him to accept anything for himself.

He had already gone too far in putting me forward, I who am his close friend. It is clear that the slightest step that appeared interested must hurt our work. Thus there are no limits to the missionaries' hostility to him. It is impossible for him to come back immediately. But is he not perhaps already on the way? For truly, I do not know what to think any longer. If God does not put some order through his divine grace, his authority is lost at the time when we would need it most, and the cause of religion much impaired. Mr Luquet should be a bishop, and a bishop in India, but not immediately. If he had disposed the missionaries in his favour, which did not appear very difficult (he should just have been more reserved in his Memoir, and less prompt in the enforcement of his views), he would necessarily have grown and would have become capable of holding out against the powerful enemies of the native cause, enemies who will shortly be losing everything if God does not put some order, as I said.

Unfortunately, the English bishops are the heads of this disorder which will lose the native Christian communities, either by causing them to pass over to the schism, as has happened today in Madras, or by allowing them to return to idolatry, as will happen to the fine Christian communities previously administered by My Lords of Drusipare and Jassen, if the Oblates abandon them completely, and already, they have begun not to want the Irish any more.

Once India is under the administration() of the Irish alone, we may say that that will be the end for the Catholic religion in India. It is today that things should be prepared in order, in any case, for this misfortune not to arrive. For it might happen that in a short while the English may ask us very politely or impolitely to leave India. They already find it hard to put up with us, the fact has become quite clear and, unfortunately, they are backed by the English apostolic vicars, as it clearly emerges, and by the deplorable proceeding of Mgr Fennelly in respect of the government to impede the affair of Vizagapatam, and because Mgr Carew said when it came to the island of Ceylon: "it would be a good idea, he said, to put an Irish bishop there!"

Oh, when will people understand that we will never get anywhere with the Indians so long as we remain European. And the English will never abandon the least of their usages to adapt to the customs of the Christians of this country. And besides, there are only two ways of doing some good in the direction of souls, either extraordinarily, in the form of the mission, and for that one has first of all to be a missionary, having the divine vocation and having been formed for this difficult work, or else ordinarily, in the form of the Church, and there are only the natives who can be true pastors. Never, no never will the Irish priests be missionaries, they, veritable gentlemen, wearing whiskers and not a tonsure, not even a cassock sometimes, etc. Well, these are the people who will be trying to get us out of India, and I would not be astonished if they soon succeed.

We have no man of authority in Rome to shed light on the true state of things. If Mr Luquet had been able to maintain his moral power, he would have rendered in this fight which cannot fail to take place a very great service to Religion. But what strength will he have as from now, blamed by all his confreres, haughtily repudiated by My Lord of Drusipare, having so unfortunately offered his flank to the general indisposition, and by light imprudences but magnified today under the magnifying glass of indignation, and by the real and very dangerous imprudence of having touched on the affair of the castes. Let us pray to God, for I do not know what will become of us.

I told you that at the present time Madras is schismatic. Yes, with the exception of four families, and the Christian community of Rayapooram which has just lost Father Michel, the only priest who knew Malabar, the only priest who was still a little loved in Madras. This Christian community, I say, is already as lost, with half of it, they say, swinging on the stick. You know on what occasion this misfortune took place. Saverimouttou moudeliar(), our business man in Madras is dead. Certainly he was not a man hostile to Religion. But like many others, it seems for some time now he no longer took the sacraments, and undoubtedly he shared the general indisposition of all the Christians against the clergy of Madras.

When he fell seriously ill, they went to search for an English priest, for Saverimouttou knew English perfectly. Seeing the priest arrive, he made some movements and pronounced some words that the priest interpreted as a formal refusal of the sacraments. He withdrew and made his report to Mgr Fennelly. When Saverimouttou was dead, Mgr Fennelly forbade his burial. In vain the Christians said that Saverimouttou was suffering from an attack of epilepsy, and that his movements were involuntary, etc. Mgr Fennelly refused to listen. The Christians, in their despair, addressed themselves to Texeira. The latter lost no time. At once he made the heads of the castes sign a commitment to abandon Mgr Fennelly, and he himself went with all due pomp at the head of his clergy to the interment of Saverimouttou. Since that moment there has been a complete rupture. The Christians have built a great pandel() in the garden where Texeira's priests come to celebrate mass, etc.

And now what will become of us ? You know the close connections of the Christians of Pondicherry with those of Madras. Each day, marriages take place between them. It would need a mere trifle for the Christian community of Pondicherry to imitate that of Madras, and in all cases many will take part in the schism. If England buys Pondicherry, as she has just bought Trinquebar, that will be something else!

So this is where we are now, very dear friend, pray for us and believe me for life,

your very devoted and very respectful confrere.

M. de Brésillac, priest

apostolic missionary

P.S. Some unfortunate leaflets have been brought out by both sides on the Madras affair. Mgr Fennelly is sinking more and more. The right which appears to be on the side of the Christians will make their separation much more complete and dangerous. In addition, His Lordship makes the gaffe, in his journal, of challenging them, of loading them with ridicule, etc., that is to say he is doing exactly the opposite of what would be necessary. He has no more idea either of how to treat the Malabars than I have with regard to the Abyssinians.

Would you kindly present my respects to the Directors whose kind letter I have received, as well as yours of September. They should know today that I sent my renunciation to Rome last month.

(Pondicherry, 9 November 1845)

Sent_0140

Sent_0140 - à son père - le 10 novembre 1845 -/2

Sent 0140 - to his father - 10 November 1845 -2/2

Sent_0140 - à son père - le 10 novembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0140 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 110-111

(to his father)

How relieved I am to know that my brother is well ! I have refused the episcopate, at least for the present. I acted according to my conscience. Do not ask me the reason for my refusal. You are selling Empetit: it's sad but doubtless necessary. The usual greetings

Index : attachment (family), episcopate (appointment) , will of God

__________

Pondicherry, 10 November 1845

My very dear Papa,

If ever I awaited with impatience and if ever I received with fear news from my family, it was last month. How does it happen that at thousands of leagues' distance one has the imprudence to insinuate to you the worst possible news, without even being sure? A month ago, I received one of these imprudent letters and I felt sure that the content of yours, so ardently desired, was going to break my heart. I dared not open it and yet now I have read and re-read it, turned the pages in all directions without finding anything at all out of the ordinary in it.

Thus, it was a false alarm that I was given last month on my beloved brother Henri, who without doubt continues, and will continue always, I feel sure, to be your consolation, who lives, I think, as a man of honour and of religion, in a word as a good Christian. May God be blessed. Your letter removed from my heart an enormous weight that had been pressing down on it for the last month like a lump of lead. Thus, I had immediately written to my uncle de Gaja to ask him what it was all about. Undoubtedly this note will have astonished him. Never mind. Once more, may the good God be blessed.

You congratulate me at length, and you yourself feel gratified, dear father, at my promotion to the episcopate. It is natural, it is right, in the mouth of a father who loves his son and his family with a tender love; but as a man who loves God more than all the rest, you would feel very distressed to see me a bishop without Heaven's will. The fact is that, after mature reflection before God I have acquired the certainty that the time has not yet come, if ever it should come, to accept this charge. My position is so particular, my appointment is something so special in relation to the complicated state of the affairs of the mission of India, that a whole volume would be required to enable you just to understand the complex situation in which I find myself.

Accordingly, please do not even seek to know the cause of my refusal. Suffice it to say that my resolution is not taken lightly, that it is the consequence of the conviction that God's glory, for which alone a priest is a priest and a bishop should be a bishop, requires my refusal at least for the moment. As for the small glory that would have reflected on you, dear Papa, it is not completely lost, since it depended on me to use or to send back the bulls that I had in my wallet; and for a true Christian, the only glory consists in not doing anything against one's conscience.

I have been interrupted over twenty times since beginning this letter yesterday ; the time for the post is close on my heels, and the ship would not wait a further two hours just to please me. So now I must close quickly.

I cannot pretend that I was not grieved to learn that you are going to sell Empetit. However, I think that you have done rightly to arrive at this determination. In the age in which we live, when one does not have the resource of some place, the only means of being comfortably at ease is to have nothing, absolutely nothing, and to fix one expenses on the annual income that God is pleased to procure for us, without ever exceeding it; this may at times be painful, but reason insists on it imperiously. May my young brother always act thus.

The mat I mentioned to you was shipwrecked at Bourbon, without accident to anyone. This was no privation for me, I assure you, for here, you can get such objects for nothing and without the harassment of the customs, I could sometimes have the pleasure of sending you this sort of thing. But the customs are terrible.

I don't have the time to answer the kind and amiable letter of Mr Lassus. Please convey my respects to him and tell him that I will write to him some other time.

A thousand good things for my mother, Henri, my sisters and all my relatives. My friendly greetings and compliments to those who remember me. Mrs de Combalzonne has undoubtedly gone to Heaven to receive the reward for her merits. If you have the opportunity of seeing or writing to her brother, tell him that I have not forgotten my childhood friend at the very holy sacrifice. A Dieu. Pray for me.

Your very devoted and respectful son.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 10 November 1845)

Sent_0141

Sent_0141 - à M. Albrand - le 15 novembre 1845 -/2

Sent 0141 - to Mr Albrand - 15 November 1845 -2/2

Sent_0141 - à M. Albrand - le 15 novembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0141 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1207-1210

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thank you for your last letter, above all as regards the native clergy. What the Portuguese, the Irish, the Jesuits and the English are doing; the schism progresses.

Index : native clergy, schism, English, Jesuits, Europeans, Irish

__________

Pondicherry, 15 November 1845

Sir and very dear confrere,

Your very kind letter of 23 June came to warm my heart a few months ago now, and at a time when I was in real need of it. Thank you very much for your kind souvenir. What can I tell you now? I have just written a letter to Mr Voisin and another to Mr Barran, in which I emptied everything that my bad head contained at the moment, you can refer to them if you like and satisfy yourself this time of my goodwill. However, I feel I must tell you how gratified I am before the Lord at the efforts you are making to inculcate in the young aspirants the only principles which appear to me to still have some chances of success for the missions. I say some chances, for we may have delayed too long, and the evil has perhaps become incurable. I see a time when the missions of India at least will be absolutely lost to the Catholic religion as regards the natives, for lack of sticking to the country earlier. Of course, when they say to me: the native priests would act very foolishly, doubtless this is true, but could they act more foolishly and dangerously than the Europeans are doing at this moment, hic et nunc?

Is it not the Europeans, the Portuguese who are destroying the poor Church of India by the schism ? Is it not our neighbours from the south who are ready to renew all the woes of times past? Is it not the Irish bishops who are pursuing the monstrous system which ruined the missions, checked the gospel, that is to say that a mission is a possession, and this other: that when a government takes possession of a foreign country, it is to the priests of that government that the spiritual administration of the vanquished should be entrusted! And who accordingly seek to rid India of everything that is not English? Is it not an Irish bishop who makes so bold as to address himself to a Protestant government to impede the plans of the Sacred Congregation?

And we others, do you think that we are white as snow? The fact is that we are doing so well, we other European priests, that shortly, if God does not put some order by a miracle, the apostolic vicariate of Madras will be left with no more than ten Christians; for two thousand of them at once went over to the schism not two months ago. This defection shakes the Christian community of Pondicherry to its very foundations, and could have terrible consequences in the whole of the south of the peninsula, for it is the most influential Christians who have left Mgr Fennelly.

We others continue to diminish, and in the south it is even worse, it would appear. And the little faith that remains is lost day by day thanks to the Europeans! How could the Malabar priests do worse than this? Oh, when will we have eyes to see! However at this point, my three pages are already full.

A Dieu, pray for us. I commend myself to your holy sacrifices.

I have the honour of being with profound respect,

Sir and very dear confrere,

Your very humble and very devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 15 November 1845)

Sent_0142

Sent_0142 - à M. Tesson - le 8 décembre 1845 -/3

Sent 0142 - to Mr Tesson - 8 December 1845 -3/3

Sent_0142 - à M. Tesson - le 8 décembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0142 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1255-1258

et 1263-1266

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

We are beginning to follow the rules for the liturgy ; the organ is used at all masses. In order to understand things in India, you have to love the Indians. We have to act following the decisions of Rome, and without participating in Gentile practices. I want to save India, while saving my soul. Mgr Luquet in Coimbatore? No, his place is at Pondicherry, but not immediately, and then the missionaries already there are too opposed to him for the moment. As for me, if I have to be a bishop, it is at Coimbatore. I have practically no opponents any more.

Index : my thoughts on the missions. Rome (authority), episcopate (appointment)

__________

Pondicherry, 8 December 1845

We have just come out of vespers, my dear Tesson. Today the offices are done as in a cathedral. Little by little, all the old mamouls() are disappearing. When I wanted to make people sing according to the rules, and not following each one's caprice, I was told: it's impossible with the people of this country, there's nothing to be done, etc. etc. and here we are today, only two years later, when almost everything is reformed in the choir, and everyone is delighted. But how? By going slowly; two years ago it would even have been imprudent to sing and to officiate as today, and it would still be impossible to do today as we will be doing in two years' time if we continue little by little but taking a small step every day.

What is best about it is that the reform takes place even at the altar, although from this point of view we are less advanced than for the choir. We still hold high-masses, high low masses, low high-masses and low masses, and many other things according to the occasion, but finally, little by little we are acquiring regularity and dignity.

But that's enough on that point (another word however). Our little organ has never rested for two years now; I see that it is played on all feasts even the least important, or sometimes I play it myself, for I have become a musician. Oh, if only we had a bigger one. The thousand chords has never been used, it is too dilapidated, and I think that it is a sort of drug, above all for this country where the temperature dilates or contracts so powerfully all the pieces that one is never sure of finishing an antiphony without a great Koi (?) () in B flat or FG sharp. For the moment, it is finished.

Let us go on now to something more serious. I think that it was you who abstained from the general blame, except for someone called Mr Langlois, on my letter to Mr Luquet. I am not astonished for that blame; in order to understand that sort of thing, one needs to have been in India and, in addition, to have dealt with the Indians, and, moreover, to have dealt with them while loving them, and not repeating at the end of every sentence, like certain missionaries, that these people are rogues and men devoid of common sense.

However, I may well have allowed a few not very prudent expressions to escape me, and I wrote to the directors to disavow them. But as regards the content, the more I reflect, the more I think that, without this means or some other similar one, we will never succeed, unless a miracle occurs on which we cannot count, in making this poor country Christian. Thus, I would like those in a position to know the country and who feel no repugnance for the Indians to study it thoroughly. For it would need to be so well combined that it in no way destroyed the strength and authority of the past decisions given by the Holy See, that on the contrary it should magnify, or rather it should sustain this sacred authority shaken to its very foundations in the minds of our Christians who care so little for Rome that a single gesture would suffice to make them all go over to schism, as the Christian community of Madras has just given the example, and that it should shake off any suspicion of participation in Gentile practices, even the slightest of them. Something difficult, but possible; difficult to carry out, but more difficult to make Europe understand, make Rome approve, etc., and without that, we cannot or will not do anything.

I had read my letter to My Lord of Drusipare and to certain confreres, including also Mr Lehodey. The latter is greatly saddened at Mr Langlois's letter, especially since this disapproval will give Mr Luquet's Memoir a fresh force and then he may really be a veritable misfortune for this country. Let us pray greatly to the good God, for we are at a critical juncture.

I cannot prevent myself from repeating what I said to you several times, that it is possible to make India Catholic, but it would be necessary to start off by becoming Indian. However, what a misfortune! And it's enough to weep tears of blood seeing that every day thousands of souls become the prey of eternal flames, seeing that meanwhile it would be possible to save them. You will say perhaps that in order to save the universe, we should not begin by committing a sin!

And my God, I know it well, and I assure you that I do not want to deliver my soul to the demon for all the Indians together, and certainly Mr Lehodey, this angel on earth, would not want to give his, and Mr Dupuis, this terrible Christian would not give his either, nor many more of us. It is by saving our souls that we think we can save other peoples'. Accordingly I would ask you to study the question, repeating that I am not at all interested in the expressions which I even disavow in whatever is to be condemned in them, and let me share in your reflections.

His Lordship spoke to me of a combination by means of which Mgr Luquet would be appointed to Coimbatore, and I coadjutor of Pondicherry. I hope that the second point above all will not take place. Let me stay a simple missionary. As for Mr Luquet, he is needed at Pondicherry. Only it would be better for that not to happen until later. But now that things are decided, it only needs a little patience and prudence, and everything will calm down and Mgr Luquet will do a hundred times better here even as coadjutor than he would do in Coimbatore. Finally, if I was condemned myself to being a bishop, I would be better suited to Coimbatore.

Besides if Mr Luquet goes to Coimbatore, he will find there missionaries who are strongly opposed to him, and Mr Jarrige with whom I very much doubt that he will get on ever. Whereas at the moment I would no longer have any opposition. At the present time, almost, and perhaps even without the almost, all the confreres are angry that I did not accept. Mr Jarrige himself, who had written in such strong terms, assured me that if I came to Coimbatore, he would no longer think of withdrawing, and he has given me several proofs of the regret he feels of seeing that he was one of the main causes for my renunciation.

Mr Fricaud had first of all written a note to tell me that he was overjoyed at the news of my appointment ; and then, learning of the way in which Mr Luquet had dealt with things, he wrote to His Lordship that if I was going to Coimbatore, he would ask to be transferred. It was after that letter coming so close on that from Mr Jarrige that I resigned. Today, Mr Fricaud says and repeats that he has nothing against me, but that he had been shocked only at the manner of my promotion, etc., so that I will find all difficulties smoothed out on the most serious count which is the disposition of my confreres, whereas they will be still be bristling against Mgr Luquet.

  * Once more, the post of Coimbatore is not at all suitable for Mgr Luquet, while on the contrary it would be appropriate for my character. Whereas that of Pondicherry would be infinitely better suited to Mgr Luquet than to me. I am only saying this in case they insist on leaving both of us with our appointments, for if my resignation is accepted, as I hope, it is natural that they should put Mgr Luquet in Coimbatore, but once again, this post is not right for him, from any point of view.

A Dieu, very dear confrere, I only wanted to write a few lines, but it has become seven little pages, forgive my verbiage and pray for me.

Kindly present my respectful homage to all the directors and other confreres who are in Paris, especially to Mr Dubois. In union of prayers and of Holy Sacrifices.

Your very devoted confrere and friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 8 December 1845)

Sent_0143

Sent_0143 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 décembre 1845 -/2

Sent 0143 - to Mgr Luquet - 9 December 1845 -2/2

Sent_0143 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 décembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0143 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 419ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

The great misfortune of India is that Rome's authority has been greatly impaired. Since a decision was taken on tolerance of the castes, they just have to be suffered with all the usages deriving from them. A means for advancing: the printing press. The confreres are against your appointment to Coimbatore. At present, they are no longer against my promotion. Your place is not in Coimbatore, but at Pondicherry.

Index : Rome (authority), castes, printing press, will of God, episcopate (appointment)

__________

Pondicherry, 9 December 1845

My Lord,

I will say only a few words to you today. I have received your letter of 2 October. Since then, we have heard that you went to Paris. You should have received there two voluminous letters from me. Mr Langlois was shocked at certain passages in one of them. It may be that in the rapid composition of this epistle, I employed some inappropriate words that I disavow. But, as regards the content, I do not think that it is far from the truth. Please God I do nothing to diminish the authority of the decrees and bulls of the sovereign Pontiffs. You know my devotion to the Holy See and my very formal opinion that the greatest misfortune of India is not always to have followed quite simply the teachings of the court of Rome.

The following is, very briefly, my idea. It is a fact that, by the way in which things happened in the past, the authority of Rome has become so greatly impaired that it is of a frightening weakness at the present time. Now I am persuaded that since things are thus, this misfortune will grow even greater if we fail to take prudent measures in harmony with the disposition of people's minds. If at first we had not suffered the distinction of castes among Christians, I do not know if it would have been for better or worse. It is a question that is as difficult as it is useless to solve. Since a decision was taken for tolerance of the castes, what appears to me clear as daylight is that we must not go back on that, on pain of seeing the disappearance in a day of all our native Christian communities. We must suffer them with all the usages that can be tolerated without wounding faith and morality.

In order to advance, one means is still reserved to us if we use the advantage, which our fathers certainly did not enjoy, of the printing press and of communications that the relations of the natives with the Europeans make easier every day. I will not come back to this today. I foresee how much it will encounter difficulties in order to appear orthodox in European eyes, and that is why I dare not hope for the salvation of these poor peoples unless a miracle occurs, or several centuries of work more or less crowned with success, but during which thousands and thousands of wretches will fall into hell, and will be eternally condemned to hate a God whom, in my opinion, we could teach them to know and to love. I pray to the good God to lead us all on the path of truth and of salvation.

Mr Jarrige left this morning for Coimbatore. I would have liked to prevent this, but I was not consulted on this point and no attention was paid either to an indirect opinion I gave on that. If, as people seem to think may be possible, you were to go yourself to Coimbatore, I would be doubly angry, for I do not think that Mr Jarrige would stay there then, and his departure would produce a very bad effect. You would still find Mr Fricaud there who is quite worked up against you.

As far as I am concerned, spirits are now very calm, and I could go there without fear. In any case, I do not repent of having given in my resignation, for if it is accepted, this will be a sign that the good God does not want me as a bishop, and God forbid I should be one without God's will. It is to this resignation that I owe this change of minds which will permit me to do what I want to in the case of an insistence by the Sacred Congregation.

And as for you, I believe, for various reasons, that the post of Coimbatore is not at all suitable for you and that that of Pondicherry on the contrary would be perfectly suitable. Only, you will have need of patience, skill and a great condescendence for My Lord of Drusipare. Since you possess all of these virtues to a high degree, I have no doubt but that everything will work out with a little time and many prayers.

A Dieu, very dear friend, for I hope that you will never deprive me of that title. A Dieu, I kiss your hand and request your blessing.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 9 December 1845)

Sent_0144

Sent_0144 - aux directeurs du séminaire de Paris - le 10 décembre 1845 -/2

Sent 0144 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 10 December 1845 -1/2

Sent_0144 - aux directeurs du séminaire de Paris - le 10 décembre 1845 -1/1

Sent 0144 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1271-1273

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 875-877

"Souvenirs", pp 482-483

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

You may be sure that I respect the decrees of Rome. I don't want to do anything that displeases the Holy See. It is in its authority that the remedy for the Christians and pagans of India may be found. Take care of the schism and the English!

Index : Rome (authority), my thoughts on the missions

__________

Pondicherry, 10 December 1845

Sirs and very respectable confreres,

My Lord of Drusipare showed me a letter addressed to him by Monsieur le Supérieur which says : "My Lord of Verrolles and our other confreres, except for one, are far from approving Mr de Brésillac's principles".

I will make no attempt today to rise up against such disapproval. This is based on the interpretation that my defective way of expressing myself led you to give to certain passages of a letter to Mgr Luquet. I would merely ask you to believe that, if I have failed in the consideration due to the bulls and decrees of Rome, this is only in the form and contrary to my intention; it would grieve me to the bottom of my soul to do anything that might displease the Holy See. Thus, I condemn with you, and I withdraw all the inexact expressions which may have escaped me in the rush of a fairly long composition written in haste.

As regards the substance of the question itself, I believe that, if it was well presented, you would see that it in no way altered the respect we owe to the decisions of the past, that instead of weakening Rome's authority, it would be a remedy against the falling off of spirits and hearts both of the pagans, and of the Christians, for the Holy See, tendencies so disastrous that we can take no action on the former, and are not sure of maintaining the faith of the latter whole for very long, above all in the face of the scandal of schism, finally that it would protect us against any participation in the practices of superstition and gentility.

For this purpose, a means impossible 50 years ago is offered to us. To my mind, and to that of many of our respectable confreres, this means is not even very difficult, however it will be very difficult to make people conceive of it in Europe, especially since it will be contradicted by the English who are merely European priests here. Thus I very much fear that the future will resemble the past, that the demon will reign for many more centuries in these unfortunate parts where souls fall daily by thousands into hell while we cannot hold out a helping hand to them. What a cruel position!

I beg the Lord to enlighten our minds and not to allow us ever to stray on to a false way, and at the same time to open the arms of his mercy towards a doubly unfortunate people.

Kindly add your prayers to ours, I beseech you, Gentlemen, and believe in the respectful sentiments with which,

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen and very respectable confreres,

your very devoted and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 10 December 1845)

Sent_0145

Sent_0145 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 janvier 1846 -/1

Sent 0145 - to Msgr Luquet - 8 January 1846 -/1

Sent_0145 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 janvier 1846 -/1

Sent 0145 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 423ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Happy New Year 1846 ; minds are calming down with regard to you. Mr Gailhot is there. Reduction of funds to be received from Propagation of the Faith.

Index : friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 8 January 1846

My Lord and very dear friend,

Just a short note today to wish you a happy new year. You know all that I request from Heaven for you and how I ask for it. Thus I will not make my compliment any longer.

I expected to receive a letter from Y.L. this month. I am a little sad to have been disappointed in my hopes. For I am afraid that I hurt you in the two long letters that I have written to you recently, However, I reject this thought as a temptation. You know me too well to be distressed by what I considered it my duty to say to you, above all when we are only in disagreement on the question of advisability and not at all on what constitutes the substance of the question.

I will not enter into any details today. Besides, things appear to have calmed down considerably, and I am persuaded that if you now announced your departure for Pondicherry, even while maintaining your title of Coadjutor, people would not be so angry!

Mr Gailhot is here. I do not know when these Gentlemen will leave. They are quite without money. Mr Gailhot must have put something aside somewhere, but the Gentlemen of Annecy do not possess ten rupees. Their position is really exceptional. It appears too that we are going to be poor this year, since Propagation of the Faith promises not as much as previously... But, after all... If we were rich in the graces of God. That would be worth much more!

A Dieu. I will stop here. Write to me soon, and never doubt the inviolable attachment with which I have the honour of being, in union of prayers and of good works,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant but always and more than ever friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 8 January 1846)

Sent_0146

Sent_0146 - à son père - le 10 janvier 1846 -/1

Sent 0146 - to his father - 10 January 1846 -1/2

Sent_0146 - à son père - le 10 janvier 1846 -1/1

Sent 0146 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 108-109

(to his father)

Happy New Year. You know the thoughts of my heart. Your last letter dates from some time ago. My health is good. Greetings to everyone.

Index : friendship (family)

__________

Pondicherry, 10 January 1846

My very dear Papa,

Although I only have a few minutes before the correspondence departs, I do not wish to let this first steamer of the year leave without sending you my New Year's wishes.

You know my feelings and you can have no doubt at all of my heart, so that I will not dwell any further on that aspect ; only may Heaven listen to our unworthy prayers and shower on you, and on the whole family, the blessings that I ask of it each day for you all !

I have not received any letter from you since I had the pleasure of writing to you two or three months ago. Nothing new has occurred since that time that would be of interest to you. My health (since I have nothing else to tell you about) is very good especially in recent times, I no longer suffer from the headaches which had become almost habitual for me. Thus, it seems that I have adapted perfectly to the Indian climate, or at least to that of Pondicherry which is far easier to bear that the climate of many other parts.

I have received a letter from my uncle de Gaja who reassures me on the false rumours that had caused me unnecessary distress and that your last letter, in fact, had already dissipated. May Heaven heap you with joy from all of your children, and I have no doubt that the dear brother who has received from God the sweet mission of relieving your position performs his duty always as an excellent son and an excellent Christian!

All that I am saying to you of course I am saying also to my good, to my very good mother, to whom kindly present my New Year's wishes with a quite particular tenderness. May she never forget me above all in her prayers.

I would ask you also to be so kind as to convey my sentiments to the various members of our family and to our friends. And believe that, more than ever, it is a sweet pleasure to assure you of the profound respect and filial tenderness with which I have the honour of being,

very dear Papa

your very devoted son.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(added in the margin with this cross, which however does not correspond to any cross in the text)

(+) I am saying nothing for my aunt Julia who my uncle tells me is in her second childhood. If she still understands something, give her my wishes and my kind regards.

(Pondicherry, 10 January 1846)

Sent_0147

Sent_0147 - à Mgr Retord - le 19 janvier 1846 -/2

Sent 0147 - to Msgr Retord - 19 January 1846 -2/2

Sent_0147 - à Mgr Retord - le 19 janvier 1846 -1/1

Sent 0147 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 951-956

"Souvenirs", pp 524ss

(to Mgr Pierre Retord, bishop of Acanthe)

(apostolic vicar of western Tonkin)

Congratulations on your success with the native clergy. But I would like to make two remarks: you ordain them too late: forming a native clergy, means accepting that everything will not be perfect. Moreover, you should not be content with a small formation; on the contrary, you should look after the education of the clerics; they must be enabled one day to do without us completely.

Index : native clergy, studies, my thought on the missions

__________

(Pondicherry, 19 January 1846) ()

[...] However I wanted to congratulate Your Lordship on your successes with the native clergy, while requesting your permission to make some reflections aroused by your good letter.

[...] There are two things that I find it difficult to accept as necessary and useful. In effect I consider them dangerous even, since they seem to me based on an inexact principle. Now, nothing is so much to be feared as a false principle. Particular faults are deplorable without doubt, but they do not extend beyond their natural consequences. On the contrary, an inexact principle even if it is advantageous for some time, will never fail, sooner or later, to be the cause of incalculable and at times of irreparable calamities.

We are today the victims of several false principles that we tolerated three hundred years ago (or a little less) under what were in appearance very specious pretexts.

The generations coming after us will also have reason to deplore the results of our errors, if we do not take care. Well, it seems to me that deciding in principle that priests will only be ordained in Tong-kin at the age of 38 to 40, means straying from the true principles adopted by the Church. That, in a few exceptional cases, they are not ordained until that age, I am willing to accept; but that it should be ordinary, the rule of the country, I will never believe should be admitted. I know very well everything that has been said to excuse such a practice, but to all of this I answer that the drawbacks which arise are personal evils, impossible to avoid if we are ever to have a real native clergy. Everywhere that a clergy exists, we find a few very good priests, many mediocre priests, and a few bad priests.

If we want to have a native clergy, whose members or only the majority of whose members are perfect, it means not wanting that clergy, it means expecting the impossible from that clergy. With such a system, it would be quite possible to have several native priests, but not a clergy.

[...] It seems to me further, that we must guard against allowing that it is sufficient for the native clergy to be educated enough for the country, since this is affirmed by the European clergy. It should be given an education that will enable it to maintain and defend the Church without us, that is to say, we should take care to ensure that it is informed on all aspects, as in fact has been confirmed to us by Rome, in a letter from the S.C. of Propaganda, containing its approval of the synod and congratulations to its members. Accordingly it is necessary to pay great attention to the education of young clerics. But, you may object, later on they will despise us, they will want to be more than us. I cannot affirm the contrary; indeed, I do not think they would be altogether wrong, for after all they will be in their own country, while we will always be foreigners. They must even come to do without us completely.

But, you may object further, that will give rise to scandal. It is true and we cannot avoid it, unless we forego the catholicisation of the country. Of two evils, we should choose the lesser one, and our efforts must tend, not to avoid this scandal which will become one of those that O.L.J.C. calls necessary, but to foresee it, to prepare for it in order to make it as harmless as possible. And I think that, by studying the question, without second thoughts and without illusions, we can hope to see it less grave than many other scandals, created by the bishops and priests of all countries...

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry ?, 19 January 1846)

Sent_0148

Sent_0148 - à M. Tesson - le 6 février 1846 -/3

Sent 0148 - to Mr Tesson - 6 February 1846 -3/3

Sent_0148 - à M. Tesson - le 6 février 1846 -1/1

Sent 0148 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1351-1354

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Very upset that the Seminary of Paris has not sent a sealed letter on to Rome. The missionaries here agree with me. I hope that this is only an error of lack of attention. This delay is prejudicial to Coimbatore because of the English and of the Jesuits. I thought that Rome would have sent out Mgr Luquet without delay, even if I persist in thinking that his place is at Pondicherry. Thank you for the newspaper and for the latest dispatch of books. Other orders for small materials. Problems of Madras and of Goa. For the three new vicariates of India, send personnel and resources. The college is going to fall on our arms. Send us men. We need some in the seminary also.

Index : episcopate (appointment), studies, vicariates (division), Jesuits

__________

Pondicherry, 6 February 1846

Very dear confrere,

This letter will contain some complaints, some thanks and some reflections on our present position and our needs. I count on your benevolent goodness to hope that you will pay some attention to my words which at least will have the merit of being sincere and disinterested.

I do not think that these complaints should fall on you personally, if it is not that of not having written to me for a century now. I do not even know who they should fall on. However that may be, I have heard that my letter to the S.C., in which I gave up the episcopate, has been detained in the Seminary of Paris. This grieves me extremely and I don't understand how such a thing can come about. How can a sealed letter be held back in this way without the consent of the person who wrote it? If that is possible, are we accordingly obliged to distrust the Seminary? The fact that, in serious business, Paris accompanies such documents with all the remarks and reflections that may be considered good, could not be better, or more natural. In this way we show our union and we offer one another mutual succour for the good of the missions; but let us take care to do nothing that shakes this mutual confidence which is so advantageous to us and that such actions will inevitably weaken.

My Lord of Drusipare told me that he could not understand such behaviour at all either ; that he himself had thought it useful to make some reflections on sending the documents that I had handed over to him, but that in any case, my letter should go where it was directed to. Mr Dupuis assured me of the same thing, adding even that more than one affair has been hindered in this way by similar acts by the Seminary of the Missions, etc.

Finally, my dear Mr Tesson, I repeat, unfortunately the missions do not appear to me to have enough confidence in the Seminary, and perhaps the Seminary does not have enough in the missions. Let us try to destroy this deplorable antecedent which could be so disastrous to us. I hope that you will soon inform me that the stoppage of this letter was an error due to a inattention, but that nothing authorises the Seminary to proceed thus.

In this particular case, this event grieves me all the more since the delay it will cause in the affairs of Coimbatore may have unfortunate consequences. It would have been desirable for a bishop to have been able to immediately take possession, either because of the alarming behaviour of the English, or because of the tendency of the Jesuits. This consideration, if I had not been morally forced to forego the post, would alone perhaps have decided me to accept the terrible burden imposed on me; but at least, I hoped that immediately after receiving my renunciation, the S.C. would have sent out Mgr Luquet to Coimbatore.

I had suggested this idea to you, I have also shared it with Mgr Luquet and I evinced it here to any who were prepared to listen with a view to taking this step which appeared to me the most prompt, the most suitable in order not to put our society and Mgr Luquet in a reciprocally very disagreeable situation, finally to save appearances outside and above all with regard to the Christians. It is not that I believe this post to be suitable to Mgr Luquet. Whatever people say, I persist in thinking that he should be here, but what is to be done were he not to be received sandochamai. Now, when will all of this come to an end? What will the English and the Jesuits be doing in the meanwhile? If I did not have the awareness of having done my duty, I would have regrets. I leave it all in God's hands.

I am saying all of this for you alone, leaving it to your prudence to use it for the greatest glory of God and for the good of our Society, asking you only to ensure that my letter to the S.C. leaves as soon as you receive this one, if it has not already gone.

And now let us come to the thanks. They will be as short as they are sincere. First of all on the goodness you had in continuing to send me the newspaper, and above all thereafter on the good and fine dispatch of books for which I had already acknowledged receipt, but without entering into details, since the crates had still not all been opened. It was by mistake that I told you at the same time that some works were missing, we have counted better since then, and only some thirteenth copies are missing which it is not worthwhile complaining about. However, we have not found, as we had hoped, the missing parts of the two truncated copies of the works of Bossuet, or the continuation of the seven first deliveries of the Catholic Encyclopaedia. We have already placed some of these books for several hundred rupees, so that we will soon be putting in a fresh order.

We would still have a great need of some other instruments for physics and mathematics ; but I do not dare to ask them of His Lordship since the Bursar's office is so short of money. If by some roguish trick you could get hold of for example: a camera oscura, a lamp for making gas, small Roman scales, a spring balance, a plane-table, a surveyor's compass, a chain etc., a tinder-box, a hygrometer, etc. and send all of this with the magnet that you forgot, you would be the kindest of men.

As regards our position, it is very sad. Mgr Luquet has made some mistakes, but it seems to me that ours are just as dangerous as his. How will it all end up? I have no idea. I do not know what H.L. of Hésébon thinks about it all, it's an age since he last wrote to me, and My Lord of Drusipare has not informed me on the last part of the letter than he received from him. If Mgr Luquet does not return to India, it will be a great misfortune, and it seems to me a great dishonour for us. The Christians themselves are very much indisposed about this. For they do not know what he has written lately, and they regard him as a warm partisan of their interests. They know in fact that he is now a bishop, that he was consecrated coadjutor of Pondicherry, since the French newspaper had given the news explicitly.

Finally, this appearance of a misunderstanding between us, and with Rome, together with the behaviour of Mgr Fenelly, the difficulties of Ceylon etc., are not edifying for the faith of our poor Christians who besides do not have the means of getting to the bottom of things, for whom the schism is not so obvious, in whose eyes finally we do not seem so much in agreement that they can use it as a powerful argument against the pretensions of Goa. Why does the Good God leave the affairs of his religion in men's hands ? Let us adore him and submit to him !

Finally, the division of the vicariates puts the administration of Pondicherry in rather a difficult position. My Lord has an urgent need of missionaries, and he will shortly find himself to have an even greater need. I hope that the Seminary of Paris will not distress him by leaving him in this position. This worthy Prelate has shown himself to be the veritable Father of his mission, sharing with the new vicariates that he has engendered his resources and his personnel, without sharing his burdens in the same proportion.

And so it is that the college may fall on us from one moment to the next and very probably in less than one year. I was one of the least eager to assume this new charge, but in any case it was accepted. The missionaries as a whole agreed to take it over providing our apparently very hard conditions were accepted. Well, they were accepted. I really believe that by following the direction this affair has taken, it will be seen that My Lord could hardly have avoided taking on the college.

These last days still, there was one last formality to be observed, which was done with considerable attention paid to the mission which clearly proves how people are desirous of us. It was a question of passing through the council the conditions laid down by His Lordship and adopted by the governor, in order to present a finished work to the minister. The governor took the step of apprising My Lord and inviting him to send me to represent the mission. I was expecting at least some complaints or observations easy to foresee, but I was mistaken, it all went through smoothly and the only observations that were made are all in honour of the mission. So that it is morally sure that the minister will approve the project. But what would My Lord do if you do not send him four or five good subjects between now and then? Above all now that Messrs Gailhot, Chevalier, de Kérizouët etc. are no longer at his disposal.

In addition, we are now making a little progress in the Seminary, very gradually but still a little more every day. We now have two theologians, it is impossible for us to get the classes going without some extra help. My Lord has just assigned us provisionally Mr Godet to take a single class. That is sufficient for the moment, but the Christians are suffering, and I, your servant, have no less than five classes to take per day, two of theology, one of philosophy, one of physics and one of geometry. So you see we really need you to step in and help us out.

A Dieu, I have taken up then put down this letter a hundred times already, so excuse any blunders. Kindly convey my respect to all of our dear and venerated confreres. Pray for me.

Your very devoted confrere and friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 6 February 1846)

Sent_0149

Sent_0149 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 mars 1846 -/4

Sent 0149 - to Mgr Luquet - 9 March 1846 -4/5

Sent_0149 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 mars 1846 -1/1

Sent 0149 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 427

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

May God grant you perseverance. On the question of rites and castes, we are in agreement. Minds are calming down as far as you are concerned: confidence! You could come back to India. I do not regret having refused my bulls, even if that risked allowing the Jesuits to go to Coimbatore. But they have been held back at Paris, what a misfortune! It has to be Rome that sends them back in order for me to accept. One word on the Jesuits who are going against the spirit of their institution; moreover, they want a bishop! Who is capable of making Rome understand that a Jesuit should never be a head of mission. Efforts of the schismatics. Manner of doing things of the English. I wanted to write to Cardinal Fransoni to say that Rome should have a trusted man in India, completely devoted to the Holy See, who would keep it informed of what is happening. I did not dare to. I was thinking of you as being that man. Mr Jarrige has just set up a seminary in Coimbatore.

Index : caste, episcopate (appointment), Rome (authority) Goa, English, Propaganda

__________

Pondicherry, 9 March 1846

My Lord and very dear friend,

May our divine Master be blessed a thousand times for the strength that he gives you in trials, and for the other graces with which he enriches your soul ! May he add to these ineffable gifts that of an invincible perseverance and inspire in you the effective means of working for his glory without shattering any of the ties of charity which must unite the various servants of the single God.

I have received at this very moment your letter of 31 December. I see with pleasure that on the questions of rites and of castes, we are still perfectly in agreement on the substance of things. How unfortunate it is that the Holy Spirit did not inspire you to communicate your manuscript to a friendly hand which would have cancelled a dozen words or so, cause of so many woes. But all that without doubt was part of the designs of Providence which wants its work to be contradicted.

Since my frank way of speaking does not disturb you at all, I will continue to talk to you simply of men and things, even of you and me, telling you quite openly what I think, leaving it thereafter to your prudence the liberty of using it as the holy virtue of charity may permit it to be done. Let us begin by you. Gradually as minds are calming, you are judged with less severity, and people are even annoyed at having sprung to such hasty and disproportionate conclusions with regard to you. However, you are still not white in everyone's eyes and you are considered to be too rigid and too self-confident, lacking in the necessary tact with regard to your confreres, etc.

All of this will completely disappear in a short while, and you will help achieve this calm by some letters in which the good God will grant you to combine humility with the other virtues that this time requires particularly. Then, you will be able to come back to India, and I feel confident that you will come back. I would consider as a misfortune your indefinite stay in Rome. Divine providence knows how long you need to be there. Trust in it, it will dispose, it will dispose events providing that we are faithful.

As for me, dear friend, I am persuaded that you have much too good an opinion of your unworthy servant. However that may be, I would not have added to the fault that you have done by having me named, that of imprudently delaying the affairs of Coimbatore by my refusal, if I had been morally free to follow the thought that I believed was for the best. It is despite my personal conviction that I sent back my bulls, but I felt I had to yield to the almost general indisposition, and not to be a judge in my favour in my own cause. My Lord of Drusipare, to whom I made known all that could follow such a refusal, even the possibility of seeing the J. in Coimbatore, persisted in desiring such a step. He considered it as necessary in order to calm spirits. In that he was right, and if three months later, I had received a letter from the S.C. sending back my bulls and committing me to resume them, I could without any danger have accepted them straightway.

But now my letter and my bulls have been held up in Paris. His Lordship sent my bulls to Mr Langlois in order for him to pass them on to the S.C.; as far as I can make out, he has retained them. I do not understand how such a thing could happen and how such a letter could be retained without even informing the writer of it. I regard this step as extremely unfortunate, both because it delays indefinitely the affairs of Coimbatore, and because it will make your conduct appear as suspicious once more, since it is thought that this is done at your instigation.

If these bulls and my letter returned from Paris, I still could not accept. It is necessary for the S.C., having received my letter or at least indicating that is informed of my move, to send me new bulls or at least engage me directly not to refuse for a second time the first one that it would order the Gentlemen of Paris to send back to me. Only then could I accept and I would accept in order not to prolong the misfortune already so great in my opinion of having embarrassed the excellent dispositions of the S.C. for India, dispositions which should have been put into practice without ado, and that it is to the honour of the S.C., it seems to me, and above all of such great interest for the future of Religion, to enforce ad unguem.

However, if it was possible to settle things in such a way that I should never be made a bishop, I beg you, proceed in that direction. But see that there is a bishop in a few months' time in Coimbatore. What happiness if some other had been appointed, who could immediately take over his post !

Shall I say anything about the J. ? Nothing very remarkable has come to my knowledge for some time now. Only a host of little proofs do not leave any doubt: 1) that they are seeking to throw dust in people's eyes; 2) that the Lord refuses them the grace of the apostolate, above all that pastoral grace whereby they want to be the first pastors of souls to the great detriment of the Church of God. It is painful to say so, for they are servants of God. But finally why do they go against the spirit of their institution?

It seems they are working to obtain bishops, or at least one bishop among them and theirs. If such a misfortune occurs, it will be a second misfortune added to that of seeing them entrusted with missions as they are. This bishop, under the tutelage of religious who are against having one, will not fulfil the purpose for which O.L. instituted bishops and will force one more breach in the religious spirit of the J. who are only doing so much harm instead of the so much good that they could easily do because they are not what the great Saint Ignatius made them. If they were among us, missionaries, auxiliaries of the bishops, humble and obedient, they would be angels of conversion who would overturn the earth for the good. Off their centre, they are merely agitators, who make one day what collapses the day after, from the big to the small. Everything that is happening today in Madurai is proof of what I am saying.

The Christian communities are shaken, the schismatics are gaining ground on the one hand while it is being taken from them on the other ; now and then we acclaim a miracle, so clever are these people, and then we despise them. In short, it appears that their mission is going very badly, while they are deploying unheard of efforts and considerable sums of money for their French college of Negapatam, while they do not seem to be dreaming of the Maldives that we were wrong to neglect for too long (God forgive us for that), and while their Christians do not know if there are seven sacraments, for they only see five administered in Madurai. There is no sacrament of ordination nor of confirmation, and a bishop's blessing has not fallen on the people for a very long time now. The person who will have enough grace to make Rome understand that the J. should never, at any cost, be established as heads of missions and who will succeed in only allowing them to be admitted under the real dependency of the bishops, such a person, I believe, will render a real service to propagation of the faith and the establishment of Churches.

They seem to want to form ecclesiastics ; a certain number of Indians have been admitted to the French college of Negapatam, though separated from the other pupils, and they have had it rumoured that soon they would be sending some to receive the tonsure. But the most frank among them, or those that see more clearly than the others, say that all of that cannot be very serious since, your Fathers if they wanted to have a native clergy, they say, could not. Now, they have to make it appear that they are doing even more than us, I think that is the heart of the mystery.

The schismatics redouble their efforts, and in many places are making progress. Thanks to God, they have still not invaded our missions, but the upset of what is happening in the vicariate of Madras and in the south of the peninsula makes the faith weaker and weaker. The Christians, seeing themselves allured by the various parties and by the Protestants, are becoming more and more proud, more and more exacting, and scandal increases. The affairs of the island (of) Ceylon appear to be going very badly. The poor bishop of Madras, in his words as well as his acts and in the articles of his poor and one could say scandalous journal (printed at the expense of Propagation of the Faith in place of the annals), is behaving in a deplorable way.

Mr Gailhot has been received in Vizagapatam with enthusiasm ; the Fathers of Annecy seem in earnest to want nothing but good. No news of Mgr Charbonnaux, he is working successfully in his mission, and it will be like that for as long as he is entrusted with too general an administration. The other coast, as you know, is completely different from this one, but it appears that good is being done there, only the schism is powerful. I learned with great pleasure that the Apostolic Vicar of (Verapoly) has just been appointed archbishop. If the unfortunate things that are happening lead to Rome losing the support of our Society, if we are vanquished by the enemies of the North and of the South, the holy cause of the native clergy and of the native Churches can only be entrusted to the Italians. The English will never deal with it, and the J. even less so.

In fact they dealt with the natives, it is true, more than the English, but they did even less than them to found Churches. The English would perhaps make Churches if Rome pushed them greatly and if they had any Christians, but they will not make Christians, they will even lose those they already have. The English will perhaps change in time when the Lord grants them the grace, that they have not received thus far, of being apostles. The J. will never be apostles, they will go on being disciples, yes disciples, as good disciples as they are bad apostles. When will they understand this? I pray to the great Saint Ignatius, the great Saint Francis Xavier, and the others of their illustrious company, to open their eyes on this point, and above all to see that my words are absolutely sterile if I am mistaken!

And I will end this letter by telling you that I was on the point of writing to Cardinal Fransoni. I stopped myself, fearing that I would be more indiscreet than useful to the holy cause of the gospel. Although he has undoubtedly sometimes heard my name pronounced and has read it in your writings, who am I that my words should be well received by so illustrious a prelate? However I was somewhat ashamed not to have written at all to the S.C. after receiving bulls and a letter. Accordingly I thought of taking advantage of the circumstance whereby my letter of renunciation was prevented from arriving in Rome, to write a letter to the cardinal and to take the opportunity to open up my heart to him on certain of my thoughts.

I would have said to him that, despite the steamer and the railways, Rome is very far from India, and even further from China, Tartary, many of the islands, and from the centre of Africa. Now it is from Rome, and Rome alone, that the salvation of the Nations can come. Thus it is necessary for Rome to draw closer to these people through devoted representatives vested with its authority and enjoying its confidence. In a word it would be necessary to have a quite Roman and really powerful authority as intermediary between Rome and the more distant Churches. Of course the legates come to mind. But thus far, they have been either very dangerous when the title and the power of the legate was attached to a particular see, or of little help when they merely passed through. It seems to me that by putting into practice the wise teachings of the past and the new resources of our century, it would not be impossible to remedy these two fatal drawbacks.

And limiting myself to India at last, I would have liked to say to him that this poor country would need a man, wise, prudent and clever who had given unmistakable proof of devotion to the apostolic See, in whom Rome had complete confidence, and who for his part had every confidence in Rome, in the sense that he could be sure that no-one in Rome would set themselves against his proceeding and his institutions, or listen to other parties and complaints, etc. This man should be for ever in India, save being obliged to go and account for his conduct to the Sovereign Pontiff from time to time. When one thinks that three months suffice for going to Rome and coming back, the trip to Rome is mere child's play, etc. If I had dared to write all of my thought, I would even have expressed the hope that you might one day be that man.

However I destroyed the rough copy of my letter, and I think I did well. Tell me what you think. Only, if you have the opportunity, you would do me a favour of presenting my respectful homage to the cardinal prefect, assuring him that, if I did not reply to him, this was: 1) because of my first uncertainty; 2) because a letter of refusal of the bulls was on the way when the letter from the S.C. arrived, and 3) because now I do not know what turn things will take and so I do not know what language to use.

At this moment I am told that they are asking from Madras for your explanations on the synod. They know, they say, that we have some. I do not know if His Lordship will send them but, whatever happens, certainly they will get to know them soon. Perhaps it is good that you should know this.

In Coimbatore Mr Jarrige has laid the first foundations of a seminary, let us hope that it will be on a basis that will not oblige the bishop going out to take another line from that which has been started. If it were otherwise, it would be one misfortune more to be added to those which have delayed the affairs of that district.

A Dieu. I cannot see anything else to say to you. Pray for me and keep for me always a large part of your benevolent friendship.

Your Grace's

devoted servant and true friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 9 March, 1846)

Mr de Lagrené is here. He is an excellent man who takes a great interest in Religion. He is to come to the seminary and interrogate the pupils.

On the point of sealing this letter, I learn that the schism of the Tamoul Christian community of Madras will soon be a fact; it appears that the first stone of a new church has just been laid. Texeira is said to have made a speech, his chaplain another, the eldest son of the late Saverimouttou a third one on his father's tomb. It appears that the poor bishop of Madras has done nothing to win back these poor irritated Christians. This is where the sovereign contempt of the English for the native Christians leads. Mgr of Drusipare would undoubtedly have won back those people, but he did not dare to do anything in view of Mgr Fenelly's irritation.

Meanwhile, the most influential Christian communities of India are irrevocably lost. And scandal will not remain there because of the intimate relations of the family that the tamoulers () of Madras have with the other big tamoulers of the coast. This is yet another of the sad effects of the incomplete ecclesiastic hierarchy in these parts.

(Pondicherry, 9 March 1846)

Sent_0150

Sent_0150 - à Mgr Luquet - avril 1846 -/2

Sent 0150 - to Mgr Luquet - April 1846 -2/2

Sent_0150 - à Mgr Luquet - avril 1846 -1/1

Sent 0150 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 433ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

My bulls are in Rome ; If I am appointed to Pondicherry, I will be obliged to refuse. If I am confirmed in Coimbatore, there is no great difficulty. A little pessimism on the future of India and his own in particular. If the Sacred Congregation should entrust me with a mission, I would leave the MEP : the north of Europe or the centre of Africa. May I be left in peace. We will never form a native clergy with the high castes alone. Compliments for the explanations.

Index : episcopate (appointment), Propaganda, my thoughts on the missions, native clergy

__________

(Pondicherry) April 1846

My Lord and very dear friend,

When you receive this note, the sad affairs which are still dragging along will undoubtedly have been resolved, for Mr Langlois has written that he has passed on my letters to the S.C. May God see that everything is decided for the best. I fear that you have not received all my letters, for you have not answered certain things they contained. In some of them, I said what reluctance I would feel in being appointed coadjutor of Pondicherry. If the misfortune of such an appointment arrived, I would be obliged to refuse obstinately. Now, the acceptance of Coimbatore would involve no very great difficulty.

Besides, the coadjutor of Pondicherry can do nothing, absolutely nothing for a long time, even if he were apostolic vicar, seeing the sad disposition of minds, the unfortunate antecedents, the distrust of the Christians, the false bases on which we have been building for I don't know how long, bases which absolutely need to be overturned, which cannot be done so easily in the sad position in which we find ourselves with regard to our poor confreres, to our poor neighbours, to our poor Christians, etc. without counting on the schism and Protestantism. In Coimbatore, can we do anything? That would appear less difficult to me; however for the last year or so the manner in which this part has been administered and treated gives me some grounds for fear. Besides, there as here, certain dangers are common and inevitable.

Apart from that, very dear friend, I cannot tell you in what sombre colours I see the future for this country. But, in particular you and I, we have nothing more to do here. Y.L. already has another career, you could render some services to the Church and to the Missions. But your servant, unless we were sustained by the S.C. with an energy that we cannot hope for, your servant, I say, will see as from now his days pass uselessly and badly. If our congregation had a vaster administration, I would ask it to be employed in another mission. But it would be wasted effort.

What is to be done then? leave the missions ? no, never, unless I am dismissed. Leave at least this Society? It is not my desire; however, I would leave it without difficulty, if I could do so naturally without there appearing to be any impulsive act or caprice etc. For that, I would see only one way, and that is that the S.C. should itself entrust me with a mission. I would have no difficulty in leaving the Foreign Missions to depend directly on the S.C. This is what I would like you to ask for me of the S.C. and do not forget the two points where I would like to receive the mission of carrying the cross of J.C., which are the north of Europe and the centre of Africa.

For if the S.C. condemns me to remain here, may she at least not oblige me to be a bishop in Pondicherry ! May she permit me to withdraw into some peaceful part of the mission, far from everyone, trying to give the example of the regular minister, and forming perhaps a little body of brothers or hermits who would meet as far as possible the views developed in your Eclaircissements.

Do not believe my presence in the seminary is necessary, for it is absolutely useless. I know today what to expect. We will never form a native clergy exclusively with the high castes. These will supply their contingent of priests, and that is all. We must admit more than these proud lords in holy circles, where we will never have a clergy. Now it is impossible at Pondicherry, perhaps it may be always be impossible for me more than anyone else now. Please do not speak to anyone of all that I have said, except to the S.C. and serve me as a friend.

I have re-read your Eclaircissements on which I make my compliments once more, although they continue to be the subject of many complaints, and more than complaints. Apart from a few small words which I would have considered it prudent to omit, all the rest seems admirable to me and everything that has happened here in the last ten months could serve as an irrefutable proof for the theses against which most protests are forthcoming. And here is Mr Leroux likewise rising up against me for an apparently childish whim, and I don't know how it will all end up. Patience!

A Dieu. Pray for me, write to me a little more frequently, for you must not forget that it is partly for you that I am suffering, or to put it better, it is for the same cause that we are both suffering. A Dieu.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, April 1846)

Sent_0151

Sent_0151 - à sa mère - le 3 mai 1846 -/3

Sent 0151 - to his mother - 3 May 1846 -3/3

Sent_0151 - à sa mère - le 3 mai 1846 -1/1

Sent 0151 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 99-101

(to his mother)

I sometimes receive a visit from Mr de Montplanqua, from Saissac ; and also from Mr de Lagrené, a French diplomat sent out to China to establish the free exercise of religion there. He tells the story of the past year in India, since Mr Luquet's arrival up to the division of all the vicariates in India. Pray that we remain always in charity. Rome makes some difficulties in accepting my renunciation of the episcopate.

Index : vicariates (division), my thought on the missions, native clergy, episcopate (appointment)

__________

Pondicherry, 3 May 1846

My very dear Mamma,

Despite the rightful reproaches that my father often makes to me, I find it difficult to write you long letters, 1) because I don't have the time ; and 2) because after telling you that I am well, I cannot find any subject liable to interest you. My life here is a quite solitary one; more than once, the note brought to you by the steamer has arrived at Monestrol without my even having gone outside of the precincts of the seminary since I signed it. I make no visits to the white town inhabited by the Europeans, and the natives are not people whose habits are sufficiently similar to ours to offer anything of interest to you. In such a situation, what would you like me to tell you?

However here there is an adviser from the native royal court of Saissac and who plays the Gascon as well as I do. He comes to see me sometimes and we exchange gazettes, I send him the Univers which is sent out to me by the Seminary of Paris, and he lends me his Siècle. Although he receives this poor newspaper, however he is not a bad sort; he even practices his religion openly; and he is not ashamed to say that he was a seminarian and even studied for the minor orders at Carcassonne. He often asks for news of the priests with whom he studied, but I can be of little help, since I practically do not know them being from the time of Mr de Soubiran or earlier. This gentlemen is called de Montplanqua.

Another thing that might interest you to some extent is the visit we have received recently at the seminary from Mr de Lagrené. This worthy man who is remarkable for his sincere piety and his sweet and affable manners has appeared enchanted with the way in which the pupils answered him in French and in Latin, both on the grammar and on philosophy, mathematics and physics. If France gave to such representatives a less illusory authority, and if it took care to choose them of this kind, it would be a little more honoured abroad than it is; and one would be as proud to declare oneself French as one is ashamed to do so at the present day, once outside the frontiers of the homeland.

In his person, Mr de Lagrené has done everything he could for the good of our holy religion in China, whatever several newspapers may have said about it, even some which in the ordinary way tell the truth, but which do not fear to employ calumny and imposture to defend their systematic opposition. Mr de Lagrené has reached an understanding with our confreres in Macao and has done everything that we asked him insofar as he could.

As for the affairs of the missions, they are not such as could be of interest in a simple letter. It is not that very serious things are not happening and I am one of the those most complicated () in an immense network of affairs that have been unfolding for the last three to four years and in which, thanks to God, we have always had the victory because the Lord has enabled us, I feel sure, to sustain with courage and constancy the true principles. But here, there would be matter to write a whole book and not just a letter.

Suffice it to tell you that we have to fight against the prejudices of several centuries, against abuses in some sort passed into laws, and all of this against several of the former missionaries in general, and in particular against the powerful and respectable bodies, at the head of which are the Jesuits. I was one of the first to be thrown into the lists ; then came a man of saintliness, courage and talent, who started off with a book which almost caused him to be dismissed from our congregation. However, he was not thrown out and divine Providence decided that he would be sent out to Pondicherry. Since then, we found ourselves two instead of one fighting for the same cause, he by speaking and writing, I by speaking and acting.

A first victory saw me placed as superior in the seminary (to understand that it is a victory, you should know that our first principle is based on the formation of a veritable native clergy, of an educated clergy capable to some extent of doing without us ; the second, is the multiplication of bishoprics, we are demanding to have them everywhere and many of them). A second victory was the dispatch of this dear confrere to Rome where he discussed so skilfully the truth of our principles that the Pope approved them solemnly, and in order to give clear proof of same, he appointed this dear confrere bishop and coadjutor of Pondicherry, under the title of bishop of Hésébon. The cardinal prefect of Propaganda in person consecrated him.

It was as a result of all of these matters that I too was appointed bishop. Then a terrible storm arose against us. I must admit that appearances were not all in our favour. Some persons might have believed, without sinning that there was an underlying intrigue in this twofold appointment made outside of the ordinary rules, in favour of two intimate friends, fighting together for the same cause, etc.

As a result of this storm I felt obliged to hand in my resignation, leaving it to time and to divine Providence, for which alone we fight, the task of avenging the innocence of our intentions. H.L. de Hésébon also had to give way to the tempest, by remaining in Rome, which merely had the effect of redoubling his zeal and better establishing the truth of our principles. So that these torments are turning to our advantage, or rather to the advantage of the cause that we defend and that we believe to be that of religion.

And, in fact, now we see that a new victory, issuing from the Sacred Congregation and approved by the Holy Father, consists of an instruction to all missionary bishops in the world committing them to work strongly and effectively on the formation of a native clergy and on the multiplication of bishops ; and at the same time, all the apostolic vicariates in India have been divided : that of Calcutta in two, that of Madras in three, that of Pondicherry in three, that of Verapoly in two or three, that of Agra in two, that of Bombay in two as far as I know. Finally, a bishop is to be appointed even in the mission of the Jesuits of Madurai. But the glory of all that (is due?) to Bishop Luquet, while all that I do is to sustain him (as best I can) and by writing some letters.

Despite all that, you see that my life is not completely idle, although I hardly go out of my room. In the middle of all that, pray the good God not to permit us in any circumstances to say anything, or to write anything contrary to charity. We may also be mistaken on certain points. Let us pray the Lord to preserve us from the obstinacy that often leads to the failure of the best causes and not to permit us to succeed, if this should not produce a veritable glory for God.

In this struggle, we have to fight against persons a hundred times more respectable and a hundred times holier than us ; we fight their opinions that we believe to be false, and we venerate the persons who do not think like us, who believe for example that peoples such as these are incapable of ever having a veritable native clergy able to sustain itself, etc. So you see, my dear Mamma, that you have to pray hard for us. Besides, do not believe that these struggles resemble those of the world. They take place with force, but with calm (in?) the Lord ; they can easily give you a violent headache at times, but never do you any real harm.

What a long discussion on a matter that you cannot know much about. And I will close by saying that it appears in Rome they are making difficulties in accepting my renunciation to the episcopate. Apart from that, calm is beginning to reign once more. They are beginning to see that neither Bishop Luquet, nor myself, had any particular desire to be bishops, although we wanted to see many bishops created.

Please use this letter with discretion since it would be imprudent to show it to everybody. I am speaking to you with an open heart, as a son does to his mother. I am waiting with patience, for I have not personally received any letter from Rome.

You have had a poor harvest. Here we are threatened with famine. A Dieu. Pray for me, and remember me to all our relatives, friends and acquaintances.

The most respectful of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Pondicherry, 3 May 1846)

Sent_0152

Sent_0152 - à Mgr Luquet - le 4 mai 1846 -/2

Sent 0152 - to Mgr Luquet - 4 May 1846 -2/2

Sent_0152 - à Mgr Luquet - le 4 mai 1846 -1/1

Sent 0152 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 437

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Take care, you lack sweetness in your letters, as much as me. If my bulls come back, it should not be through you, but through Propaganda, and not copies, but the Originals. Otherwise, I will not accept. Now Mgr Bonnand wants to go to Coimbatore and he sees Mgr Charbonnaux at Pondicherry and you at Mysore. On the contrary, Rome should appoint him archbishop. Authority of Rome.

Index : Rome (authority), episcopate (appointment), friendship

__________

(Pondicherry) 4 May 1846

My Lord,

Your last letter addressed to me was dated 21 December 1845. Since that time, events have not really progressed, but have slipped backwards. I have written to you several times, and have tried to inform you of everything. I will continue always with the frankness that the good requires and that your sincere friendship permits.

I told you, some time ago, that you had to find some way of remaining some time longer in Europe and then minds would calm down sufficiently to make your return to Pondicherry possible, where your place is and where you should not give up coming sooner or later, but that the Lord knows. I still have the same feelings. However you have further removed that day which seemed about to rise a few months ago, by certain letters in which, it seems to me, you have not measured your expressions enough. I pray the Lord to give you, with the gift of strength, that of sweetness, and something of that unction which softens irritated sores. Two virtues that I possess even less than Y.L., which does great harm to our holy cause.

Two months ago also if I had received from the S.C. the order or only the pressing invitation to accept the episcopate, I could have done so without danger, today it is no longer the same. However, things are not going so badly that I cannot accept still, but it would be necessary for my bulls to come back through the S.C., and not through you. The day before yesterday, His Lordship of Drusipare received from the S.C. a letter in which he was told to urge me not to refuse the burden that H.H. had imposed on me, but without saying if my letter has been received, or my bulls have been sent back to me. In addition, Mr Langlois has also written that he has just sent you these bulls so that Y.L. should have them, or at least an authenticated copy, sent here.

I have already heard some reflections on it, and I am assured that, if you yourself send back the briefs without the direct participation of the S.C., and above all if these are only authentic copies and not the briefs themselves, in the present disposition of minds that would be very bad ; and perhaps I will be obliged to come back on the promise I made you in a previous letter of accepting at least so as not to prolong much longer an affair which has already gone on far too long, for the particular good of Coimbatore, and for that of India, and for the honour of our poor congregation. For if things become confused further to the point of proposing me as coadjutor of Pondicherry, I tell you frankly, I would never accept. It is you who must come here sooner or later. Patience only, prayer and sweetness.

You speak to me in your latest missive, of a second letter that the S.C. addressed to me ; reference is made to it in the last letter that His Lordship of Drusipare has just received ; I have not received it, for I do not think that it can be the one dated 3 October 1845 (no. 1) sent before they could have known in Rome about my renunciation. I often feel the desire to write myself to the S.C. on all this, but this complication of matters has held me back for fear of multiplying this complication itself by fresh letters.

Today still, as I was on the point of writing, and was trying to ascertain Mgr Bonnand's thought on all of these points, it so happened that H.L. spoke to me about a new plan in which it was a question no less than of calling you to Mysore, of introducing Mgr Charbonnaux here, and of relegating My Lord of Drusipare to Coimbatore. I do not know if you have been informed of this. If by chance you have not heard of it, do not let it be known that you have become acquainted with it through me. I must admit to you that this opening grieved me very much, for reasons which will readily come to your mind before mine and which it is not necessary to enumerate. Suffice it to say that if we accept such a proposal, that only fatigue and humility have inspired in His Lordship, it would be making an insult to such a respectable prelate and who deserves quite other marks of consideration.

I hope that the S.C. will reply to My Lord of Drusipare that, far from wishing to relegate him to a corner of the mission that he has administered for so long with such virtue, we would like to see him raised high on the chandelier so that he becomes the light, the guide and the edification of the new bishops. If with that he were sent a title of archbishop, and a real authority over the new vicariates, I would be overjoyed from this point of view. Finally, I repeat what I have already said, that it seems to me that for the honour of the S.C. and in order for Rome to maintain its full authority of which it and we have such great need, Propaganda should absolutely insist on the integral enforcement of everything that is contained in its for ever happy letter of 12 May 1845, except insofar as I am concerned, for it could very well appoint some other bishop without drawback.

A Dieu. I pray every day for you. Pray greatly for your unworthy, but very devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

P.S. There are plenty of other woes that you will learn about in part in a letter from Mr Leroux. Mr Gailhot has allowed all of his faults to be seen. I think that no further attempts will be made to make him a bishop. Pray for our poor missions.

(Pondicherry ?, 4 May 1846)

Sent_0153

Sent_0153 - à Mgr Luquet - le 6 mai 1846 -/1

Sent 0153 - to Mgr Luquet - 6 May 1846 -2/2

Sent_0153 - à Mgr Luquet - le 6 mai 1846 -1/1

Sent 0153 copy, Luquet Fund (Langres) 260, pp 270ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

We have just spoken with Mgr Bonnand of his project of going to Coimbatore. He has promised not to insist. A pity that you have refused to go to Coimbatore. If my bulls come back, I believe that I will accept. The apostolic vicars will not accept you as bursar in Rome. Here, you are considered as the author of all the embarrassments concerning the appointment of the apostolic vicar of Coimbatore.

Index : episcopate (appointment), friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 6 May 1846

My Lord,

The letter included with the present was written the day before yesterday. Since then I have had a long conference with My Lord of Drusipare, Messrs Dupuis and Lehodey. We have attempted to make H.L. understand what immense harm would follow the enforcement of the latest plan that he sent to Rome in which he proposes himself for Coimbatore. Humanly speaking, all would be lost and people would not fail to say that it is you and me who have chased from Pondicherry a worthy bishop, whom all our confreres venerate, in order to relegate him to an accessory post and perhaps take his place.

I feel sure that if the S.C. were to accept such a proposal, it would be regarded as a dishonour for our whole congregation, at a time when it could reasonably hope to receive some honourable testimony in the person of one of its most respectable pontiffs. Apart from that, we are quite persuaded that the S.C. would never adhere to such a proposal. But the mere possibility makes us tremble. My Lord of Drusipare has promised us not to insist if the S.C. answered in the negative. He seems to have understood what disorder would follow otherwise.

As for you, make no attempt as yet to come to Pondicherry. How annoyed I am that you did not agree with the idea of being appointed to a place in Coimbatore. Messrs Dupuis and Lehodey and myself would be very pleased and His Lordship also, in the case that (as we hope) his proposals are refused. If that is still possible, do it. But perhaps already my bulls will have been posted when you receive this letter? What should be done then? Will I refuse still? And will I leave this miserable confusion to continue in the midst of which people's minds are growing more and more irritated? Will I accept or will I renounce the hope of seeing you in Coimbatore?... Everything considered, I think I will accept, but I will delay my consecration until the feast of the Rosary and in that time, if you arrange things so as to come instead of me, you would do a good deed, all the more since I doubt very much that you will be able to stay on in Rome as bursar of the Missions. It is extremely doubtful that the apostolic vicars approve you. Already a few letters received here make us fear this.

Finally, let us pray God. Four months ago, things were quite different. If, instead of holding back my letter and my bulls, they had been immediately sent to the S.C., and the S.C. had sent them back to me itself, I could have immediately accepted without any embarrassment and the means seemed to be prepared for the possibility of your return to Pondicherry. Today, you are regarded as the author of all these embarrassments. Your correspondence has further ruffled spirits and if the bulls arrive through you (as I fear from an expression used by Mr Langlois), my appointment will not be approved any more than it was the first time. People will say and already say that it is to be feared that this is not the work of God, but yours, the work of man. Accordingly, more pains and tribulations; let us offer them to God and pray for each other.

Your very respectful and very devoted servant and friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 6 May 1846)

Sent_0154

Sent_0154 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 mai 1846/2

Sent 0154 - to Mgr Bonnand - 25 May 18462/2

Sent_0154 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 mai 18461/1

Sent 0154 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 1-3

(

) partial copy, AMEP, dans vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

New proposal of his resignation from superior of the seminary. Send me into the interior; there, I will be in peace; this means at the same time that I am determined to refuse the episcopate. How could I accept with all the opposition that exists?

Nouvelle proposition de sa démission de supérieur du séminaire. Envoyez-moi dans les terres ; là, je serai en paix ; c'est vous dire en même temps que je suis déterminé à refuser l'épiscopat. Comment pourrai-je accepter avec toutes les oppositions qui existent ?

Index : episcopate (appointment), superior (of the seminary)

__________

Pondicherry, 25 May 1846

My Lord,

I have often approached you to speak to you of a matter that I have never dared to raise, for fear of distressing you. Permit me (... ?...) will leave (... ?...) seminary unless (... ?...). In the case of a refusal that (... ?...) such a request, you will (...?...) at least until the seminary is (joined ?) to the (new ?) building. This condition is more than fulfilled,

As you know, My Lord, obedience alone keeps me at my post ; but I would say that it is undergoing violent shocks by the temptations incessantly arising. With the grace of God, I have managed to get over them in the course of the last two years. But can I count on a continual victory, above all when these temptations redouble and my strength diminishes?

I know that my departure will be interpreted in many different ways ; but, thanks to God, I am not very worried about men's judgments, and nothing cam compare for me with the incommensurable suffering I am undergoing every day at seeing myself in an establishment which (... ?...) than prevent the deadline and that (... ?...) remove, that (... ?...) and confidence to them (... ?...) people of pain, is the intimate (... ?...) friends in particular (... ?...) bad (... ?...) at work (... ?...). Accordingly let me withdraw into the interior, My Lord, give me one of the smallest districts of your vicariate where I can (... ?...) in peace my salvation and that of a few poor souls, the only good that I can hope to do now in this poor and unfortunate country.

Perhaps Y.L. will find it astonishing that I am taking such a step again at a time when it would seem that I should expect some results of the latest determinations of Paris and of Rome. But suffice it to say, My Lord, that I am determined to refuse absolutely the episcopate, even if the bulls should come back to me directly from the S.C.

How could I accept such a charge, that I see (... ?...) more (... ?...) that have been conceived with regard to me, will lead them to misinterpret my best intentions (... ?...) that I could not fail to impede all the works that I believe I should create. The burden would already be too great with the contrary dispositions on the part of those who should help me to carry it. In the present situation, it would be unbearable and dangerous.

I have the honour of being

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 25 May 1846)

Sent_0155

Sent_0155 - à M. Tesson - le 6 juin 1846 -/2

Sent 0155 - to Mr Tesson - 6 June 1846 -2/2

Sent_0155 - à M. Tesson - le 6 juin 1846 -1/1

Sent 0155 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1431-1433

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Let us practice more charity in our letters. My bills have come back, but sent by Mgr Luquet. I want to send it all back to Rome. I have gathered seven confreres who have advised me against this. I take note, but cannot do anything before the arrival from Rome of the answer from Propaganda refusing Mgr Bonnand the post of Coimbatore. Some news of the seminary: a small ordination (minor orders and two tonsured).

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, charity, episcopate (appointment), vicariates (division)

__________

Pondicherry, 6 June 1846

Very dear Mr Tesson,

In the time of irritation in which we live, it would perhaps be charitable to moderate our terms on all hands. If you write to anyone saying that Pondicherry has slandered you, this will give the greatest pain to My Lord of Drusipare who will write for his part that the Seminary of Paris...! etc.

I am very satisfied to have the details that you give me on the sad affair of H.L. of Courvezy, for I declare that, from the incomplete way in which I knew him, I was quite scandalised at it. I said a few words about it to My Lord of Drusipare; but His Lordship does not appear convinced of the innocence of the seminary with regard to the regulation. He read me out several passages from different letters, even from Directors of Paris, which in fact have some force against them. God forbid I should say this to further rub the sore; but it is to prove the first proposal in my letter, and I repeat to you that it seems to me that we should all close our eyes on the faults of the past, and come together to advance the work of God insofar as we can, in the peace of the Lord and in mutual condescendence.

My bulls have come back, sent by My Lord of Hésébon. Unfortunate circumstance which makes various people think once more (perhaps I should say all those who know it) that it is still Mgr Luquet who has contrived this business, who has had these bulls held back at Paris instead of letting them arrive at the S.C., that he has sent them back finally himself instead of submitting them. It would have been advisable for them to have been sent back by the S.C. itself, if in fact they should have come back. I assure you that, in seeing this, and the indisposition of my confreres as far as I am concerned not having completely passed because of what they still have against Mgr Luquet, I am still greatly tempted to send back the packet to Rome, with the sincere protestation that I will never accept the episcopate in India.

But really can I do so without going against the interests of our congregation ? Not wishing to decide on the question myself, I submitted to a council consisting of all the members of the mission present in Pondicherry, that is to say of My Lord of Drusipare and of Messrs Dupuis, Lehodey, Mousset, Richon, Leroux, Pouplin, Godet and myself who withdrew after having outlined the following proposal to them: Can I in conscience, and without harming the interests of the mission, send back my bulls once more? One member abstained from voting and all the others opted for the negative.

Since accordingly things have to this pass, I would have desired to make an act, for example an act of taking possession while waiting until consecration is possible, in order to block all the attempts of our terrible neighbours. However, because of the deplorable combination that My Lord has lately sent to Rome, to the immense displeasure of all those who knew of it later, and which would be the greatest misfortune that could happen if it took place, but in order not to put H.L. in contradiction with himself, they don't want me to make any external act before an answer has arrived from Rome in this respect. I hope, and I can say that we all hope, that this answer will be simply negative and that, without prejudice to our mission in particular and to our Society in general, it will only lead to a surplus of merit to H.L. for having pushed humility almost to its furthest limit. Unfortunately H.L. leaves tomorrow on a grand tour, which could very well delay things even further.

I do not know if I will find anything that you ask me regarding the Church of Pondicherry. I will search, but My Lord does not believe that we will discover anything much.

Today we have had a small ordination : Marie Xavery has become a member of the minor orders, two young pupils have been tonsured, they are called one Appavou and the other Gnanapragasam. The latter above all fills me with hope, I hope that he will walk in the footsteps of Marie Xavery, of Arouolnaden and of Pakianaden who do not fail to give us consolations. However, the seminary is not doing well. Everything is affected by the general malaise and above all we are not advancing, thus we are receding. For the seminary, this is palpable. Let us pray to God to give us intelligence, charity and peace.

Your very devoted and very respectful confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 6 June 1846)

Sent_0156

Sent_0156 - à Mgr Luquet - le 6 juin 1846 -/2

Sent 0156 - to Mgr Luquet - 6 June 1846 -2/2

Sent_0156 - à Mgr Luquet - le 6 juin 1846 -1/1

Sent 0156 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 443ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

What a disappointment to receive my bulls through you and not from Propaganda ! I gathered together seven confreres at Pondicherry who told me not to send them back. I take note, but can do nothing before we receive from Rome the answer of Propaganda refusing Mgr Bonnand the post of Coimbatore. What a shame for the MEP if Rome accepted! Despite my sorrow, for my part, I will accept the episcopate for Coimbatore, Soften the style of our letters. A little ordination at the seminary (minor orders and two tonsured).

Index : Rome (authority), episcopate (appointment), seminary of Pondicherry, vicariates (division)

__________

Pondicherry, 6 June 1846

My Lord,

Where are we ? and where will we go ? I received with great pleasure your excellent letter dated Saint Joseph's Day. However, it is with great disappointment that I received it accompanied by my bulls, instead of receiving these bulls from the hands of the S.C.

As I had announced in an earlier letter, this circumstance produced a sad effect on the minds of certain confreres, perhaps I should say of all those who know it. I admit to you that, seeing that and the indisposition of the missionaries being far from having passed, both in respect of myself and with regard to Y.L., I am furiously tempted to send back the packet again to Rome, with the sincere protestation that I will never accept the episcopate in India. But really can I without going against the interests of our congregation and our work ? I lately submitted to the decision of a council formed of all the members of the missions present at Pondicherry, that is to say of My Lord of Drusipare, and of Messrs Dupuis, Lehodey, Mousset, Pouplin, Richon, Godet and myself, who withdrew after having outlined it, the following proposal: Can I in conscience and without harming the interests of the mission send back my bulls once more? It was decided that I could not.

Then, I would have desired to make an act, for example an act of taking possession while waiting for the consecration to be possible, in order to stop all the attempts being made by our terrible neighbours. But you must know the misfortune of a disastrous proposition made some months ago to the S.C. by My Lord of Drusipare, and in which he proposed to go himself to Coimbatore, and to place My Lord of Jassen here and to send you to Mysore. H.L. did this all on his own, to the supreme displeasure of all those who learned of it thereafter and who hope that this plan will be rejected by Rome, as it has been rejected with a painful impression by all those who have had knowledge of it. Evidently it is only the fatigue and the discouragement of so many unfortunately irritating affairs, which have succeeded one another in the last year, which have led His Lordship to send in such a project.

If this misfortune came about, it would be to the shame of our whole congregation which knows how venerable this prelate is, worthy of advancement and in no way to be relegated to some corner of this jurisdiction that he has administered in its entirely and even bigger for several years with honour and edification. Everyone would be indignant and would not fail to say that it was you who had worked so well that you had chased My Lord out of his see in order to place your second in it and to come in to it later yourself. Once more, I hope that divine Providence will inspire the S.C. to give a simply negative answer. But since the letters are now in Rome, they do not want me to make any external signs until we have received an answer, in order not to put My Lord of Drusipare in contradiction with himself.

Thus despite my pain, I will accept the episcopate for Coimbatore as soon as this answer has arrived and the consecration will very probably take place on the first Sunday of October, feast of the Rosary and main feast of that place, if all goes well. Unfortunately, My Lord leaves tomorrow for a long tour, which could delay matters further. This complicity of affairs puts me in the impossibility of writing to the S.C., however much I wanted to. I would have liked to ask it for a plenary indulgence for all those attending the consecration, and permission to grant some solemn indulgences in the course of the year. Could you not ask it this on my behalf, expressing my gratitude, my respect and my devotion to it.

I am astonished that you did not reply to various questions mentioned in several of my letters. You do not even always acknowledge receipt of them. Have some of them perhaps gone astray? You speak to me of a crozier without any explanation. Is this a present that Your Lordship makes me? In that case I would receive it with twofold satisfaction. My dear friend, I will take the liberty of another remark : you always irritate by your style, could you not soften it ? Could you not make some small concessions, at least in the form?

A Dieu, dear friend, I do not forego seeing you still in India, but pray Our Lord to give you, with the gift of force, that of gentleness and of his divine unction. Forgive me this much liberty.

Of all your friends, the most sincere and the most devoted.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

Today, Marie Xavery has joined the minor orders and Appavou and a certain Gnanapragasam from Karikal have been tonsured. The latter gives me very great hopes. In Madras, things are going from bad to worse. Soon (thanks to the mania of wanting the Church of India to be English) all the fine Christian communities of this immense country will be schismatic. Oh Rome, how far away you are!!

(Pondicherry, 6 June 1846)

Sent_0157

Sent_0157 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 30 juin 1846 -/1

Sent 0157 - to Mgr Bonnand - 30 June 1846 -1/1

Sent_0157 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 30 juin 1846 -1/1

Sent 0157 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 5-7

() partial copy, AMEP, dans vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

No letter coming from France. I am prepared to share your opinion. Things at Pondicherry and in the seminary are as usual.

Index : vicariates (division), episcopate (appointment)

__________

(Pondicherry ?) 30 June 1846

My Lord,

It is a long time since we have had any news from Y.L. I hope from Providence, in its (... ?...) that it will preserve you from all (evil?) and that it will see that your work and your efforts bear fruit.

The steamer has just arrived here. No letters from France. I received one (... ?...)

... he renders greater services here than he would render to the School. But they believe in this unfortunate idea (that I call (...?...) because it delays (... ?...) natural progress) that I should be appointed professor of Pondicherry (...?...)

You are informed of all my correspondence . I received a long and very good letter from Mr Jarrige.

Now, I will say frankly to Y.L. that I am prepared to give way to your opinion ; if it is contrary to my opinions (... ?...) that Mgr Luquet (... ?...) in Mysore (... ?...)

... a part up to the prizegiving (... ?...) I would go immediately afterwards to (... ?...) until (... ?...) of the others (... ?...) I would have plenty to do. Forgive this scribble. In the whole day I have had just a moment to write to you.

Things here are going as usual. The general compositions have begun. Mgr Charbonnaux has written on the subject of (... ?...) Mr Jarrige tells me that Mr (... ?...); thus, thanks to God, there will be no difficulty on this point.

I pray the Lord to (keep?) you in good health and to bless your (works ?) (... ?...) soon (with ?) us.

I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted and affectionate son.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 30 June 1846)

Sent_0158

Sent_0158 - à M. Tesson - le 1er juillet 1846 -/1

Sent 0158 - to Mr Tesson - 1 July 1846 -/1

Sent_0158 - à M. Tesson - le 1er juillet 1846 -/1

Sent 0158 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, p 1445

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

He sends the information requested on Pondicherry (cf. letter no. 0159). All the business of Pondicherry should be completed before the return of Father Bertrand from Rome. It seems to me that Mgr Bonnand should not wait and consecrate me for Coimbatore. Let us pray and wait.

Index : vicariates (division), episcopate (appointment), Jesuits

__________

Pondicherry, 1 July 1846

My very dear Mr Tesson,

I am sending you all the information that I have been able to find on the churches of Pondicherry. I found nothing in His Lordship's meagre archives. However, what I am sending you will suffice, I think, to establish the fact clearly.

My Lord of Drusipare is not here, I do not really know when he will be back. He hoped to receive a letter from the S.C. in answer to his unfortunate proposition; nothing has come, which will delay even further the affairs of Coimbatore. However, it seems to me that it would be important for everything to be completed from this point of view before Father Bertrand's return which has been announced to us, and the institution of the Jesuit bishop which is about to take place, according to what Mgr Luquet writes.

It seems to me that, in the certainty in which My Lord of Drusipare finds himself that Rome will not listen to this project, H.L. could easily go ahead, and consecrate me. I will go to take possession of my post, and from now onwards we would be safe from outside; internally and in the family any arrangements we consider good could then be made, among which very probably the best of all is what divine Providence has established, that is to say, Mgr of Drusipare always at Pondicherry with Mgr Luquet for coadjutor that our sins keep far from India, Mgr of Jassen still in Mysore, and myself always in Coimbatore. I would have desired that His Lordship had decided to go ahead two months ago, but he did not consent; what will he do now? I have no idea, let us pray and wait.

Your very devoted and affectionate confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 1 July 1846)

Sent_0159

Sent_0159 - à M. Tesson - (le 1er juillet 1846) -/1

Sent 0159 - to Mr Tesson - (1 July 1846) -/1

Sent_0159 - à M. Tesson - (le 1er juillet 1846) -/1

Sent 0159 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, p 1519

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Some further information on the building of the present church of Pondicherry, built on the former church of the Jesuits and under the jurisdiction of the apostolic vicars of the MEP.

Index : Pondicherry (church)

__________

(Pondicherry) (1 July 1846) (

)

... He left for Karikal. The work was stopped until the revolution of the nations. Later, the dome and the vault were built with the help of various persons. You can find the expenses listed in His Lordship's registers. (I found nothing. Perhaps these registers were burned?)

The enlargement of the two arms of the church occupied by the Tamouler women() and the pariah women were built at the expense of Abraham moudeliar () and of Xavery poullé () on the income they obtained from the rent.

In the year 1810, the facade of the church and the coping of the dome were built and cemented by means of alms that Xaragani moudeliar had collected at Madras. The interior of the church was thereafter cemented at the expense of Adrien Defrèse who also offered a chandelier for the high altar.

\--

Thus it is apparent that all that remains of the former church of the Jesuit Fathers is underground. That all the rest has been raised under the jurisdiction of our apostolic vicars. It is true that Father Mout Justin contributed importantly to this; however at that time, he was no longer here as a Jesuit, but as a priest attached to Mgr of Fabraca; besides he was only able to make this expenditure with the money he had from the mission and that he had to use for it. All the rest, that is to say, the vast majority of the works, above all without counting the foundations which remained and on which it appears that he built, was completely constructed by our confreres aided by the Christians. We should not forget the bell-tower built by My Lord of Drusipare the cost of which amounted to over 3,700 francs.

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry ?, 1 July 1846)

Sent_0160

Sent_0160 - à Mgr Luquet - le 2 juillet 1846 -/2

Sent 0160 - to Mgr Luquet - 2 July 1846 -2/2

Sent_0160 - à Mgr Luquet - le 2 juillet 1846 -1/1

Sent 0160 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 447ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I continue to think that I should be consecrated before Father Bertrand's return from Rome. Mgr Fenelly persists in his attitude that engenders the schism, discourages the adepts of the native clergy and drives the Oblates away. There are terrible truths against the Irish priests. The schismatics are very clever in their writings and their actions. If only this prelate and his priests had some of the native spirit. What a pity that Rome is so far away! There should be archbishops to whom the people could refer.. Danger that the English government from now on only recognises Irish chaplains in India!

Index : episcopate (appointment), vicariates (division), schism, Rome (authority)

__________

Pondicherry, 2 July 1846

My Lord,

I have just received your excellent letter dated Easter Monday. I also note that you are writing to My Lord of Drusipare. I hope that it will give him pleasure, it has produced a good effect on the confreres of Pondicherry who have read it. For My Lord is not here. H.L. is on tour towards the south.

You must have heard about the sad proposition that H.L. has made to the S.C. I spoke to you of this in a previous letter. I will only say to you today that this is the only cause which is holding up my consecration. However, I believe that it would be good for the bishop to be installed in Coimbatore before the arrival of the Jesuit bishop, or even of Father Bertrand. I wrote suggesting this to My Lord. I do not know what he will decide.

I propose to speak to you a little today of the schism of Madras. This is a very sad matter, and however seldom similar events occur now and then, humanly speaking, I believe that it is all up for religion in this country, for the natives at least. We will find ourselves reduced to a few (... ?...) more Protestants than Catholics and to a few Europeans as in the missions of Calcutta and others. Mgr Fennelly has not written a single word of this instead of reaching agreement with those who could without pride believe themselves suited to giving him good advice, like My Lord of Drusipare for example. He acts alone, and ruins his Christian communities, and discourages and drives away those who, in his jurisdiction, take to heart the native cause and who do not believe that the way of winning India for Jesus Christ is to force these peoples to become Europeans. The Oblate Fathers are now reduced to saying Farewell to their neophytes among whom they recognise an immense good to be done and possible to achieve, among whom they baptised each year a large number of adults. It appears also that an eye is being kept on them for fear they should come to Pondicherry.

These poor Christian communities of the north will become in part the prey of the schism and in part, probably, they will fall back into idolatry. The only Tamoul priest that Mgr Fennelly had has just been banned ; in Madras, the churches are closed except for the cathedral, and all the Christians are asking one another if it is to treat them in this way that the Irish priests have come to supplant the govears(

). They are not content to say it only, but write it in violent brochures that ruin the faith not only in Madras, but all along the coast because, side by side with the excesses into which the Indians fall all too easily, there are terrible truths against the Irish priests.

These writings sustain so cleverly (relative above all to the Indians) the Fathers of Goa that it is necessary to really know things thoroughly in order not to conclude with them that there is no schism. I doubt if the priests, even native, are capable of resisting these arguments. The present conduct of the Holy See with regard to Portugal, the promotion to the cardinalate of the archbishop of Lisbon, etc., these are the reasons which impose them easily on the feeble when they are told that is accordingly clear that the Pope is in no way the enemy of Portugal and, consequently, if he decided to, he would pass his order through this way and not through writings that they refuse to regard as authentic such as the bull Multa praeclare, etc.

And yet it appears certain that these unfortunate matters would not have come to pass with even a little native spirit in this unfortunate prelate and his priests. It further appears certain that, despite the disastrous steps of the beginning, several times everything could easily have been settled with even a little condescendence and paternal affection towards black men it is true, but our brothers in Jesus Christ. Finally, it is still practically certain that today even, although things have unfortunately gone quite far and irritation is at its peak, it would be possible to remedy the evil up to a certain point, if it was possible to intervene in respect of the Christians.

Of course! There once more is very visible proof of the lack of organisation of the Churches ! A bishop may lose everything without the Christians finding a port of salvation in the arms of another bishop, without the latter coming spontaneously to their help. Can we say that they have recourse to Rome! No, Rome is too far away, these peoples don't know how to go about things, they are unacquainted with the forms and proprieties. They fling themselves into evidently culpable excesses which lead to their juster complaints being eluded or rejected. Rome is too far away!

When will it please God to establish a hierarchical form in the Churches of these parts ? Much more here than in Europe, it would be necessary to have archbishops with a real jurisdiction over their suffragans, and frequent provincial councils. When will the day dawn of divine mercy for India, and so many other immense regions? I do not fear to exaggerate when I say that, if Rome is not careful, Religion will perhaps have to groan much more at the hands of the English or Irish clergy in these parts than of the Portuguese. The deplorable step taken by Mgr Fennelly in respect of the English government may still have the most disastrous results.

Mr Jarrige wrote to me just recently from Coimbatore : " The English government seems uneasy about us, it is gathering information on the missionaries and on our Churches and Christian communities". In fact, it has stopped paying the chaplains of the apostolic vicariate of Pondicherry, which would not concern me overmuch if it were not the prelude to a determination which appears to have been taken in high quarters to recognise only Irish chaplains. If this is the case, and the various apostolic vicars are forced to receive them, we will see propagated everywhere the scandal of priests in short jackets, without the tonsure, and with whiskers, in a country where the gravity of the ecclesiastics is the first of the external virtues, etc. etc. etc. Make prudent use of this letter, however I thought it necessary that you should be enlightened. A Dieu, pray for me.

Your very devoted and very respectful confrere and friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 2 July 1846)

Sent_0161

Sent_0161 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 12 juillet 1846 -/2

Sent 0161 - to Mgr Bonnand - 12 July 1846 -2/2

Sent_0161 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 12 juillet 1846 -1/1

Sent 0161 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 9-11

(

) partial copy, AMEP, dans vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

It would be good for my consecration to take place before that of Father Canoz. Mr Jarrige thinks the consecration should be held at Pondicherry. And why should you not hold the two consecrations together at Trichinopoly? Difficulties of my present position with regard to my confreres and to the Christians. I really wish that things were clear.

Index : episcopate (appointment), episcopate (consecration), Jesuits

__________

(Pondicherry ?), 12 July 1846

My Lord,

I have had the consolation of receiving your letter of 7 July that I awaited with as much concern as that of the answer, for now my fate is in Y.L.'s hands and I am firmly resolved to follow in everything the paternal guidance that you see fit to give me, while allowing myself to (...?...) for the ideas that I might have. I conceive (... ?...) of the S.C.

However, it seems to me that it is not necessary (... ?...) stop, seeing the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Like you, I believe that Coimbatore is (... ?...) to us for not having had any fear from that point of view; nevertheless, ?... does not seem reasonable to me.

Then, it (seems ?) to me that if Father Canoz's consecration takes place before mine, that is (liable ?) to make a bad impression on many as regards us, for people find it painful to see this matter dragging on for such a long time while they are overjoyed at the prompt carrying out of the provisions of Rome in respect of our neighbours. I would not want to prevent the S.C. being (cause?) of this, but I would try and prevent, for you and for us, that it should be (angry ?) at that. If Father Canoz's bulls arrive next month, that is to say two months before the feast of the Rosary (... ?...) come about that he was consecrated long before. He will not be embarrassed to be consecrated by someone other than Y.L., above all since he will be able to say that he offered it to you. Considering all of the foregoing, it seems to me that there would be several hypotheses to make and to examine thoroughly.

Mr Jarrige wrote to me the other day : "I would be of the opinion that you should be consecrated at Pondicherry ; that would avoid considerable expense. I have announced for some time already to the Christians that a bishop would be coming; they are expecting it. Believe me, the reception you will get on your arrival will make the necessary impression, I think, on the places, and I tell you sincerely what the situation is...It would perhaps be more useful for the Christians to see you bishop already than to see you become bishop at Carumattampatty, etc.".

It seems to me that we should consider (above all for the general good), if it would not be better to advance the consecration than to delay it, and whether it would not be better to hold it somewhere else than at Carumattampatty, (... ?...) happen (... ?...) at the feast, instead of being consecrated there. Finally, it seems to me (... ?...) this last thought entered (... ?...) (if it is possible).

Could we not agree with the Reverend Fathers that if my consecration could not take place before, (for us to be consecrated ?) both at the same time by Your Lordship? It seems to me that it would be good for them not to have recourse to others for this ceremony, and that we would have more to gain than to lose, from all points of view, above all if the consecrations took place at Trichinopoly. If Y.L. is not in disagreement, I would write to Father Canoz in order for his ceremony to take place at the same time. See and weigh in your wisdom and before the Lord, in whose presence I know that you take all your counsels...

I will not tell you that my position is now here (... ?...) at the most painful, at the most humiliating, at the most contradictory, both with regard to our dear confreres, who are well acquainted with the matter now, at least roughly, who write to me and to whom I am obliged to give evasive replies, and as regards the Christians, who know, both by the title of letters and by a thousand other ways (...?...) even of letting one's beard grow, the approximations and the rumours, which never fail to bring some evil in their train. I am afraid even that people believe, in several places, that we are not in agreement.

For the rest, now my language is : "I have been sent the bulls, I have accepted, only I have written letters to Rome so as not to be (... ?...), and they haven't answered them all ; the next one (... ?...) the whole question, and it is very probable (... ?...) of question of health".

I believe that I (... ?...) and I try to turn away also the odious (... ?...) swim between two waters. I regret the (... ?...) Y.L. is not to (... ?...) it is (... ?...) I try to offer the Lord with all those (that it will please him?) to send me this year and which without doubt will be only the first of many others. However, I pray him to put an end to the trial, by bringing you back soon to our midst. Your letter will be leaving at the end of August. May this end be only a few weeks away!

Kindly present my affectionate respects to the missionaries who are around you and believe in the sentiments of profound veneration with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant and son.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 12 July 1846)

Sent_0162

Sent_0162 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 juillet 1846 -/1

Sent 0162 - to Mgr Bonnand - 14 July 1846 -/1

Sent_0162 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 juillet 1846 -/1

Sent 0162 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 13-14

() partial copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

To accompany a letter from the confreres of Pondicherry in which they say what they think on the question of the consecration.

Index : episcopate (consecration)

__________

(Pondicherry ?), 14 July 1846

My Lord,

I will add nothing to what I have had the honour of writing to Your Lordship two days ago. I will say only that the question has been enthusiastically elaborated by our fellows, without my saying anything to them of what I had written to you. It was only afterwards that I told them what has been formulated. These Gentlemen were of the opinion that Mr (... ?...) wrote to you at length on the matter. I leave it to this dear confrere (... ?...) They also wanted (... ?...) without sealing it, so that Y.L. should be informed thereof and had time to pass it on, if it were considered pertinent, and to keep it if the contrary were the case.

It only remains for me to pray to the Lord to shower blessings on your works and to commend myself to your prayers, renewing to you the assurance of the sentiments of respect and veneration with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 14 July 1846)

Sent_0163

Sent_0163 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 juillet 1846 -/1

Sent 0163 - to Mgr Bonnand - 21 July 1846 -/1

Sent_0163 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 juillet 1846 -/1

Sent 0163 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 21-22

(

) partial copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I really can't wait for it all to be over. We have begun to work on the draft regulations for the college. Forthcoming prizegiving in the seminary.

Index : episcopate (appointment) college

__________

(Pondicherry ?), 21 July 1846

My Lord,

Just a short note. The Bombay steamer has arrived; no news. I will add nothing to what I had the honour of writing to you, nor Mr Lehodey either. I would just say one word: our position is not normal. I would be lying if I said that I was not anxious to get it all over. But finally, Patience and prayers!

Messrs Jarrige, Laugier, Barot and Métral have written to me as if I were already their superior. I avoid answering them: I will wait at least for Y.L.'s answer to the last letters.

We have begun to work on the draft regulations that Y.L. desires for the College. I have persuaded these Gentlemen to meet in council to fix (... ?...) we have just finished this (...?...) we have come out of it a few moments ago.

I have been entrusted now with drawing up this plan which will be discussed again, article by article, as soon I have finished.

The Europeans are invited to the prizegiving.

And that is the end of my paper, as well as my news. It only remains for me to commend myself more than ever to your prayers and holy sacrifices, in union with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 21 July 1846

Sent_0164

Sent_0164 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 juillet 1846 -/2

Sent 0164 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 July 1846 -1/2

Sent_0164 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 juillet 1846 -1/1

Sent 0164 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 17-19

() partial copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I want to tell you all my thoughts. Gregory XVI is dead. We should try to complete all our business before the election of his successor who will perhaps be favourable to the Jesuits. A service for the late Pope could be useful against the schism. The misfortune that has just occurred at Negapatam (cholera epidemic).

Index : Jesuits, Pope, friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 23 July 1846

My Lord,

Just one more word today. Y.L. will consider me very importunate, but I am personally engaged in matters that may have certain consequences; I would reproach myself for not having shared all of my thoughts with you, hoping that you will forgive me, if by chance Y.L. does not think as I do.

We have just learned of the death of the Sovereign Pontiff Gregory XVI. This event, always sorrowful and sometimes critical, may become so above all for the Churches where things are not solidly established. Above all with neighbours like the J., we must constantly be on our guard and must, it seems to me, get out of this abnormal state in which we now find ourselves.

It seems clear to me that the wretched (bickering ?) that the Fathers still indulge in for one (side of ?) Vettar is an unmistakeable sign of the intention they have to come back on all the various questions. How, according to whether the partisans of the J. are successful or not in the new election of the Roman Pontiff, we may have more or less to fear. It seems to me that we should not procrastinate, but should conclude our affairs as soon as possible.

I hope that Y.L. will order a service for the dead Pontiff, to whom the missions, in general, owe such gratitude, and ours and our persons in particular. I seems to me also that such an event is extremely useful, because of the schism, to show the Christians our union with the Pope, who is more than any prince of the world for us.

Three Jesuit Fathers arrived yesterday morning. I assure you that I am not pleased that strangers, even confreres, come at such a time, because of my position. We cannot (...?...) last word in order for our conduct to appear reasonable: truly that hurts. As at one time (...?...) We have been waiting (...?...) for a long time now. Mr Lehodey will be writing to you, I think, to tell you of the misfortune which has just struck the college of Negapatam: we learned of it this morning. I pray the Good God that he will protect you in your apostolic missions and bring you back to us very soon.

While awaiting that happy moment, kindly accept, once more, the expression of the sentiments of respect with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant,

Mr de Brésillac

P.S. I have just read in the (... ?...) an article on the Pope's death and on the conclave, which ends up like this: "The Jesuits appeared to have some chance of obtaining the majority of the Conclave (...?...) Sext's Gazette".

(Pondicherry, 23 July 1846)

Sent_0165

Sent_0165 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 juillet 1846 -/2

Sent 0165 - to Mgr Bonnand - 25 July 1846 -2/2

Sent_0165 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 juillet 1846 -1/1

Sent 0165 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 23-26

(

) partial copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

You doubt my sincerity and my obedience ! How painful for me! I have no veritable friend here. I would like at least to have a father in your person. I will do nothing against your desire. The wrong and the embarrassment that letters bearing the title "Mgr" cause me!

Index : friendship, episcopate (appointment)

__________

(Pondicherry ?) 25 July 1846

My Lord,

Your letter of 20 July arrived this morning. I will not hide from Y.L. that it sorrowed me greatly, not because of the disapproval that you have given to what seemed to us good, but because Y.L. leads me to think that you doubt of the sincerity of the devotion and obedience I pride myself in having expressed to you so many times.

It is true that I told you quite openly everything there was in my heart. Is it a fault, My Lord? I don't think so yet, and I admit that I expect too many consolations and too many advantages in acting in this way with my father, whom I venerate, for (...?...) to act always in that way, should you, Y.L., speak to me again sometimes with the sincerity of 20 July.

My Lord, one of the greatest trials that the Lord has sent me in this country is, in the midst of excellent confreres, not yet to have found a true friend. Will he refuse me still the sweet consolation of laying frankly the thoughts of my heart in that of a Father too much above me, for me to have been able to aspire to this veritable friendship, for which it is necessary to be more or less equals, but to which I did not fear to uncover myself thus far completely, obeying him thereafter straight out even when his orders, I would even say, his desires were against my interests or my most intimate convictions ?

Far from wanting to do anything, of even thinking of doing anything against your desire as regards the consecration, I declare that, even if I had rights ten times greater than those that Y.L. pained me by reminding me of, I would still lay them in your hands, as I have done for over a year now.

As for what our confreres and I had thought good, (and (... ?...) we will send them back to you very willingly), it seems to me that this was not a step or a decision, since everything depended on Y.L., to whom we confide our thoughts and the letter to Father Canoz. As for what I said to Y.L. about my painful, humiliating and contradictory position (and I said this to Y.L. alone) I try to take it in the spirit of faith, which makes it less real to me, but which gives me greater courage to bear it. Only, it seems to me that this humiliation does not fall on myself alone, and that is what makes it more keenly felt.

I think that Y.L. has not really understood what I was saying regarding certain letters. I am not complaining at all about those which are not made out to: Mgr, may they never be addressed thus ! I am speaking only of those that bear it and which have been ways by which the public has learned of one thing or another, whence the apparent contradiction is born; the more the confreres who, ex officio or not, know about it and make it known quite naturally; plus a sister Joséphine who whispers it as a secret into the ear of another and who renews the fable of the husband who (lays?) (... ?...) plus the Fathers from the south who have said it to (... ?...) keep any longer a secret impossible seems difficult to me: my beard does not say any more than (...?...) and I believe that it was (...?...) they will arrive (...?...).

... the Lord shower with blessings Y.L. and your apostolic works and also so that he brings you back soon to our midst. Y.L. must have heard about the misfortune which has taken place at Negapatam.

It only remains for me to commend myself to your good prayers, asking you to believe in the sincere sentiments of respect and of obedience with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry ?, 25 July 1846)

Sent_0166

Sent_0166 - à M. Tesson - le 1er août 1846 -/2

Sent 0166 - to Mr Tesson - 1 August 1846 -2/2

Sent_0166 - à M. Tesson - le 1er août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0166 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1467-1469

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

No longer any possibility of withdrawing. Pray. I will have need of everything in Coimbatore. Pomp of the prizegiving in the seminary : success of Aroulnaden and of Pakianaden. In Pondicherry, they are eager now to give us the college. Despite everything I have had to bear, I will find it difficult to leave the seminary.

Index : superior, seminary of Pondicherry, episcopate (appointment), liturgy (Rome)

__________

Pondicherry, 1 August 1846

Sir and very dear confrere,

So now it is no longer possible to retreat. What should be done. Submit and pray. But at least I hope that you will add your prayers to ours and that you will request in grace to the Lord that he allows me to leave this world before my consecration, if I should not be a bishop according to his heart. It appears that Mr Jarrige has already sent you several requests for subjects and things. I know your zeal well enough for me not to need to insist, and once I am in Coimbatore, I will write to you regarding our needs. However, I am going to try to have made up here, with the first material I find, a cope and some dalmatics so that we can make a deacon and sub-deacon on the occasion, for we are absolutely devoid of everything there and I do not think that Pondicherry can spare me anything.

We have just had a very solemn prizegiving. The Europeans attended in large numbers. After the usual speeches, the young tonsured, Aroulnaden, sustained perfectly, in French and in Latin, a little thesis against the errors of Mr de Lamenais. Then the pupils recited and explained in French and in Tamoul, the epitome of Virgil and the French pupils gave a little dialogue, finally I read out the copy of Aroulnaden who had won the prize for geometry and in which I had not changed a single word. It appears that all these Gentlemen were beside themselves, and they were saying in loud voices: but why does the minister not make haste to give them the French college. The monotony of these readings was interspersed with regimental music and by the handing out of the prizes themselves. Finally, it all ended with a solemn Te Deum in our little chapel, followed by the benediction of the Holy Sacrament. Everyone attended without leaving their places, for the exercise room is only separated from the chapel by a great door that folds back on itself and that quadruples the chapel when it is open.

So that, my dear Mr Tesson, was how my superiorate ended. I assure you that I will be quite sorry to leave these good pupils, despite the disgusts I have felt in the seminary. Above all three young men just tonsured who are accomplished young people in all ways, but who need to have someone who understands them and who is close to them. These are Aroulnaden, Pakianaden and Gnanapragasam from Karikal.

I hope that what you send me will arrive by way of our new confreres. Unfortunately, they will not get here, I think, until after the consecration. Kindly send me as soon as possible, but not by the post, two pairs of glasses mounted in silver. I am exhausted. I commend myself once more to your good prayers and very holy sacrifices in union with which,

I have the honour of being,

very dear confrere and friend,

your very devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

elected bishop of Pruse

P.S. I am including a letter for Mgr Luquet, with a programme of the prizegiving that I would ask you to kindly send him. Would you please put the letter in an envelope and address it to him, for I don't know his address.

(Pondicherry, 1 August 1846)

Sent_0167

Sent_0167 - à Mgr Bonnand - début août 1846 -/2

Sent 0167 - to Mgr Bonnand - early August 1846 -2/2

Sent_0167 - à Mgr Bonnand - début août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0167 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 27-29

() partial copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Mgr Luquet writes to me that before the election of the new pope, everything should be settled in Coimbatore. If we had followed my idea, I would already be in Coimbatore now, and we would risk nothing on the part of the Jesuits. I could even take possession from today of Coimbatore, inform Propaganda; and we would arrange for the consecration afterwards.

Index : episcopate (appointment) episcopate (consecration), Jesuits

__________

Pondicherry, (1 ?) () August 1846

My Lord,

Your good letter of 27 July arrived at the same time as those of the steamer. Mr Mahé has given me an idea of those addressed to us.

I will add here the extract from another, addressed to me by Mgr Luquet : "In the meantime, the Providence of Our Lord must ensure day by day that the plans of our adversaries come to nought, so that (we) remain, in the midst of these internal struggles, in possession of the advantages that we have gained. Do you think that the designs on Coimbatore have come to an end today ? I greatly fear that a new Pontiff (... ?...) will renew them, if people see the slightest glimmer of hope...(). It is absolutely necessary that before the election of the new Pope, you are solidly established in Coimbatore on a stable basis and that everything is settled in fact. etc."

In order not to refrain from this frankness of language that I have always used to Y.L., and which appears to me to be a duty when we are working on the same cause and are desirous of good alone, I will accordingly say, My Lord, that these news and the other sad ones brought by this steamer make me strongly regret that my opinion did not prevail two months ago. Today people would know in Rome that I would have taken possession of Coimbatore, and the possibility that the Fathers will find to come back on all the questions by means of this corner of Vettar in dispute, would be much diminished! Once more, I do not think that they will succeed, but finally, it is possible, above all if Mgr Luquet is obliged to leave Rome, as Mr Tesson makes us fear, and we should, it seems to me, destroy this possibility, if we are in time to do so.

Thus I think frankly, My Lord, that I should take possession of Coimbatore as from today and write to the S.C. that I am administering it while awaiting the consecration which will take place very shortly. I do not know if I will have time to receive Y.L.'s opinion on this point before the steamer's departure. Nevertheless, if I have received nothing from Y.L., I will not write or do anything that could be disagreeable to Y.L., or in fact anything that should not be very agreeable to you.

Your Lordship's

very devoted and very respectful servant.

Mr de Brésillac

(Pondicherry, (1 ?) August 1846)

Sent_0168

Sent_0168 - à Mgr Luquet - le 10 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0168 - to Mgr Luquet - 10 August 1846 -1/1

Sent_0168 - à Mgr Luquet - le 10 août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0168 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 451ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

At last it is decided ; Mgr Bonnand agrees ; this " muddle" has come to an end. I will be consecrated at Carumattampatty on 4 October. I still hope to see you coadjutor of Pondicherry. Pomp of the prizegiving in the seminary with the successes of Aroulnaden and Pakianaden. Cholera at Negapatam.

Index : episcopate (consecration), episcopate (appointment), seminary of Pondicherry

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1846

My very dear friend,

I hope that part of your wishes will be fulfilled ; for finally My Lord of Drusipare has consented to my taking over the administration of Coimbatore. I have just written in this sense to Mr Jarrige and I include herewith a letter for the S.C. asking you to kindly hand it over to them. And I say finally not that I desire, for myself, to see the moment of my episcopate arrive (for if I have suffered a veritable martyrdom here for the last year above all, I very much fear that this will merely be the continuation... May God's will be done. May Our Lord give us later some share in his merits by allowing us to bear patiently the part of his cross with which he decides to gratify us!), but because I could not wait to see an end put to this muddle into which we were so clumsily thrown!

The consecration is fixed for Carumattampatty, on 4 October, feast of the Rosary. I have invited My Lord of Jassen, I will also invite His Grace of Verapoly, and I hope that the two Prelates will come with My Lord of Drusipare. I would have many things to tell you and to ask you, but I am overwhelmed at this moment. I would desire very much that one day you should answer at length and in detail on the various questions in my previous letters, if Our Lord gives you time to do so. Let us not be discouraged, whatever the troubles of the spirit, heart and body that we have to endure. I really hope to see you one day in India as coadjutor of Pondicherry, that is your place, since the Holy See appointed you to it. So let us proceed dulciter.

We have just had the prizegiving ceremony which was quite solemn. Aroulnaden sustained in Latin and in French a thesis against the errors of Mr de Lamenais. We read out the composition of Pakianaden who had won the prize for logic and in which we only needed to correct two or three mistakes in the Latin, etc., etc. These two young people are accomplished in all ways, only they are young still and need to be guided by someone who understands them and whom they understand. I very much fear that my absence may harm them greatly.

A Dieu. Pray greatly for me, I don't need to tell you, especially on 4 October. The Jesuits have just lost four fathers at once, including the superior of Negapatam and one of the directors. One pupil died also; the college has been routed. Mr Virot, your travel companion, has just passed on to a better life also. He died like a saint in the arms of My Lord of Drusipare whom he was accompanying on his visit to the south. A Dieu.

Your Lordship's

very devoted servant and friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1846)

Sent_0169

Sent_0169 - à M. Tesson - le 10 août 1846 -/2

Sent 0169 - to Mr Tesson - 10 August 1846 -2/2

Sent_0169 - à M. Tesson - le 10 août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0169 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1459-1462

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

You have been very silent for a long while now. They have made the mistake of appointing me; I couldn't make a second mistake by refusing. In all of this the weakness of the MEP is apparent. It would have been so simple to send Mr Luquet to Coimbatore, while I hear that he is to stay on in Rome: how sad! We have just changed seminary: it is not perfect, but it is a new building. When will we be able to take in children of other than the high castes? What sadness to see the state of Religion in India!

Index : episcopate (appointment), religion in India, seminary of Pondicherry

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1846

My very dear Mr Tesson,

I almost hold it against you that for such a long while you have said nothing to me at a time however when you should have had so many things to tell me. Nevertheless you know how much confidence I have in your advice and in your way of seeing things. Despite all of that, you will say to me perhaps: you did not follow the opinion of my last two letters. It is true, my very dear Mr Tesson, but I believe that if you had been here, you would have seen that I was morally obliged to act as I did, against your conviction and against my own.

Yes, I deplored that the mistake was made of appointing me, but I was convinced that in the position where we find ourselves, we had to avoid making a second and perhaps more dangerous one by refusing. Unfortunately, since I was the party involved, I could not give my opinion. All I could do was wait patiently, bearing the first gust to see if the weather would calm down afterwards. Not at all, it only calmed down after I sent my letters. After that, I could have accepted if new orders had not come from Rome.

In any case the harm is great and I very much fear that the consequences may be disastrous against the cause of God. Already it is ten months that we are falling back on every front with ever greater speed, and the weakness of our beloved but poor Society has been revealed in all of its implications. Let us pray God that all of this does not cause too much harm. Meanwhile I had hoped that Mgr Luquet would be entrusted with Coimbatore, it was such a simple combination! And which would have covered so many woes, seeing above all that Mgr Charbonnaux, coadjutor of My Lord of Drusipare, has just been entrusted with Mysore. It would have been like one single proceeding in the eyes of the public and of our Christians, without dishonour for anyone and without suspicions. However now I learn that Mgr Luquet will be staying on in Rome; I deplore this sincerely and consider holding Mgr Luquet away from India as the first effect of the Lord's anger on this poor country.

What shall I tell you now ? Shall I speak to you of the seminary, and of our Christian communities? All of this is going badly and is affected by the general decline of our affairs. We have changed seminary. Here we are a little better off than on the other side, although we still have not completed our arrangements, and have made some mistakes in this building as a result of not having had the courage of following a single plan from the beginning right up to the end (for this is one of our greatest causes of weakness in big as in little things), but having wished to modify them time and again in the course of carrying it out; and all the mistakes of this kind are not finished, especially since my authority, which acted as some slight counterweight some time ago, has become 0 since I have become, myself, the bête noire, as being the friend of Mgr Luquet. In any case it is a fine building.

But of children to fill it up, we do not have many yet and in a short while we will have even less, believe me, especially since I no longer know when the plan, that I had in mind for the last two years, of admitting children of other than the high castes, may be completed. Bearing this possibility in mind, I had required several refectories which have not been made and which perhaps will never be carried out now. Patience, pray for me and give me your news from time to time. O, how sad I am to see how the affairs of Religion are going in this poor country! Of course, when we see what we have been seeing in the last three years, we are no longer astonished that these poor peoples are not Catholic. It would be astonishing if they were. It would be a veritable miracle.

A Dieu. Pray for me. My respects, please, to all our venerable confreres, and (above all ?) Messrs Langlois and Dubois.

Your very devoted confrere.

Mr de Brésillac, priest (title crossed out),

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1846)

Sent_0170

Sent_0170 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 10 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0170 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 10 August 1846 -/1

Sent_0170 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 10 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0170 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 3

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

I am to be consecrated on 4 October at Carumattampatty. After receiving my bulls for the second time, on the advice of my confreres I did not send them back again. There are to be two or perhaps three bishops. Death of Mr Virot and of four Jesuits at Negapatam.

Index : episcopate (consecration), liturgy (Rome)

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1846,

Gentlemen,

I have the honour of announcing to you that I have taken over the administration of Coimbatore and that my consecration is fixed, if divine Providence does not dispose otherwise, for 4 October, feast of the Rosary, in the church of Carumattampatty.

As you may perhaps know, Gentlemen and respectable confreres, when my bulls returned, I was very tempted to send them back for a second time. However, I felt I could not take such a decision without first consulting My Lord of Drusipare and our confreres present here meeting in council; for it seemed to me that this business affected the interests of our Society. The council did not permit me to do so. Only My Lord of Drusipare desired me to wait for the answer to certain letters of H.L. to Paris and to Rome before making any external act. I followed H.L.'s advice, so that it is only after having received the letters from the last steamer that he told me that there was no need to procrastinate any longer ; and I obeyed him. I hope that My Lord of Drusipare will himself celebrate my consecration to which I have invited My Lord of Jassen, and propose to invite also the apostolic vicar of Verapoly. You, Gentlemen and very dear Confreres, I hope will be present there in spirit and help me with the succour of your good prayers.

My Lord of Drusipare is still making his pastoral visit in the south. H.L. has asked me to give you the news. After what I have just indicated, the main one for us is Mr Virot's death, of which Mr Pouplin will be speaking to you at length. He died as a saint. Then came the deaths of four Jesuits Fathers, two who died immediately of cholera in the college of Negapatam at the same time as one of the pupils. The college is in a state of rout; a third in the interior; and the fourth on coming out from Europe, all of cholera. We have just held a very solemn prizegiving ceremony of which I have the honour of sending you a programme.

It only remains for me to commend myself once more to your fervent prayers and to your Holy Sacrifices, in the union of which

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen and very respectable confreres,

your very devoted and respectful servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1846)

Sent_0171

Sent_0171 - à M. Vian - le 10 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0171 - to Mr Vian - 10 August 1846 -/1

Sent_0171 - à M. Vian - le 10 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0171 Original, AMA 2F1, p 102

(to Mr Victorin Vian)

(chaplain of the hospice of Draguignan, Var)

I will be consecrated bishop on 4 October, feast of the Rosary.

Index : episcopate (consecration), friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1846

My very dear Mr Vian,

A long while ago now I received your letter of November 1845. Forgive me for not having answered it earlier. Today I am just writing you a few lines to inform you that all my efforts have been in vain. My bulls have come back from Rome, and there is no longer any possibility of retreating. Thus will you, very dear friend, kindly commend me to God in your prayers and at the holy sacrifice, and ask your pious brother and all of your family to do the same, as well as any persons acquainted with me. The consecration is fixed for 4 October, feast of the Rosary.

A Dieu. I won't tell you any more now, but believe me always in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac, priest,

bishop elect of Pruse

(in the margin)

Several times, and in different forms, I have passed on your news to the Gentlemen of the minor seminary of Carcassonne. They have never replied.

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1846)

Sent_0172

Sent_0172 - à son père - le 10 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0172 - to his father - 10 August 1846 -/1

Sent_0172 - à son père - le 10 août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0172 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 106-107

(to his father)

My efforts have failed ; I will be consecrated bishop on 4 October at Carumattampatty. I would like to be richer. Pray hard.

Index : episcopate (consecration), poverty, attachment (family)

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1846

My very dear father,

I trust that my last letter consoled you, it was as long as possible. This one will be as short as possible. It is merely to tell you that all of my efforts have been in vain; my bulls came back from Rome two months ago; meanwhile, I was waiting for the answers to new letters that I had written to back up my reasons for refusal. They arrived yesterday and there is no longer any possibility of withdrawing.

I hope that this letter will reach you before the time of the consecration which is fixed for 4 October, feast of the Rosary, in the church of Carumattampatty, the principal one of my jurisdiction, near Coimbatore that you can find on the map. This church, which is not so fine as that of Monestrol, is absolutely isolated in the countryside. Thus, I will be absolutely a country bishop. Continue to write to me at Pondicherry until further notice.

I do not need to tell you that I will lack many things that I would like to have and it seems to me that if there is an occasion when we would desire to be richer than the good God made us, it is precisely in the circumstances in which I find myself. However, I console myself by thinking that the apostles were precisely in the same position as I am going to be, and yet God blessed their work ; thus, let us reject this thought again and say with a good heart : may God's will, and not ours, be done

I asked on several occasions for the announcement of death of Mr de Gonzens, but it proved impossible for me to obtain it. A Dieu. I don't need to tell you how much I depend on your prayers and those of my dear mother and of the whole family. Kindly also tell Monsieur le Curé of Monestrol that I commend myself to his prayers and those of his parishioners.

The most respectful of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1846)

Sent_0173

Sent_0173 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 août 1846 -/2

Sent 0173 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 August 1846 -2/2

Sent_0173 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0173 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 31-34

() partial copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

For the consecration fixed for 4 October, I have invited Mgr Charbonnaux. Should Father Canoz be invited? We need to be quick in replacing me in the seminary. I do not favour Mr Leroux; Mr Lehodey would be best, but you do not want to free him. At this point, I suggest Mr Godelle. My confreres agree that we could invite My Lord of Chyrra as assistant. You will be celebrating the consecration. Thank you for the loan of certain objects.

Index : episcopate (consecration), seminary of Pondicherry, superior of the seminary, proprieties

__________

Pondicherry, 10 August 1846

My Lord,

Your letter of 5 August arrived here on Sunday (... ?...) have not put (... ?...) of ardour in (... ?...) the wishes of Y.L. with regard to me ; I bless their good heart, but I resent their cruel attentions. We had already learned through your (letter) to Mr Lehodey of the sad and at the same time blessed death of Mr Virot. We all trust that the Lord has already received him in his eternal tabernacles.

I have written to Mgr Charbonnaux to invite him to the consecration which I told him was fixed for 4 October, feast of the Rosary, at Carumattampatty. At the same time, I sent him your letter with the letter of the S.C. of which I made a copy and a copy of the brief addressed to Y.L. that I then handed back to Mr Lehodey, after making a copy for myself too.

In writing to Mgr Charbonnaux, I told him that I hoped he would not come alone, but that he would bring some of his missionaries with him, that I was not making any direct invitation among his missionaries, because I would have liked to invite them all though I realise that that is impossible, but that I would see them all with the greatest pleasure, asking His Lordship to kindly convey my sentiments to them all.

As regards the confreres of the Mission, once more I did not want to make any invitation without having (first ?) consulted Y.L. on what it was best to do and the most suitable way of doing it. I would see no particular drawback in inviting Father Canoz. However, I still have not spoken to those Gentlemen, for lack of time and, in any case, it seems to me that we still have time to receive another letter from Y.L. which will tell me if you persist in considering it advisable and not dangerous.

You ask me, My Lord, to tell you what I think regarding my replacement in the seminary. This is what I can say, after having discussed the matter at some length with Mr Dupuis, who seems to agree with me:

1) - It appears to me urgent that Y.L. takes a decision very soon, for two reasons : the first is that the public will have less time in which to make hypotheses and embark on wild conjectures, which it is best to avoid as far as possible ; the second is the false position of Mr Leroux, already fairly discouraged and who could become even more so and thus find it more difficult to bear the disappointment that nature must feel in him, when he sees that someone else has been appointed.

2) – It seems to me impossible to consider Mr Leroux for superior.

3) – We are only left with Mr Godelle who could fulfil all the ambitions) that these circumstances require. Since I do not think that Y.L. will decide in favour of Mr Lehodey who, without doubt, would fill the position even better, if Mr Godelle were to come, it would be necessary to arrange the choice in such a way that Mr Mousset is relieved of one French class and entrusted with mathematics, physics, etc. It seems to me, I repeat, that it would be advisable for Y.L. to make your decision known as soon as possible, for the days are slipping away: before the new superior has received your letter and has come here, the holidays will be more than half over, and it would be well for him to have some time to settle in prior to the opening of the school year.

I have also shared with all these Gentlemen what Your Lordship said to me regarding the archbishop of Verapoly, telling them how great a desire I have for Your Lordship himself to lay his hands on me. All of these Gentlemen have told me that it should be possible to invite him as assistant, thus maintaining the proprieties and without shocking in any way. Accordingly I will write to him in these terms, after submitting my letter to the assembly which will modify it according to its prudence.

The Bursar is already dealing with the various objects necessary for the consecration, and I hope that once Y.L. is back, we will still have a few days in which to arrange for anything that may be lacking. Thank you in advance, My Lord, for the kind offer that Y.L. has made regarding anything that you may be able to lend me. When Y.L. is here we will try to arrange everything for the best and in such a way that you do not suffer for your kindness. It only remains for me to bless God for the success with which he blesses your apostolic errand, asking him to bring you back soon in good health.

And you, My Lord, kindly commend me in a quite particular way to Him in your prayers and at the Holy Sacrifice, receiving the fresh assurance of the sentiments with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted and very respectful (servant).

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 10 August 1846)

Sent_0174

Sent_0174 - à la Propagande - le 14 août 1846 -/2

Sent 0174 - to Propaganda - 14 August 1846 -2/2

Sent_0174 - à la Propagande - le 14 août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0174 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 1 et 2

(translation following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

I accept my appointment to Coimbatore ; the consecration will take place on the first Sunday of October in the main church of the jurisdiction. Everything that has arisen (my silence, the delay) is exclusively due to circumstances. Some words on the apostolic visit of Mgr Bonnand, worthy of veneration and admiration in the south of his jurisdiction.

Index : episcopate (consecration), Rome (authority)

__________

(Pondicherry), 11 August 1846()

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Litteras Eminentiae vestrae diei tertiae Octobris 1845 magna cum gratitudine in suo tempore recepi ; in tempore autem quo renuntiationem meam ad onus Episcopale a S.C. accepturam esse sperabam. Nunc autem tum ex litteris S.C. ad Drusiparensem Episcopum, tum ex litteris particularibus R.R.D.D. Hesebonensis Episcopi nova renuntiatio impossibilis apparuit.

Haec videns, me submitti manibus Episcopi Drusiparensis qui charitatem habet omnia disponendi ut consecratio mea fiat cum maximo fructu Christianorum missionis mihi credita. Suis ergo consiliis lubenter jam administrationem Coimbatourii suscepi et consecrationem indicavi per dominica prima Octobris, festa Rosarii in qua magnus concursus populi ordinarie locum habet in principale ecclesia juridictionis mihi commissae, in qua consecratio, Deo juvante, fiet, presentibus Episcopi Drusiparensi nec non R.R.D.D. Episcopi Jassensi et R.R.D.D. Archiepiscopi vicarii apostolici Verapoly quos omnes invito.

Haec omnia S.C. etiam ante consecrationem monere desideravi, ne silentium meum praeteritum et moram in consecratione ad nullam aliam causam tribuat nisi ad circumstantias ei optime notas quas meam excusationem futuras esse spero. Suppliciter orans Eminentiam Vestram nec non S.C. ut Deum omnipotentern implorent pro indigno famulo suo et missioni ei credita.

Nihil aliud addam nisi quod R.R.D.D. Episcopus Drusiparensis quaerit a me ut moneam S.C. de sua visitatione apostolica in parte meridionali vicariatus sui. A duobus mensibus Antistes ille veneratione et admiratione nostra dignus apostolicis operibus totus datus (non obstante morbo cholera quo nuper quatuor P.P. Jesuitae et unus confratrum nostrorum cecidere) praedicans, baptizans, Paenitentiam et alia Sacramenta ministrans, Dei misericordia fructum affert uberrimum. Schismatici non pauci ad ovile veri pastoris, suis praedicationibus rediere ; de quibus autem, ipse, statim ac potuerit S.C. certiorem faciet.

Orationum Eminentiae Vestrae auxilium denuo implorans et S.C. Obsequium meum illimitatum offerens spero me semper haberi, Eminentiae Vestrae, Servum Obedientissimum et Obsequientissimum.

(Pondicherry, 11 August 1846)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to the S.C. of Propaganda)

(Pondicherry), 11 August 1846

Very eminent and Reverend Lord,

I am very grateful for the letter of 3 October which I received some time ago from Your Eminence, but in a period when I hoped that my renunciation to the episcopal office would be accepted by the Sacred Congregation. Now however, both by the letter from the Sacred Congregation to His Excellency the Bishop of Drusipare, and by the letters that I have received from His Excellency the Bishop of Hésébon, a fresh renunciation appears impossible.

Seeing this, I have placed myself entirely in the hands of His Excellency the Bishop of Drusipare who has had the charity of arranging everything, so that my consecration should take place with the greatest fruits for the mission of Christians which is entrusted to me. Thus, on his advice, I have already willingly accepted the administration of Coimbatore, and I have chosen for the consecration the first Sunday of October, feast of the Rosary, when ordinarily a great throng of people gathers in the principal church of the jurisdiction entrusted to me, and in which this consecration, with the grace of God, will take place in the presence of their Eminences the bishop of Drusipare, as well the bishop of Jassen and the archbishop and apostolic vicar of Verapoly all of whom I have invited.

I have desired to notify the Sacred Congregation of all this before the consecration so that it does not attribute my past silence and the delay in the consecration to anything other than the circumstances of which it is well aware and which will be, I hope, my justification. I humbly ask Your Eminence, and all the Sacred Congregation to implore God almighty for his unworthy servant and for the mission entrusted to him.

I will not add anything else, except that His Excellency the bishop of Drusipare asks me to notify the Sacred Congregation of his apostolic visit in the southern part of his vicariate. For two months, this Master worthy of our veneration and of our admiration through his apostolic works, by preaching, baptising and administering the Penance and the other Sacraments, through the mercy of God, has produced a very abundant fruit. Large numbers of schismatics, following his preaching, have returned to the fold of the true shepherd. But of all that, he himself will make a report as soon as he can to the Sacred Congregation.

Imploring once more the succour of the Your Eminence's prayers and presenting my unlimited respect to the Sacred Congregation, I hope always to be regarded as the most obedient and most respectful of Your Eminence's servants.

(Pondicherry ?, 11 August 1846)

Sent_0175

Sent_0175 - à M. de Lagrené - le 11 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0175 - to Mr de Lagrené - 11 August 1846 -/1

Sent_0175 - à M. de Lagrené - le 11 août 1846 -/1

Sent 0175 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 2-3

(to Mr de Lagrené)

(French diplomat, ambassador in China)

To accompany a programme for the prizegiving in the seminary. Thank you for your kind visit. Congratulations on your future nomination as peer of France, Respects.

Index : courtesy (letter of), respect (letter of)

__________

(Pondicherry), 11 August 1846

Sir,

Kindly excuse the liberty I am taking in writing these lines while offering you the programme of the prizegiving that has just taken place in the Tamoul college of Pondicherry.

The extreme kindness that you showed towards our native youth in encouraging it by your presence and by the examination you made them undergo, allows me to hope, Sir, that you will be pleased to receive this little token of our gratitude, and of the souvenir that we will guard jealously of your kind visit to the Seminary-College of Pondicherry.

It is with very great relief, Sir, that we have learned through the newspapers, of your safe arrival in France, and with even greater pleasure that the government has the intention of appointing you Peer of France. We hope even that by the time this letter arrives your honourable promotion will have taken place, and we rejoice in this fact before the Lord, well assured that the foremost platform of the world will find in you an ardent and enlightened defender of the true principles unfortunately all too often forgotten today of a large number of important persons, but to the propagation of which you already have the honour of having contributed importantly, you, Sir, whom we must as from now count among the powerful benefactors of the missions. Although My Lord of Drusipare is not at this time in Pondicherry, I do not fear to interpret the wishes for prosperity and happiness that H.L. formulates for you and your family.

Kindly also accept the sentiments of lofty consideration and of profound respect of all our confreres, and mine in particular, with which I have the honour of being...

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry ?, 11 August 1846)

Sent_0176

Sent_0176 - à Mgr de Chyrra - le 13 août 1846 -/2

Sent 0176 - to H.G. of Chyrra - 13 August 1846 -2/2

Sent_0176 - à Mgr de Chyrra - le 13 août 1846 -1/1

Sent 0176 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 4

(translation: following page)

(to Mgr Tiburce Martini, archbishop of Chyrra

(apostolic vicar of Verapoly)

I am going to be consecrated bishop of Coimbatore on 4 October at Carumattampatty. Happy to have you as neighbour; thus I will be able to refer to you in my difficulties. Would you accept to be co-consecrator for my consecration, although you are archbishop?. You will be received apostolically.

Index : episcopate (consecration), liturgy (Rome), poverty

__________

(Pondicherry), 13 August 1846

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Non obstante indignitate mea, ad meam electionem S. Sedem providisse pro-Vicariato Coimbatour forsitan jam noverit Amplitudo tua. Si quid vero in mea difficile positione consolationis est, certe quod vicinum habebo tam Excellentem et Illustrum Praesulem, cujus nomen jam cognitum et veneratum apud christianos juridictionis meae ad verum salutem promovendum non minimum mihi erit auxilium ; cujusque propinquitas mihi facilitatem afferet in difficultatibus ad sua concilia recurendi.

Meum autem perfectum erit gaudium, Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine, si Amplitudo tua ad consecrationem meam concurrere dignabitur. Jam S.C. scripsi me tres episcopos invitaturum tam ut regulae Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae magis ac magis observentur in hac regione, tam ut talis manifestatio unionis nostrae cum Sede Apostolica contra Schismaticos alte loquatur.

R.R.D.D. Drusiparensem Episcopum Consecratorem invitavi, ut par erat, cum ipse sicut ac pater meus sit, filium suum in parte juridictionis suae collocaturus, Amplitudinem autem tuam et R.R.D.D. Jassenssem Episcopum assistantes fore sperans.

Unum in ea dispositione mihi displicet, quod offere non possim Amplitudini tuae honorem consecrationis, praesertim cum dignitas Archiepiscopalis Amplitudinis tuae superet R.R.D.D. Drusiparensis dignitatem. Spero tamen, Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine, supradictam rationem ab Amplitudine tua approbandam fore. Cui addam aliam nempe decreta Innocenti X anni 1651 et Clementis XI anni 1715 de quorum valore actuali quamvis dubitum, nihilominus timui ne causa fuissent recusationis Amplitudinis tuae.

Consecratio mea locum habere debet, propter diversas circumstantias in Ecclesia Carumattampatty, prope Coimbatour, quarta die Octobris quae prima erit mensis dominica.

Non dubito quin Amplitudinis tuae Charitas statim responsum det favorabile, ab Ea veniam petens antea pro modo minime proportionato dignitati suae quo recipietur. Erimus realiter episcopi missionarii apostolici, in loco exiguo, parva ecclesia, etc. Gaudium autem ibi inveniendi R.R.D.D. Episcopos Drusiparensem et Jassenssem aliquam afferet compensationem pro paena quam de Charitate Amplitudinis tuae sperare non dubito.

Denique, Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine, dignare in orationibus et SS sacrificio, memorari indigni famuli tui et missionis ei creditae. Et habete me semper, Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine, Amplitudinis tuae, tamquam servum humillimum et obsequientissimum.

(Pondicherry, 13 August 1846)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to His Grace of Chyrra)

(Pondicherry), 13 August 1846

Very Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

Despite my unworthiness, perhaps Your Grace already knows that the Holy See has approached me with a view to my election to the provicariate of Coimbatore. If anything is a consolation to me in my difficult position, it is precisely that I will have as neighbour an excellent and illustrious Master whose name, already known and venerated among the Christians of my jurisdiction, will be a great succour to me for promoting the true salvation, and whose proximity will give me the possibility of resorting to your counsels in my difficulties.

But, very illustrious and reverend Lord, my joy would be perfect if Your Grace should deign to participate in my consecration. I have already written to the Sacred Congregation that I was going to invite three bishops, both in order to observe more and more the rules of our holy Mother Church in this region, and in order for such a manifestation of our profound union with the Apostolic See to be proclaimed on high before the schismatics.

As consecrating bishop, I have invited His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare, as was only right, since he is like my father, in order for him to establish his son in a part of his jurisdiction, hoping that Your Grace and His Excellency My Lord of Jassen will be his assistants.

One thing displeases me in this manner of doing things, and that is that I cannot offer Your Grace the honour of the consecration, above all since Your Grace's dignity as archbishop has the better of the dignity of His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare. I hope however, very illustrious and reverend Lord, that the aforesaid reason will be approved by Your Grace. To that, I will add something else, namely that I do not fear either that the decrees of Innocent X in 1651 and of Clement XI in 1715, although I doubt of their validity at the present time, will constitute sufficient cause for a refusal by Your Grace.

As a result of various circumstances, my consecration should take place in the church of Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, on 4 October, which will be the first Sunday in the month.

I do not doubt that Your Grace's charity will prompt you to give a favourable answer, requesting in advance your benevolence for the way in which you will be received, which will be far from proportionate to your dignity. We will truly be apostolic missionary bishops, in a tiny place, in a small church, etc. But the joy of finding here their Excellencies My Lords of Drusipare and of Jassen will offer a certain compensation for the trouble which I do not doubt to hope from Your Grace's charity.

Finally, very illustrious and reverend Lord, deign to remember your unworthy confrere and the mission entrusted to him in your prayers and your Holy Sacrifices. And consider me always, very illustrious and reverend Lord, as Your Grace's very humble and very respectful servant.

(Pondicherry ?, 13 August 1846)

Sent_0177

Sent_0177 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 6 septembre 1846 -/2

Sent 0177 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 6 September 1846 -2/2

Sent_0177 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 6 septembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0177 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1479-1482

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

My consecration will take place at Carumattampatty on 4 October. I have invited three bishops. Pray hard. I would have big needs of material and personnel for this vicariate. The finances and aid received from Mgr Bonnand; the proportions in last year's distribution.

Index : episcopate (consecration), liturgy (Rome), poverty, conversion (of the Gentiles), personnel (request for)

__________

Pondicherry, 6 September 1846

Gentlemen,

In my last letter I told you that my consecration would very probably take place on 4 October. If the good God blesses our projects, it will really take place at that time. My Lord of Drusipare will have the charity of coming to lay his hands and install me. I hope that H.L. will be assisted by Our Lords of Jassen and of Chyrra. This last prelate is the apostolic vicar of Verapoly. The consecration will take place at Carumattampatty which is neither town nor village. It is an isolated church having only a little presbytery at its side. Five or six little Christian groupings lie only a few miles away. This place was chosen because, on the day of the Holy Rosary which is its main feast, there is a great concourse of people, and because apart from that it is the only passable church in the jurisdiction which fell to me as my share.

When this letter reaches you, you will already have prayed to Our Lord, I do not doubt, for his unworthy and poor servant, and I hope that you will not cease to beg him to deign to make of me a bishop according to his heart, and to grant me the abundance of his graces, to sustain me in such a difficult place so devoid of any form of succour.

Mr Jarrige led me to understand that he has already written to you to inform you of the state and the needs of this Mission. I hope that you will have regard to his requests that I renew with all my might. After God, Gentlemen, it is only in you that we can hope, for you are our second Providence.

According to the information that I have already obtained, it appears very certain that we cannot think of consecrating a missionary exclusively for the conversion of the Gentiles until we are eleven or twelve. And yet, it appears that there would be some hope of doing something if a missionary could deal specially with this work.

I enter into some details with Mr Tesson, on the help that My Lord of Drusipare has deigned to grant me in order to set up house. If interest alone finds that it is little, reason adds that My Lord of Drusipare has really done all he could to help his children. And if my part is smaller than that of my elder brother, that is once more in the order of nature, I do not complain, for I have confidence that your justice will weigh, for future allocations, the reasons on one and the other side, without basing itself on the proportions which determined the shares of last year and of this year, which have necessarily been influenced by the particular positions in which we find ourselves. I hope that this dear confrere will acquaint you with my letter.

It only remains, Gentlemen, to renew to you the request of your good souvenir, above all in your prayers, and the sincere expression of the inviolable attachment with which

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very respectful and very devoted servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 6 September 1846)

Sent_0178

Sent_0178 - à M. Tesson - le 6 septembre 1846 -/3

Sent 0178 - to Mr Tesson - 6 September 1846 -3/3

Sent_0178 - à M. Tesson - le 6 septembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0178 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1483-1487

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

I will not regret Pondicherry. Poverty of the church of Carumattampatty which is however the finest I have. I will make my retreat at Ariancoupam. People seem well disposed to me now. My personnel is few in number and affords me certain fears: Jarrige, Pacreau, Barot, Laugier and Métral. How the division was made between Mysore and Coimbatore. After the consecration, what will become of me? I still do not know where to set myself up. Among the most pressing things, I would need a complete course of theology and of holy scripture.

Index : episcopate (consecration), missionaries (my), poverty, personnel (request for)

__________

Pondicherry, 6 September 1846

So here I am, my very dear Mr Tesson, just about to leave Pondicherry. I tell you frankly, I do not regret this town at all; nevertheless this bad human nature becomes exceedingly attached to everything it touches, so that this departure will once more be a small sacrifice. May the Lord deign to accept it through his love.

Do you know the church of Carumattampatty ? It is fine for the place where it is situated, for in the country of the blind, the one-eyed are kings. However, it would be pitiable for many other places, in fact without any ornaments, no tabernacle even, no chandeliers, not an ornament of its own, etc. In other words, everything still remains to be done. Moreover, there are no houses close at hand; the Christians are in other villages in the neighbourhood. Nevertheless it is there that the consecration will take place. In order not to force the consecrating prelates to stay there too long, I will be making my retreat at Ariancoupam before leaving. I will begin it the day after tomorrow. We will leave from Pondicherry on the 18th or 19th. I do not know for example how we will be lodged. There is room for four, while we will be at least 15 or 16, both priests and bishops, of whom 4 or 5 prelates. Despite all of these drawbacks and the expenses implied by the ceremony, My Lord of Drusipare was in favour of this big manifestation against the schism.

In addition I have the consolation of saying to you that now people seem well disposed to me. I have received extremely flattering letters from all of my confreres, who all seem eager to obtain permission to come to my consecration, both from Pondicherry and from Mysore. Mgr Charbonnaux is the only person who has not answered with as much loyalty as I would have wished to my invitation (I am saying this between our four eyes), however he will come, I am almost sure, I think that his somewhat extraordinary answer is merely due to lack of tact, and not of goodwill.

Now, let us go on to something else. I assure you that, if I did not place all my trust in God, I really don't know how I would manage, first and foremost with the personnel. Not only is it the bare minimum, but it gives me some fears as regards characters. Will Mr Jarrige remain with me? I don't know, he doesn't even know himself. He is as it were on the qui-vive, alert to which way the wind will veer. He does not trust me, etc.; besides I do not think that he will give up his title of Pro-vicar of Pondicherry, etc. In a word, I will do all I can to keep him, but I cannot count on him. My Lord of Drusipare is taking back Mr Fricaud and giving me Mr Pacreau with whom H.L. was somewhat embarrassed. You know his story. You know that last year he was stopped at Vellore on his way back to Europe, etc. So this is another man on whom I cannot count. I made the exchange without difficulty, because Mr Fricaud also is in a shaky position, he is a very tired man, disgusted with India who for some time now has been putting aside his fees so as to go back to France...

After that I have Mr Barot, an Original of the highest order. On arriving in Coimbatore, he clashed with Mr Jarrige, and demanded that MyLord of Drusipare take him back, writing letters after letters, and the proprieties regarding the poor Mr Jarrige were far from being observed. Since My Lord was not willing, he persuaded Mr Jarrige to give him the only post that he desired, which is a very bad antecedent. It is true that on learning of my final appointment, he appeared quite enchanted, and no longer spoke of crossing the Cavery again. But I can hardly depend on such enthusiasm.

There remains Mr Laugier who appears to be an excellent missionary, and Mr Métral on whom I can count perfectly. So you see if I shall be at my ease, and what need I have for you to send me out a few good subjects. I hope you will do this as soon as possible and that you will decide to give them their destination for Coimbatore from Paris itself. Oh, for some persons like the good Mr Triboulot, or the excellent Mr Virot! We do not need in Coimbatore men of great genius, but of a solid piety and of goodwill.

And now let us consider the resources in money. Last year, when the funds of the mission were divided up, Mgr Charbonnaux had just been made bishop, and I had just resigned. I don't have to tell you how disastrous this circumstance proved in Coimbatore. Despite there not being a single decent church there, not the slightest resource from the government, no Christian community having a small fixed income, the council of that time which had no representative from Coimbatore decided that: "Mysore [...] needed to be more favoured than Coimbatore, both because of the present state of the two districts, and because of the delay which Coimbatore will have before receiving its bishop, a delay now ensured by the refusal that Mr de Brésillac placed yesterday in the hands of Their Lordships of Drusipare and of Jassen, but it was considered appropriate to divide this sum in the ratio of etc.".

As a consequence, My Lord of Jassen received 6230 3/6 rupees, and Coimbatore only 4153 4/6, without counting the viaticums up to 1st April. This year when the medal was reversed, it seems that this situation should have been remedied to some extent, but, in order not to make Mgr Charbonnaux protest too much, it was divided equally between us two. In fact, even if I had been favoured more than My Lord of Jassen, this would still not have re-established the balance, seeing that last year the proportion fell on a considerable sum of money, while this year it was only on a mere passing allocation. On these 4153 rupees, already Mr Jarrige has taken 353 and the viaticum of the five missionaries since 1st April. Most of these viaticums will be reimbursed by this year's allocation.

Finally, on the last division, not including what the seminary allocates for the consecration and the viaticums, I was allocated an exceptional allowance of 2060 rupees. I have already been obliged to straightway make indispensable and considerable expenses, from plates, glasses, chairs, etc., to forks and spoon (of tin) for the house, even an ornament for the church, a tabernacle etc., without counting my dress that I have to pay in full, then the journey. I have no idea what will remain after the consecration. It appears that it will be quite impossible to leave the principal see at Carumattampatty. It is naturally at Coimbatore that it should be, but there is not the shadow of a church or a house there.

At Carumattampatty there is the foundation of a small seminary, that it to say, a few children who are learning to read. My Lord of Drusipare has granted me one or two seminarians from Pondicherry, but not those I would have desired. Where are they to be lodged? I don't know. Perhaps in the tavaram surrounding the church, that can be only a very provisional arrangement. I think that, for some time, I will be leading a nomadic life, now at Carumattampatty, now at Codively, and now at Palghat, etc., until I see where and how to set up something stable. Useless to tell you that in all of this there is not a single book. I have brought a few from the seminary of Pondicherry and, although I expended quite a number of rupees, it is almost nothing. Apart from that, I have sold, in order to have a little more ready money, my barometer, my sextant etc... and even my mathematics set. It is true that this was also to some extent in order to help out the pupils of the first class who will be needing all that this year already.

So I don't need to tell you now what I need, since as you can see, I need everything. Once at my post, I will write to tell you what my most urgent needs are. But, at the forefront you can put a complete course of theology and of holy scripture, bound, and a set of mathematical instruments. For finally I need a compass, if only for making a plan of some sort of house, and a good theology. If thereafter you should find some second-hand books, from time to time, you could also buy them.

If you did not have the graces of the calling of bursar, I would fear that this long epistle might have made you impatient. However I count on your charitable benevolence and once more on your precious friendship. A Dieu.

Your very devoted confrere and friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 6 September 1846)

Sent_0179

Sent_0179 - à Mgr Luquet - le 7 septembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0179 - to Mgr Luquet - 7 September 1846 -/1

Sent_0179 - à Mgr Luquet - le 7 septembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0179 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 453ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I will be making my retreat at Ariancoupam. The consecration will take place on 4 October with three bishops.

Index : episcopate (consecration)

__________

Pondicherry, 7 September 1846

My Lord and very dear friend,

A single short word. I will be beginning my retreat tomorrow at Ariancoupam. We will be leaving here, My Lord of Drusipare and myself, on the 18th or the 19th. The consecration will take place, God willing, on 4 October. I hope that My Lord of Drusipare will be assisted by My Lord of Jassen and by H.G. the apostolic vicar of Verapoly. I received your good letter of 12 July. I will write to you at greater length after the consecration.

A Dieu. I do not need to tell you to pray for your devoted servant and unworthy friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 7 September 1846)

Sent_0180

Sent_0180 - à M. Tesson - le 8 septembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0180 - to Mr Tesson - 8 September 1846 -/1

Sent_0180 - à M. Tesson - le 8 septembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0180 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1489-1490

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Sadness at being refused one of the tonsured. After all the sacrifices allowed, I thought I might have some right over them. He could have served as my secretary, since my knowledge of Tamoul is not sufficient. This is one reason more for asking you for solid subjects.

Index : sadness, language, personnel (request for)

__________

Pondicherry, 8 September 1846

I am adding this note to the letter of the day before yesterday, under the influence of a great sadness. I told you that His Lordship was to grant me a few seminarians. Yesterday the council absolutely refused to meet my desires. I only asked for a single tonsured, Aroulnaden or Pakianaden and, if they did not want to let me have one of these two, another one with a layman. They only wanted to give me one tonsured other than the two names without anyone else, and I refused because alone, he does not give me enough confidence in a new part of the country. I believed, after all the sacrifices that I had made for the seminary, to have in some way some right to obtain what I requested. It is for the seminary, and above all for advancing the pupils of the first course that I sacrificed the study of the Tamoul language which would be so necessary to me now. It seemed to me that it would not have been too much to ask the seminary, although it would have been a real sacrifice for it, to ask it to grant me one of these pupils who could offer me the greatest services, by serving as my secretary.

Finally, seeing what is going to be my position. I have let you know the personnel of my missionaries. Obliged as I will be to use them sparingly, I cannot expect from them services at all moments that one of these pupils could have done so easily. I hope that this great contradiction will be one reason more for you to hasten and send me some solid subjects who, arriving without the prejudices of the older ones, help me to carry the burden which seems to me to be way above my strength. A Dieu.

M. de Brésillac,

bishop elect of Pruse

P.S. I hope that you will continue to send me l'Univers, first of all through Pondicherry, and then we'll see.

(Pondicherry, 8 September 1846)

Sent_0181

Sent_0181 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 septembre 1846 -/2

Sent 0181 - to Mgr Bonnand - 16 September 1846 -2/2

Sent_0181 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 septembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0181 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 39-41

() copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for your good news. The questions of an examination for the young Gnanapragasam that Y.L. should hand over to him, in physics, logics and geometry, and for Nellatam a composition and a translation.

Index : Studies, friendship

__________

Pondicherry, 16 September () 1846

My Lord,

The good news that we have received so far of Your Lordship oblige us to thank God for the blessings that he does not cease to shower on you. However, you say nothing of your bad foot. Is this due to the fact that no trace remains of it, or else your love of sufferings makes you omit to speak of it? I hope and trust that the first hypothesis is true in this case.

Do your disciples give you satisfaction and do they work a little in their leisure moments ? Kindly ask them why they have still not written me just a few short lines. Please tell Gnamapragasam that the general composition in physics will be given on the eighth lesson; that of logic on the testimony of men; and in geometry on the property of triangles.

Seven or eight days after Y.L. has told him that, would you be so good as to submit the following questions to him, giving him the necessary time to solve them, without using his book :

Physics: 1) What is known as Archimedes's principle, when referred to immersed bodies ?

2) What is a fire-balloon ?

3) On what physical principle is the use of the hydrogen balloon based ?

4) Describe to us Nicholson's areometer, and explain how, by using this instrument, it is possible to find the specific weight of bodies, particularly those weighing more than distilled water.

Logic : l) Quid intelligitur nomine testimonii hominum ?

2) Quaenam requiruntur conditiones ut testimonium hominum sit motivum infallibile judicandi ?

3) Utrum ex hominum testimonio (notitia ?) factorum supernaturalium existere possit ?

4) Utrum legitima est conclusio argumentationis hujus :

\- "Testimonium hominum potest esse motivum infallibile judicandi de factis superantibus intelligentiam hominum.

\- Atqui, facta supernaturalia superant intelligentiam hominum.

\- Ergo, testimonium hominum potest esse motivum infallibile judicandi de factis supernaturalibus." (

  * 
  * 
  * )
  * Geometry :l) Show that the square made on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares made on the two other sides.

2) If, a perpendicular line is dropped from the top of the right-angle of a right-angled triangle, on to the hypotenuse, what sorts of properties are implied?

I would also have enclosed herewith the texts of composition and translation for Nellatam (... ?...) they are done when (... ?...) send me them together.

Forgive me, My Lord, for entrusting you with a schoolmaster's errand, and believe me always, with the sentiments of the most profound respect,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

Mr de Brésillac,

apostolic missionary

(Pondicherry, 16 September 1846)

Sent_0182

Sent_0182 - à sa mère - le 18 septembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0182 - to his mother - 18 September 1846 -/1

Sent_0182 - à sa mère - le 18 septembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0182 Original, AMA 2F1, p 103

(to his mother)

I leave Pondicherry tomorrow. The consecration will take place at Carumattampatty on 4 October. After the consecration, I will write a long letter.

Index : friendship (family)

__________

Pondicherry, 18 September 1846

My dear Mamma,

I had the pleasure of receiving yesterday your letter of 5 August. I do not wish to leave Pondicherry without letting you know that I am leaving. Now this departure will take place tomorrow at four in the morning. We hope to arrive (by the grace of God) at Carumattampatty, the place where the consecration is due to take place on 1 October, while the ceremony itself will be on the 4th. When you receive this letter, the deed will undoubtedly have been done. I am sorry that today I don't have time to tell you any more. After the consecration, I will write you a long letter. Until further notice, please address my correspondence to Pondicherry still. I have not received the ordo. A Dieu.

M. de B.

(Pondicherry, 18 September 1846)

Sent_0183

Sent_0183 - à son père - le 4 octobre 1846 -/2

Sent 0183 - to his father - 4 October 1846 -2/2

Sent_0183 - à son père - le 4 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0183 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 104-105

(to his father)

Greetings to the whole family. Very fine ceremony for my consecration with 4 bishops and 13 priests. Poverty of means for receiving all these people. I do not know where I will set up house. I will never cease to be your child.

Index : episcopate (consecration), friendship (family ), liturgy (Rome)

__________

Carumattampatty, 4 October 1846 ()

I do not want to wait until tomorrow, my very dear father, to tell you how much I thought of you during the august ceremony of my consecration. Of you, of my very dear and respectable mother, of my beloved brother, of my good sisters and of all the members of my family, of my friends, and all those who take an interest in me and in the holy task that the Lord has deigned to entrust to our feeble care, despite our indignity, our weakness and our ignorance! I hope that your prayers were carried by your Angels, to the throne of the Eternal, at the same time as those that God has given us as protectors offered our prayers and our sacrifice. May we in this way have done a holy violence to Heaven, and have drawn down some graces to work for the glory of our good Master!

As I had informed you in my previous letter, the consecration took place today at Carumattampatty, a church isolated in the countryside, having beside it only the priest's house and a few little Christian groupings about 4 or 5 miles away in the neighbourhood. Nevertheless, the feast of the Rosary is very famous here, and since I had had my consecration announced in all the Christian communities in my jurisdiction, the crowd was quite considerable. Besides, the solemnity was very impressive, perhaps the finest that has ever taken place in India, not by the richness and pomp that could not be found in a village church, but as regards the great press of people and above all the presence of four bishops, which perhaps had never before been seen in India (in order to understand this, you should know that for the consecration of missionary bishops, the attending bishops are almost always replaced by priests, by dispensation of the Holy See; I too had this dispensation, but did not make use of it in order that this imposing meeting of bishops made a great impression on the schismatics and clearly proved to the people our union with Rome), indeed one could almost say of five, since the Rev. Father Canoz, superior of the Jesuits of Madurai, who was also in attendance, has also been appointed bishop, but has not yet received his bulls.

My Lord of Drusipare, apostolic vicar of Pondicherry made the consecration. H.L. was assisted by My Lord of Jassen, our confrere who administers Mysore since the new ecclesiastical divisions of India, and by My Lord the archbishop of Chyrra, apostolic vicar of Verapoly, on the western coast. In addition, there were thirteen priests. Everybody is lodged in the presbytery which is only intended for two persons, and in a number of huts that I had erected in the garden, in earth, covered with palm leaves.

I still do not know where I will establish my base ; in my jurisdiction there are nothing but wretched huts as churches, of which this is the least horrid ; however it resembles more a poor barn than a church. Until further instruction, please address my letters to Pondicherry as usual, and they will be passed on to me. You could write the further mention "at Carumattampatty near Avanashy".

A Dieu. Pray for me who will never cease being the most respectful and most loving of your children.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I send my episcopal blessing to all those who have prayed for me since I left France.

(Carumattampatty, 4 October 1846)

Sent_0184

Sent_0184 - à M. Tesson - (le 15 octobre 1846) -/2

Sent 0184 - to Mr Tesson - (15 October 1846) -3/3

Sent_0184 - à M. Tesson - (le 15 octobre 1846) -1/1

Sent 0184 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 4

Meetings will take place from time to time, but I will not be bound by the resolutions of the Council. I am keeping Mr Pacreau with me because he knows the language; he will take over the bursar's office. We also need a missionary for the seminary alone. Regulation of certain financial questions: the monthly viaticum and the sum to be paid over to a confrere with whom one is staying. When two confreres are together, one of them will act as head of the mission.

Index : authority (of the bishop), finances, seminary (of Carumattampatty), viaticum, native clergy

__________

Minutes of the Council meeting of 7 October 1846

(attached to the letter to Mr Tesson of 15 October 1846) ()

On 7 October 1846, under the chairmanship of Mgr de Brésillac, Apostolic pro-vicar of Coimbatore, the missionaries coming under his jurisdiction are assembled, in the persons of : Messrs. Pacreau, Métral, Barot and Laugier.

After having invoked the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, H.L. expresses to his priests his great satisfaction at the zeal they have shown on his arrival and at the ceremony of his consecration. For their part, the latter declare how happy they were at having to welcome the first bishop of Coimbatore.

Immediately afterwards, My Lord states that it is his desire always to receive the opinions of his missionaries in the administration of the vicariate and in the management of the most important business of the mission. As a consequence, he will gather them together from time to time, insofar as circumstances allow, to examine in council what is to be done for the best.

Nevertheless, in order not to lay down any false principles, which might thereafter be to the detriment of the good itself and against the orderly running of the administration, H.L. remarks that he does not intend in any way to be bound by the resolutions of these councils, which would imply in a certain sense laying down his authority and declining the responsibility falling on him and that he entirely accepts. He desires that the council be a powerful means of enlightening him, without recognising the obligation to follow its decisions exactly and always. However he will make it a pleasure and a duty of prudence to adhere to it almost always, unless he feels obliged, before God, to depart from it or to modify them.

After that, My Lord makes it known that he desires to keep at least for some time Mr Pancreau close to him, and the opinion is expressed that, in view of the knowledge that this dear confrere has of the language and customs of the country, his presence is practically necessary to H.L.

Considering that the number of his priests is quite insufficient to cover all the needs of the pro-vicariate, H.L. asks if it would be possible to devote one priest to care of the children forming the first core of the Seminary. These children have been neglected thus far and it is feared that, if they are any longer, it will prove more disastrous than advantageous to have laid the first foundations of this extremely useful and even indispensable establishment. Accordingly it is considered absolutely necessary for one missionary to deal specially with these children. Only, since they are still quite few in number, this same missionary will make himself useful as far as possible to the parish.

The question is then raised of whether the missionary entrusted with the seminary is also responsible for the bursar's office and for relations with the other bursars, or if it would not be better for this to be entrusted to Mr Pacreau. All, except one member, think it would be better for Mr Pacreau to be entrusted with this task.

Finally, My Lord expresses the desire he has to see his missionaries free to use as often as possible this opportunity of getting together, either in H.L.'s presence, or between themselves, committing them to arrange these meetings so well that they are always to the greatest glory of God, to the most rapid advancement of the task entrusted to us and to the progress of their own spiritual good.

And since it so often happens that this sweet liberty is impeded by the mutual embarrassment felt regarding expenses, it is settled that each missionary will receive always and in all cases his viaticum integrally ; and when he is staying with a confrere, he will always contribute to the expenses in the following order, unless he is spending a single whole day with his confrere, namely from midnight to midnight. The missionary staying with a confrere will give, without it being asked of him, five rupees (12 F 50) per month for himself personally, and two rupees for each of his servants or disciples that he brings with him. If he should forget to hand over his share, the person whom he was visiting may claim it from the burse, which will adjust it with the former. His Lordship will give 8 rupees instead of 5 per month.

  * If H.L. comes alone to visit a missionary, he will be received by him. If on the contrary he arrives with a considerable following, and for the moment with Mr Pacreau, it is the missionary who will be expected to visit H.L. in some place situated in his jurisdiction. Independently of all this, each one will make the most suitable arrangements for the expenses of his horse, payment of his domestic servants, payment and food for his coolies, palanquin bearers, etc.

When two missionaries are together, what His Lordship desires to see as often as possible is that one of them will act as head of the mission. The latter will be entitled to collect all the fees and revenues of the churches, that he will spend for the greatest good of religion, according to the rules now in force, or which will be established later. He will likewise have the full responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the churches. The second, since he does not have these rights or obligations, will nonetheless unfailingly make every possible sacrifice in order to help his confrere and to contribute to the greatest good of the Christian communities. This regulation does not extend however to the fees for masses which will always be kept by the person who receives them.

If it happens that new confreres arrive from Europe and that they stay for a certain time without the bursar's office receiving any viaticum for them, the burse will pay the cost of their upkeep, but they will not be entitled to anything else.

Before breaking up, it was considered appropriate to express the desire that all of these rules should be provisional only, since experience will undoubtedly show that it will be expedient to change them subsequently. And the council closes with the « Sub tuum » (

)

The minutes of this council are read out to the aforesaid confreres, who recognise it a faithful account.

In faith of which...

signed : Laugier, acting as Secretary.

Sent_0185

Sent_0185 - au P. Lazare - le 8 octobre 1846 -/1

Sent 0185 - to Father Lazare - 8 October 1846 -/1

Sent_0185 - au P. Lazare - le 8 octobre 1846 -/1

Sent 0185 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 17-18

(to Father Lazare, Indian priest)

Your idea comes from God. Do not put any impediment in the way of the Holy Spirit. You should find some young people at Pondicherry. Persevere while remaining calm if there are any obstacles. In the details, certain things should be changed.

Index : direction (spiritual)

__________

(Carumattampatty), 8 October 1846

[...] This is what I think before the Lord, after having consulted him in prayer and having asked him in the very Holy Sacrifice to enlighten me on the subject.

Not only do I regard this idea in general as extremely praiseworthy, but as coming from God even. It is a grace that the Good God has granted you and for which he will ask you to account. Do your best, dear friend, to be faithful to it, and not to place any impediment in the way of the Holy Spirit which will undoubtedly increase and multiply in his mercy this little seed that he has placed in your heart.

If our good Master wishes the execution to meet your praiseworthy design, he will undoubtedly arrange events in order for his will to be done. For the rest, if the salutary provisions of the young ecclesiastics that I left at Pondicherry persevere, I feel sure that you will be backed up by several of them, including Pakianaden and Gnanapragasam: and that should be sufficient to start off well. If you encounter obstacles, do not be surprised, do not be disturbed, but persevere in your general view in the midst of the calm of prayer and awaiting peacefully the time that divine Providence has marked out.

I say : persevere in your general views, for in detail there would be several things which would need to be modified, others developed, a few added to, and all profoundly meditated, etc. For this purpose you should seek to reach an understanding with a holy priest, without prejudices and filled with the love of God, to act in some sense as your director and guide, but who would leave you to do the work yourself. So, my very dear friend, that is what I think, praying the good God to bring about the designs he has for you by his divine grace.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 8 October 1846)

Sent_0186

Sent_0186 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 15 octobre 1846 -/2

Sent 0186 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 15 October 1846 -2/2

Sent_0186 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 15 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0186 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 5

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

The consecration took place in the presence of a huge crowd. Sadness at the sight of the evil that reigns and against which I have neither means nor missionaries. I am keeping one missionary for the seminary, but have no-one for the Nilghiris. Send me missionaries, one of whom knows English well. Here there are no resources and no benefices. Very probably I will set myself up at Coimbatore where there is nothing. I count on your financial aid (this is a case foreseen in our regulations).

Index : episcopate (consecration), poverty, personnel (request for), seminary of Carumattampatty, finances (request for)

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 October 1846

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

The consecration that I announced to you for 4 October in fact took place that day at Carumattampatty, in the presence of a big crowd of people. My Lord of Drusipare kindly acted as consecrating bishop. H.L. was assisted by My Lords of Chyrra and of Jassen. Father Canoz, Superior of the Jesuits of Madurai also did me the honour of attending, as well as 11 priests both from among our fellows and those accompanying Father Canoz and the archbishop of Verapoly. I will not go into the details of this imposing ceremony that I give elsewhere to Propagation of the Faith, in a letter which I would ask you to kindly read before sending it on.

Thus, here I am at Carumattampatty. If I only considered my person, I would say simply that I am very happy and very satisfied here. It seems to me to have left the world and to find myself all at once transported into a place of retreat and peace. In addition, the temperature of these parts is so different from that of Pondicherry that I feel as if I have entered an earthly Paradise. Nevertheless, my bishop's heart suffers cruelly from the moral evil that reigns not only in the country, but within our Christian communities even; at the sight of the good that needs to be done from all points of view and of the impossibility in which I find myself of remedying even the most pressing of them, for lack of means and of missionaries.

I was far from expecting Mr Jarrige who has withdrawn to Mysore with Mgr Charbonnaux, to leave me so soon. The correspondence he entertained with me after my acceptance of the episcopate was far from preparing me for this. Thus I had not even thought of asking for another missionary to replace him. In addition, Mr Barot has got it into his head that the climate of this part of the country does not suit him. He instantly requested me to let him leave for Pondicherry. I could not allow him to go at once, but I cannot make much use of him either, so that it is more or less as if I didn't have him. Finally, Mr Fricaud whom My Lord of Drusipare had demanded from me once I had obtained Mr Pacreau, has taken advantage of his right. Thus I may say that I have only Messrs Pacreau, Métral and Laugier with me.

Mr Jarrige had laid the foundations of a little seminary. It would have been imprudent to go back on his steps and abandon it. Mr Laugier is therefore in charge of it, so that for the Christians I am left with Messrs Pacreau and Métral only. The latter is necessarily obliged to remain in the mission at Palghat which is in a state of great disorder, so that it is impossible for me to man the post in the Nilghiris where I have the sorrow of seeing the Christians going over to Protestantism which is growing progressively stronger as this point becomes more important as a result of the affluence of the English. The Christians who do not apostatise are living in what has become a boundless disorder.

My Lord of Drusipare has not chosen to promise me one of the missionaries recently out from France, above all if he takes over the College. Finally, I counted on bringing with me one or two pupils from the seminary of Pondicherry, who would at the present time have been of the utmost help to me. I need at least one of an excellent character and well tried. I had three to choose between, but at Pondicherry they were not willing to grant me even one. They wanted to impose on me another one whom I did not want, although he had certain qualities, because I could not count on him sufficiently, above all in a new part of the country that I still do not know. So then, they refused me anything. I admit that that caused me the utmost pain. I had to put up with it as with many others.

I am only telling you all this, Gentlemen, to make you realise my state of abandonment and to ask you in the most pressing terms possible for a few subjects. After God, I have only you to count on. For the rest, I have the consolation of being perfectly backed up by the three missionaries who remain with me (for I do not count Mr Barot for very long, and he does not work since he believes himself ill). I would need at the very least one who knows English well. Apart from that, you know that the mission here is completely different from that of Pondicherry; here we are purely and simply missionaries, and nothing more.

As for the expenses to be undertaken, they are enormous, and we have no local resources. Here there is not a church, as there are several in Mysore, which receives the slightest thing from the English government or from the Rajahs. There is no other church than this one which is passable (relatively speaking), even though we still have considerable difficulty in lodging in three here. Moreover, the people are in a wretched way as a result of the drought which has lasted for a few years now, to such a point that various villages have dispersed, and several Christian communities who would have helped us in the past, come to beg alms of us.

It appears impossible to all our missionaries and to My Lord of Drusipare to make Carumattampatty the main town of the vicariate. Quite apart from several other drawbacks, there is above all that of having no human habitations near the Church. Thus we are liable to be robbed with the utmost ease, once the thieves decide to put such a plan into execution, and the faithful can only come to church on Sundays, so that for the rest of the week it is necessarily deserted. We are in general agreement that it would be necessary to base ourselves on Coimbatore. It seems to me too that this would be the best: but we have nothing in that place. It would be necessary to begin by buying a piece of land there and thereafter build on it, which will necessarily imply considerable expenses. It seems to me that I find myself in the case foreseen in our regulations that says that you will provide the means of setting up an establishment for any bishop without one. Kindly see in your wisdom and in your charity what you could do for me.

It only remains for me, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, to renew to you the assurance of my perfect devotion to the Society to which I have the happiness of belonging, and to ask you to accept the expression of the sincere attachment and perfect respect with which

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

Letters to me should be addressed to Coimbatore.

P.S. My letter had not yet been sealed when we had an abundant downpour. Now, it rained in my episcopal palace, as much as it did outside.

(Carumattampatty, 15 October 1846)

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Sent 0187 - to Propaganda - 15 October 1846 -4/4

Sent_0187 - à la Propagande - le 15 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0187 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 15ss

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

The consecration went well in the presence of a considerable crowd. We were in 4 bishops. Fine opportunity to show our union with Rome. My respectful homage to Pius IX. A question on the limits of my jurisdiction. May I receive Syriac priests and, if so, are they obliged to take the oath? Can you give me all the powers that Mgr Bonnand was not able to: for certain cases of marriage and for the printing of books? Regarding the authorisation to exercise the functions of pontiff outside of one's jurisdiction.

Index : episcopate (consecration), jurisdiction (limits), oath, powers

Carumattampatty, 15 October 1846

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Litteris diei 11ae Augusti S.C. monui de futura consecratione mea pro die 4a Octobris. Dei misericordia, quod nunciaveram consummatum est. Magno concursu populi et praesentibus sacerdotibus non paucis, consolationem habui consecrationem recipiendi manibus R.R.D.D. Drusiparensis Episcopi, Assistentibus RRis DDis Archiepiscopi Chyrrensi et Episcopi Jassensi. Praesentia quoque R.P. Canoz, superioris P.P. Jesuitarum provinciae Madure, honoratus fui. Numquam forsitan simul inviati erant antea, in istis regionibus, quatuor episcopi et superior missionis qui, et ipse sub brevi, ut rumor benevolens indicat, episcopalem consecrationem suscepturus est. Quamvis congregatio, hoc in loco exiguissimo vix sufficienti pro duobus sacerdotibus, et in ecclesia pauperrima, magni incommodi fuerit et causa impensarum pro me ex omnibus episcopis Indiae pauperrimo et minimo, non recusavi tamen consilia R.R.D.D. Episcopi Drusiparensi qui haec omnia necessaria cogitavit ne omitteretur occasio clare manifestandi schismaticis nostram unionem cum SS Apostolica, ut, quod nolent intelligere, rationibus saltem videant factis.

Unum desideravi, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, quod locum non haberit, nempe : ut quatuor Episcopi communem scriberemus S.S. epistolam in qua, post gratulationem debitam SS.PP. Pio IX, et nostrae perfectae subjectionis expressionem, nonnulla indicavissemus quae nobis simul videntur aut necessaria aut valde desiderabilia pro Catholicis harum regionum. RR.DD., quamvis propositionem meam priore approbaverint, deinde, propter defectum temporis, adimpleverunt ; ego vero minimus omnium illud solus non audeo facere. Quod ergo mihi personaliter attinet et valde necessarium est hoc solum indicabo ; certiorem tamen faciens S.C. de mea perfecta submissione, et osculans spiriter pedes novi Pontificis Romani de cujus elevatione quantum gaudeo facile exprimere possem.

Nullam spero futuram esse difficultatem, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, in limitatibus judictionis meae, quae limitata est ad Orientem flumine Cavery et Regno Madure, ad meridiem Regno Madure, ad Occidentem Montibus Gates, ad Septentrionem Regno Mayssour nec Provinciae Coimbatore pertinens et tamen ex ista parte montium Gates posita, in dubium est utrum pertineat ad juridictionem RR.DD. Episcopi Jassensis vel ad meam. Pars illa posita est ad meridiem regni Courgue. Simul convenimus quod RR.DD. Episcopus Jassensis curam habebit illius partis usque dum S.C. aliter disponet si bonum ei videbitur.

Altera occurit difficultas, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, pro una parochia omnino circumscripta in juridictione mea et quae, usque nunc, curata est a RR.DD. Vicario Apostolico Verapoly. Antistes ille oravit me ut statim illam acciperem. Scrupulum tamen habui quia Sacerdos Syriacus qui eam curat non praestavit juramentum bullae Benedicti XIV "Omnium sollicitudinum". Proinde, quaesivi a RR.DD. Archiepiscopo Chyrrensi ut remaneant res in statu quo, usque dum sciam utrum sacerdotes illi ad juramentum teneantur. Ratio dubitandi est quia sacerdotes ex ora Occidentalis qui saepe saepius in istis regionibus venerunt et longo tempore soli ministraverunt, numquam visi sunt hoc juramentum fecisse, et etiam illud ignorant. Resolutio illa magni momenti est pro me ; nam paucissimos habeo collaboratores, nullum vero sacerdotem indigenum. Parvum seminarium fundatum est ab aliquis mensibus, sed octo tamen numerat pueros qui legere nesciunt. In tam difficile positione quaesivi a RR.DD. Archiepiscopo Chyrrensi utrum posset mihi concedere aliquos sacerdotes suos quos habet numerosissimos. Concedet utique non latinos sed Syriacos. Quaero ergo utrum sacerdotes illi, tam latini quam Syriaci, entrando in meam juridictionem, obligationem habebunt hoc juramentum praestandi ? Et, in casu affirmationis, utrum pro illis qui linguam latinam ignorant, sufficiet jurare se nullam participationem habituros ad ritas malabarias in illa bulla damnatas.

Episcopus Drusiparensis mihi communicavit omnes suas facultates tam ordinarias quam extraordinarias. Tamen casus habet valde limitatas pro dispensatione impedimenti matrimonii tam consanguinitatis quam affinitatis, quando impedimentum attingit primum gradum. Nullum casum potuit mihi concedere, ita ut, adveniente necessitate, dispensare non possum. Humiliter quaero ut saltem aliqui mihi casus concedantur directe vel mittantur pro me ad R.R.D.D. Episcopum Drusiparensem ut mihi communicet. Permissio quoque qua fruitur idem Antistes imprimandi quoscumque libros omnino personale videtur ita ut non auderem uti ea facultate usque dum certo cognoscam S.C. intentionem.

Juxta decreta diversa Innocentii X et Clementis IX non possumus exercere pontificalia in juridictione alii, etiam ex eo consensu. Haec dispositio, de qua longe locuti sumus ante consecrationem meam, si nunc vigeat, nobis videtur in India contra bonum publicum et aedificationem populi. Nunc enim cum plurimi sumus Episcopi in India, aliquoties speramus consolationem visitandi nos, et nobis videretur bonum facultatem habere omnes offerendi honores episcopo extraneo, quod signum esset unionis nostrae, et charitatis coram populo. Itaque humiliter quaero 1° Utrum dispositiones illae nunc valeant ? Ratio dubitandi est quia videntur deficisse causae propter quas datae fuerunt ; nempe ne episcopi tunc existentes offenderentur nimia auctoritate Vicarii Apostolici ; hodie vero non videtur nimis augeri posse istorum auctoritas. 2° In casu quo valeant, quaero permissionem invitandi ad exercenda pontificalia Episcopos in unione cum S.S. qui visitabant me, et eadem exercitendi apud illos si me invitent.

Deinde, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, rogo ut Eminentiam Vestram diu servet incolumen et Eminentiam Vestram ut habeat me semper pro,

Eminentiae Vestrae,

servo humillimo et obsequientissimo.

P.S. Litterae mitti possunt Coimbatore.

(Carumattampatty, 15 October 1846)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to the S.C. of Propaganda)

Carumattampatty, 15 October 1846

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord,

In my letter of 11 August, I notified the Sacred Congregation of my future consecration for 4 October. The mercy of God has been complete. With a great concourse of people, and in the presence of numerous priests, I had the consolation of receiving the consecration from the hands of His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare, Their Excellencies Our Lords the Archbishop of Chyrra and the Bishop of Jassen being his Assistants. I was also honoured by the presence of the Reverend Father Canoz, Superior of the Jesuit Fathers in the Province of Madurai. Never perhaps before, had four bishops been brought together in this region, in addition to the superior of a mission who, himself, very shortly, a benevolent rumour has it, is to receive the episcopal consecration. Although this assembly, in a very small place, only just sufficient for two priests, and in a very poor church, implied considerable discomfort and was also the cause of expenses for myself who am, of all the bishops in India, the poorest and the smallest, however, I did not refuse the counsels of His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare who thought that all of this was necessary, for fear of losing the opportunity of showing clearly to the schismatics our union with the Apostolic Holy See, so that if they choose not to understand by reasons, at least they will see it in the facts.

There was one thing I desired, very Eminent and Reverend Lord, which did not take place, namely that the four Bishops should write a common letter to the Sacred Congregation, in which, after the congratulations due to His Holiness Pope Pius IX and the expression of our perfect submission, we indicate various things which all of us consider either very necessary or highly desirable for the Catholics of these regions. Although Their Lordships started off by approving my proposal, later on, as a result of lack of time, they failed to put it into effect ; but I, the smallest of them all, do not dare to do this alone. I shall indicate what concerns me personally and only that which is very necessary; giving the assurance to the Sacred Congregation of my perfect submission and, in spirit, kissing the feet of the new Roman Pontiff whose elevation gives me great joy, I could do that easily.

  * I hope that there will be no future difficulty, Very Eminent and Reverend Lord, within the limits of my jurisdiction which is bounded to the east by the river Cavery and the Kingdom of Madurai, to the south by the Kingdom of Madurai, to the west by the Ghats and to the north by the Kingdom of Mysore and the Cavery river. However there remains a fairly small part which, since it belongs neither to the Kingdom of Mysore nor to the Province of Coimbatore, is however placed on this side of the Ghats; we would like to know if this part belongs to the jurisdiction of His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Jassen or to mine. This part is situated to the south of the Coorg Kingdom. We agreed that His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Jassen would take care of this part until the Sacred Congregation should arrange otherwise, if it sees fit.

Then a further difficulty has arisen, Very Eminent and Reverend Lord, regarding a parish entirely delimited in my jurisdiction and which thus far was cared for by His Excellency the Archbishop of Verapoly. This Prelate straightway asked me to accept it. However I had a scruple, because the Syriac priest who is in charge of it has not taken the oath to the bull of Benedict XIV "Omnium sollicitudinum". for this reason I asked His Excellency the Archbishop of Chyrra for things to remain in the status quo until I know whether this priest is bound to the oath. The reason for doubting is that the priests of the western coast who have come most often into these regions and who for a long time have carried out their ministry alone have never, to our knowledge, taken this oath, and even ignore it. To solve this question is of great importance for me; in fact, I have very few collaborators, but no native priest. A small seminary was set up several months ago, but counts only eight pupils who cannot read. In such a difficult position, I asked His Excellency the Archbishop of Chyrra if he could give me a few of his priests of which he has a great number. He is perfectly willing, not for Latins but for Syriacs. I therefore ask whether these priests, both Latins and Syriacs, entering my jurisdiction, have the obligation of taking this oath. And if so, for those who know no Latin, is it sufficient to swear that they will take no part in the Malabar rites condemned by this bull ?

His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare has given me all the power he had, both ordinary and extraordinary. However there are some extremely limited cases for the dispensation of impediment to marriage both as regards consanguinity and affinity, when the impediment touches the first degree. He cannot give me the power for any of these cases, so that, in case of necessity, I could not dispense them. I ask humbly that even these cases be granted me either directly or else that they be sent for me to His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare who will notify me of them. In the same way the permission this Prelate enjoys of printing certain books seems to me quite personal, so that I would not dare to use this faculty until I know in a certain manner the intention of the Sacred Congregation.

According to various decrees of Innocent X and of Clement XI, we cannot exercise the functions of pontiff in someone else's jurisdiction, even with his consent. This measure, of which we spoke at length before my consecration, if it is still in force, seems to us in India to go against the public good and the edification of the people. Now in fact since we are several bishops in India, we hope from time to time to have the consolation of visiting one another, and it would seem to us good to have the faculty of offering all honours to a bishop from outside, which would be the sign of our union and of our charity before the people. For this reason I ask humbly: 1) Are these provisions still in force at the present time? The reason for doubting is that the causes for which they were given would seem to have disappeared, that is, in order for the bishops at that time not to be shocked by the too great authority of the Apostolic Vicars; but today their authority does not appear to be liable to be increased very much. 2) In the case that they are still in force, I ask for permission to invite the Bishops visiting me and who are in union with the Holy See to exercise the powers of pontiffs, and for me to exercise the same powers in their jurisdictions if they invite me.

Finally, Very Eminent and Reverend Lord, I pray the Lord Almighty and Merciful to keep Your Eminence in good health always. May Your Eminence hold me always as your most humble and most respectful servant.

P.S. Letters to me may be sent to Coimbatore.

(Carumattampatty, 15 October 1846)

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Sent 0188 - to Propagation of the Faith - 16 October 1846 -4/3

Sent_0188 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 16 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0188 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 9ss

Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 6

copy, AMA 2F16/1846

(to the Council for the Propagation of the Faith) ()

Rome has just erected new vicariates in India where the schism, paganism, Islam, and the passions are making ravages. The Pope's desire is to see, with a large number of bishops, the native clergy develop. I am chosen to direct one of the new vicariates in Coimbatore. There , I have nothing, not a church nor a house. Poverty likewise of Carumattampatty where the consecration took place with great pomp. Difficult economic conditions of the people of Coimbatore. We count very much on your financial help. Needs likewise for the Nilghiris where the rich English live. Thank you for the good you have allowed me to do since I have been in India.

Index : vicariates (division), native clergy, finances (request for), poverty

__________

(Carumattampatty), 16 October 1846

Gentlemen,

I believed that, from the beginning of my new apostolic career, it was my duty to give you some details on the pro-vicariate which has fallen to my share. For if, after God, we owe above all to the solicitude of Rome the progresses to which the Church does honour in our Missions, we owe them too, Gentlemen, to your indefatigable zeal and to the inexhaustible charity of the members of Propagation of the Faith.

You know, Gentlemen, that the venerable Pontiff whose loss we still weep, Gregory XVI, resolved last year, by one of those inspirations of the grace that are reserved to the first bishop of all Churches, to come to the aid of the desolated Churches of India. The so tender and so charitable heart of the common father of the faithful suffered indescribably on seeing these vast regions, which are also a part of the Lord's vineyard, ravaged by everything that hell can let loose on the earth by way of the enemies of Christ.

Heresy rich and powerful, schism full of tricks and audacity, paganism with its scandals, Islamism whose rusty sabre, it is true, seems blunted for ever, but whose bronze forehead pitilessly disdains still to bow before the Cross of the Saviour: such are the terrible enemies that the Children of God have to fight here each day, without counting the passions wilder and more dangerous perhaps in these countries than in any other place in the world.

In order to preserve from shipwreck the Christian communities which have remained faithful thus far in the midst of this continual tempest, or else to save from the abyss those which have already run aground on the reef, and finally in the hope of seeing grow also the number of those called by grace to submit to the loving yoke of the Gospel, H.H. thought it necessary to multiply the bishops and make a new ecclesiastic division of India.

The Lord has just called to himself this great Pope, before he had had the consolation of seeing, on this earth, his thought completely put into effect. But his worthy successor, Pius IX, at whose elevation the whole world rejoiced, will have inherited, we feel sure, all the solicitude that animated Gregory XVI for the missions. He will see under his Pontificate the development and accomplishment of one of the most ardent wishes of his predecessor, a wish that H.H. expressed to us in the most touching way in his last instruction to all the bishops and heads of missions in the world, when He spoke of the hope of seeing, with more numerous bishops, the gradual formation of a more or less native clergy, without which it will always be impossible to care in detail for a foreign population.

It is not part of my plan, Gentlemen, to speak to you of the general division of all the vicariates of India. Suffice it for me to say that the immense apostolic vicariate of Pondicherry has been divided into four; and despite my indignity, I have been chosen to be put at the head of one of these divisions.

These four new Vicariates of which some of the bishops still only bear the title of Coadjutors or of Pro-Vicars are : the Vicariate proper of Pondicherry, Madurai care of which has already been entrusted for a long time now to the Rev. Fathers of the Company of Jesus, the Kingdom of Mysore of which Mgr Charbonnaux took possession last year with the title of bishop of Jassen, and the Province of Coimbatore for which I have just been consecrated bishop. This last division, the smallest and the poorest of all, however contains close on 20,000 Christians in a space 110 to 120 miles in diameter. These Christians are almost all ploughmen or weavers, poor and for the last few years almost in abject poverty.

The main town of this Vicariate should naturally be the town of Coimbatore, a quite large town and which is becoming larger every day as a result of the salubrity of the air and the transition that the Europeans love to find here between the ice of the Nilghiris and the extreme heat of the plains of the peninsula.

However, the Catholics still do not have any establishment in this town, which counts 30,000 inhabitants. The Christians who live in it meet up for prayers in ugly huts of earth covered with thatch. There, as in many other places, we have the sorrow of seeing a very fine Protestant temple where we have no church at all for the true disciples of Jesus Christ. May Heaven make our work grow more and more providing us, I hope, with the means of effacing this shame which reflects on our good Master himself.

For lack of a church in Coimbatore, I have established my provisional see at Carumattampatty, a big old village of which no vestige remains, but of which the Christians of the neighbourhood have carefully preserved the church. They have even restored it following the persecution of the famous Tippoo, through the efforts of our venerable and illustrious fellow priest Mr Dubois, helped by a native priest named Gnanapragasam.

This church is quite remarkable for the place, though very little of a thing in itself. It should be said that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed are kings. Several small improvements have been made since its reinstatement, and what makes it famous among the miserable huts that are called churches in these parts, is a bell-tower surmounted by a small spire, a work that we owe to one of our most zealous missionaries, Mr Pacreau. Unfortunately it is a bell-tower without bells. Let us still hope that a small bell will come one day. Around the church, there is a sort of large shed for the convenience of travellers, something much appreciated by the Indians, and which serves during the principal feast to shelter an immense crowd of Christians who pack into it like anchovies in a barrel. Finally, beside the church is the only house to meet the eye and which serves as a presbytery. This house, in fact fairly comfortable, is sufficient for two priests, provided they do not look for luxury in buildings.

In any case it is there that my consecration has just taken place, with a great deal of solemnity even, for we thought it best to give it the greatest pomp possible, in order to prove by the facts, even more than by our words, our union with Rome, and thus show their aberration to those who still hold to the unfortunate schism of Goa. For this purpose, I had invited His Grace the archbishop of Chyrra, apostolic vicar of Verapoly, and My Lord of Jassen, administrator of Mysore, to come and assist My Lord of Drusipare, apostolic vicar of Pondicherry, consecrator. These three prelates were all willing to accept my invitation, as also was the Rev. Father Canoz, Superior of the Jesuits of Madurai, and ten other priests both from my jurisdiction and from the surroundings. The three Prelates were lodged as well as might be in the presbytery ; happily their charity lends itself to everything. The rest of the company had as their habitation two long huts in earth covered with palm leaves, and of which a huge interwoven coconut palm leaf gave the effect of a partition, a door and a window.

I had chosen for this solemnity the day of the principal feast of the place which is the Holy Rosary. Thus, the crowd of people was immense, and it was only with difficulty that, after my consecration, I could cross the church to allow my first blessing to fall on this poor people. Unfortunately, our Christians, always short of money, are in even a worse way than ever. For, as you know, here the son has to follow the same trade as his father; the weavers must be weavers from generation to generation. Now since the Europeans have established mechanical systems of weaving, the trade in cloths, once very considerable in these Christian communities, is falling daily, which does not prevent these poor people, still blinded by their ideas of castes, to remain weavers and to die of hunger. By an even greater misfortune, the rains have been scarce for several years now and the labourers are in wretched conditions. Nevertheless, for the arrival of their bishop, these good Christians made the best show they could, so that we were gratified by a great deal of banging on boxes for want of canons, and several fireworks, even at ten in the morning, at the mass of the consecration, in the course of which the rockets shone not by their flashes but by their whistles.

What I have told you of the poverty of our Christians will suffice to make you realise our absolute lack of any resources. No decent church, no houses, no schools and no seminary; everything, absolutely everything remains to be done. And with what assistance? After that we await from divine Providence, it is on you that our eyes are fixed, Gentlemen, on you and your confreres of Propagation of the Faith. I must say that I am in a completely new mission, although Christianity has been known here for a long while and more or less practised.

I have spoken to you of the ice of the Nilghiris, which may appear astonishing perhaps at our latitude. In fact this mountain is very remarkable. Rising to about 7,400 feet above sea level, it is favoured by a European temperature and, during two months every year, ice is in fact to be found here. Ootacamund, which has become a famous place for the last few years, is regarded as the most favourable position in the south of the peninsula, for the health of foreigners. No sooner had the English discovered this delightful spot than they made it a place of relaxation, of pleasure and of luxury. The rich officials of the Company have houses here where they come to take their holidays or to re-establish their health. Even including the vine, one can find here almost all the European crops: apples, pears, peaches, haricot beans, peas, asparagus, etc., but very expensive and rarely at the service of the missionary, except for cabbages and potatoes which are very good and very abundant there. There we have also a small church, but once more, with the sorrow of seeing it infinitely surpassed by the Protestant establishments abounding and where we have the chagrin of seeing a good number of Christians become corrupted. It is there above all that we would have need of schools and other charitable works which it is at present impossible for us to set up.

Excuse me, I beg you, Gentlemen, for the disorder of this letter written in haste, and receive here the expression of the gratitude which I owe you for the little good that the work of the Propagation of the Faith has given me the possibility of doing as a simple missionary. I hope that it will not abandon me, now that I am loaded with the burden of the episcopate and of the care of so many Christian communities in need. But above all, that the members of the pious association will not forget us before the Lord.

I commend myself to you, and I commend my flock to their prayers as well as to yours, Gentlemen, asking you to accept the assurance of the lofty consideration and the warm gratitude with which

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen,

Your very respectful and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty ?, 16 October 1846)

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Sent 0189 - to Mgr Luquet - 16 October 1846 -3/3

Sent_0189 - à Mgr Luquet - le 16 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0189 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 455ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I seek only God's glory and the advancement of his Church. How the consecration went. Praise for Mgr of Chyrra. Pique against the English and the Irish. Pondicherry's refusal to grant me one of the tonsured whom I asked for. Poverty here in material and in men. Rome has no more devoted bishops than us. Praise of the three seminarians and of Father Lazare whom he has left at Pondicherry. It is at Coimbatore that I must set myself up.

Index : episcopate (consecration), native clergy, poverty

__________

Carumattampatty, 16 October 1846

My very dear friend,

So now part of your desires have been accomplished. May our good Master deign to have permitted it exclusively for his glory, and for the good of his Church, our sole ambition! Since a few days ago I am a bishop! If something made me hope that the good God had not completely deserted us, it is the trials he has subjected us to, you and I, for some time now, and the testimony given us at the same time by our consciences which remain calm through the grace of God, since we wish neither to live or die, be honoured or despised except for the advancement of our Holy Mother the Catholic, apostolic and Roman Church.

My consecration took place on 4 October, as I had announced to you. My Lord of Drusipare came here to celebrate the consecration. H.L. was assisted by My Lord the apostolic vicar of Verapoly and by My Lord of Jassen. I had also invited Father Canoz who accepted. Ten other priests were likewise in attendance. The house I now live in and which is the only one beside the church is only large enough to contain two persons. By blocking off a piece of corridor, we made three rooms in it for the three prelates; the rest of the company was lodged in earthen huts covered with leaves which we had erected in the little garden beside the church. Things went quite well. (However in fact I had no particular grounds for praise either of My Lords of Drusipare or of Jassen, but keep this to yourself).

Whereas I was delighted to have made the acquaintance of His Grace of Chyrra. What a difference from the apostolic vicar of Madras. As much as the latter appeared to me to have a spirit diametrically opposed to that of a missionary bishop, the former seemed to me truly apostolic. It is true that his mission is quite different from ours; in everything and for everything, the people on the other side of the Ghats is quite different from the people on this side. Thus it is really much easier to christianise them. But that is one reason more why the bishops such as Mgr Fennelly should never have been placed at the head of vicariates in the east and the interior. I feel some reluctance in writing these lines, but we agreed to say quite openly what we think to each other, and I think it would be a great service rendered to the Church of these parts if it were known in Rome how little the Irish clergy can be counted on for India. I know only two passable missionaries among this clergy in India, that however I would be quite willing to exchange for two of our most mediocre missionaries, while I would give several French missionaries for a few Italians or Spanish, or even for a few Portuguese if they were not schismatic. But that is beside the point.

Among the trials that the Lord reserved to me for the moment of my consecration, I must put in the forefront the obstinate refusal of Pondicherry to give me a tonsured pupil of the seminary. At the moment he would have been of the utmost use to me for laying the bases of the native clergy and for establishing good antecedents. But in order to do that, I needed to have one of the three: either Marie Xavery, or Aroulnaden, or Pakianaden, since I am assured of their spirit and I could have done what I wanted with them. They never even considered giving me one of the last two, which I regretted as much for them as for me, since they are two young men of extraordinary intelligence, that I was sure of being able to bend as I wished, and I do not know if anyone else will be able to do so. As for Marie Xavery, they would have given him to me provided I also took Valernaden whom I did not want because that young man, who in fact has certain qualities, is too superficial and too much inclined to the former usages for being introduced, at least immediately, into a new part of the country.

Then there was the sudden departure of Mr Jarrige. I had counted on him, and he had given me to hope that he would remain at least for some time after my arrival. Moreover, Mr Barot is more of an obstacle than a help, and I think that he will soon be leaving me to go to Pondicherry if not in France. So that I am left with only Messrs Pacreau, Métral and Laugier.

The mission, though small, is difficult because of the disorders of all kinds reigning in it. In order to do some good and take a step forward in the task that the Lord has entrusted to us, we would need to be ten or eleven. The government does not trust us and the Christians themselves seem to be on the qui-vive. They welcomed me fairly well, but without enthusiasm, and I believe that it would take little to stir them up against us. Of course, they are very wretched, as a result of a long drought and because the trade in cloths is in decline. On the one hand this is perhaps not a great misfortune in the present circumstance, but our churches are quite devoid of all succour. The least bad is this one; although it looks more like a barn than a church and possesses neither vessels nor vestments, and not even one little bell... I really believe that I could literally say that I am the poorest bishop in the world, and certainly in India. But the apostles were poor and God blessed them!

Mr Leroux passed on to me an extract from the latest letter he received from you. The question of a plenary indulgence that I asked you to obtain for me was for the day of the consecration; now it is no longer pertinent.

I would have liked to have taken advantage of the presence here of four bishops to write a letter in common to the S.C. I mentioned this idea to the Prelates in particular ; each of them seemed quite in favour, but then nothing was done. (I could not even insist very much, because of the not very favourable disposition of My Lords of Drusipare and of Jassen).

I am enclosing herewith a letter to the S.C. which I would like you to read, before sealing it and handing it over as soon as possible.

I have received a short letter from Mr Tesson which gave me the greatest pain. According to what he says, it would seem that you are thinking of leaving our Society. I hope that nothing will come of it. Let us suffer and persevere. They will end up by understanding that we only want the glory of God, the good of Religion, and that they would have done better to back us up than to distrust us. I hope that you will soon give me some details on what is happening as far as you are concerned, and I hope by the grace of God, that they will recognise in Rome that, despite our unworthiness, the Church has no more devoted bishops than you and I, although it has some much more saintly and much more distinguished ones.

If I had with me Aroulnaden, Pakianaden, Marie Xavery and Father Lazare, I could do some splendid things for the cause of the native clergy. Indeed, I could do it better here than at Pondicherry.

I very much fear that this is a treasure that will not be held in due account. For the rest, I have only to say the word, and they would all four be here tomorrow; but that would mean breaking off relations with Pondicherry, and perhaps impeding the good cause in so doing.

I will be sending you a copy of the few lines that Father Lazare has put to paper, and that he was anxious to hand over to me himself before I left Pondicherry. It is nothing in itself, but it affords proof of his good inclinations, and the three others would be clay in my hands that I could fashion to my will.

Everyone considers it impossible to set up the main centre of the Vicariate here. It would seem that we should establish ourselves at Coimbatore. But we do not possess an inch of land there; we would have to buy some and then build, and I still do not know what I will do.

So that, my dear friend, is all that I have to say to you ; it only remains for me to assure you of my perfect attachment and of the sincere friendship with which

I have the honour of being,

commending myself to our prayers and Holy Sacrifices,

your devoted confrere and once more your sincere friend.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

Send any letters to Coimbatore.

(Carumattampatty, 16 October 1846)

Sent_0190

Sent_0190 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 octobre 1846 -/1

Sent 0190 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 October 1846 -/1

Sent_0190 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 octobre 1846 -/1

Sent 0190 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, p 2141

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 18-19

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Sorrow at what you tell me of Father Xaverinader. News since he returned to Pondicherry. Deplorable state of the Nilghiris. Arrangements being made for the nine children of the seminary. I am sending you the minutes of our first council meeting.

Index : friendship, native clergy, seminary of Carumattampatty

__________

(Carumattampatty) 27 October 1846

My Lord,

\- the first 5 lines of the text are unusable -

My Lord of Chyrra is back safely, and very happy it would seem.

I am writing a few lines to Mr Dupuis in answer to the letter containing that of Y.L., and to thank him for the book which he has without doubt put (... ?...) and that I should receive in due time. Let us pray the good God that the trouble with his leg will soon be remedied, and that he deigns to keep him for a long time still to continue to work as he does so usefully at present.

I note with sorrow what Y.L. tells me about Father Xaverinader. I do not doubt that the Holy Spirit has inspired Y.L. to take the right action. It seems to me that on the eve of having several native priests, and already having various ecclesiastics quite sufficiently advanced to see and understand perfectly, we must show ourselves firm against anything liable to diminish the ecclesiastical authority. A scandal falls back on the person who produces it, and its ravages are limited; while those arising from a false principle are liable to be boundless.

\- here, ten lines of the Original are unusable -

Now that I have answered your letter, allow me, My Lord, to tell you what has happened since your departure. Mr de Kérizouët stayed on until the following Monday before taking the road for the mountain, from where he writes that his chilblains prevent him from holding a pen, that in the (...?...) that was dug, he says, (...?...) erect a house

\- the rest of the Original is unusable -

The following is the summary of the end of the letter, in AMA 2F6, p. 19 : Mr Pacreau sends him the plan requested. What has happened since his departure. Deplorable state of the Nilghiris. Business of the passports. Nine children in the seminary, the arrangements being made for them. I send him the minutes of our first council meeting, so that H.L. sees the direction I propose taking and helps me with his advice whenever he sees fit.

Msgr de Brésillac

(Carumattampatty ?, 27 October 1846)

Sent_0191

Sent_0191 - à Pakianaden - le 27 octobre 1846 -/2

Sent 0191 - to Pakianaden - 27 October 1846 -2/2

Sent_0191 - à Pakianaden - le 27 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0191 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 19-20

(to Pakianaden, Indian seminarian)

Be faithful to the grace that God grants you. Your sentiments are as they should be. Distinction between obedience to the director and obedience to the superiors. Obeying the superior means obeying God. If they are wrong, they will have to account to God. You never do wrong by obeying them. Remain in peace with this principle. Various greetings for the seminary.

Index : spiritual direction, obedience to superiors

__________

(Carumattampatty), 27 October 1846

I thank God, my dear Pakianaden, for the sentiments of faith that he has laid, through his grace, in your heart, and that he has led you to express in your letter of 21 October. Be faithful to this precious grace, my dear friend, and humbling yourself within, knowing full well that nothing good comes from you ; ask God to fortify you in his Spirit, and to accomplish what he has begun in his mercy.

I have nothing to say with regard to the feelings that you express to me ; they are as they should be. Only take great care not to mix anything human either in your conduct, or even in your thoughts. May the desire for God's glory alone inspire you, and all the rest be before your eyes as if it did not exist.

I am delighted at the practical distinction you make between obedience to the director and obedience to the superiors, and with the conclusion you drawn from it : "in this way, I don't risk anything". In fact it is only by doing nothing that one risks nothing. The director should be compared to a doctor, or better still to those health officers that only people endowed with a great fortune have recourse to, and who are rather in favour of preserving their health and making them stronger than they are in caring for them and healing them. So long as we are only dealing here with ordinary things, you can follow blindly their opinions, and it is perfect even ; but if they want to lead us by a difficult and rare way, they are liable to go wrong.

But the legitimate superiors who are established by God to take the place of his providence cannot lead us in a practically erroneous way. For if they are mistaken, they will be held to account personally to God; but we never do wrong by obeying them, even in unimportant things. Thus, my dear friend, your director says to you: leave the natural position where God has placed you, he is calling you elsewhere; it is truly his voice speaking to the bottom of our soul, etc.; and your superiors say to you: we do not want this. Remain in peace, and do not fear to contradict grace.

But the reasons that your director gives you appear to you ten times, one hundred, nay one thousand times stronger than those that your superiors oppose to them ! But the impetus of your heart whose movements you purify with all your might, leads you irresistibly towards a particular cause. Never mind, remain in peace in obedience to your superiors. They are the perceptible voice of God. With these principles, you risk nothing and you arrive at your goal. For this does not prevent you from working with all your might to arrive at the purpose that you have set for the greatest glory of God; on the contrary, you work on it with all the more force if you are strengthened in peace, and when this idea comes certainly from God, grace ordinarily ensures that it triumphs, and always that it is meritorious for the person who does nothing to contradict it through his fault.

The Lord wants us to act in this way even with him. He could very well grant what we request in the first prayer, and yet ordinarily he does not do so; for he wants us to persevere in prayer.

But now I have allowed myself to go too far. It is so delightful to speak of the things of God when one has the hope of being understood! To come back then to the question before us: persevere in prayer and remain in peace. God's time has not yet come. It is he who has done all of these things; let us hope in him.

A Dieu, very dear friend ; keep yourself in God's presence and pray to him to shorten the time of his anger. May your angel say like Gabriel to the prophet of the Lord: Quia vir desiderorium es [...] septuaginta hebdomades abbreviatae sunt super populum tuum (Dan 9).() Tell my dear children of the seminary that it gave me great pleasure to receive their letter as well as those from Marie Xavery and from Valernaden. May the Lord make you all become good priests.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Your good father

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 27 October 1846)

Sent_0192

Sent_0192 - à M. Gibelin - le 30 octobre 1846 -/4

Sent 0192 - to Mr Gibelin - 30 October 1846 -4/4

Sent_0192 - à M. Gibelin - le 30 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0192 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 20-26

(to Mr E. Gibelin)

(general bursar at Pondicherry)

Regarding his "Etude sur le droit civil des Hindous". I cannot judge your book which is outside of my scope. In all of the sources you have used, are there no elements that might help me to prove that the first ancestors of the Indians were Christians and they must therefore become Christians once more to return to what their ancestors were, as in the case of Job the sage who awaited the Redeemer who has now come? On the dispersion of peoples, following the sin of the tower of Babel, those who came to inhabit the banks of the Ganges undoubtedly had at their head sages according to the spirit of God. See how ancient Indian law is and how it precedes the Christian era. The Indians would in this way see that returning to the principles of the rightful reason, does not mean betraying their origin or denying their ancestors. One remark on your book: the Indians laws are a repository of the oldest traditions, rather than the absolute source of all the others. Thank you if your work can help me in mine.

Index : tradition (of the ancestors), civil law, wisdom (of India)

__________

(Carumattampatty), 30 October 1846

Dear Sir,

I have read very carefully the first volume of the "Etudes sur le droit civil des Hindous, etc." that you were so kind as to offer me at the time of my departure from Pondicherry.

I will not attempt to judge in absolute terms a work which is well beyond my scope in its most direct conclusions, as a result of the slight opportunity I have had thus far to study the science of comparative legislation. Nevertheless, encouraged by the pure intentions inspiring you, and by the spirit of im partiality of which you give such remarkable proof in this writing, I will take the liberty of making a few observations which take their place in the field of history and of traditions, without fearing thereby to depart from the limits of strict justice in praising unreservedly the aim that you have set yourself and congratulating you on a work which appears to me as useful as it is certainly conscientious.

In fact, Sir, when I took up my pen, the purpose of my letter was not to enter into the substance of the question that you deal with, but rather to use it, and to ask you your opinion on the best way of proceeding, in order to deal with another question which takes its place directly in the attributions that God has entrusted to me and for which the research of scholars, who are first and foremost good men, are an indispensable help to me. So that I will begin from there.

The work which you have undertaken, Sir, must without doubt have put you in a position of discovering many passages that you may perhaps have neglected as being outside of your purpose, and which would be of the greatest help to me, especially put together by an expert hand like that which has succeeded in separating out the pure and Original texts of an admirable legislation, in more or less poorly drafted and often inextricable compilations, amidst innumerable and absurd alterations, mixed with shameful interpolations, and returning them to their Original splendour, if I may put it thus, making clear in this way how much this ancient "legislation was simple and yet complete, how well all of its parts had been sagely meditated", whereas "the principles of natural law and positive law were noted there with a sureness of glance that experience alone had given and that later science has nowhere disavowed" (page 11).

Your goal is certainly very praiseworthy, sir, when you desire that your "Studies" shall be "useful to the populations of India, adding, if it is possible, to the veneration they have for their ancient laws" (page 13), as to everything that has come to them from their ancestors.

And I, priest of this same God adored by these ancestors that the whole of India still respects and venerates in the shreds of their admirable works though unworthily disfigured, and soiled by superstition "to which their reason so lofty and so pure never descended and never ever yielded"(page 278), would like to prove to lost populations that their first ancestors were Christians.

This is, Sir, the thought on which I have reflected for a long time, and that I was happy to see comes singularly close to that dominating in your work.

In the same way as you prove clearly to the Indians that, in order to be attached to the real legislation of their fathers, they must both beware of commentators and above all carefully remove what ignorance and corruption of customs have unworthily substituted for it, or that they have amalgamated with Original texts, in the same way I want to arrive at a work which, in the field of religion and philosophy, proves to them that, in order to return to the faith and to the philosophy of their ancestors, of those ancients who were such already when those of Rome and Athens were scarcely born, of these philosophers who won the astonishment and admiration of the sages of an antiquity less distant than theirs, in these same places where the revolting practice of their altered institutions, today, sickens the hearts of veritable sages of our age, they would merely have to once more become Christians.

For they were Christians, these great philosphers like the philosopher and Arab saint who said at a time when Moses was perhaps still not born : Scio enim quod redemptor meus vivit, et in novissimo die de terra surrecturus sum (Job XIX).()

May these words of life, be written in the old and admirable inspirations of the ancients of India, according to the wishes of the Saint himself : Quis mihi tribuat ut scribantur sermones mei ? Quis mihi det ut exarentur in libro ? Stilo ferreo, et plumbi lammina, vel certe sculpantur in silice ? (ibid) (). May there at least remain some traces that could allow us to prove intrinsically that these sages, who wrote perhaps before idolatry had infected the nations, that is to say, in the first thousand years following the deluge (see Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Adv. Jul.; and Saint Thomas 22 q. 74) or not long afterwards, that these sages, I say, were not idolaters. Moreover, that they were Christians like Job and like us, not having yet strayed from the most precious of traditions, that which united all peoples: the hope of a Redeemer. Sons and worshippers of the same God as us, of the only God that exists, sovereign Master of the universe, and creator of everything that is, they sighed while awaiting he who has come and in whom all men must put their trust ; and they were saved by the merits of the future sacrifice which has saved us all.

Thus the respect, in fact so praiseworthy in itself, that the Indians have for everything coming to them from their ancestors, which however leads them to stray because of the alteration of traditions, would once more become for them an anchor of salvation.

This truth, that their ancestors were Christians in the sense that I have indicated, and which is rigorous, is not a question that is difficult to solve for those who are already enlightened with the lights of the faith or who wish to study the healthy traditions of history. For finally, whatever the corruption of men, they had not forgotten the truth of a single God, they had not lost the hope in a redeemer before the deluge. It is not because of their little faith, but because of the depravation of their habits that they have been judged worthy of general extermination; quia caro est (Gen VI).() Omnis quippe caro corruperat viam suam super terram (ibid.).() In fact Noah, that just man and his family, and descendants up to the dispersion of peoples at least, always remained faithful to their God and to their faith. The confusion of languages at Babel was once more a punishment (and also a sign of mercy for the whole of mankind) for their rash pride and not for their incredulity: Nec desistent a cogitationibus suis (Gen XI). ()

And God sent them out to people the whole earth : Et inde dispersit eos Dominus super faciem cunctarum regionum (Gen XI).()

Whence, each people took with it a basis of truths primitively revealed and acquired by the experience of over three thousand years (chronology of the Septuagint). Those who came to inhabit the banks of the Ganges had undoubtedly at their head clever and wise men, for they marched under the wing of Providence which did not abandon them, but gave them all chiefs capable of leading them and ensuring that they applied the rules of civilisation for which man was made. Deus [...] mala et bona ostendit illis [...] addidit illis disciplinam et legem vitae haereditavit illos [...] et justitiam et judicia sua ostendit illis [...] in unamquemque gentem praeposuit rectorem (Eccl XVII).()

Are these the first chiefs who left in India the remarkable monuments of a legislation testifying today still to their profound wisdom ? Or did these populations, degenerated thereafter, become subjugated by another people or even a fraction of a people descended from ancient Egypt, whose scholars perhaps established the laws of Manou and others? Whatever the answer to this question, it was always sages who had maintained pure the true traditions and fundamental principles of civilisation, consequently of civil as well as religious legislation (see the discourse of Monsieur le Vicompte de Bonald on the life of Jesus Christ, par. 2). They hoped, by achieving the desires of the holy man Job, to preserve their nation from the corruption at that time threatening to invade the earth. Their hope will not have been in vain ; for centuries of ignorance and of superstition have succeeded in altering and disfiguring their works, but not in wiping them out, and God's Providence which is always the same, is pleased today to excite the noble curiosity of scholars, who discover the principles of Eternal wisdom formulated four thousand years ago "with that clearness of vision that experience alone had given and that later science has nowhere disavowed".

And to come back to our work, Sir, it may be that even more thorough and more general research will lead you to discover philosophically, without making it lose anything of its interest or usefulness, that the point of departure of this primitive legislation, so rational, so exact, so complete and so simple, the influence of which has been felt in the general legislation of the world, was not in India but on the plains of Sennaar.

As I say, your work would lose none of its usefulness or interest, for it would testify no less to the primitive purity of this general and common law, "testimony to a very advanced civilisation" (page 7) coming from the same source, pure tradition of the most ancient revelation, and rediscovered almost Original in India where it has been preserved in more recognisable form than in any other part of the world because India remained stationary outside of the big revolutions which have overturned ideas by overthrowing empires ; and the judicious remark that dictated this passage would be no less true. "When one considers that Hindu law, before being drawn up in writing, had preceded the Christian era by over one thousand years, is one not led to recognise that there too, since that remote time, the inspirations of God had descended among men and that they had been understood" ? (pages 115-116). You would oblige us still to recognise that our best modern laws are merely a wise and judicious return to the laws of the most ancient tradition, which had entrusted them together with the other revelations to those that God chose from the outset to be the fathers of civilisation as well as heads of the peoples. These principles of private and social life, eternal as all the principles of truth, were not perfected by man, and when, after centuries of perturbations, superior geniuses returned to the past to summarise what they found scattered here and there, that was more just and more rational, they encountered the most ancient legislators in the world.

So much for us. While for the natives, Sir, your work would be no less useful. For it would always have the effect of allowing them to know that they risk neither betraying their noble origin, nor contradicting their glorious ancestors by returning to the principles of rightful reason. That on the contrary they dishonour their fathers by adopting as theirs parasitical anomalies of which you indicate so clearly the sources and the causes (pages 100 and others). It would remind them further of how wise their ancients were, when in place of the absurd usages that we now see, they established moral laws on the degrees of impediment to marriage, when they distinguished so well betrothals from marriage proper, when they required for one and the other of these important contracts the naturally indispensable age and the use of reason, when they proclaimed the advice and not the immoral obligation of an honourable perpetual widowhood, etc. (pages 15, 16, 29, 62, 69, 94, 108).

That the first idea of this primitive legislation which had its effect on the customs and the codes of the most advanced peoples in Europe, and almost on our civil code, that "Rome will always have borrowed from Greece, and Greece from the Oriental civilisation" (page 12), had come from India thereafter to spread out in all directions, or that the point of departure was somewhat to the West of these parts, is not very important for the question of general usefulness and even for the particular usefulness of the Indian, providing they are constant for the latter (and the proof is irresistible when works such as yours develop it) that the most ancient sages formulated laws common to us, laws full "of farsightedness, moderation and morality" (page 117), laws of great antiquity respected in the whole of India although "imperfectly understood and that have not ceased to be applied since their promulgation, that is to say, from three or four thousand years ago, up to our own days" (page 9).

These, dear Sir, are just a few ideas which you will use as you think best. I would be happy to know that they did not displease you, and even more if they could shield your remarkable work from certain difficulties without making it any the less precious. By representing the Hindu laws as a repository of the most virgin traditions, instead of making them the absolute source of all the others (which will certainly be challenged, and even, allow me the liberty of saying so, considered as a prejudice of position because you carry out your job in India). And may you, Sir, respond to the appeal I make to your generous zeal, by helping me with your counsels in the enterprise that I have been meditating for over two years now: to prove to these peoples by native monuments of which they cannot deny the authenticity, that their ancestors were Christians. Finally may my work serve as yours does to the social and religious regeneration of "over a hundred millions of our fellow creatures" (page 13) "by inspiring in them as from now the most complete trust in priests and pontiffs who, although strangers on their soil and to their beliefs of now which are in no way those of their first fathers may however be considered as true disciples" (page 13) of the same master, and the children of the same Father who is God.

I have the honour of being, with sentiments of the highest consideration, Sir, your very humble and very obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 30 October 1846)

Sent_0193

Sent_0193 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 30 octobre 1846 -/1

Sent 0193 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 30 October 1846 -/1

Sent_0193 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 30 octobre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0193 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 26-27

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Greetings and friendship

Index : friendship

__________

(Carumattampatty), 30 October 1846

[...] (Friendly greetings to all our confreres) without forgetting Mr Jarrige for whom I desire as much joy and solace as he has caused me pain and sorrow [...].

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 30 October 1846

Sent_0194

Sent_0194 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 novembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0194 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 November 1846 -2/1

Sent_0194 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 novembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0194 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 35-37

() copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic bishop of Pondicherry)

New and different missions : Tonkin, Cochin China, Korea ; how things are going in Europe : Spain, France, Italy, Rome, I am seeking a site at Coimbatore.

Index : news (of the world), interest (in the news of the world)

__________

Carumattampatty, 8 November 1846

My Lord,

At the same time as your note of 31 October, I received a letter from Mr Tesson and the newspapers. Things in Tonkin are going quite well, according to l'Univers, but the persecution continues in Cochin China, where a native priest and a catechist have just been put to death. We receive letters from Korea, with very good news, writes Mr Tesson; Mr Ferréol and Mr Daveluy carry out the ministry without any particular problems.

Mr Maistre has been arrested in Leao-Tong on the borders of Korea. He was subjected to an interrogation. He said that he was a French priest come to preach Religion. At that, he was set free!...

Affairs in Spain risk becoming even more confused. The marriage of the Queen with her cousin, Don Francis of Assisi, and that of the Duke of Montpensier with the Infanta Dona Luisia, finally the escape of Don Carlos's son may lead to a crisis.

The Prince of Joinville has just paid a visit to Pius IX whose political conduct continues to arouse the enthusiasm of the Romans. If this Pontiff manages to withdraw (his States?) from the edge of the precipice towards which Italy would seem to be slipping, he will have accomplished much for the (salvation ?) of religion. Only I fear that the evil is already too deep-rooted.

It appears we are going to have a Jubilee towards the month of January.

So that is already too much for Y.L. who is at the centre of news and who is undoubtedly already acquainted with all of this. Mr Pacreau is in Coimbatore to see if he could not, on the spot, remedy the ever-growing evil of these Christians of whom the (simple?) go over to paganism and are not (ashamed?) to ostensibly follow its ceremonies, and also to see if he could not find a site for a church and, later, for setting up the principal residence. Kindly convey my respects to all our confreres.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Your Grace's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 8 November 1846)

Sent_0195

Sent_0195 - à M. Tesson - le 9 novembre 1846 -/3

Sent 0195 - to Mr Tesson - 9 November 1846 -2/3

Sent_0195 - à M. Tesson - le 9 novembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0195 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1515-1518.1520-1521

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 27-28

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

I would like to share my difficulties with you. Don't speak to me of Pondicherry; I would regret having to return there. Deplorable state of Coimbatore. Previously there were only two missionaries for the whole province. We need to be 10 or 12. Sooner or later we will have to establish ourselves in Coimbatore where there is absolutely nothing. Send material aid, send missionaries. Please specify that they are bound for Coimbatore; give them sufficient funds for the journey and count them in the allocations for the viaticum. Send me a piece of violet cloth for the Nilghiris. What has become of Mgr Luquet? A word from Mr Laugier regarding a question of fees for masses.

Index : finances (request for), personnel (request for), poverty

__________

(Carumattampatty), 9 November 1846()

My very dear Mr Tesson,

Your letter of 24 September reached me at the beginning of November at Carumattampatty. Last month, I wrote you one which contained another letter for Mgr Luquet, I hope that you received it. The packet contained another one for the Councils of Propagation of the Faith; although somewhat in haste I wrote it so that it could be included in the Annals if considered suitable. I am writing to you again this month, for you are not a man to refuse to take part in the difficulties that the Lord is pleased to accumulate over me of late (Deo Gratias), and it is good that you are perfectly informed on my position.

You continue to speak to me of Pondicherry. Come, let us leave all of that, my dear Mr Tesson! The pains I receive every day from that place only have the effect of separating me from it more and more and I really hope soon no longer to have to keep up relations with our confreres from that place except for more or less friendly courtesies, but unfortunately very reserved, which for me is no little cross, for I would love to act otherwise towards confreres. No, I will not regret Pondicherry and I would very much regret ever being obliged to return there. Here, on the contrary, I have confidence is the place that divine Providence has assigned to me; personally I am perfectly happy here.

Only my bishop's heart is shattered at the sight of the complete lack of resources in which I find myself having to work for the good of the Christian communities and to allow God's work to take a step forward. But, you will tell me perhaps, previously there were only one or two missionaries in what makes up your pro-vicariate of Coimbatore. It is true. The deplorable state of this mission is the consequence: ruined Christian communities, Christians who are half pagans, or have once more become complete pagans, etc, etc. and paganism triumphant: this is the result of so many displacements, so many baptisms and confessions given in thousands and which sound very edifying in a letter, but are ruinous for the country. One priest can only do the work of one, and so long as we do not have clergy, we can scarcely hope that religion will be established.

While awaiting the happy day when we will at last have sufficient priests, it would at least be very urgent to have enough missionaries to prevent the decline of what exists, and to work on a clergy. As I said to you in a letter, for that it would be necessary for us to be ten or twelve here. Now, we are four only, for I cannot count on Mr Barot, Mr Laugier is an excellent young man; but he is not in his place and our beginning of a seminary cannot yet be counted. Please God that it is not less than nothing.

The Christian community of the town of Coimbatore is one of the most deplorable. There the Christians contract pagan marriages publicly, without even bothering with the sacrament. However not all of them are like that; and Christianity could even still get out of the mire if we were there and if there was a church. The need for a church there is so clearly recognised that Mr Jarrige would have started it at once if he had not been here only provisionally. In fact, it is becoming clearer and clearer that it is there that we need to establish the principal see of the vicariate. So that something good needs to be done and not too much in haste, but we have to make a start on it.

There would be no end to it if I were to tell you thereafter the particular needs of each Christian community. The mission of Coimbatore being so far from Pondicherry, no assistance was granted to it. The missionary did what he could there with his own resources, that is to say in fact he did material things like confessions, much and nothing. If you wish, there are churches galore; but each year you have to start all over again on them because, each year, the main walls collapse, the thatch covering them rots, etc. etc.

So that I could summarise by asking you to do all you can to procure all possible succour for me. To see whether it would not be possible to have me granted some particular funds for the establishment to be set up at Coimbatore. To try to send me out several missionaries this year. I sent Mr Jarrige the letter for him contained in yours of 24 September and in which you speak to him of finances and of missionaries, of which he still has not let me know the content. However that may be, he will not be able to destroy my three previous proposals.

When you send me missionaries, you should take care to designate in Paris those that are destined for Coimbatore. This remark is of the utmost importance for me in the present circumstances. I also think that you will give them in particular all they need for their journey as far as here. For their destination is not Pondicherry, and that may be considerable because of the customs. The bursar from here will settle up with you for it. Finally, I hope that the missionaries you send me this year will be counted in the allocations for the viaticum. We are so poor that if we had to keep them for a year on the supplementary allocation, it would really embarrass us. Finally these provisions which appear to me fairly simple however need to be clearly applied, for if not the passage through Pondicherry will cause extremely disagreeable difficulties, and in which I will have everything to lose, being the most feeble.

As for stockings, mozettas, etc. of which you speak to me, since I think that all of that will need to be paid out of the next allocation, kindly do not buy anything. We must proceed as poorly as possible in order to provide for the essential needs. I will have all that made here in cotton. However a piece of good violet cloth would give me great pleasure for the Nilghiris. You see, Mgr Luquet had announced to me a crozier from Rome, has he not passed it on to you ? What is this dear confrere doing? Will our congregation lose him? Oh, how it seems to me that the missionaries of Pondicherry will be guilty of having stopped his work. What immense good he would have done if, instead of having been so cruelly pursued for his faults, he had been encouraged and backed up for his successes. But God permitted it ; let us humble ourselves and pray for India.

Kindly present my respects to all our dear confreres. I believe I asked you for a copy of the regulations of our congregation. I hope you will send us the issues of the Annals. A Dieu. Pray for me who am in union of holy sacrifices,

Sir and very dear confrere,

Your very devoted friend.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty ?, 9 November 1846)

(There follows a little note signed by A. Laugier.)

Sir and dear confrere,

I have not had the opportunity until today of advising you of the receipt of your amiable and obliging letter of March last, but I am eager to take this opportunity that My Lord of Pruse deigns to give me. I would like to interest you in some particular news, but I think that everything that I could tell you would merely be a repetition of what His Lordship has already said; thus, for your own satisfaction I say nothing. For the moment I am superior, teacher, supervisor and everything for the small seminary of Carumattampatty set up by Mr Jarrige last year. The latter gentleman received from you at the same time as my letter some forty masses each at 2 francs. He handed over twenty to me. But it seems that he has not received any news of the fees, which I have been expecting since then.

I am very humbly

A. Laugier

Sent_0196

Sent_0196 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 novembre 1846 -/2

Sent 0196 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 November 1846 -2/2

Sent_0196 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 novembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0196 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 10, pp 43-45

() copy, AMEP, in vol. 1000 J

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am late in wishing you a good feastday. The sharing out of the funds will not take place this year in Paris. Question of the viaticum of Mr Jarrige for the time he was in Coimbatore. A question of printing.

Index : friendship, printing press, finances, viaticum

__________

Carumattampatty, 22 November 1846

My Lord,

I am really annoyed not to have remembered your feastday until I turned the pages of my missal today. Without this culpable oversight, my very best wishes would have swelled those of our confreres who will not fail to convey their sentiments. Although a little later than they should have been, deign nevertheless to accept them, please, with your habitual goodness and with the assurance of their sincerity.

Since I had the honour of writing to you, I have received your letter of 5 November and a copy of the synod of Pondicherry, and in addition the bull "Multa praeclare" with the exposition of the S.C., for all of which I thank you very much.

A letter from Mr Tesson to Mr Jarrige makes us fear that the sharing out of the funds will still not take place this year in Paris, which disappoints me. He speaks of a statement that he sent you and that Y.L. should notify to me, as well as to Mgr of Jassen. In fact I saw such in your room, but Y.L. did not tell me that it was something that concerned me. The omission of this formality will be the cause, says Mr Tesson, of once more attributing funds in globo. It seems to me that for (our?) cause that is a misfortune.

Mr Jarrige is claiming from the burse of Carumattampatty all of his viaticum, up to the month of (May ?). I do not think that we owe it to him, for when a missionary leaves one mission to go to another one, I do not think that the establishment he leaves is bound to pay it for the whole year. However, by the mere fact that he is requesting it, I was of the opinion to let him have it. The missionaries here were not at all of this opinion. So I left the question in the hands of the bursar. He will deal with it as he considers fit with the bursar of Mysore, or else he will pay him quite simply as he considers right; but I did not wish personally to have anything to do with this question of money.

I wrote on the 8th of this month to Mr Dupuis, for a question regarding the printing press. I expected to receive his reply yesterday. I still cannot tell him how much we would like to have some of his new books. The hardship and the ignorance in this country mean that almost none are sold, and their price is too high to be able to gift many.

Could I ask you, My Lord, to present my affectionate respects to all of our confreres, asking you yourself to accept once more the assurance of the respectful sentiments with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 22 November 1846)

Sent_0197

Sent_0197 - à M. Tesson - le 7 décembre 1846 -/2

Sent 0197 - to Mr Tesson - 7 December 1846 -2/2

Sent_0197 - à M. Tesson - le 7 décembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0197 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 7

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 29

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Letter to accompany the table to be sent to propagation of the Faith giving the general information, receipts and expenses foreseen for 1847 for the vicariate of Coimbatore. In Coimbatore, Mr Pacreau has found what we need, but it is too expensive. We should also do something in the Nilghiris.

Index : finances, expenses (to be incurred)

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 December 1846

My very dear Mr Tesson,

As soon as I became aware of what your letter to Mr Jarrige contained I wrote to My Lord of Drusipare. At the same time I wrote to Mr Pacreau asking him to give me the exact statistic of the mission; he did this in the form of a long letter that he is sending you. H.L. sent me an old table that I have copied and filled in so that I am sending it to you. I will now give you some explanations which may be useful to you. The 600 francs at which I evaluated the small casual offerings of the year offer almost no advantage to the mission. It is received and utilised almost totally by the priests on the spot where it arrives; one could put a 0 in this column, or else it would be necessary to increase by as much the expenses of the clergy.

Under no. 1, I counted one bishop and four missionary priests 3,600 francs, and four catechists and four schoolmasters at 4 rupees per month or 120 francs per year, which makes 960 francs, finally 480 francs for a host of small employees to whom at least something must be given.

For no. 2, I supposed that in the course of the year we would be sent the six missionaries whom we need so badly, above all after Mr Jarrige's departure. I counted 15,000 francs for their passage as far as Pondicherry and 150 rupees for their journey, customs expenses etc. as far as here. This figure may vary according to circumstances, but it makes approximately that, and that is all. However little they bring with them, the customs can cost so much, just as it can cost almost nothing in certain circumstances. A cask of wine that I brought here when I came : ½ of red for the consecration and ½ of white for the mass, cost me 80 rupees, that is 200 francs of customs ; the purchase price was 170.

Under article 3, I counted twelve pupils to be kept in the seminary, each costing 3 rupees per month, or 90 francs per year, which makes 1,080 francs. I do not think that we can do it at that price, however for this year, since they are all beginners and do not yet need many books, perhaps it will be sufficient. I have added 500 francs for succour to be granted for the upkeep of a few churches.

Under article 4, I count for the purchase of a house and of a piece of land in Coimbatore 10,000 francs. Since I am here, I have been making inquiries on all sides and can find nothing passable except much more expensive. Mr Pacreau has just spent a few days for this purpose in Coimbatore. He in fact found what suited us more or less: a bungalow already built and very suitable which would have served as lodging for the bishop, for the new missionaries etc. and the main room of which could decently have been converted into a chapel until the church was built; finally ground beside it sufficient for this future construction, all of which in a favourable position, which is an essential point in these parts. But they were not prepared to negotiate at less than 6,000 rupees, that is to say 15,000 francs.

Mr Pacreau wrote to me : we must absolutely buy it even if we indebt ourselves, because we will never find anything which suits us better and each day that passes the advantageous positions cost a higher price because the English are establishing themselves more and more in this town. I did not want to hear with this ear, and did not allow him to negotiate, not wishing to commit myself to a debt without knowing what I could count on for the future. To this article, I have added 5,000 francs for an establishment in the Nilghiris, which is indispensable.

I do not understand exactly what is meant by the no. 5, since the expenses have been evaluated higher up. I put 5,000 francs which would be what we would need in order to get things going decently.

Excuse the disorder of this letter ; a violent headache together with colic has robbed me of all my strength, so that I almost don't have the courage to write : A Dieu. I have received the news from My Lord that you have had the general regulations of the Congregation printed. This prelate is very angry that you have had the regulations preceded by certain documents, etc. I hope that you will send me a copy.

I have asked you on several occasions for certain things which I beg you not to forget : I have seen from Mr Jarrige's letter that I would have done better to write out a list ; I wanted to do so today, but my head is splitting.

My respects, please, to all of our dear confreres.

Your very devoted servant and friend.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 7 December 1846)

Sent_0198

Sent_0198 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 7 décembre 1846 -/2

Sent 0198 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 7 December 1846 -2/2

Sent_0198 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 7 décembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0198 copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 26 ()

(to the Council of Propagation of the Faith)()

Table giving the general information, receipts and expenses for 1847 for the vicariate of Coimbatore. Extreme poverty of this vicariate.

Index : finances (request for), poverty

__________

8 December 1846

(Table attached to the letter to Mr Tesson of 7 December 1846)

Mgr de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse - Pro-Vicariate of Coimbatore, for the year 1847.

* Date of information:

8 December 1846.

* Population :

.Catholics: about 20,000.

.Heretics: Do not amount to more than 600, however they are very powerful as a result of their wealth and their social position.

.Infidels: Several millions.

* Conversions each year:

Practically none for a long time now, because of too few missionaries for the Christian communities, and no possibility of dealing with the Gentiles.

* Easter communions:

From 5,000 to 6,000.

* Clergy :

. Missionaries: 4.

. Native priests: 0.

* Churches built:

. Churches: 3 or 4 built in brick, without whitewash, and roofed in very small tiles.

. Chapels : 49 – Most of these are mere small shacks roofed with straw.

* Colleges, Seminaries, Hospitals, etc.

All of this remains to be done. However one seminary has been founded ; it counts nine or ten pupils at the mission's expense. But they are not lodged. Until we are in a position to set up a building, they spend all their time, night and day, in a single small room.

General observations

This new Vicariate which belonged to the immense apostolic Vicariate of Pondicherry, was almost totally deprived of assistance because of its remoteness from the main town. My Lord the apostolic Vicar barely managed to send out one or two priests who had no other resources than their viaticum and some small casual offerings. Thus, everything remains to be done. The church where the bishop is at present based is a poor barn ; the others are much worse. The house situated beside this church is in need of considerable repair: it consists of three rooms measuring ten to eleven square feet each.

State of the presumed receipts and expenditures for the year 1847.

Resources of the apostolic Vicariate:

These resources which consist of incomes from properties or other, proceeds of the churches, colleges and diocesan associations, small commissions, gifts and offerings, assistance granted by the government of the country or other, or by associations other than Propagation of the Faith, are evaluated at 600 francs.

These 600 francs, consisting almost entirely of gifts, offerings, and small commissions are very variable.

The allocation from Propagation of the Faith (amounts to ?) 15,725 francs.

(This mention is added in pencil on the sheet of paper)

Expenditures:

1) Expenses of the bishop, of his clergy, and other persons attached to the mission, evaluated at 5,040 francs.

2) Expenses for the establishments already founded evaluated for the year at 1,580 francs.

3) Expenses for the establishments to be founded, evaluated for the year at 15,000 francs.

4) Special expenses evaluated at 5,000 francs.

N.B. The 15,000 francs of no. 3 would be for the establishment at Coimbatore and a chapel or house in the Nilghiris.

Sent_0199

Sent_0199 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 8 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0199 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 8 December 1846 -/1

Sent_0199 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 8 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0199 partial copy + Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 29-30

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Question of Mr Jarrige's viaticum to be paid or not by the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore until the new division of funds. To avoid any dispute, we will follow your decision without discussion. Meanwhile Mr Pouplin will pay you on our account.

Index : finances, viaticum

__________

(Carumattampatty), 8 December 1846

I ask him his news which I have not received for a long time. Despite my headache and painful colic, I did not want to wait any longer before writing to him

to ask you to decide on a money question which has arisen regarding Mr Jarrige, Y.L. must without doubt know that Mr Jarrige wrote to me to claim his viaticum until the new division of funds; I informed my confreres of this letter, and it appeared doubtful to us if we were bound to pay what he claims. Then, I asked Mr Pacreau who is entrusted with the burse to deal with this question together with the bursar of Mysore, for it falls much more under their competence than ours.

But what was my astonishment when, on his arrival from a short tour of one month, this dear confrere told me that he still had not written on this subject. I have pressed him to write and I hope that he will do that today. Would Y.L. take note of the reasons which we feel go in our favour ; and in order for this question to be prolonged no more, I would ask you, My Lord, to kindly judge it in the last instance. Both you and I are interested in doing what is just, are we not ? For since this money is not our personal property, generosity on one or the other side would be a fault.

Thus I will go absolutely by what you decide on it. The only thing I would ask of Y.L., is that this question be settled at once and between ourselves, for questions of money are too disagreeable to allow them to be reported outside. And in order for there to be no difficulty, I am writing today to Mr Pouplin to pay to the account of Coimbatore and at the mere request of My Lord of Jassen or his bursar, all that we are said to owe to Mr Jarrige if he had stayed here until the time of the future division less 100 rupees lent to Mr de Kérizouët, 6 rupees advanced for customs on books, and 5 rupees owing to Mr Pacreau, in all thus less 111 rupees. And if on the contrary Y.L. should decide that we do not owe this sum, you will take such measures as seem most proper to you to let us have the 111 rupees owing to us.

My departure for the Nilghiris.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 8 December 1846)

Sent_0200

Sent_0200 - au Père Lazare - le 8 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0200 - to Father Lazare - 8 December 1846 -/1

Sent_0200 - au Père Lazare - le 8 décembre 1846 -1/1

Sent 0200 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 30-31

(to Father Lazare, Indian priest)

Mgr Luquet is not right about everything. However, we have won the battle of the native clergy. But whether the work is carried out by us or by others is not important, providing it is done. If we were backed up, fine things could be achieved! As regards your affair, pray and you will succeed sooner or later.

Index : native clergy, vicariates (division), faith (spirit of faith)

__________

(Carumattampatty), 8 December 1846

I received his letter of 16 November

I thank you for the flattering remarks you make regarding me and my dear and worthy friend the bishop of Hésébon. May Heaven deign to listen to your prayers and provide us with the instruments of his mercy towards our dear Indians. But alas! how many difficulties, how many obstacles on the part of those who should help us. And this is all the more unfortunate since their opposition to Mgr Luquet has some appearance of reason, that may be held against him without wounding consciences, because this dear confrere went a little too far. People were not sufficiently indulgent to him for certain faults he made at the outset and treated him in a manner that irritated him.

What will come of all this ? No good, certainly. It is true that even if Mgr Luquet were annihilated and I with him because of our friendship and of our unity of views, we would still have won a great battle before dying, that by which the principle of the necessity for a native clergy and of its possibility everywhere has been solemnly proclaimed and forced to be admitted even by those most opposed to it. That if things proceed in future as they should, what does it matter to us that God's work should not be done by our hands, providing it is done? We know well that we are merely useless servants; Servi inutiles sumus(). It will still be true that India will never have had two better friends of the Indians and of the native clergy.

It seems to me that if we were backed up instead of contradicted and if we were forgiven the faults that we may make, in less than a few dozen years, we would see Indian bishops and priests in sufficient numbers and sufficiently filled with the spirit of their calling to greatly diminish the need for so many missionaries. Let us pray God and let us try to interest the Blessed Virgin and the guardian angels of India in our work.

As regards your affair, I can't see what it can have in common with Mr Leroux's idea which very probably will come to nothing, nor with that of Mr Godet which is quite different. Yours is quite possible; it only needs two or three ecclesiastics of goodwill backed up by the bishop. It will advance by itself and will render at least as many services as these ecclesiastics could render in any other position. Pray to the good God and you will succeed sooner or later.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 8 December 1846)

Sent_0201

Sent_0201 - à M. Roger - le 12 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0201 - to Mr Roger - 12 December 1846 -1/2

Sent_0201 - à M. Roger - le 12 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0201 Brésillac copy , AMA 2F6, p 32

(to Mr Jacques Roger)

(apostolic missionary)

You would like to come and work in Coimbatore. I would not dare ask it of Mgr Bonnand. Some news of his seminary. Mr Laugier is doing what he can. For the consecration we were 4 bishops; it was not possible to have a discussion together on the big religious problems of India.

Index : seminary of Carumattampatty, poverty

__________

(Carumattampatty), 12 December 1846

Pleasure that his letter of 12 November caused me.

As regards the offer you make to me, dear confrere, I appreciate it very much, believe me, but I would never delude myself in the hope of ever seeing it achieved. Never perhaps would I have such need of a devoted confrere and one attached to me, but how to obtain My Lord of Drusipare's consent? As for me, I would not dare even to try.

Troubles of my mission.

Our Seminary still does not deserve to bear that name, either materially or spiritually. However, it's not the matter that is lacking. If I had a missionary of the right kind for that, or even Aroulnaden or Pakianaden, by this time we would have a veritable foundation of a seminary. For the moment, there are ten devils who still cannot read decently, although five or six of them have been dragging along for the last year what was called the seminary before my arrival, but that I still do not dare to call by that name. Meanwhile, for the last two months, Mr Laugier has been caring for them a little better, however this dear confrere, who is not lacking in goodwill does not know Tamoul well, is not sufficiently acquainted with the Indian character, and is too occupied with other things.

I remember that in my last letter, I dared not speak to you of your work. Our Lords of Jassen and of Drusipare maintained the utmost reserve with regard to me, so that I could not even insist on the proposal that I made twice of our having together and with His Grace of Chyrra a conference on various questions. Everyone arrived, exchanged greetings, made little jokes, drank to each other's health, and then retired ! As if the meeting of four bishops was not a sufficiently important and rare event in this country not to let it pass without making some efforts for the good of Religion. What could I do? I was the youngest, I did not even have any advice to give.

Friendly greetings.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 12 December 1846)

Sent_0202

Sent_0202 - à son père - le 28 décembre 1846 -/7

Sent 0202 - to his father - 28 December 1846 -7/7

Sent_0202 - à son père - le 28 décembre 1846 -/7

Sent 0202 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 114-119

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 34

(to his father) ()

Long letter in which he tells in great detail his first journey from Carumattampatty to Ootacamund with Mr Pacreau, the coolness, the flowers, grass, plants, trees, the forest, the birds, animals, the waterfalls, the smells, etc. A great deal of poetry in this letter where he compares what he has seen in the course of this trip with the memories he still has of the country of his childhood. The wealth and luxury vaunted by the English who live or who come to relax in the Nilghiris. Poverty of the church compared to the temple of the English. Presence of the schismatics of Goa. He asks his father to pass this letter on to the Annals of Propagation of the Faith.

Index : Nature (beauty), journey, climate, vegetation, Goa, English

__________

Ootacamund, 28 December 1846

(P.S. of 6 January 1847)

My very dear father,

I very much fear that one post went astray, for clearly I should have received your news by the last steamer or by this one. Instead I have not had a single word in writing from you or my family for over four months now. I was also waiting for letters from some other persons, but niente! Kindly address my letters from now onwards to the Right Reverend D. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse at Coimbatore, via Madras, by Marseilles and Alexandria. Anything other than letters or objects sent by post: to the mission house at Pondicherry for forwarding, etc.

This makes me think that I have not received the ordo that you announced to me, any more than what Miss Caillabel had promised me, or what Mr Laffon was to have let me have in memory of my former friend who recently died. All of which very probably for want of the right addresses. Besides, the unfailing resource, if you do not know my address or the communication routes, is the seminary of Foreign Missions, Rue du Bac 120, Paris, to be forwarded, etc.

After these long preliminaries of precautions, I am going to try and write you a long letter. This will be my gift for the New Year now approaching and which will have passed by the time this letter arrives bringing with it my best New Year's wishes, as well as all those I form in my heart for my dear mother, my brothers and sisters and all the members of the family to whom kindly convey my New Years greetings.

First of all let me tell you that I am writing to you sitting in front of a fireplace, from which the inconvenient smoke, despite the thousand and one cracks in the doors of my miserable hut, often prevents me from opening my eyes. A fireplace, you will retort, at the eleventh degree of latitude ! Has the torrid zone perchance reached an agreement with the ice of the poles? Well yes, a fireplace, and a fireplace to keep me warm, while the north wind whistles at the door and the white frost of morning makes the heads of the broad beans, haricot beans and peas hang down, wilting the cabbage leaves, turning the meadows of strawberries brown and aborting the blossom of the imprudent peach-tree.

But you may protest further, this is all a mystery, since these crops are not to be found in India, at least south of the Himalayas. Well, all of that is to be found at Ootacamund. But what then is that name that we cannot find anywhere on the maps, except on very recent ones? Before telling you what it is, I want to give you a short description of the little journey I have just made. But since I still have not lit the fire this morning, I will leave you for a moment to go and warm up my numbed limbs in the sun whose beneficent rays are not so fierce as on the plain; in the middle of the day, we savour its delights, under a thick cloth coat, or a padded greatcoat, worn over a flannel-lined cassock.

On 14 December, at two in the morning, we left Carumattampatty (where I had been staying ever since my consecration), Mr Pacreau, a missionary priest, and myself. I was in a palanquin, and Mr Pacreau on horseback. The first day's march, in which we covered about thirty English miles, was very much like the usual journeys of missionaries in India: an oppressive heat, lunch in the country under the shade of a huge tamarind tree, consisting of our daily rice seasoned with pepper water in which a few small birds victims of the early morning shoot had been plunged, etc. etc. We arrived by evening at the bungalow at Monttepaleam, a large village at the foot of the mountain.

There is there a small and very wretched Christian grouping. The men are absent for most of the year since they deal in pigs that they go to Cochin to buy and then drive over the mountain to provide comfort in the comfortable meals of the English. This cause, source of many disorders, means that the missionary rarely meets these poor people when he passes by to administer them, so that they have very little of Christian about them apart from the name. Finally, to cap their misfortune, their small church has been burned down this year. Placed as I said at the foot of the mountain and on the banks of the Bavany, a river formed by the innumerable streams descending from it, this village receives part of the influence of the cool air over the mountains. The night was almost cold and I admired the stars which were brighter than these ordinarily appear in India.

After a short rest, we were on the march again by five in the morning to take one of the finest routes I have ever seen. This climbed up the Nilghiri mountains. For about four miles more we travelled on the plain, even going down a little. The temperature was neither cold nor hot, with watercourses that furrowed the valley in all directions. This is one of the most attractive sights you can imagine. Magnificent trees of intense green are dotted with an infinity of birds in dazzling plumage each with a different song. But not one of them has a fine voice, however the variety of their song was something quite delightful ; to the right and the left, the eye is lost in a great mass of green, but the eye only, for the forest is impenetrable and man's foot has never trodden the innumerable paths which thus far are only known to the elephants, tigers and various other wild beasts.

And yet if one should venture to penetrate a little, something that is becoming daily less dangerous on the edges of the main road, because of its use by people and the precaution that the English take of now and then burning the trees and bushes bordering on it, you cannot imagine what delightful reveries arrive to assail the spirit that is raised in contemplation of the marvels that nature has lavished on these parts.

Here, the thundering sound of waterfalls, there the white foam of the waters breaking against a great mass of motionless rocks, the murmur of small streams wandering over the grass, the transparent springs flowing away drop by drop or in tiny trickles through thick moss ; further off, age-old trees bent under the weight of time whose immense fleshless branches are sometimes covered with lianas of indefinite length covering this skeleton, but sometimes left with their entire mass bare, contrasting in their venerable age with millions of green stems that the power of an ever active vegetation always backed up by the abundance of the waters and the influence of a beneficent heat, causes to grow by several feet in a few short months ; in a word, everything the imagination could assemble in the way of marvellous contrasts, to compose the ideal of an admirable landscape that nature alone has formed, is to be found together there.

These beauties are all the more admirable since they are practically unknown at least in this part of India that I have visited. When speaking for example of these things to the native pupils of our colleges or our seminaries, or when they read a description of these beauties of nature (to which in fact most of them are to a large degree indifferent), they think they are reading or hearing fairy tales.

After a light lunch by the side of a fine waterfall, we started to climb. If intending to go up by palanquin, here the number of porters has to be doubled; but both to save the considerable expenses for a poor missionary bishop and to enjoy at my ease the sight offered by this enchanting route, I climbed up the hillside on foot, together with Mr Pacreau whose horse, unaccustomed to the mountains, could not have got up it with his rider. In this way we covered five miles, climbing always, as far as a savady() built halfway up the slope for natives only, though we were welcomed in our capacity of gurus.

More often than not, thick mist swathes the side of the mountain we were climbing up, but that day the sky was of admirable purity, and at each step we were able to contemplate at leisure both the incessant beauties of nature and the work of man who had succeeded in carving out a wide path through the granite rocks and the forest until then inaccessible.

From the point of view of art, there certainly exist more gigantic and more admirable works than this road ; nevertheless, the one that the English had carried out to climb these mountains is very remarkable. Almost always it proved necessary to carve into the rock, and to cleverly follow the contour of the hills to make the slope practicable without lengthening the road too much. This is what the engineers have skilfully achieved, without having any need of bridges, or of big cuts and fills.

Those who have not journeyed in the mountains take pleasure during the journey in considering the splendid horrors offered at every step by immense rocks, suspended over frightful precipices, at the bottom of which a river flows, whose dull roar conveys I know not what of solemn and impressive to this sight uplifting to the soul. These magnificent horrors could however scarcely be compared to those offered at every step in the Pyrenees for example and the Alps. But one thing for which I had practically no point of comparison, is the beauty and luxuriance of the vegetation, always grandiose and magnificent, which was destined to last almost up to the top of the mountains.

How many reflections, now gay, and now mingled with sadness, I made together with the good Mr Pacreau, during this delightful day. You see, we were saying, this magnificent untilled valley. It would suffice to have a few pairs of arms to get rid of the undergrowth, to cut down a few trees, and splendid harvests of all kinds would abound here. How many people there are dying of hunger in the world! If they came here, armed with a pickaxe, and a handful of grain, in three months they would harvest enough to feed several families. How far from perfection civilisation still is. How far men are still from understanding one another.

It is not the fault of Providence if there are so many people dying of hunger ! She has given man the whole earth to inhabit and to cultivate, and while men leave most of it abandoned, they accumulate and devour each other on certain points which seem unable to contain them any longer. Whence these governments, in fact so powerful and which call themselves philanthropic, cannot find any way of fostering emigration without harming the metropolises and of relieving mankind by opening up to it the treasures which remain unused and that it would only have to take, triplicating them for its industry? And many other thoughts of this kind arose quite naturally at the sight of the vigorous brambles occupying the place of a rich harvest of corn, maize, rice, potatoes and fruits of all kinds that could be cultivated there successfully.

Why could we not, we went on further, call to these fine places some colonies of those religious cultivators who transformed the forests similar to those of the former Gaul into our rich and ungrateful provinces of France, England, Germany and others ! How well placed would a monastery of Trappists be in this vast valley. Would there be no way of calling them here! And we sought for these means, and our various combinations seemed not impossible to us.

Then, we built castles in the air, of a religious style. It seemed to us that following on these good Fathers, who would give an example of evangelical perfection, would come the civilisation of these poor peoples still entrenched in their idolatry. Their mute preaching would perhaps be extremely effective, their style of life being above all of those leading to the Indians' admiration. These examples of penance, of frugal living, this life of saniaci () which would have in its favour purity of intention and perfection of principle, fecundated besides by prayer and the merits of a continual mortification, would undoubtedly bear fruits, perhaps more abundant than we could dare to expect.

At two in the afternoon, we continued our climb, still with a dazzling sun, in the midst of the multifarious singing of a thousand yellow, blue, red and black birds, some of which sung better than in the morning. Their harmonious concert was interspersed with the raucous screech of the woodcock and the chirping of the hen who now and then crossed our path, risking being shot at by the hunter of the group, which in fact happened to one of them, as well as to several other birds some of which were shot down to serve as seasoning for the evening rice and the others simply so that we could admire from closer at hand their brilliant and rich plumage. Great black monkeys, whose flesh and above all blood are, it is said, an excellent remedy against asthma, and that the Indians do not consider as a divinity, were more fortunate, as also were great stags who came roaring defiance at us, braving our hunter's buck-shot.

Meanwhile the air was becoming more and more rarefied and pungent and our chests dilated readily. Despite the strength of the sun, its rays no longer brought an oppressive heat, and when the contours of the path or a thick clump of trees intercepted them, we could feel the cold on our arms and shoulders. The water dripping from the rocks was not merely cool, it felt cold to us. Little by little the vegetation changed too, with the palm, the tamarind and the banana-tree giving way to other trees whose names our companions didn't know; the birds diminished in number and beauty, but I felt a delightful sensation on hearing multiplied the song of the lark and the chirping of innumerable swallows which were diving back and forth across a verdant sward, the uniformity of which was here and there interspersed by the clumps of what plant? Oh, what pleasure did I feel in picking the first tufts coming within hand's reach! by tufts of fern, for we were beginning to enter Europe. The thorns bordering the path were no longer the sullen calli(), but were raspberries and mulberries, the grass was studded with daisies and wild strawberries ; the dog-rose and the mullein, wild thyme and a host of other plants that I recognised from of old, whose names I took a quarter of an hour to recall, carried me back to that fine countryside of Languedoc where I spent the happiest years of my life.

The following day was to be even more touching from this point of view. In fact the night came down to find us at the top of the first range of hills; we pressed on to arrive at the bungalow of Coonoor, for it was cold. You should have seen our poor coolies (), our disciples, etc. shivering, numb with cold, not knowing what way to turn and seeming to be asking one another what on earth these Europeans can have come to find in so detestable a place. Mr Pacreau, who had made this journey several times and who knew the effect produced by this sudden drop in temperature on the Indians, had ordered them at midday to cook rice for the evening. Luckily for us, for I think that, without this precaution we would have gone to bed without eating.

A thick mist soon came down over the whole country, and as I gave an order to my pion () for the following day : alas ! he said to me, we are alive today, but will we be tomorrow ? Then, having brought in drinking water: Put it close to the fire, he said to us, for it makes your teeth fall out. We burst out laughing and having on the contrary savoured this coolness which we had not enjoyed for a long time, he gazed at us in surprise.

The room we were assigned in the bungalow was adorned with a fireplace, something indispensable in the habitations in the mountain, and despite the fact that the thermometer did not go down that evening to under 10 to 12 degrees centigrade, we were delighted to enjoy a good fire that we had lit. The night was colder and we were glad to have provided ourselves with a mattress and a cotton blanket ; since the simple mat and sheet constituting the ordinary bedding of a missionary in India would have been too light. As soon as the sun re-appeared, everyone greeted it joyfully, trying to warm their numb limbs in its beneficent warmth. It was not until half an hour after sunrise that we were able to continue on our journey.

We still had to climb some very steep but not continual slopes. Now Nature was less magnificent, but for us she became more and more interesting. The appearance of the mountains, now bare, and now covered with great masses of vegetation, cultivated fields where corn and other European crops had recently been harvested, everything down to the tiniest blade of grass recalled our homeland to us. The sight of thyme, serpolet, the yellow everlasting flower, the violet, the marigold, the aster, etc. stopped us at each step. The breeze that blew out of the gorges of different hills, and the icy mists which covered us towards midday, made us shiver violently, and thus we arrived peacefully at our humble cottage of Ootacamund towards one o'clock, without being expected, for the letter announcing our arrival had still not reached the Christians.

Now, let us come back to our question : what is Ootacamund ? It is difficult to find the answer. However I think that we could give an idea of it by saying that it is the most complete amalgamation of everything that exists in the world. In physical terms, here you find heat, temperate conditions and cold down to ice, days of admirable serenity, heavy mists of Albion, no snow, but sometimes wintry weather that whitens the hills. Here European crops grow side by side with others native to India, while products from all over the world are to be found in the bazaars or the shops of rich merchants.

The population consists principally of English, and also of French, of Turks, of Arabs, Jews, Armenians, etc., without counting the Indians of different customs and habits from all over India and the Original inhabitants of the Nilghiris, a half savage people completely unrelated to the others. The English dominate there without yet considering themselves as absolute masters of a country that they have only conquered through occupation, but which in fact is becoming day by day more owned by them.

Side by side with a fine Protestant temple where the different dissident sects assemble, is seen a Catholic church, and another one attached to the schism of Goa served by a priest of the Syriac rite, finally the infamous divinities that the peoples of India have brought with them. The natives of the mountains have no temple; they say that their ancestors, in climbing the mountains, left their gods behind on the plain; their whole worship is limited to a few acts of idolatry little known still; besides, almost no-one understands their language.

About thirty years ago the English, having discovered by chance the admirable and extraordinary temperature of these mountains that they found accessible from the Mysore side and the Coimbatore side, had great roads constructed, and in several of the Nilghiri hills they built themselves bungalows or country houses, where they come to breathe the European air and to recover, under the salutary influence of a mild climate, their health impaired by the continual heats of India. The principal place where they have settled is Ootacamund. There they have laid on everything agreeable that you can imagine in life.

The pleasures of the town, which today consists of close on 200 bungalows, without counting the Indian habitations which have been set up there at the service of the masters of the world of our time, are combined with the pleasures of the country, for each bungalow is isolated, having its own garden, dependencies and sometimes its park. Over the area of one and a half leagues in diameter, they communicate with one another through perfectly maintained roads which join up to other roads solely devoted to the pleasure of walking out. A great artificial lake completes the rustic adornments of this paradise on earth.

The suspended carriages, of all shapes, from the elegant cabriolet to the square mass, pulled by oxen, of the ancient mogol(), the palanquins, the Arab and pegu horses ridden English style by ladies on horseback etc. cross each other continually on these fine roads. The costumes of all kinds, and the most diverse habits, are all found there. It is possible to live here as comfortably as in London, but everything is very expensive. The rich English who come here to take their sow by the handfuls a money which costs them so little, with no regrets for the luxury of the table, carriages, hunting, etc.

In the midst of this eccentric style of living, what do we poor missionaries do ? Alas! not very much; and we have the sorrow of seeing our holy religion thoroughly humiliated in this place. However we are present here, for it is necessary that in the midst of the darkest shadows some little light at least always shines, that the chosen of God recognise, and that will make inexcusable those who, seeing it like them, have despised it.

While the English saw to the carrying out of the great works of communication between the plains of Coimbatore and the Nilghiris, the native troops that they employed on this work counted various Catholics. The numerous wooden crosses that can still be seen all along the road on the tombs of those who succumbed to work or to the cholera which wreaked great havoc among these workers bear out this fact to all passer-bys. Each year, a priest from the western coast was sent to the camp to offer the succour of religion to those clamouring for it. Thus, the religion of Jesus Christ climbed up the mountain by the side of those who squandered gold on works intended exclusively for the well-being of this perishable life. A small chapel was built at Ootacamund and continued to be served by priests from Cranganor, who came at least once a year to administer the sacraments to the pariahs, always numerous in the service of the English, and to a few topas (), descendants of the Portuguese, who likewise drag on in the service of the conquerors of India.

As in the whole peninsula, several of the latter decided not to recognise the bull Multa praeclare, entrusting the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of these places to the apostolic vicars alone. Accordingly a few bad Christians formed a schismatic party which still persists and which has forced the Catholic missionaries to build another chapel. This is where I am at the present moment, having the grief of seeing my little flock divided and having recourse in part to the Syriac priest who has no power and who does not wish to submit. Our little chapel is so horrid and so poor that several Catholic English, or topas of high standing, dare not attend it. They prefer not to let their faith be known rather than have to humble themselves before their fellow-countrymen proud of their great style of living and of their temple ; at times even, they succumb and turn Protestant. Without doubt, they are inexcusable, and they will have a big account to render to God whom they would undoubtedly not have recognised in the stable of Bethlehem. Nevertheless, this is unbearably painful to a bishop's heart ! To the point that he may even desire at times to be rich in order to offset the Protestant influence a little.

My consolation is to think that Jesus Christ, our master, was poor and the apostles also, that the kingdom of heaven is above all promised to the poor. Oh yes! How many pariahs will we see on the great day sitting on the right hand of Jesus Christ and how many rich (English: the word has been crossed out) who make their paradise in this world, where God rewards, by the success of their undertakings and by the riches that he places in their hands, the little of natural virtues that distinguishes them, how many rich (English: the word crossed out once more), their masters, I say, will we see on the other side!

I hope, my dear father, that you will not be angry this time, for already we are close on eleven large pages. You owe that to the idleness I am left in by my poor Christians whose faith is scarcely warmer than the hoar-frost entering my room through the cracks in the doors. And how could the faith resist such disorders and scandals. In any case, I shall be leaving them next Monday, 4 January, to return to Carumattampatty, where several serious matters await me.

I am leaving my letter open until the time of my departure, since the post gives me time for this so that if anything interesting occurs, I will let you know about it. A Dieu. Love me as (I) love you.

The most respectful of your children.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Ootacamund, 28 December 1846)

P.S. Please send this letter to Lyons to the Council of Propagation of the Faith.

P.S. of 6 January 1847. I am sending this letter open to Paris so that those Gentlemen can send a copy of it to Lyons, if they consider appropriate; so, do not take that trouble. I left Ootacamund the day before yesterday and here I am back once more in the tropical heat. What I regret most about the mountain, are the potatoes, artichokes and above all the corner of the fireplace where after supper, by taking a flamado with my dear companion, you can't imagine how many sweet memories take us back to the family hearth. There is nothing down to the tales of Pichou that did not come to mind! Farewell.

(P.S. from Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847)

Sent_0203

Sent_0203 - au prêtre schismatique - le 31 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0203 - to the schismatic priest - 31 December 1846 -1/1

Sent_0203 - au prêtre schismatique - le 31 décembre 1846 -/1

Sent 0203 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 38

(to the priest now based on the schismatic church)

You have no power to exercise the holy ministry. Come and ask me for such powers, otherwise I pronounce major excommunication against you.

Index : Goa

Ootacamund, 31 December 1846

Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse and Pro-Vicar of Coimbatore to the priest [...] salvation and blessing in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

When I had the grief of learning of your arrival here without my permission, I thought that you could be in good faith, and that when you knew the true state of affairs, you would not fail to come to declare your obedience and to ask me for the power to exercise the holy ministry in my jurisdiction. But since you have been here eight days and have still not taken this obligatory step, I find myself, to my regret, obliged to act in your regard according to the rigour of the law of the Church, and to put into usage the order that I have received from the Sovereign Pontiff in his letters of 6 May 1845 in order to preserve the flock entrusted to me from all schism and from all heresy.

Accordingly be informed by this letter that you have no power, that every ecclesiastical function is absolutely forbidden you. However, if you come humbly to submit after receiving my letter, I will welcome you with the benevolence of a tender father, and I will see what I should do; if on the contrary you persist in your conduct opposed to the will and to the order of our Holy Father the Pope, of whom I am the representative here, know that I will put into effect all the severity of the canons and that I will pronounce major excommunication against you.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Ootacamund, 31 December 1846)

Sent_0204

Sent_0204 - à Mgr Luquet - le 1er janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0204 - to Mgr Luquet - 1 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0204 - à Mgr Luquet - le 1er janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0204 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, p 459

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 34

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I have no news of you, I wish you a Happy New Year..

Index : friendship

__________

Ootacamund, 1 Janaury 1847

My very dear friend,

It is now an incredibly long time since I last heard from you. Not at all for the last three months since I have been here in Coimbatore, except for a little note that was passed on to me by Mr Leroux. And yet, how much would we not have to say to each other! Nevertheless, I won't say anything to you today since I am still expecting letters from you. This note is merely to wish you a happy new year. God knows how often I ask him on your behalf for strength and courage ! Truly he casts us down. But it seems to me that we love him none the less for that. Let us not complain then. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Ootacamund, 1 January 1847)

Sent_0205

Sent_0205 - à M. Albrand - le 1er janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0205 - to Mr Albrand - 1 January 1847 -/1

Sent_0205 - à M. Albrand - le 1er janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0205 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 8

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 34-35

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for your last letter. I don't agree with you on two points: if ecclesiastic jurisdiction is too great, the bishop cannot do his work well; delegated jurisdiction is only for a certain time: we need real bishops instead of apostolic vicars and real parish priests instead of itinerant missionaries. Happy New Year.

Index : Vicariates (division), jurisdiction (delegated)

__________

Ootacamund, 1 January 1847

My very dear Mr Albrand,

Your letter of 28 July came to give me a moment of relaxation and pleasure almost at the beginning of my new career. Thank you for the good it did me. First of all I will say that I agree with you on almost all points, except for two however, based on this principle which appears unquestionable to me, namely: that permanent institutions which depart from the natural constitution of the Church are always dangerous, that they are sometimes fruitful in bitter fruits, and that they always oppose the development of the faith, often without the cause which is hidden there being discovered.

Now, it seems to me that it is against the natural constitution of the Church to have such big ecclesiastical jurisdictions that the bishop can only visit them once or twice in his life. Thus I would certainly rejoice in seeing the jurisdictions divided, as soon as there is the shadow of a possibility.

2) It seems to me against the natural constitution of the Church for the ordinary jurisdiction to be exercised for a long time by priests and bishops vested only with a delegated jurisdiction. Accordingly I cannot understand the perpetuity of the apostolic vicars, and I must say that, if the transformation of apostolic vicars into true ordinaries of the places went against the principles of our Society, I would regard it as a great misfortune, and as the weak side of our beloved congregation that I love above everything after the Church. But I do not believe that this is the case. Because of the novelty of the thing, undoubtedly it will be necessary to take precautions, to establish some rules and to develop some rudiments of regulations; but I do not think that our rules have the misfortune of not being in harmony with the natural rules of the Church. Thus, I can merely yearn for the moment when it will be possible to establish bishops and parish priests where for such a long time there have only been apostolic vicars and itinerant missionaries.

Like you, very dear confrere, I am saying this to you as a friend, without claiming to raise myself as judge on such grave matters, I am letting you know my thought without claiming to impose on anybody the obligation of judging like me. Let us pray to the Lord to bring about what is for the greatest glory of his Church and of his name.

A Dieu. I wish you a very Happy New Year and commend myself to your prayers and Holy Sacrifices.

Your very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Ootacamund, 1 January 1847)

Sent_0206

Sent_0206 - à M. Voisin - le 1er janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0206 - to Mr Voisin - 1 January 1847 -1/2

Sent_0206 - à M. Voisin - le 1er janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0206 partial copy+ Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 35-36

(to Mr Joseph Voisin)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Kindly back up my request to the Council for six new missionaries. The cause of the native clergy is truly possible. My poor position .

Index : native clergy, poverty, personnel (request)

__________

Ootacamund, 1 January 1847

I thank him for the prayers he made for me on 4 October 1846. I ask him to redouble them. How troubled I was at what he told me about My Lord of Drusipare. How H.L. continues to treat me. My grief at everything that is happening.

Now, I want to ask you something, which is to help me in the request I am going to make for six missionaries for this year. This may perhaps appear excessive; nevertheless I will explain my reason which it is not really advisable to publish and accordingly I will not write it to the council ; you will share it personally with whom you see fit.

Thanks to God, we have more or less proved the possibility of a native clergy. (I would like to have time to copy out for you some letters from certain ecclesiastics from the seminary of Pondicherry, and you will see that if we had a good number of priests of that quality, we could not complain. You would see, further, how advantageous it is to enrol them young in the clergy, above all in a country where people practically do not know what the priesthood is, in order to prepare them from early on for this sublime state). But that is only the first beginning of what we have to do. We have to make people see that these priests must above all be consecrated to the ordinary ministry, that they should above all be parish priests and that we, who are very poor parish priests, and who have been no more than that for a very long time, should be missionaries.

For this, we need first of all to have a sufficient number of priests to care for the existing Christians, in order that some of us may devote ourselves to the missions proper ; I hope to be able to do that in a year and a half, if I am assured by then of having eleven priests, and I would like to set the example myself. My position...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Ootacamund, 1 January 1847)

Sent_0207

Sent_0207 - au prêtre schismatique - le 3 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0207 - to the schismatic priest - 3 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0207 - au prêtre schismatique - le 3 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0207 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 38

(to the priest now based on the schismatic church)

Come and see me before I leave, otherwise you will be excommunicated.

Index : Goa

__________

Ootacamund, 3 January 1847

I cannot tell you how grieved I am to see that you have been deaf to my paternal voice. But what grieves me even much more, is that you outrage the Lord by saying mass without having permission to do so. If you continue in this way, I will be obliged to regard you as a declared enemy of the Church and finally to use the censures with which I threatened you. Accordingly be informed that I order you, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ to come and find me in the course of today. If you fail to come and see me before my departure which will take place tomorrow morning, and if I do not receive a complete submission on your part within three days, know that excommunication will be pitilessly pronounced against you.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Ootacamund, 3 January 1847)

Sent_0208

Sent_0208 - à M. Tesson - le 6 janvier 1847 -/2

Sent 0208 - to Mr Tesson - 6 January 1847 -1/2

Sent_0208 - à M. Tesson - le 6 janvier 1847 -/2

Sent 0208 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 9

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 36

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

My position is terrible and dangerous : no new missionaries, no money and the schism of Goa. We need our own establishment at Coimbatore, and also something in the Nilghiris. Of the four missionaries I have, I cannot count either on Mr Barot or Mr Laugier, who is at present creating a scandal. Please send me help in proportion to my great wretchedness.

Index : poverty, personnel (request)

__________

Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847

I am very edified, my dear Mr Tesson, at the promises that you make me, you and a few other dear confreres, that the Seminary will not abandon me ; that it will come to my aid. Nevertheless, it is in vain that I turn my eyes in that direction, my only hope, and I still see nothing coming. Nevertheless my position is terrible and extremely dangerous; I might almost say: it is not tenable.

Without missionaries and without money, what can I do ? And yet the wicked stir and, strong in our weakness, they could quite easily oust us. I am speaking above all of the schismatics of Goa. Already one of their priests is in the Nilghiris; and on going there, he spread the rumour that he was sent only provisionally and as superior of the missions of Palghat, the Nilghiris and Carumattampatty; but that shortly the Archbishop was going to send a great Vicar with priests to take possession of all places. Now all of this is quite possible, if our principal churches above all are not occupied. In such a case, it only needs a calabam() for the Christians to pass over en masse to the side of the schismatics, and they may even drive us out of Carumattampatty ; for what entitlement do we have here ? and the English government will not support us. It is very ill disposed against us, it would appear ; it will be delighted to find some way of vexing us.

Accordingly it is indispensable to establish ourselves at Coimbatore and to have our own establishment there, in order to be in a position to foresee events from there ; and if we wait to do so until the govears are there, it will be too late. Say all of this in the council, please, my dear Mr Tesson, and I beg you, see that we are allocated and immediately a sum for an establishment in Coimbatore.

I am just back from the Nilghiris. There too we would need to build something. We are present there in a way that is humiliating for our Holy Religion. And things are incredibly expensive, as a result of the luxury in which the English live there; to such a point that one rupee is now worth no more than 1 franc. Now, to build something passable which does not shame us, we would need at least for the house and the church the thirty thousand francs of earlier, that is to say, thirty thousand rupees or 75,000 francs. It need not be all in the same year. We could build little by little providing we do something each year. But, for Coimbatore, we need a considerable sum and that immediately.

Now, as for the missionaries, not only have I an extreme need for new missionaries, but I have the sorrow of informing you that, out of the four that I have, two are behaving in such a way as to make me wish they were not here. Indeed I think that it will not be long before they are back in France. The first is Mr Barot: I have told you how much spirit of his calling he possesses; each day there are new stories, and I learned on the mountain that he declared quite openly, while Mr Jarrige was here, that he would be going back to his country. As a result of not having followed the indications I gave in a letter to him, he allowed Carumattampatty to go without mass on Christmas Day and on a Sunday, to the great murmur of the Christians, precisely at the time when the schismatic priest was crossing the mission with a catechist from Dindiguel preaching the schism, and exciting our poor Christians who really did not need that. Another day, he becomes terror-stricken at the sickbed of a cholera sufferer and, without even confessing him, rushes away and leaves the village, etc, etc.

The second, and this shatters my heart even more since I was expecting it less and since the question is more serious, is Mr Laugier. While I was at Ootacamund, an extremely serious accusation was brought against him. The manner in which it was made left me little doubt as to the sad truth of the fact. Nevertheless I did my best to doubt; but since I hoped in any case to prevent the scandal and publicity by removing him from the occasion or from the accuser, I summoned him immediately to the mountain, under the pretext that the presence of the schismatic priest required one of us there on my departure. I then sent Mr Pacreau to Carumattampatty, both in order to ensure that the affair remained secret, and to inform himself exactly of the truth.

Unfortunately, his testimony is overwhelming. "There is no way of doubting, he told me, of a blind and persevering solicitation". Will the secret be kept? I hardly dare hope so. The unfortunate fellow had practically solicited the husband to let him have his wife. Since the affair is not public, I pretended with Mr Laugier not to believe this accusation. But now that I can no longer doubt, just imagine my position and the fear that, with such passions, this poor confrere will renew elsewhere the scandal that he has caused here. Thus, come to my aid if you do not want everything to perish. I will not write all of these details to the council, but you can share them with it insofar as prudence makes you feel it necessary.

A Dieu. May the good God inspire in you means of succour in proportion to the greatness of my need.

Your very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I was going to send this letter directly to my father. Now I have decided to have it pass through Paris, so that you can read it ; if you consider it advisable, you could send an extract from it to Lyons. Kindly post it as soon as possible.

(Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847)

Sent_0209

Sent_0209 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 6 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0209 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 6 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0209 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 6 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0209 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 10

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 36

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

All of my trials. I need six missionaries very soon and a prompt financial aid. Best wishes.

Toutes mes épreuves. Il me faut vite six missionnaires et un prompt secours financier. Meilleurs vœux.

Index : difficulties, personnel (request), money

__________

Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847

Gentlemen and respectable confreres,

I cannot tell you all the trials through which it pleases divine Providence to afflict the beginnings of my new career. I do not even have the courage to transcribe them. I wrote about them at length to Mr Tesson, who will not fail to inform you as far as is necessary. But I wanted to address myself to the council itself in order to renew to you directly the request for six missionaries as soon as possible, for extraordinary aid for an establishment in Coimbatore and for another at Ootacamund. If my request appears excessive to you, I trust that the reasons developed in my letter to Mr Tesson, and in other earlier ones, as well as in a long letter addressed to you by Mr Pacreau two months ago, will convince you not only of its moderation, but also of its extreme necessity.

I commend myself to your good prayers, Gentlemen and dear confreres, asking you to accept my New Year's wishes, and to believe me, for life,

Your very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847)

Sent_0210

Sent_0210 - à Mgr Luquet - le 6 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0210 - to Mgr Luquet - 6 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0210 - à Mgr Luquet - le 6 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0210 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, p 460

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 36

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Ask the Holy Father for a blessing for me. Difficulties of my position; Mr Laugier's behaviour. I need men and money.

Demandez pour moi une bénédiction au Saint-Père. Difficultés de ma position ; conduite de M. Laugier. Il me faut des hommes et de l'argent.

Index : poverty, difficulties

__________

Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847

A short while ago I wrote a short note to you. The news from Rome brought by the steamer of these last two months have inspired the lines that I am putting into this packet. If the thing does not appear improper to you, I would ask you to request an audience with the Holy Father, and to hand my letter over to him, imploring for your servant and for his poor mission the blessing of the first pastor.

When will I receive news from you ?

You cannot believe how painful and dangerous my position is. If I do not receive prompt succour in missionaries and in money, I would not be astonished if you were to learn shortly that I am no longer at Carumattampatty and that the schismatics have taken over from us. To cap all of this misfortune, out of four missionaries, one is nil, and another, Mr Laugier, has just behaved in a scandalous way which has still not been made public, but which may become so. I tremble lest he renews elsewhere (for I was obliged to withdraw him from Carumattampatty) the bad example that he has given here, for at his age, when one gives in to the temptations of the flesh, ordinarily it is not easy to abandon forthwith the path of iniquity.

Farewell. May God alone be our staff and our hope. Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847)

Sent_0211

Sent_0211 - au Saint-Père - le 6 janvier 1847 -/2

Sent 0211 - to the Holy Father - 6 January 1847 -2/2

Sent_0211 - au Saint-Père - le 6 janvier 1847 -/2

Sent 0211 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 36-37

(to His Holiness Pius IX)

On the occasion of his elevation to the pontificate : letter on this occasion from a bishop completely devoted to Rome : desires, prayers, wishes.

A l'occasion de son élévation au pontificat : lettre de circonstance de la part d'un évêque tout dévoué à Rome : souhaits, prières, vœux.

Index : Rome

Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847

Very Holy Father,

The joy of the Church of Rome resounds at this moment to the ends of the earth. There is no Catholic heart that does not thrill with joy and which does not abandon itself to the sweetest hopes on learning of the marvels accomplished by Your Holiness for the prosperity of the Roman states and of the whole Church.

As for me, Very Holy Father, my admiration is such that my heart cannot resist conveying to you the feelings of love that it has conceived for Your Holiness and of confidence in the future of the Church.

Accordingly excuse the boldness which made me dare pick up my pen to address directly my congratulations to the pontiff venerated by the universal Church, I the smallest, the poorest and the most unworthy of the bishops of Christendom.

Nevertheless who knows what inner confidence I feel of not displeasing you in any way, for you are my father and I am your child. Thus it is with a quite filial love that I fling myself at your knees, Very Holy Father, and that I implore a special blessing on my poor mission.

And to this prayer, Very Holy Father, may I be permitted to join the good wishes I formulate for your prosperity. May the Lord, whose ways of mercy were so clearly manifest on the election of Your Holiness, keep you for long years, to bring about in all parts of his Church the opportune reforms that you began so gloriously through the grace of our divine Master.

Our missions are in great need of them, Very Holy Father. It was given to your illustrious predecessor, of glorious memory, to impress on them an impulsion for which he will be greatly rewarded in Heaven. Your pontificate, Very Holy Father, will have the privilege of regularising them, of gradually giving them the character and legitimate form of Churches which shelter them from the vicissitudes to which they are exposed, for lack of resting on a solid and more canonical base.

The numerous Churches of India, and that of Coimbatore more than any other, await the benefit of your universal solicitude and they will guard a perpetual memory of gratitude for Gregory XVI who created them and for Pius IX who will consolidate them.

Excuse such a long letter, Very Holy Father whom I feel tempted to call my dear Father. Excuse further the language in which I have taken the liberty of writing to you, knowing that Your Holiness is quite familiar with the French language; and deign to grant for me and my poor Christians the special blessing that I implore on my knees, while assuring you of the perfect devotion and the boundless obedience with which

I have the honour of being,

Very Holy Father,

Your Holiness's

very humble and very obedient servant and son.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 6 January 1847)

Sent_0212

Sent_0212 - à M. Dupuis - le 11 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0212 - to Mr Dupuis - 11 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0212 - à M. Dupuis - le 11 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0212 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 39

(to Mr Louis Dupuis)

(apostolic pro-vicar)

Printing of his bishop's letter by Mr Dupuis's printing press in Pondicherry. Here I am undergoing hard trials.

Index : difficulties, printing press

Carumattampatty, 11 January 1847

Answer to several questions that he asks me regarding the printing of my bishop's letter. New Year's wishes.

Here the Lord continues to make me undergo the hardest of trials from all points of view. I bless the hand that strikes me insofar as it comes from God, and I pardon it insofar as it comes from men.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 11 January 1846)

Sent_0213

Sent_0213 - à M. Chevalier - le 11 janvier 1847 -/2

Sent 0213 - to Mr Chevalier - 11 January 1847 -2/3

Sent_0213 - à M. Chevalier - le 11 janvier 1847 -/2

Sent 0213 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 40-43

(to Mr Joseph Chevalier)

(apostolic missionary)

You would agree to come and work in Coimbatore. Consult the Lord thoroughly to know what his will is. The difficulties I am encountering here: Mr Jarrige has not stayed on, I have no-one to deal with the seminary; Mr Laugier's weaknesses; Mr Barot's faults; Goa. However, I remain persuaded that the cause of the native clergy is possible. I enclose a letter for Mgr Charbonnaux (no. 0214).

Index : will of God, seminary of Carumattampatty, my missionaries, native clergy

Carumattampatty, 11 January 1847

My very dear friend, your letter of 2 January came to renew my courage and my hope at a moment when the Lord was pleased to strike me yet another of those blows that are most harrowing for a bishop's heart. Please God, I do not dissuade you from consulting the Lord. Thus far God has given me the grace of not desiring anything but his holy will and the accomplishment of that will. It would be exposing yourself to failing it, not to consult him very attentively in prayer. Accordingly consult him and decide for his glory alone. But in order that you have clearer facts on the reasons which may lead divine Providence to call you here, I felt it my duty to make you acquainted with my position in all the nakedness of its misery... I will enclose in this letter another one for My Lord of Jassen that you can hand over to him if you decide to come to our aid, and if you see fit ; if not, destroy it.

You will undoubtedly be aware of the indisposition of certain confreres against My Lord of Hésébon and accordingly against me, as his intimate friend. An indisposition which has done much harm and prevented much good! That is certainly the origin of the painful behaviour of My Lord of Drusipare, My Lord of Jassen and Mr Jarrige in my regard. The last-named however had given me the certainty of not remaining here for ever, but of remaining the time required for smoothing out the way for me. This is what he wrote to me on 4 August: "According to your last letter, you regard me as destined to remain for ever in Coimbatore. [...] I will do all I can to smooth out the paths in Coimbatore where I propose staying for some time more, if it is necessary or more appropriate, with you at the beginning. But to separate myself for ever from Pondicherry [...] this is something on which I need to reflect carefully. [...] I do not say that I will not stay for good in Coimbatore, but I cannot at present say that I will stay there for good." (You can make this passage known to Mgr Charbonnaux).

I counted so much on him for the beginning that, in the arrangement of the missionaries with My Lord of Drusipare, I never even dreamed of casting any doubt on it. Without having retracted these words, either in writing or by word of mouth, he leaves immediately after my consecration without there having been anything between him and me except prayers on my part begging him to stay. My Lord of Jassen accepts that he follows him and H.L. makes no attempt to remedy in some other way the immense wrong that I received with this blow. My Lord of Drusipare, while deploring such a step, nevertheless did not see fit to offer me some other help. And they all had the sad courage to leave me with four priests, one of whom is very young and another nil, and they knew it. In addition, having sadly neglected my study of Tamoul for the seminary of Pondicherry, I asked in compensation for them to give me at least one of the brighter pupils who would have been of the utmost help to me at the outset. Everything was refused me.

You will perhaps say to me then, like My Lord of Jassen in his last letter, that being so short of subjects, I should not have started up a seminary. It is true that I would perhaps not have begun it if it had not already been started by Mr Jarrige. But since this dear confrere (for I do not hold against him all the harm that he has done me without realising it perhaps, and certainly much more by lack of regard than indisposition of the heart) since, as I say, this dear confrere had begun it, urged on by Paris, and by Rome even, since he had requested classic books from our Gentlemen of the seminary of Paris etc., etc. it was impossible for me to seem to fall back. Now it would be even more so.

Finally, I had Mr Laugier who appeared intelligent and zealous for this work and who did so still when I wrote to you the last time. But he was young. Yes, too young! This is absolutely for you alone. He let himself be tempted by the weaknesses of nature during my stay in the Nilghiris, and I was obliged to make him leave the seminary at once. Since that time, that is to say since close on twenty days, the seminary is more or less abandoned to itself.

Mr Barot cannot absolutely take it on (he is giving lessons there at this moment provisionally). I have no other possibility than to call Mr Métral there. But once more he is not at all the right man for that. He would be perfect as a second later on, but not for getting things going, for creating it in some way.

Quite apart from all of this, the schismatics are stirring extraordinarily : they have just sent a priest to Ootacamund ; they have spread the rumour that they are going to send others to Palghat, to Coimbatore, and even here. The Christians of these parts appear very light and would quite easily go over to those priests, if they arrived, above all indisposed as they are by Mr Barot, who was smart enough to deprive them of mass on Christmas mass and on one Sunday. So that my position is as critical as it could well be.

See now before God if you are not the instrument that his mercy reserves to come to my aid !

Another reason still may determine you. I believe that there is matter to achieve something here from the point of view of the cause of the native clergy. Now Mr Métral will not do it, alone at least, and young missionaries even less. It may happen that what will certainly evolve through you as the possible and perhaps satisfactory development, fails completely without you. Now that will be a bad thing not only for these parts in particular, but in general, for everyone knows my zeal and my goodwill for the native clergy, and the enemies of this precious clergy (still numerous practically at least) will not fail to say: "see Mgr de Brésillac, with all his goodwill, what has he accomplished?" and people will not see that if I have not been able to act, it is because my arms have been broken; that if I have not been able to walk, it is because my legs have been broken.

If you come to help me out, decide as soon as possible and do not stop in the face of feeble obstacles. Spare susceptibilities as far as you can, but act fortiter at the same time as suaviter.

(

)

I will await your answer impatiently. We are on the point of beginning a building for the seminary; it would be advisable for you to be there to direct it according to your views from the outset.

I will leave Mr Barot until I receive an answer from you.

Once more, consult the Lord and only take your decision in accordance with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit whose wisdom I will implore to enlighten you and to give you the courage to overturn certain obstacles which never fail to impede God's work, but that the saints always manage to overcome.

It is a long time since I have had any direct news from Mgr Luquet. I see from the newspapers that he is achieving in other parts of the world what he was prevented from doing for India. I feel persuaded that that is all the same for him, for provided the glory of God is achieved, it matters little to him where. The Univers of November informs me that he is in Rome still where his zeal and his piety are doing great things. A Dieu, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 11 January 1847)

Sent_0214

Sent_0214 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 11 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0214 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 11 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0214 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 11 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0214 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 44-45

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Regarding Mr Chevalier's coming to Coimbatore : may he consult the Lord. My difficulties with certain of my missionaries. I cannot abandon the seminary begun by Mr Jarrige.

Index : difficulties, seminary of Carumattampatty, will of God

Carumattampatty, 11 January 1847 ()

My Lord,

At the same time as I received your letter of 2 January, I received another one from Mr Chevalier in which this dear confrere told me : "I am not totally adverse from meeting the desires that Y.L. evinces." then he said with due piety that he needs "to consult in a quite particular way the will of the Lord".

Since I had the honour of requesting from you Mr Chevalier's succour, on 1 January, the good God permitted my position to go from bad to worse ; and that for reasons deriving directly from the abandon in which it was decided in conscience to leave me with four missionaries, the character of one of whom was known making him more or less useless, as well as the youth of another of them. The misfortune this last-named had, of which I conveyed to you the sad doubt in a soli, has now become a painful certainty. Thus far, I hope to have prevented the scandal from spreading outside. But will the secret be kept for ever? I scarcely dare hope so.

The advice Y.L. gives me to abandon the seminary is impossible. I would not perhaps have established it immediately after my arrival when I found myself abandoned in this way, if Mr Jarrige had not already set it up. But after what this dear confrere had done, preached and made public from the pulpit in Paris and in Rome even, I could not hang back. With the indisposition of our Christians today, as a result of the scheming of the schism and of Mr Barot's maladresse, that is even more impossible.

I therefore replied to Mr Chevalier that he should consult the Lord very attentively, and only decide in accordance with the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. For the good God grants me the grace of desiring nothing except his will, and if the hour of God's mercy has not yet sounded, I certainly do not wish Mr Chevalier to anticipate it. If, on the contrary, this dear confrere is the instrument whom Our Lord wishes to make use of to bring me succour, I am persuaded that Y.L. is even more reluctant than me to oppose God's designs, and that you will not refuse Mr Chevalier the request that he makes, if he feels he must come, and to which I join mine.

I have the honour, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 11 January 1847)

Sent_0215

Sent_0215 - à M. Laugier - le 14 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0215 - to Mr Laugier - 14 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0215 - à M. Laugier - le 14 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0215 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 45

(to Mr Antoine Laugier)

(apostolic missionary)

He sends him the letter of excommunication to pass on to the schismatic priest. Request to set up a register on the administration of the Nilghiris.

Index : excommunication, ecclesiastic administration

Carumattampatty, 14 January 1847

I send him the letter of excommunication of the priest of Goa in order for him to hand it over by a trusty person, after having tried nevertheless to use every means available to bring this priest to submit. In this, he should follow all the advice that Mr Pacreau gives in his letter: I urge him not to become discouraged at not having succeeded immediately in getting the children together to teach them their catechism. I suggest some oubaiam (). I urge him not to yield anything more to the Christians without letting me know. I ask him to account for his administration since 1 January 1846.

I would be very glad if you drew up a register entitled Administration of the Nilghiris, in which you noted everything to do with the administration of this Christian grouping, beginning by a letter that I will address to you to put as a heading if you consider this feasible without too much trouble. Each year, a copy should be sent here of what has been added in the last year.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 14 January 1847)

Sent_0216

Sent_0216 - au Père Lazare - le 14 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0216 - to Father Lazare - 14 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0216 - au Père Lazare - le 14 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0216AMA 2F6, pp 46-47

(to Father Lazare, Indian priest)

He would like to set up a small congregation. I do not wish to interfere in a question regarding the jurisdiction of Mgr Bonnand. What you need is H.L.'s permission to start up. I will pray that your plans succeed.

Index : jurisdiction, direction (spiritual)

Carumattampatty, 14 January 1847

I am not astonished at what My Lord of Drusipare said to him in reply. Mr Leroux and Mr Godet have written to me on the same subject as him.

Whatever interest I have in your work, and above all in that which is particular to you and which seems much more possible than the combined work of three, you will have no difficulty in understanding, my dear friend, that my position is too delicate for me to be in a position to be much involved. If you were in my jurisdiction, I could give you the right kind of guidance, but if I decided to direct you in contradiction with My Lord, or even without contradiction in the case that H.L. should see things like me, My Lord might ask me what I am doing with priests who are not in my jurisdiction. One thing is a general opinion that can be given to anyone, and quite another thing a direction which might not be appreciated by your bishop, above all because of the small number of priests that we have.

Thus I would limit myself to saying to you today that the things to be modified, added to, or cut down on, etc. in your plan should concern you very little for the moment, This must necessarily be the work of reflection and of several talks with the bishop himself who would approve you, and after a certain time of practice. It is proceeding the wrong way round to draw up a detailed regulation before what you are trying to establish has begun to exist. You should begin by doing and then try to put into writing what you have discovered in practice to be the best. To begin with, it is sufficient to have a known and approved goal. The rest comes later. Your goal is indicated in your little outline, and that is enough; all you have to do is to obtain H.L.'s permission to start.

If you were with me, I would say to you : act according to the spirit of your little plan ; after two or three years, we will try to draw up regulations ; some years after that, if the good God blesses the work, we will give it a stable and sure form. So there, my dear friend, is all I can say to you, since I cannot enter any further into this business without the explicit consent of My Lord of Drusipare. But what will always be possible for me, and which I will not fail to do, is to pray the Lord to grant his blessing on your plans, that they may succeed.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 14 January 1847)

Sent_0217

Sent_0217 - au prêtre schismatique - le 15 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0217 - to the schismatic priest - 15 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0217 - au prêtre schismatique - le 15 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0217 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 45-46

(to the priest who is based on the schismatic church in Ootacamund)

Letter of excommunication to take effect after eight days.

Index : excommunication

Carumattampatty, 15 January 1847

Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, etc. to the priest who is based on the church called of Joachim, etc.

Since, despite the two monitions that I have already given you, you persist in the crime of exercising the holy ministry without jurisdiction, I find myself obliged, albeit with great sorrow, to pronounce against you the major excommunication with which I have already threatened you twice. Nevertheless, in order to give you the time to tear away your soul from the demon, I am willing to grant you eight days, counting from the one when this letter is handed over to you, after which, if you have not made full and complete submission, you will be excommunicated ipso facto and without any need of further monition, with the present one counting for three in the case of your not having understood the two others, or should they have lacked any of the canonical forms.

This excommunication will be reserved to me or to the legitimate bishop of the places where you may be.

Issued at Carumattampatty, under our signature, the seal of our arms and the counter-signature of our secretary.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 15 January 1847)

Sent_0218

Sent_0218 - à M. Godet - le 18 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0218 - to Mr Godet - 18 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0218 - à M. Godet - le 18 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0218 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 47

(to Mr Louis Godet)

(apostolic missionary)

He would like to create a work (of religious) to make the missions fruitful. This concerns your bishop. I cannot say any more to you.

Index : religious, jurisdiction, direction (spiritual)

Carumattampatty, 18 January 1847

I have just looked through a whole volume of Saint Teresa, my dear Mr Godet, without succeeding in finding a proposition which however it seems to me that I have read in the works of this marvellous woman, namely : "that without religious, the world could not go on". And I am very much of her opinion, of that world above all that Jesus Christ calls the Kingdom of Heaven and of which he is the corner-stone. All of which to tell you, my dear friend, what great pleasure your letter gave me and how happy I would consider you if you were truly called by God to establish a work of prayer and sacrifice that would make the more active work of the missions bear fruits.

But I will stop there, and you will understand easily that I could not with propriety say any more, since you have already submitted your plan to the approval and direction of your bishop. All that I can do is to pray the Lord to enlighten you yourself and to fill your superiors with the insight necessary for them in order to help you to carry through your work if it should really be for his glory.

It is inconceivable to have delayed so long in writing to me. Friendship, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 January 1847)

Sent_0219

Sent_0219 - à M. Leroux - le 18 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0219 - to Mr Leroux - 18 January 1847 -1/2

Sent_0219 - à M. Leroux - le 18 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0219 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 47-48

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

He would like to create a work that he has already submitted to Mgr Bonnand. I do not wish to involve myself in Mgr Bonnand's jurisdiction. I can only pray. How he loved the seminary of Pondicherry! How he regrets that they would give him no-one to help him!

Index : jurisdiction, direction (spiritual), seminary of Pondicherry, seminary of Carumattampatty

Carumattampatty, 18 January 1847

Two or three days ago, my dear Mr Leroux I received your letter with the outline of your plans to My Lord of Drusipare and the answer that H.L. deigned to give you. You cannot doubt, my dear friend, the pleasure that I would have in doing you a service on this occasion, as always when it is in my power; however it seems to me that here there is nothing I can do to help you. It is even my duty to abstain in a matter that you have already submitted to the bishop to whom you belong. It is one thing to give a simple opinion to Father Lazare on the project that he still had not communicated to anyone, and quite another to get involved in the execution of this project once it has been submitted to H.L.

So that I cannot do anything other than pray to the Lord for you, that he will enlighten you and enable you to obtain from My Lord the powers and encouragement necessary to your undertaking if it is included in the designs of his mercy. The same reserve is imposed on me with regard to Father Lazare who has written to me again just recently and to whom I have given a similar answer. All that I can say to you is that it seems to me that the outline of your plan sins in excess, in contrast to that of Father Lazare.

I return his New Year's wishes.

Oh yes, how right you are to say that your seminary is dear to me ! I believe I may say that no-one had taken a greater interest in it than me, even when I left it and I was suspected... my heart is still heavy with the thought...! God alone knows . But, what I can affirm with certainty is that today I would have a seminary if they had granted me one of the three subjects whom I asked for; and I am still intimately persuaded that our dear seminary of Pondicherry would not have suffered thereby the least in the world. My heart bleeds still to overflowing.

Friendship, prayers.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 January 1847)

Sent_0220

Sent_0220 - à Mgr Retord - le 19 janvier 1847 -/4

Sent 0220 - to Mgr Retord - 19 January 1847 -4/4

Sent_0220 - à Mgr Retord - le 19 janvier 1847 -/4

Sent 0220 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 49-55

(to Mgr Pierre Retord, bishop of Acanthe)

(apostolic vicar of western Tonkin)

Long reflection on the native clergy in answer to a letter from Mgr Retord. We should not be satisfied with an education secundum quid for the native priests. A mediocre native priest is worth much more for the ministry of the word and the ordinary ministry in general than most foreign missionaries. Why not ordain priests before 35 or 40 years of age? A tirade on experience. Your priests, even if they are numerous will never be a veritable clergy so long as they are not capable of existing without our help. Above all it is necessary for all delegated jurisdiction to cease, and for there to be bishops and parish priests. If your priests are capable of becoming martyrs even, they will be all the more capable of being good parish priests.

Index : native clergy, education of priests, experience, jurisdiction (delegated)

Carumattampatty, 19 January 1847

Precisely one year ago today I had the honour of writing you a letter to which you replied in your kind and precious answer of June 1846. It brought me your anticipated New Year's wishes, while this letter is to convey to Y.L. those that I address to Heaven for you, and the Lord alone knows how all-embracing, ardent and sincere they are.

You cannot imagine how interested I was in the edifying details of your mission ; for my part I cannot tell you such good things above all at the outset of a mission plunged, like all of those in India, in religious indifference worse than persecution. As for the general news, I could easily give you news from all over the world, for the newspapers that we receive from Paris and London little more than one month from their publication keep us informed on everything. Nevertheless, it is not a gazette that I propose sending you today. The relations we can have are too rare for our letters not to deal with more useful subjects. Accordingly I am going to come back to the question that I took the liberty of raising last year and which provided Y.L. with the occasion of communicating to me some of your thoughts on the extremely important question of the native clergy.

On this subject, I am completely in agreement with you on many points, but not on all. Will you allow me to follow step by step the page of your letter which deals with this question, accompanying it with reflections suggested by this reading? I will even use your own terms for fear that, not having kept the duplicate of your letter, you no longer remember the expressions used; for these sorts of discussions seem to me very grave and of extreme usefulness for the future of the missions.

Y.L. said : "When you think that we have as a principle here only to educate our subjects insofar as that is necessary for the country, and not to ordain them until 35 or 40 years of age, you are wrong. That is not precisely our principle". Would this word precisely which will be further developed later not lead us to fear that, if it is not an avowed principle, written into the theology studied by your priests, it is at least a part of its practice? Against which you go only exceptionally, instead of finding the exception to the general rule of the Church in these late ordinations? And as for education, does this not lead us to fear also that something still remains in Tong-Kin of that disastrous prejudice which unfortunately reigned all too often in our Society and the consequences of which have been so deplorable, that is to say, that native priests should only be given an education secundum quid? ()

I would desire Y.L. to deny it absolutely ; but my fear is confirmed by the enumeration in some sense ironical of the knowledge that they do not possess : "They are not, you say, either physicians, or mathematicians, or astronomers, or mineralogists, or musicians, or geologists, or etc." I conceive and appreciate all the reasons that Y.L. gives me in order to make me understand that it is impossible that your pupils enjoy such a complete education as would be desirable. Nevertheless, is it not surprising that at least some of those who have frequented European priests up to the age of 35 or 40 years of age have no idea of such notions? Is it not likewise surprising that for so long we still did not dream of sending some of the young students to Europe, to be educated in and penetrated with the truth in all of its forms, making them thereafter distinguished subjects for the education of their fellow-countrymen and for lofty positions in the ecclesiastic career? In fact, this fault is much greater for the missions of India than for those of the Annamite countries, seeing the difference in the difficulties, but it exists everywhere since it is proper not to one apostolic vicar in particular, but to the body of the missions which has still not completely shaken off the disastrous prejudice that I referred to heretofore.

Y.L. then goes on to the more consoling enumeration of what these priests do know. Without doubt, it is not much! Nevertheless, you add: "with all this they would not do very well at refuting heretics, the incredulous and the philosophers of Europe, but they refute very well the peoples of here, speak on religion and preach without referring to written notes as well and often better than the best missionaries with all their European science". This passage gave me great pleasure, constituting a powerful testimony of more than one truth of which I am convinced a priori : that anywhere in the world, a mediocre native priest is worth much more for the ordinary ministry of the word and the ordinary ministry in general than most foreign missionaries. This truth is however denied by others, for it is the destiny of every truth to have opponents in this world.

What follows thereafter is far from giving me as much pleasure, My Lord! You say: "It still happens that, in view of the lightness of the peoples of these countries, and the need that we have of catechists..., we do not find it appropriate, for the greatest glory of God and the salvation of our fellows, to ordain them priests until the age of 35 or 40". And here we have it! We do not find it appropriate : so it is thus a general rule, a practical principle, the contrary would be an exception ! If Y.L. said to me: "It often happens that we cannot ordain them priests until...etc.", I would have nothing to say. As for the glory of God etc., that is nothing to do with it, for it is for the glory of God and the salvation of souls that the two opinions are in conflict, and each renders to its adversary the justice of recognising that both sides have as their aim this single goal. The lightness of this people is one of those reasons which are first of all asserted for so many things later recognised as false that they no longer prove. For the Annamite people in particular, it is destroyed for the better or worse alike. Finally, laying all prejudice on one side, it would be difficult for it to be lighter than the French people, a light people if there ever was one.

And finally comes the great axiom of prejudices, what I call the great battle-horse which one mounts to escape the enemy of a logical reasoning based on good presuppositions followed by a rigorous conclusion : "If you had the practice and the experience of this country, you would think like us". Oh ! the experience ! It seems to me that we should be very sober in using this word which has done as much harm as the idea that it represents has done good. Much as I respect it, I regret just as much seeing it imprudently invoked ; sure as it is for points of detail, it is just as dangerous when invoked for a principle in general.

Experience for principles, these are the past centuries. The Holy Church possesses it entirely, this experience. Rome, the living organ of the Church, puts it into practice in its laws from which we should only depart in particular cases, for fear of allowing ourselves to be abused by a deceptive experience because it is too particular. And in fact we see every day that someone invoking experience on these sorts of subjects is contradicted by the experience of someone else, and above of some other time.

Let us continue ! "Do you believe that priests ordained at that age who work on the salvation of souls for 20, 30 and often 40 years, ordinarily practising until the age of 60, 70 or 80 years all the functions of the holy ministry, furthermore hearing two or three thousand confessions per year, are not what could be called a clergy? What are they then? Is it only young priests who are a clergy?" Eh! My Lord, if ordained at 40 years they work for 40 more, ordained at 25, they would work for 55 years, which could only be better. But leaving on one side the figures which do not change the essential question at all, I come back to the two questions in themselves which are very serious. Young or old, are these priests a clergy?

No, My Lord, I would reply without hesitation, assuredly not. They are the living instruments demonstrating the possibility of such a clergy, but a veritable clergy? No. They are the stones of the building, but the building still remains to be built. The more Y.L. vaunts the good qualities of these materials, the more I will regret that we still have not raised this flag lacking to the internal Catholic Church, that we would call today precisely the Annamite church, instead of Acanthe, Belline, Metellopolis, etc. etc. To you, My Lord, the glory will perhaps be given of laying the foundations of this Church which thus far only exists as a possibility, of this clergy which has only scattered members and which will only be truly a clergy once it is capable of existing by itself and without our indispensable succour.

I say once it is on track, for it may truly exist without immediately being perfect and without sufficing absolutely to itself. It will have to pass through the trials of childhood before acquiring its manly strength, but it is necessary first of all for its limbs to be gathered together in one body, however feeble it may be supposed, and that a pontiff sent from Heaven for this great work should blow into it the breath of life. In order for this body to be regular, it would need to have members of all qualities, the ministers of different orders and above all priests of all nuances, young and old alike, all having the indispensable knowledge, some of them that which, although not being indispensable to each one in particular, is so for the body of a Church.

Finally it is necessary for this anomaly of several centuries and which is a phenomenon reserved to our age, as a learned English writer has pointed out, of seeing the ordinary ministry entrusted from generation to generation to ministers who are only vested with a delegated jurisdiction, to disappear. That we, foreign ministers, are bishops of Acanthe or of Pruse to Tong-Kin and to Coimbatore even if only in passing, and to give to the name of the vicar of Jesus Christ true pastors for these newborn Churches, I accept. But the fact that, after centuries, these Churches still have no real pastors; that these priests that we are all too accustomed to regard as our servants cannot be canonically the parish priests of their flocks ; that there is no hierarchical chain between them ; finally, and this is the most deplorable of all, that they are so little a clergy that their priestly life depends absolutely on ours, having no means of perpetuating themselves, or of regenerating if we are driven out of their countries as the result of a persecution or any other cause; that they still do not have a single bishop among them. No, these priests certainly do not constitute a clergy.

I repeat, it is all the more unfortunate since we admit ourselves that they are capable of becoming it and being it. For Tong-Kin in particular, I need no other testimony than yours, My Lord, when you say: "In short, follow your system (it seems to me that we should say: follow the usage of the Church). Ordain your Indians at 24 years of age as in France" (as in the Catholic world), "we, here, follow our practice" (here once more the practical principle is clearly outlined). "We will ordain our Annamites at 35 or 40 years of age, and let us see in ten years who, out of you or us, will have made more native priests, and who will have more carrying out their functions and with more work accomplished, you through your young Indian priests, in a country of peace, we through..."

Before going any further, allow me to interrupt you. You fall into a great contempt, My Lord, by comparing two things of a different nature. It is in the same country, and in the same circumstances that we should make the test. With old poorly yoked horses, one will produce from fat and fertile lands what with the best ploughing practices could not be obtained from sterile hillsides.

"... we, through our old Annamite priests, in a country of persecution, that several of them have watered with their blood". Thus, these priests have heroic virtues ! They suffer martyrdom, and yet they would be incapable of ordinary virtues for such a calling! It is not credible, or rather it is certain that they are capable of being, each according to his vocation, not only priests, but parish priests and bishops if they are required to be martyrs! A fructibus eroum cognoscetis eos.() This text that you give for the future, My Lord, could we not apply it to the present ?

"Let us see, dear confrere, you say in conclusion, I propose this cartel, do you accept it ?" Oh ! very willingly, My Lord, but it can only be emptied in eternal life. For I intend to fight with equal weapons on the same ground, and not one on Annamite soil and the other on the beaches of India. But there, God who will be the judge not only of what has been, of what is and of what will be, but also of what would have been in all of the possible suppositions, there, I say, God will be our glorious witness and our sovereign judge. May he add to the merits that you have already acquired by your magnificent works, that of having placed on solid, canonical and perpetual bases the existence of a veritable Annamite clergy.

Oh, to be sure, this time I really fear that Y.L. will break your crozier over my head !

I then ask him for news of Mr Legrand. Friendly greetings to our confreres of Tong-Kin. Compliments and respects.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 19 January 1847)

Sent_0221

Sent_0221 - à Allaquiapoullé - le 28 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0221 - to Allaquiapoullé - 28 January 1847 -1/1

Sent_0221 - à Allaquiapoullé - le 28 janvier 1847 -/1

Sent 0221 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 56

(to Alaquiapoullé)

Letter of thanks for having helped in the purchase of a bungalow (house and garden) at Coimbatore for the mission. I count on your help for creating a Church at Coimbatore and for building a fine church there.

Index : Church of Coimbatore, church (building), thanks, bungalow (of Coimbatore)

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 January 1847

Although I have already thanked you in person for the zeal with which you have helped us in the purchase of the bungalow, I wish to do so once more in writing. May the Lord bless our efforts and yours so that our holy religion comes to be established in a stable way in India, and the town of Coimbatore becomes the centre of a flourishing diocese.

In order to achieve this we must focus our efforts on three points 1) Reviving the declining faith of the Christians inhabiting Coimbatore and surroundings ; 2) Working to bring poor pagans to the worship of the true God and to the knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ ; 3) Building a fine church. For this I place all of my trust in God, and thereafter, since God ordinarily makes use of men for carrying out his designs, I like to count on the zeal and charity of the good Christians, of whom you are one through the grace of Our Lord. May this letter be a testimony of my satisfaction, with the episcopal blessing that I bestow on you and on your family.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 28 January 1847)

Sent_0222

Sent_0222 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 4 février 1847 -/1

Sent 0222 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 4 February 1847 -2/1

Sent_0222 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 4 février 1847 -/1

Sent 0222 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 12

Brésillac summary , AMA 2F6, p 57

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Purchase of a house with garden in Coimbatore. Urgent need of missionaries (6). Send two of them out immediately via the Red Sea; they will land at Cochin. Neither Mgr Charbonnaux, who refuses me Mr Chevalier, nor Mgr Bonnand choose to help me out. Advance of the schismatics of Goa. I count strongly on you.

Index : personnel (requests for), schism of Goa, bungalow (of Coimbatore)

__________

Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 4 February 1847

Purchase of a house and garden at Coimbatore. Details of this business. Our financial state. My unenviable position. Urgent need of missionaries. Could at least two of them not be sent via the Red Sea? By landing at the nearest station to Cochin, they would be here in a few days, which would allow us to gain three precious months. Receipt of the letter written in November.

()... today, I always hoped that My Lord of Drusipare who knows my position would at last come to my aid by sending me one or two of the new missionaries whom he has received recently ; I even proposed to him to let him have the first two that you would be sending me. H.L. answered me once and for all that it was impossible for him to do so. I still hoped that My Lord of Jassen who knows at least to a large extent my wretchedness would consent to let me have Mr Chevalier who has always expressed the desire to come and find me, in place of Mr Jarrige who went over to him to our great detriment. Once more, vain hope. If you do not come yourself promptly to my succour, Gentlemen and dear confreres, I cannot foresee what will happen especially since the schismatics are there who threaten, and they have already penetrated into my mission, which perhaps they would not have done if I had had one priest more two or three months ago.

Accordingly I renew here, with great insistence, the request that I made you in my previous letter for 6 missionaries for the year, adding that, if this is possible for you, I believe that it would be worthwhile now or never more to send out two at least via the Red Sea. They would land at the station closest to Cochin, from where they could be here in a few days. That would advance us by over three months, a priceless advantage in my painful position.

A few days ago I received your kind letter of 16 November. I am infinitely grateful to you for all you tell me, I have never doubted of your goodness to me. You will be doing, I feel sure, your utmost for the good of the mission with which I am entrusted, despite my unworthiness, and that is all that I can ask. I am anxious to know whether Mr Legrégeois's illness has had any tiresome consequences; I hope not and I ask it of the Lord.

I have the honour of being with respect and in union of prayers,

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 4 February 1847)

Sent_0223

Sent_0223 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 février 1847 -/2

Sent 0223 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 February 1847 -1/2

Sent_0223 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 février 1847 -/2

Sent 0223 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 47-50

Brésillac mention AMA 2F6, p 57

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

No news from Paris ; a letter from Mgr Luquet and another from the .S.C. A word on the schism of Goa. Problems with Mr Laugier, Mr Pacreau. Lend me Mr Gouyon until Easter. Problem of the holy oils for Easter Thursday.

Index : news, letters, schism of Goa, missionaries (my), religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 February 1847

My Lord,

I had the honour of receiving your letter of 5 February with the prospectus of the College, which makes me hope that the difficulties that Mr Fages encountered at the outset are smoothing out.

The steamer brought me nothing from Paris, not even the newspapers which had never failed to arrive thus far. Should we not presume that Mr Tesson missed the day of departure of the post. I have received a letter from Rome (19 November) from Mr Luquet who does not tell me anything very interesting, and another from the S.C. in answer to that to them announcing my consecration for 4 October. The S.C. answers in this same letter to a question from Mr Jarrige that I do not understand. I have written to Mr Jarrige to know what he had written. Not a word about the Holy Father's Encyclical or the Jubilee. So that it will give me great pleasure if Y.L. would inform me on both of these.

What you tell me about Mr Gailhot in no way surprises me ; I expected as much, for he behaved exactly as was needed to get himself evicted. It is completely his fault. Let us hope that your letter to the S.C. on the schism of Goa will have some good effect. Nevertheless, I do not expect anything much yet, seeing above all the sad state of Portugal in the midst of a revolution.

Here things continue to go very badly. Mr L. gives me the liveliest fears. I dread nothing less than seeing a second (Callery?) in our mission. His fixed idea now is to write to Rome asking for permission to get married. I believe that this unfortunate young man should very soon take the road back to France. But how can we achieve that?

Mr Pacreau is indignant against our congregation on seeing that, in the critical position in which we find ourselves for the last three months, it doesn't have the strength to come to our aid. I fear that he too will end up by becoming discouraged. As you know, his character is not of the firmest. Could you not lend us Mr Gouyon for a few months, so that he could come with me on the tour that I propose making after Easter? For if we are not helped out in some way, I will perhaps be obliged to postpone this visit further, which will have the most negative effect.

Y.L. still does not mention the departure of the cart due to bring us our effects. This indefinite delay is truly incredible. If Mr Pouplin delays even a little longer, the oil and balm will not have arrived for Easter Thursday. In that case, it would be necessary for Y.L. to consecrate some holy oil and to bless the other oils for us.

I have the honour of being, with the most profound respect,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 15 February 1847)

(Written across the first page of this letter)

We are riddled with cholera.

I will try to get hold of the information that Mr Lehodey requires, but I do not know, for example, when that could be done.

Sent_0224

Sent_0224 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0224 - to Mgr Bonnand - 4 March 1847 -2/2

Sent_0224 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0224 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 51-54

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 58

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for the cart which has arrived with my things. You cannot come to my aid? I bless the hand of God which strikes me. A gun for Mr Laugier? Why not. Our health is good. But how heavy our moral troubles are to bear !

Index : thanks, troubles (moral), trials (of life), newspapers

__________

Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847

My Lord,

The (cart and ?) (... ?...) that you have had (the kindness to ?) send out to me arrived safely yesterday. I thank you for the trouble that you took in seeing to that.

The day before I received your letter of 21 February. It only remains for me to bless the hand of God which strikes me by not allowing Y.L.'s advisers to find a way of helping me. It is a very difficult trial; I pray our Lord to permit me to bear it in peace.

Mr L. is making a retreat together with Mr Métral at the present time. If he has sent some money for the purpose of buying him a gun, I don't see why it shouldn't be bought for him. Unless Y.L. sees some serious drawback in that, it seems to me that we could buy it for him, above all if he has requested it by some other channel than through the bursar's office. It seems to me that then that would be (...?...).

(I have ?) sent back by the (cart ?) the wooden crozier, the ewer and the candle-stick. As for the mitre, I thought that Y.L. would undoubtedly be good enough to lend it to me for some time more, since they have forgotten to send one from Paris.

I don't think that there is anything much else to say to Y.L. Our health is always pretty good. However, the class fatigues me greatly, what with the confessions and the other work in Lent. But these physical troubles are unimportant compared to the moral troubles with which the Lord is pleased to favour me.

I believe I have already thanked you for sending the jubilee. As for the Holy Father's Encyclical, Y.L. need not bother to send it to me. I have received via Bombay the back numbers of the newspapers which contain it in extenso, with the translation in French.

I have received the memorandum of Mgr Blanchet, following the example of Mgr Luquet, and under (... ?...) of the latter's thoughts. (... ?...) in the newspapers that this venerable pontiff has succeeded perfectly ; he left with the real title of

(here three lines are illegible).

I believe that he himself was appointed archbishop.

I commend myself more than ever to your prayers in the union of which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847)

Sent_0225

Sent_0225 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0225 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 4 March 1847 -2/2

Sent_0225 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0225 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 58-60

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

In the face of the non-assistance of my fellow priests, I have not offended God against charity. You continue to prevent Mr Chevalier from coming to Coimbatore; you reproach me for having encouraged him. I accept with joy these reproaches for my sins. The wrong that Mr Jarrige did me by leaving Coimbatore so quickly in contrast with what he had said. The voice of conscience makes itself heard differently to those who consult it on a practical case.

Index : delicate charity, conscience, religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847

Two days ago I received your letter of 27 February and hasten to answer it. First of all I pray the Lord not to permit that the Holy Charity that unites us in its love be the least altered in the world. As for me, it seems to me that I can testify that, in the midst of the trials that I have had to put up with and which still continue at the hands of my confreres, and above all those from whom I felt the most entitled to expect assistance, benevolence and succour, I have not offended God against charity, at least in a grave manner. Without doubt nature quivered more than once on seeing myself so despised, suspected, and abandoned, but it knew that its sins deserved far more.

Another no less considerable trial has come to put me to the test when, in the midst of the abandonment of some and the desertion of others, more than one confrere and a few other ecclesiastics on the contrary offered themselves to me with a generosity which I pray God will take into account, and that I saw their goodwill towards me rendered useless by the proprieties or by formal refusals. I repeat, I have not held it against those who treated me in this way even for a single instant; up to the end I will love them none the less for it before the Lord. I will not respect them any the less, I will not be less well disposed to render all the services that may depend on me. May the Lord put me in a position to prove to them one day the truth of these words, not by making them unhappy and finding the means of helping them out, but by finding the way of making them happier and above all more capable of spreading the good with which I recognise that their soul is filled.

Thus, My Lord, you may continue to stop short Mr Chevalier's good inclinations with regard to me, and I will not hold it against you, and I hope that you will not hold it against this dear confrere or me the fact that he had the charity to take an interest in my destiny and that I said to him that if he could "while maintaining the proprieties request and obtain permission to come, etc.", I would be delighted. Thereupon, I gave him the reasons which may bring him to take this step and I urge him to examine everything before God and if, after prayer and meditation, he believes he should do it, to hand over my letter, otherwise why give you this trouble ? So that, My Lord, is what I have done; and it seems to me that there is nothing there to deserve the humiliating reproach that Y.L. saw fit to make me, which however I accept with joy for my sins.

As for the sorrow Mr Jarrige caused me, these are things of which I speak as little as possible ; but since it is necessary, I will say to you that this dear confrere has done me a great wrong, not by withdrawing, for he had every right to do so, and it was quite natural, above all if he had returned to Pondicherry, but by assuring me just a few days earlier that he would stay on for some time. It was on this assurance that our arrangements were made at Pondicherry. Accordingly he should have retracted his word before my departure from Pondicherry, and other arrangements would have been made. I will not speak of the manner in which he left, that only affects the proprieties. But I do not hold it against him; it seems to me however that he should repair the harm he has caused us by insisting with Y.L. on Mr Chevalier's departure.

As for conscience, you know that its voice makes itself heard differently to the different persons who consult it on a practical case. Thus mine certainly does not tell me that I cannot ask Y.L. and that Y.L. cannot grant me what I ask. On the contrary, it tells me that Y.L. would be doing a very great act of charity and of confraternity, an act that, if done with a good heart and with joy, would lead to the disappearance of the sad diffidence that unfortunate antecedents have established and which force me to remain within certain limits with those whom I would like to be able to call my confreres, or rather my brothers in the full sense of the word. It is useless to say to you that the condition of giving you Mr Métral in his place would be equivalent to a formal refusal.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847)

Sent_0226

Sent_0226 - à M. Tesson - le 15 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0226 - to Mr Tesson - 15 March 1847 -2/2

Sent_0226 - à M. Tesson - le 15 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0226 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 13

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 61

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for your letter. We are in great trouble. Problem of Mr Laugier. For certain urgent things, we have had to borrow. Refusal of Mgr Bonnand and of Mgr Charbonnaux to give or lend me anyone. Ten times each day I resolve to suffer in silence. What Mgr Bonnand thinks of the latest edition of the regulations of the MEP. My sufferings are great, but the Lord makes his grace proportionate to our needs. How the Jesuits help a newly created mission. Problem of correspondence.

Index : moral suffering, religious collaboration, grace of the calling, newspapers, correspondence

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have just received your letter of 24 January. You tell me that Mgr Verrolles expected to receive a letter announcing my consecration! But I wrote to him in October, as well as to you and to the directors of the Seminary. Do you think the packet containing these letters could have gone astray? The same packet contained another letter for the members of the Council of Propagation of the Faith, and another one for Mgr Luquet and for Propaganda. Would you kindly let me know immediately if that packet got lost, so that I can make up as far as possible for this loss which I would regret very much.

Last week I received the miniature chapel that you were good enough to send me through the missionaries who recently arrived in Pondicherry. Thank you very much. It is far too fine for our churches of earth and straw. If nevertheless we are fortunate enough to build soon a decent church at Coimbatore, it will not be too much there, for Coimbatore is a real town; it is very important for you find some way of being there soon.

I have written to Mr Dubois wishing him a Happy New Year, and I have sent him my bishop's letter on the occasion of Easter . Thus I do not think it is necessary to write to him again. If his charity wishes to do something for Coimbatore, he will be entitled to our warmest gratitude.

I cannot tell you what straits we are in at this moment. I still have not received a letter telling me to what extent you have understood my position and have had the possibility of responding to it. I wrote to you in January and in February, I wrote to the council of directors to inform them of the purchase of a house at Coimbatore and of our moral and physical difficulties. I will not repeat all of that. I will merely say that things are not going much better.

I have little hope of a withdrawal of the unfortunate Mr Laugier ; of course, after such a fault, it will be very difficult for him to stay on in our mission. For the last two months, I have been reduced to taking classes for the children of our seminary, which, together with the work of Lent, fatigues me very much. The debt which we have incurred on the purchase of the house in Coimbatore occasions me some fear and above all it forces us to cut out any other expenditure. Already we had incurred some debt both for a small sacristy and for some furniture, for we had neither chairs, nor tables, nor cupboards. Not even some small safe place for keeping the money received from Pondicherry.

I cannot tell you the moral grief I feel regarding My Lords of Jassen and of Drusipare. It is impossible to express. I fear that the former will be even more irritated against me as a result of the request made to him by Mr Chevalier to come and join me. This dear confrere is one of those who are most concerned at my fate, of whom there are several. However I will not accept him except with My Lord of Jassen's explicit permission, which I do not think he will obtain. I confess that, in the grief of these hurts, it may happen that I allow some rather imprudent or not very charitable words to escape me. I reproach myself for it before God; for the worst of all, as you say so rightly, would be to have disunity between us. Ten times a day I resolve to suffer in silence, but from time to time I fail in my resolution. Ask the Lord to give me the necessary strength.

For the rest, I feel convinced that the two venerable prelates who give me such pain have no intention of causing me pain, but that they are carried away by some mayakam () that the Lord has permitted for our sins. I feel quite sure that My Lord of Drusipare who possesses about thirty priests and 7 or 8 ecclesiastics really believes he cannot spare a single one of them, when he would help me out effectively by sending even one of those in minor orders.

To give you proof of this mayakam (and this seems to me useful to tell you so that you can judge of the validity of his complaints to which we are all exposed) the following is what he wrote to me regarding the items which you had printed at the beginning of the regulations : "They have also had the general regulations of the Congregation printed (it is an in-12), and have had the bright idea of printing at the same time the letters patent that have been put right at the beginning, and with all the preambles of discussions and of disagreements occurring prior to the letters patent and supposed to have been ended by royal edict. So that, on opening these regulations, you see that the bases are resting on a background of contestation etc. Truly, this is a appetising morsel!! I only know that if they had been presented to me in Paris, it would have made me vomit and would have given me the strength to go back to my village. [...] May the good God keep us under his holy protection". (letter of 25 November 1846).

As you can see, I was not wrong in telling you that H.L. complained about what was printed together with the regulations. As for Mgr Luquet's booklet, it goes without saying that H.L. had to complain about it, and here, it seems to me, with some reason. If My Lord of Drusipare has not complained to you, do not let him know that I have transcribed these words. It was right that you should know them in order to realise that it is with the greatest reserve that such complaints should be received, and that is all.

I repeat yet again, I cannot tell you to what point I am suffering, but also the Lord fits his grace to the need ; never perhaps has he given me more courage, or more attachment to our beloved congregation that I hope to serve unreservedly throughout my life. I still feel grief on this count on hearing certain confreres repeat very often that our congregation is nothing, above all compared to the Jesuits, that the latter would never leave abandoned for close on one year a newborn mission, that starting off from the first years they were in Madurai, they obtained one hundred thousand rupees with which they built a cathedral at Trichinopoly and two other fine churches, etc, etc.

A Dieu, my paper is finished, pray for us and come to our aid.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. When you are good enough to send me something other than letters and newspapers, kindly use some other means than the steamer. Newspapers and letters are not too expensive and the Bombay or Madras route is more or less the same price, but an ordinary brochure, like the synod for example, costs close on four rupees in carriage, that is, 9 to 10 francs. Now for us 10 francs are today a great sum! I need many things, But I dare not request anything before knowing what I can rely on.

(Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847)

Sent_0227

Sent_0227 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0227 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 March 1847 -1/1

Sent_0227 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0227 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 55-58

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 61

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The letters he has just received. Some political and economic news from Europe.

Index : news, correspondence, Europe (news)

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847

My Lord,

I have had the honour of receiving your letter of 3 March with the items it contained, for which I thank you. The steamer brought me a letter from Mr Tesson in which I learn bad news regarding the work of Propagation of the Faith, plus a copy of the regulations. The newspapers (... ?...) that Mgr Blanchet is definitively bishop of Oregon with two suffragans, one of whom is already consecrated.

In his latest consistory, Pius IX sent the pallium to Mgr (... ?...) of Oregon (... ?...).

A letter from Mgr Luquet which does not tell me much, except that the Holy Father is full of regards for him.

Hardship is at its height (... ?...) (... ?...) In France, the dearness of (... ?...) is hindering the machinery of state ; immense imports and other causes put (...?...) in the bank, and serious disorders have taken place in several departments. Spain is restless. England is sulking at France, and would perhaps come to the point of breaking off relations if it too did not have so many difficult situations to deal with. Meanwhile, she favours the plans of the Count of (...?...) who is beginning to make some...

(The rest of this letter, as from the last lines of page 56 to the end, is illegible and unusable).

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847)

Sent_0228

Sent_0228 - à M. Tissot - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0228 - to Mr Tissot - 18 March 1847 -1/2

Sent_0228 - à M. Tissot - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0228 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 61-62

(to Father Jean-Marie Tissot)

(priest of the missionaries of Annecy)

Thank you for your letter. I hope that collaboration between our two Societies will be excellent for the formation and emancipation of the Churches of Asia. You should aim at having your superior made bishop. I am undergoing great trials. I must practice prudence.

Index : thoughts on the missions, prudence, trials, religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847

It is some time now, my dear Mr Tissot, that I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of 15 February. At that time I already knew that Mr Gailhot had been replaced by one of the new Fathers who have left Italy and who should have arrived by this time. Perhaps that is what you meant by the trial that the Lord reserved for your newborn Congregation. But I who know the purity of your intentions, feel persuaded that, in the form of a trial or otherwise, the Lord will make this event turn to his glory and to the good of your Society, perhaps destined one day to produce great good in this country. It only remains for me to repeat to you what I wrote to you in another circumstance : Nolite timere pusillus grex ! ()

I hope that, although belonging to two different Societies, we will consider ourselves in this unfortunate country as brothers and confreres in the big family of Christ and in the sublime work of the formation and emancipation of the Churches, two words that in the work of the missions in Asia for 300 years would seem not to have been understood. Thus I hope that you will continue to write to me from time to time, and to give me details on your position, your fears, your hopes, etc., etc. Is your new superior Pro-Vicar, is he a bishop, or will he become one soon? This is what I ardently desire, and what you should aim at seeing achieved soon if it has not already occurred.

As for me, I have had plenty of trials too, and I hope that they are not quite over, for it is ordinarily among such that the Lord sees his work develop, like a lily in the midst of thorns. Only, these force me to use much more than I would wish this virtue of prudence that the great Saint Francis of Sales loved so little, but that nonetheless we are quite obliged to combine with that of simplicity according to the oracle of Our Lord and very good Master.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847)

Sent_0229

Sent_0229 - à M. Chevalier - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0229 - to Mr Chevalier - 18 March 1847 -1/2

Sent_0229 - à M. Chevalier - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0229 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 62-63

(to Mr Joseph Chevalier)

(apostolic missionary)

Do not attempt to snatch Mgr Charbonnaux's consent from him by force. Ordinarily he ends up by understanding good reasons; be patient.

Index : patience, religious collaboration, native clergy

__________

Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847

Before your letter of 12 March, my dear Mr Chevalier, I had received a letter from Mgr of Jassen which had grieved me, grief that I have tried to place, like the others, at the feet of Jesus Christ crucified. I am not at all of the opinion that you can snatch someone's consent by force and as it were by moral violence. Those are not the ways of the Lord. We have the awareness of having followed them thus far, let us never depart from them. If the Lord continues to inspire in you the desire to come and work here for the cause of the native clergy such as you and we understand it, persevere gently, but always gently, praying to God, as you remarked very aptly yourself, "to direct men's wills for his greatest glory, and events for the salvation of our souls".

It is necessary that, when you do come, My Lord of Jassen makes the sacrifice of your person benevolently, and not through the channels of Paris and of Rome, and even with pleasure. By this pleasure, I mean not that of seeing you leave, that is impossible, but that of contributing to your vocation and to the greatest glory of God. Two things that we must not despair of making him understand, for H.L. ordinarily ends up by understanding good reasons; only with him it takes time, for the fire of his good heart to get the better first of the ice of cold reason. Thus at the first shock one sees coming out of this heart, whose only fault is to be too good, flames which at first make one draw back in fright, but little by little things calm down and when he sees the truth, I have proof that he submits, even if he finds it painful to do so.

I go on to speak to him of the success of Mgr Blanchet, now archbishop of Oregon.

When will we stop in our old missions of Asia committing fault after fault, becoming irritated when we should be admitting that we are far from being perfect ? etc., etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847)

Sent_0230

Sent_0230 - à M. Barot - le 23 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0230 - to Mr Barot - 23 March 1847 -1/2

Sent_0230 - à M. Barot - le 23 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0230 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 63-64

(to Mr Jean-Baptiste Barot)

(apostolic missionary)

Does one have to hit Christians to get them to go to church ? People's ignorance? The Lord will not require too much of them. Hatred between persons? Let people work it out between themselves.

Index : corporal punishments, instruction (of the Christians)

__________

Carumattampatty, 23 March 1847

I thank him for certain items he has sent me to read. On the way in which to behave with the Christians, with special reference to hitting them, I answer :

I really do not know what to say regarding your method of making people go to Church. In itself, it is somewhat difficult to approve; in particular cases, when a missionary believes that no other resource is left to him, and after considering things before God, he believes in all conscience that in acting thus he is not following the instinct of his nature, and he does not dread for the future any evils worse than the remedy, I too might not blame him. Thus, I do not blame you.

As regards ignorance, hatreds and Gentile practices, without doubt these are deplorable things, but you should not make of them monsters bigger than they are. Let us try to lose no opportunity of instructing the people. Let us work at establishing catechisms, etc., etc. and let us believe that the Lord will not require of these poor Christians, so little advanced in spiritual matters, what he would require from other men. Hatreds are ordinarily more superficial than real. Let us try to let them settle things among themselves, without taking a direct hand in these matters and not confusing a whole village with two or three muddle-headed individuals. Let us leave these two or three muddle heads to settle their differences, but let us confess the others.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 23 March 1847)

Sent_0231

Sent_0231 - à Mgr Luquet - le 26 mars 1847 -/5

Sent 0231 - to Mgr Luquet - 26 March 1847 -6/6

Sent_0231 - à Mgr Luquet - le 26 mars 1847 -/5

Sent 0231 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 462ss

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 64-73

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Thank you for your letters, even if they are distressingly laconic. In India we need veritable episcopal sees, and not delegated jurisdictions. The jurisdictions must not be too large. If need be, I could communicate my thoughts to the S.C. The Jesuits should understand that perfection does not mean being right in everything. Dire pecuniary straits. I still hope that you will be the man of providence that Rome should send out to India. Take care that the apostolic vicar of Madras doesn't take up too much room. There should be a meeting of all bishops in India. I am still convinced that the work of the native clergy is possible here. A few words on his four missionaries. The bungalow of Coimbatore. I would like to write a book on the missions.

Index : native clergy, ecclesiastic jurisdiction, Jesuits, financial straits, my thought on the missions, missionaries (my), bungalow

__________

Carumattampatty, 26 March 1847

My very dear friend,

Since writing to you on 6 January, I have had the pleasure of receiving your two letters of 19 November and of 22 December, a pleasure all the keener since there was an interval of a full four months in your correspondence. I hope that you will not repeat too often such a mortification. Despite the fact that your letters are distressingly laconic, they always do me a world of good and give me a consolation that I need in the midst of the trials to which the Lord subjects us, and also to help me bear the pain of not being able to work more effectively for the good of the Church, on seeing this good, of which at least a part appears to me possible, bogged down by extraneous difficulties that it will be very difficult to destroy, if the Lord himself does not lend us a hand in a supernatural way.

While admitting in your letter of November that you have not answered all my questions, you do not make up for your fault. I will try not to do the same with regard to you and accordingly I will follow you step by step.

I still have not spoken to you at all of the admirable work of Mgr Blanchet because I was waiting until I had read his report that I received in the last few days only. I have read this document with all the more pleasure since I seemed to recognise your touch in it. You will undoubtedly have had something to do with all this, and I congratulate you for having found the means of doing for another portion of the Church a good which our faults forced you to abandon for the old and unfortunate Christian groupings of India.

As for the principle of the usefulness, of the necessity even of veritable episcopal sees in any part of the universe, this seems to me as incontestable and as easy to demonstrate as that of the need for a native clergy. This is what I wrote on 1 January to Mr Albrand:

"First of all I will say that I agree with you on almost all the points, except for two however, based on this principle which appears unquestionable, namely, that permanent institutions which depart from the natural constitution of the Church are always dangerous, that they are sometimes fruitful in bitter fruits and that they always oppose the development of the faith, often without the cause which is hidden there being discovered.

"Now, it seems to me : 1) that it is against the natural constitution of the Church to have such large ecclesiastical jurisdictions that the bishop can only visit them once or twice in his life. Thus I would certainly rejoice to see the jurisdictions divided as soon as there is the shadow of a possibility; and 2) It seems to me against the natural constitution of the Church for the ordinary jurisdiction to be exercised for a long time by priests and bishops vested only with a delegated jurisdiction. Accordingly I do not understand the perpetuity of the apostolic vicars, and I must say that, if the transformation of apostolic vicars into veritable ordinaries of the places went against the principles of our Society, I would regard it as a great misfortune and as the weak side of our beloved congregation that I love above everything after the Church. But I do not think that this is the case.

"Because of the novelty of the thing, it will undoubtedly be necessary to take precautions, to establish some rules and to develop some rudiments of regulations ; but I do not think that our natural rules have the misfortune of not being in harmony with the natural rules of the Church. Thus, I can only yearn for the moment when it will be possible to establish bishops and parish priests where for such a long time there have only been apostolic vicars and itinerant missionaries."

In order for this measure to be applied in India, however there are many precautions that would need to be taken because of the unfortunate and complicated state of this poor country. The execution is very desirable, it is necessary, but we should not delude ourselves, it is difficult, and a mistake on this point may be followed by the direst consequences. I pray the Lord to enlighten those dealing with it and if God did me the grace of seeing a little more clearly on this grave and fundamental question and I could count besides on my words being received with benevolence by the S.C., I would consider myself obliged in conscience to inform it of my thoughts.

As you know, the sentiments of My Lord of Heliopolis regarding the Reverend Fathers of the Company of Jesus are also mine. It seems to me even that if these good Fathers could read into my heart, they would not see in these sentiments anything that is hostile to them. They would understand that, by desiring the good of the Church above all, we also want their good. They would see that in desiring for them a few virtues more, virtues which would make them capable of doing good without anyone having to dread them, we do not want their ruin. I often pray the Lord to give to this body, in fact so respectable, the spirit of humility which ordinarily inspires its individual members.

They would understand that there is no perfection in wanting to be right in everything, everywhere and always ; and no longer seeking to dominate those that they would be happy to serve for Jesus Christ, they would no longer be a cause of fear for those who, not having enough power to make them bend in certain circumstances where that would be necessary, keep them away or go away from them in order to avoid unfortunate conflicts. With a little more humility as a body, it seems to me they would do all the good they now do and much more. Nevertheless, we should not make monsters out of a trifle.

If my consecration had taken place at Trichinopoly, at the same time as that of Father Canoz, there would have been nothing to fear, and I would have saved big expenses. Now if you only knew what dire straits I am in, to what point five hundred rupees at this moment would represent for me a precious succour, I believe that you would regret that I was unable to save them. In any case, this combination fell by itself since Father Canoz's bulls had not arrived. And, in this regard, where are we exactly in this business ? I no longer hear it mentioned. Will this immense Christian community be left a long time still without a bishop, without a seminary, without the sacraments of ordination and confirmation, and in all of the other disorders necessarily implied by such an anomaly?

I have received a silvered crozier without any explanation. I think this must be the one that Y.L. kindly offered me. I cannot tell you what pleasure this attention on your part gave me; for which please receive my very sincere thanks. But you remarked on the same occasion: "India will see me no more". These words are a source of great sadness to me. I think I said to you some time ago, and I am now more convinced than ever that, in the present state of things in India, Rome despite the steamer, is too far away, much too far away. If God wishes to save this unfortunate country, it is necessary for Rome before long to have an intelligent man penetrated by the apostolic spirit in whom she has full confidence, and for this man to have full confidence in Rome; in the sense that Rome may say to herself: this man will only do things that I approve, and that for his part this man has the assurance that Rome will uphold him, that she will judge his acts in themselves, quite apart from what anyone else might say, etc.

I do not expect him to be infallible, and even less that he should believe himself such, but it would be necessary for him to be assured of having Rome alone as judge and consolation, even in any involuntary mistakes that he might make. Finally it would be necessary for this man to be vested with all possible authority. Now, I will not hide from you that I had hoped that such a man would be you, and that the Lord had only led you to Rome in order for them to be in a position to appreciate fully your devotion to the Catholic cause. I don't know why, I do not despair yet; but it would be essential for you to have spent some time in India before this can come about. That is why your assurance of not returning saddened me. Everything is in God's hands and I do not cease to address to him these words which came from my heart as soon as I became aware of the needs and evils of India, these words which earned me your remarkable letter from Gondelour: Mitte quem missurus es! ()

I certainly did not give you the details regarding Madras in order for you to show my letter to the S.C. ; but only so that you could use this knowledge if need be, to avoid, if possible, a fresh misfortune in India. I dread such a misfortune very much. Mr Chevalier wrote to me that you think that the Irish priests would be exclusively entrusted with the troops. I have nothing to say against this measure in itself; only, if we are not extremely prudent in this matter, it may lead to a great deal of harm. If, for example, it is the apostolic vicar of Madras who is vested with the jurisdiction of these regiments and the priests in charge of them, you will see the other bishops more and more despised by the government which already only recognises the bishop of Madras as head of Catholicism in the whole residency. The two jurisdictions will clash and, with all the external honour and material power remaining with the Irish bishop, he will soon increase likewise in ecclesiastic power.

Fine reports and magnificent narrations in letters or in the newspapers will speak of the extension of Catholicism in India, when it will merely be a question of the Irish or of a few topas ; while the people, the real natives, will be more and more abandoned, despised and wretched. In a word, if we do not take the utmost care to avoid the English government becoming involved in the ecclesiastic affairs of India, it could happen that in the future we will have to deplore it more than the patronage of Portugal ; for the Portuguese were another sort of Catholics from the English, even not Protestants.

Finally, the more we see heterogeneous things, and the more we complicate the affairs of religion in a country where one of the greatest misfortunes which exists is not to find there the simplicity of the episcopal action proper, the more we will impede the development of Christianity. Oh for the holy and venerable ecclesiastic hierarchy, quite pure and simple according to the holy canons! That is what we need, above all if the principal archbishops were Indian.

As far as I can judge, the other remedies could prove to be disastrous illusions bringing with them a hidden evil. But above all we should not bother about the governments, principally in those places where they are so unstable and so unpopular as in the colonies. If these governments are good, even humanly, they foster the Catholic religion both because they find it to their advantage, and because the force of events obliges them. If they are bad, they will have even more means of impeding the work of God if we are obliged to have recourse to their favours or even only to their protection.

The meeting of the bishops of India could not have any great effects unless this were presided over by the man of whom I spoke to you earlier. Now, who is the bishop at the present time in India who has the qualities required for that? I see not a single one. So that there too there would be nothing solid, and the particular good that we could hope for from it would be paralysed by the present state of the schism of Goa. I would desire such a meeting with all my heart, yet I still do not see it as either possible, or liable to do good. It is necessary for Rome to prepare it from afar.

Before you had given me the idea, I had written a letter to the Holy Father that I asked you to pass on, open. I hope that you handed it over, and you will undoubtedly have noted the passages in which I allude to the need to regularise the Churches of India. This insinuates all of our thought, and if the Spirit of God blesses it, I pray it to develop the germ that I have laid down in this letter and which is the only thing that I feel it is possible to do at this moment, having no proof that Rome will deign to listen to my remarks favourably, not possessing besides the necessary qualities to expect as much.

I am not acquainted with the question of the Jesuits in Calcutta, nor that regarding Father St-Léger. For the rest, since I have been here, I live in very great isolation. Quite the man of the fields, I no longer know what is happening around me.

And I come to the letter of 22 December. Since the Lord has given me the grace, though very little deserved, of being a bishop, pray him to grant me also that of bearing its dignity and of fulfilling its formidable obligations for his greatest glory. It is true that it seems to me I have never been animated by a greater desire than since then to see the Holy Church prosper, not only here, but in all parts of the world. Alas, these are no more than sterile wishes because of my sins. May Our Lord deign one day to hear them.

Since I have been here, I have already had plenty of troubles to bear regarding our beloved work. With only four priests one of whom has behaved badly (for your ear alone) and another is beyond the bounds of reason, while a third is opposed to our work at least in practice; moreover he is all Jesuit; nothing is good, nothing is fine in his eyes except what those fathers do, etc. So that I am obliged to treat him diplomatically because he replaces with many other qualities what he lacks a little on the side of the spirit of our Society. Nevertheless, I do not think that he will persevere and would be very astonished if he did not go back to France at a certain point (once more for your ear alone). Finally the fourth is an excellent missionary, but he does not fully understand, I believe, the question of the native clergy. I have been obliged to hold the children's classes for the last two months and, now that I can no longer do so, I don't know what will happen.

In the midst of all this, I remain convinced : 1) that there are vocations here as everywhere, and many even ; 2) that it is possible to make here as everywhere ecclesiastics who truly have the spirit of their calling, but, in order to do so, we should not to require perfection from the outset and should get rid of the prejudices of Europe, which few missionaries are prepared to do; and 3) that for this work, at least for some time, considerable expenses are required. I do not know how I will get over these difficulties in future.

Various confreres, and two or three native ecclesiastics of Pondicherry who could have helped me effectively offered themselves to me with a generosity that I pray the Lord to find agreeable ; but My Lord of Jassen and My Lord of Drusipare absolutely refused to allow me to have them. Besides, the extreme difficulty in which I find myself regarding money, the complete lack of resources on the part of the Christians, all poor and most of them in extreme poverty for the last two years, the needs of all kinds of the Christian communities afford me many fears. And yet I believe that I could do something if I was really backed up by a few confreres and by the S.C. I am writing today to the S.C. to ask for its approval of a plan which I would consider to be very advantageous. You would do me a service if you would kindly hand it over after having read it, and if you could obtain an answer to it promptly.

I do not think that I can yet take up the questions that you would like me to; likewise it is impossible for me to deal at present with the statistics of which you speak to me. That will come later, I hope, if the Lord gives me the courage and if he has pity on my weakness overwhelmed at times under the weight of sadness.

I have not received the work you speak of ; I did see in l'Univers some extracts or analysis of the translation that you made of a work on Russia. Is it that or something else? I pray the Lord to make your leisure fruitful by the publication of works useful to the Church in whatever part of the world it may be.

I do not know what will become of Mr Gailhot. I have not heard any mention of him for a long time. I believe that, for the general good of Religion, we should not be angry at his lot. I think I have answered all your questions.

Since my last letter, we have bought a house and ground in Coimbatore. This matter was absolutely necessary, but it indebts us terribly. It was important for us to have a place which sheltered us from the caprice of the Christians, who in a moment of effervescence excited by the schismatics whom they have not completely disavowed, would have been able to put us out in the street. Then there are other reasons still. It is there that I propose establishing my base as soon as that is possible.

Coimbatore is a big Indian town that the presence of many English makes significant. There is a quite numerous Christian community, but totally lost as regards morals because of the shortage of priests and for lack of having a church. It has come to the point that various marriages are celebrated according to the pagan ceremonies, without even reporting to the priest. A neighbouring and fairly good Christian community that could be compared to Ariancoupam (less the church) in respect of Pondicherry, would make it possible almost immediately to hold services if we had a church. For a long time very probably mass will have to be said in our house ; for I doubt that people understand the extent of our needs or that I will be granted the necessary aid to set it up decently soon.

Besides, since Coimbatore must necessarily become the main town of the vicariate, it would be expedient to build a fine church there. Finally, the English make everything enormously expensive. The directors of Paris seem well disposed, however I still see nothing coming and God knows what need I have of a few priests and of money.

And I will finish this long letter by telling you that I have a growing desire to write a book on the missions. I do not know if it is the Spirit of God which impels me to do this or if this wish is the fruit of my own mind. I would like to deal in it with all the fundamental questions related to this great work, without procrastinating with the principles, without fearing to fight error wherever it may be, but also without ever departing from a great gentleness ; and if the Holy Spirit deigned to assist me, I would like this to be in a simple and pious style that made all those who read it love God at the same time as the missions. For that I would need advice and a few books; whereas here I am without anything. Could you not help me?

At times I think of giving it the form of letters, but in order for them to be really useful, it seems to me that these should be addressed to some great personality who would be supposed to press and to oblige me to tell him everything without any reserve. I cannot see how this plan could be carried out. While other times, I have the idea of opening up a prolonged correspondence with you on this subject; of course this would only be in the hypothesis that you were quite willing, but I think that people would mistrust you and me, in order for the good not to have to suffer thereby. Finally, the form of discussions with grave persons still attracts me. In this form, the work would be more difficult. It would have to be more carefully constructed than the supposedly improvised letters in which less erudition and exactitude would be required. Kindly let me have your opinion on all of these points, and if you think that the Holy Spirit is behind this thought, please help me in carrying it out. A Dieu. Pray for me.

I am sending you this letter via Alexandria ; kindly acknowledge receipt of it as soon as possible, so as to ascertain the expediency of using this route, which would be speedier than that of the Seminary of the Foreign Missions.

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 26 March 1847)

Sent_0232

Sent_0232 - à Mgr Luquet - le 5 avril 1847/1

Sent 0232 - to Mgr Luquet - 5 April 18471/1

Sent_0232 - à Mgr Luquet - le 5 avril 1847/1

Sent 0232 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 472ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Consolations on the occasion of the feast of Easter. We are very poor. I would like to have a relic of the true cross.

Index : financial difficulties, consolations, relic

__________

(Carumattampatty), 5 April 1847

May the great mysteries that we have just celebrated, my very dear friend, fill your soul with joy and your heart with consolation.

The Lord has deigned to grant me some consolations in the course of Holy Week in the way in which people have thronged to the holy offices. Although these Christians live at one, two or three leagues' distance from the church, one could say that the church was filled from Easter Thursday until the evening of Easter Sunday. It was not big enough to hold them all on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. However we are so poor that we were not able to have even once a deacon and sub-deacon; the vestments of Easter Day were the same as those of Ash Wednesday, turned inside out, etc., etc. I made my first appearance in the Malabar pulpit on Easter Day when I had the consolation of preaching twice to the people in their own language.

I have no relics. I would be very obliged if you could procure some fully authenticated ones for me. If you could get me a fragment of the true cross very well authenticated, and in a reliquary in the shape of a cross and clearly visible, you would do me a great favour. Above all if you arrange things in such a way that I can simply say to the people that it is the Pope who has sent it to me, and if I had the means of allowing an indulgence to be granted on exhibiting it solemnly.

A Dieu : Write to me as soon as you have received these letters.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 5 April 1847)

Sent_0233

Sent_0233 - à la Propagande - le 5 avril 1847 -/4

Sent 0233 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 5 April 1847 -1/4

Sent_0233 - à la Propagande - le 5 avril 1847 -/4

Sent 0233 Original, APF, Congresses, East Indias,

1847-1848, pp 258-259

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 73-75

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(Carumattampatty), 5 April 1847

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Die 9a Februarii honoratus fui litteris Eminentiae Vestrae 12a Decembris subscriptis. Quamvis adhuc sperans responsum ad litteras 15a Octobris quibus consecrationem meam S.C. nuntiabam, nonnulla simul quaerens ad regimen missionis pertinentia, nihilominus utile duxi hanc etiam scribere epistolam ad approbationem petendam consilii quod perutile mihi videtur ad fundamenta jacienda cleri indigenae in hac miserrima regione, in qua non solum nullus est ecclesiasticus indigena, sed etiam longum sperandus erit clerus sufficiens, nisi a principio sedulo causas vitemus tam luctabilis sterilitatis.

Inter alias, duae mihi videntur praecipue timendae quas assignare posse praesumo, ex accurato studio quinque annorum in iis quae spectant hanc quaestionem in regionibus orientalibus Indiae.

Alia ex parte christianorum est, qui vel ignorantia, vel ardenti desiderio filios suos matrimonium collocandi, eos a suo proposito retrahunt. Aliquoties prava intentione pueros offerunt ut gratis edoceantur ; aliquoties quamvis initio bona mente eos episcopo offerant, tentatione cedentes eos a studiis et statu ecclesiastico avocant quando puberes fiunt.

Alia causa ex parte missionnariorum est qui praejudicio ducti ab eo quod viderunt in Europa, et nostri in Gallia, ad normam eorum quae fiunt in seminariis Galliae omnia desiderant hic fieri. Contra duos illos abusus luctandum esse putans, praesertim antequam pravus agendi modus parentum praevaleat in ista missione, sicut praevaluit Pondichery, desiderarem :

1° Ita dirigere seminarium ut aperte videant parentes illud esse veram domum ecclesiasticam, non vero scholam communem.

2° Pueros aliquibus mensibus probatos, ad examinandum si aliqua sit spes vocationis, ad primam tonsuram initiare ; quae ceremonia multum serviret tum ad confirmandos parentes et pueros, tum ad reddendam possibilem educationem mere ecclesiasticam, eo utilior hic a pueritia quo minus cognoscitur.

3° Dirigere seminarium ut simul sit et domus studii et domus orationis, in qua officium divinum primum in parte, paulatim integre, persolveretur ; hoc modo introduceretur usus Orationis Publicae fere ignotae in his regionibus, et caeremoniae Ecclesiae Romanae integre constituerentur. Hic modus agendi nihil aliud mihi videtur nisi quod faciebant episcopi quinque priorum saeculorum, testante P. Morino, quo tempore parentes filios suis officiis ecclesiasticis consecrabant et episcopo offerebant. Episcopi eos in eadem domo educandos instruendosque curabant et tonsuram illis cum veste clericali conferebant. Non dubito quin talis institutio maximi fructus sit in istis regionibus et hodie mihi videtur hic possibilis. Quae possibilitas evanescet forsitan decursu aliquorum annorum si pravae consuetudini parentum alibi jam introductae non occuremus.

Hanc approbationem a S.C. sperans obsequium meum illi humiliter offero, rogans Eminentiam Vestram ut habeat me semper,

Eminentiae Vestrae,

servum humillimum et obsequientissimum.

\+ M.M.J.de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse,

apostolic pro-vicar of Coimbatore

(Carumattampatty ?, 5 April 1847)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

This is my project for which I would like to have your approval : that my seminary should be a real ecclesiastical house where the office is recited, and where I can give the tonsure after a few months' probation.

Voici mon projet pour lequel je désirerais votre approbation : que mon séminaire soit une vraie maison ecclésiastique où l'ont récite l'office, que je puisse donner la tonsure après quelques mois de probation.

Index : my ideas on the missions, native clergy, Rome (authority)

__________

(Carumattampatty), 5 April 1847

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord,

On 9 February I was honoured by Your Eminence's letter dated 12 December. Although I am still awaiting an answer to my letter of 15 October, in which I announced my consecration to the Holy Congregation, seeking at the same time various things regarding the administration of the mission, nevertheless I have considered it useful to write another letter to request approval of a project that seems to me useful for establishing the foundations of a native clergy, in this very poor region, in which not only is there no native ecclesiastic, but further where we will have to wait a long time before having a sufficient clergy, unless we carefully avoid from the outset the causes of such a distressing sterility.

Among others, two causes above all appear to me to be feared, that I feel I have pinpointed following a thorough study lasting five years, among those affecting this question in the eastern regions of India.

One comes from the Christians who, by ignorance, either out of an ardent desire to establish their children in marriage, turn them away from this design. Sometimes they offer their children with a perverse intention in order for them to be educated. And sometimes, although they had offered them to the bishop at the outset with good intentions, they thereafter yield to temptation and turn them away from their studies and the ecclesiastic calling once they are formed.

Another cause originates from the missionaries who, following the example of what they have seen in Europe, and ours in France, want everything to be done here according to the model of what is done in the French seminaries. Thinking that it is necessary to fight against these two abuses, above all before the bad way of acting of the parents gets the upper hand in this mission as it has at Pondicherry, I would like :

to direct the seminary in such a way that the parents see clearly that this is truly an ecclesiastical house and not merely an ordinary school ;

  1. that the children, following a probation of several months to see if there is any hope of a vocation, receive their first tonsure. This ceremony would help very much, both to confirm the parents and the children, and to make a purely ecclesiastical education possible ; this is all the more useful here where people know less things ;
  2. to direct the seminary so that it will be both a house of study and a house of prayer, in which the divine office would be included first of all in part, then gradually integrally. In this way the usage of public prayer, practically unknown in these regions, and the ceremonies of the Roman Church would be integrally established. This way of proceeding appears to me to be no different from what was done by the bishops five centuries ago, according to the testimony of Father Moreno, at the time when the parents consecrated their sons for the ecclesiastical functions and offered them to the bishop. The bishops took charge of them, educating them and instructing them in the same house and conferring on them the tonsure and the clerical habit. I do not doubt but that such an institution will bear great fruit for our regions, and today that appears to me possible. This possibility would perhaps disappear in a few years' time if we continue with this bad habit of the parents, already introduced elsewhere.
  3. Hoping in the approval of the Sacred Congregation, I humbly offer it my respect, begging Your Eminence to consider me always as Your Eminence's humblest and most respectful servant.
  4. (Carumattampatty ?, April 1847)

Sent_0234

Sent_0234 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 7 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0234 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 7 April 1847 -1/1

Sent_0234 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 7 avril 1847 -/1

sgrSent 0234 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 75

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Regarding the matter of Mr Chevalier who wanted to come and work in Coimbatore. Letter full of charity. Consolations afforded by the Easter festivities.

Index : delicate charity, consolation, religious collaboration

__________

(Carumattampatty), 7 April 1847

I tell him the grief I feel at the rumour spread regarding the matter of Mr Chevalier in which there was said to be fraud and pique. I remind him of the proceeding I took to respect his will.

My Lord of Drusipare to whom I have never spoken of this question wrote to me on one occasion : "Mgr Charbonnaux having told me that you are asking him for a confrere , I answered him that by giving you one he would be making restitution for Mr Jarrige whom he took from you". I have still not answered H.L., but when I do, I will tell him that his judgment with regards to you is too severe. Y.L. has not taken Mr Jarrige and you have no restitution to make. Without doubt I was led to groan by the fact that Y.L. accepted him too readily, without doubt I hoped for a compensation ; but after the conversation that we had on this subject here, I have never accused Y.L. of having taken him (Mr Jarrige) and I have never claimed a right of justice.

Consolation afforded me by the Easter festivities.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 7 April 1847)

Sent_0235

Sent_0235 - à M. Leroux - le 18 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0235 - to Mr Leroux - 18 April 1847 -1/2

Sent_0235 - à M. Leroux - le 18 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0235 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 76-77

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

He wrote "Since 19 March, I eat in the same refectory as our dear children. [..] All our pupils are delighted".(letters received 0190. This news gives me pleasure, but were you right in doing so?

Index : Indian usages, my thoughts on the missions

__________

Carumattampatty, 18 April 1847

I cannot tell you, my very dear Mr Leroux, what pleasure your letter of 3 April gave me. In it I saw achieved one of my most ardent desires for the good of the seminary proper and for the future of the native clergy. For, let there be no mistake about it, if we want the clergy of the country to be really what it must be later on, it is essential for it to be as one with us and, for that, two things are inevitably necessary: that it is humble enough to fall in with certain of our requirements, and that we are humble enough to go along with certain of theirs.

But while I congratulate you wholeheartedly now it is an accomplished fact, should I congratulate you likewise for the manner in which you proceeded? On that, I will say nothing, however I do not doubt that the Lord will reward you for your good intention and above all for your abnegation of a well-being which, although quite material, is nevertheless very dear to nature, to such a point that I do not fear to say that very few missionaries would be capable of subjecting themselves to this system. Perhaps even this will be one of the most difficult points in the future, and which makes me fear that your happy determination will not find sufficiently humble and mortified imitators for it to last. I pray to the Lord to arrange things in such a way that people will not say later that your heroic devotion was merely a Breton's sudden impulse.

I speak to him of books. Small details. I beg him to ask My Lord of Drusipare if the Indians are dispensed from the abstinence of rogations??

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 April 1847)

Sent_0236

Sent_0236 - à M. Tissot - le 18 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0236 - to Mr Tissot - 18 April 1847 -1/1

Sent_0236 - à M. Tissot - le 18 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0236 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 77-78

(to Father Jean-Marie Tissot)

(priest of the missionaries of Annecy)

For the (future) vicariate of Vizagapatam, I hope that one of you (of the missionaries of Annecy) will soon be appointed bishop. Mr Gailhot (of the MEP) was not the right man for that. Mgr Canoz has just received his bulls.

Index : jurisdiction, religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 18 April 1847

I ask him to thank his new confreres for their letter and the book by Mgr Luquet that they sent me.

I don't know what to say on the question of Mr Gailhot. It seems to me that what has happened to him is the natural consequence of the lightness with which he has acted from beginning to end. If he had acted as other men do, he would not be where he is now, or you either. As far as you are concerned, you have done what honour, the proprieties and, more than that, what the good of Religion required; we can only hope that the Lord will smooth your way so that you get over the difficulties that cannot fail to grow in your new position. However I have no particular advice to give you, the ground is too little known to me for that.

Only I pray the Lord to inspire you with the necessary courage to get over the obstacles and to conduct things in such a way that one of you is soon appointed bishop. This appears to me necessary for various reasons both in order to increase your strength and to assure the vicariate of Vizagapatam to the pious Society of which you are a member and from which I expect great good for Religion in the missions of the North. Accordingly I hope that a false humility will not stop you in the pursuit of this extremely desirable goal. Perhaps you will have learned that Father Canoz, superior of the Jesuits, has just received his bulls. I do not know when the consecration will take place.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 April 1847)

Sent_0237

Sent_0237 - à son père - le 26 avril et le 5 mai 1847 -/3

Sent 0237 - to his father - 26 April and 5 May 1847 -3/3

Sent_0237 - à son père - le 26 avril et le 5 mai 1847 -/3

Sent 0237 Original, AMA 2F1, p 140-142

(to his father)

My future journey to Verapoly will entail expenses which I could very well have done without. Bishops are multiplying in India where a native clergy is possible. The need to arrive here at observation of the general rules of the Roman Church. When giving me news of members of the family, tell me above all about their religious observance. Purchase of a house at Coimbatore. Friendship to the family, and the teachers in the minor seminary.

Index : pecuniary difficulties, vicariates (division), attachment (family), attachment (teachers in the seminary)

__________

(Coimbatore ?), 26 April

and Carumattampatty, 5 May 1847

Since I had the pleasure of writing to you from Ootacamund, my very dear father, I have received your two letters of 19 September and of 24 February. The occupations of Lent and of the jubilee made the three months pass without giving you even the little note that I entrust to the post, when I don't have time to converse with you for as long as I would like. I don't doubt that you will excuse me with your usual paternal benevolence.

Although we still have eight or ten days before the post is due to leave from Madras, I am picking up my pen today 26 April because I foresee fresh obligations for the next few days. One of the principal of these is a journey that I am going to be obliged to make to Verapoly, near Cochin, to attend the consecration of the bishop elect of Ceylon. This journey would be a real pleasure for me if it wasn't for the expense that this sort of travel involves, for with the luxury that the English have introduced, a bishop, even missionary, can scarcely travel, above all outside his jurisdiction, without great expenses and, at the moment, I am really short of money. However that may be, I feel obliged to accept the invitation of the good archbishop of Chyrra who was kind enough to come here for my consecration.

This is completely new territory for me, for although it is at only five or six days' walking distance, the places and the peoples on this side and on the other side of the Ghats are completely different. If there is anything in this journey that I think would interest you, I will share it with you in my next letter. You see by all of this that bishops are continuing to multiply in India, and for me it is slight consolation to see that Rome is each day adopting more completely the plan of which Mgr Luquet and I were the ardent champions and the principal bases of which are the institution of bishops everywhere there is the shadow of a possibility of instituting them in order to arrive at the establishment of a veritable native clergy, etc., etc.

If you read the religious newspapers, you will have noted that this system is being more and more widely adopted not only for India, but also other parts of the world, for Oregon, in particular, for the regions of which the venerable apostolic vicar, today archbishop of Oregon City, who had the fortune of meeting Mgr Luquet in Rome, has just had our plan adopted throughout its whole extension. May the good God be blessed! India, which only counted two or three bishops not so long ago, will soon have fifteen or sixteen. This means that we are now not so far from one another that three of us cannot attend the consecration of a bishop elect. However I was the first in this country to enjoy this benefit.

This I was set on, not only for my own satisfaction, but also in order to give the example of observation of the general rules of the Church. For that is another point in our system: to gradually abolish all the singularities and exceptions introduced as a result of the scarcity of bishops and priests, and to enter into the majestic uniformity of the general laws of the Holy Church. I think that my example will be more and more followed, also because it will become easier and easier. Father Canoz, a Jesuit, who has just been elected bishop of Madurai, will certainly have three bishops at his consecration, and I see that the archbishop of Verapoly is doing the same for the bishop elect of Ceylon.

Now that's quite enough on that point. Before closing it, in answer to one of your questions, I can tell you that the costume of the bishops here is absolutely the same as that of the bishops in Europe. Moreover, the costume of the priests is tending gradually to conform to the common ecclesiastical costume. Since Mr Tesson is good enough to pass on to me the newspaper l'Univers, I am informed of the political news and of the material and moral ravages devastating our fine homeland and which threaten it still more.

The truth is that I sometimes hear it said that India does not completely adopt Christianity because the Indians are too stupid! I have never believed that theory, knowing that the kingdom of Heaven has one avenue for the ignorant and the simple at least as wide as for those who are full of astuteness and who rely on their frail intelligence based on the human sciences.

That above all is where we should seek the veritable cause of the sterility of the holy word ; and truly are we not all the more authorised since the most civilised and most enlightened countries in the world, like France and England, give the worst example of the licentious thinking and moral chaos in which everything will soon be engulfed, if God in his mercy does not provide a counterweight to the incredible aberrations of which we see the doctrine and examples propagated? as he seems to be doing in the courage with which he fills the hearts of a few great bishops of France and other illustrious persons who are true Christians.

Could you please tell me if, in the midst of this deluge appalling in a quite different way to that which caused the overflowing of the Rhone and the Loire, there is in our family, and above all among the young men who will soon be solely entrusted with maintaining its honour, if there are any, I say, who uphold Christian honour, who practice the holy law of the gospel, and who are worthy of the name they bear and above all the name of sons of God ?

This interests me much more than hearing of the contracting of a marriage. Not that the latter is indifferent to me, for you won't believe how interested I am in everything affecting any member of my beloved family. But finally, these are things that pass like all the rest, and which are common to the good and the bad; what I desire to know is today a noble exception, and the only glory which assures another one more precious than that of time. Tell me above all about my dear brother from the point of view of religion.

You were quite right in not sending me the seeds I had requested for Pondicherry, especially since here they can be obtained from the mountains of the Nilghiris where all European crops are to be found together with those of India, as I explained to you in my letter of January.

In that letter I also told you that my address is quite simply at Coimbatore via Madras or via Bombay. Coimbatore is 6 or six and a half leagues south-east of Carumattampatty. There they keep my letters at the post-office, and I send out for them once or twice a week at the same time as for bread and other provisions. Moreover, I think that soon Coimbatore will be my ordinary domicile. We have bought a fairly large house there, in one of the rooms of which we will say mass, while waiting for the good God to provide us with the means of building a church. I will even be going there soon to spend two or three months with a few new priests whom I am expecting from France, and whom I cannot lodge here, for lack of space, for the time necessary for them to study the first principles of the Tamoul language.

I refer now to your letter of 24 February.

Since the Lord deigned to deliver you very rapidly from the ophthalmia with which he permitted you to be afflicted, it only remains for me to render thanks for this happy circumstance and to ask for a continuance of his paternal care over you and the whole family. I was very grieved to hear of my aunt Subra's death. Kindly say to Adrien how close I am to him in his loss. As you remark very appropriately, my aunt's piety is a strong reason for hoping that her death will not have been unforeseen. Especially since her piety was long-standing ; for a long time, and even always, I believe, she made every effort to do God's will. It is there above all that our reason for hope should lie, for I must say that these conversions that take place on the death-bed or not long before, the more I progress in knowledge of the human heart, the less I consider them as consoling !

Would you thank all the persons you name in your letter who are good enough to remember me. Kindly convey to them my feelings of gratitude and tell them that, as for me, I continue to remember them before the Lord.

If you have another opportunity of seeing Mr Borrel, the parish priest of Saint-Papoul, would you give him my compliments and tell him that I would be very pleased if he could write me a few words, to let me know what has happened in the minor seminary of Carcassonne since I left, and why not one of the teachers from that establishment has ever given me any news of an establishment in which I take a keen interest. What you tell me about Mr de Lacger edifies me. He is a priest in whom, in a somewhat Original way without doubt, I have always recognised a true love for the good of religion. May the good God preserve him for his flock.

About a month ago I received the objects belonging to our late lamented friend Mr Taurines which Mr Laffon has sent me. I am including in this letter a little note in response to his, which I would be grateful if you would pass on to him. As regard the hundred francs that Miss Caillabel had announced to me for the seminary, I had not received them before my departure from Pondicherry. I think they will reach their destination. In any case kindly thank this excellent lady for her charity.

I will not close my letter yet, so that I can add a few words before putting it into the post.

(Coimbatore ?, 26 April 1847)

I have nothing to add to the foregoing four pages except to ask you to say a lot of nice things to my good mother, to Henri, my sisters and to all the members of the family. Please put the enclosed letters in the post and believe me always,

the most respectful and submissive of your children.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 5 May 1847)

Sent_0238

Sent_0238 - à M. l'abbé de Soubiran - le 26 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0238 - to Abbé de Soubiran - 26 April 1847 -1/2

Sent_0238 - à M. l'abbé de Soubiran - le 26 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0238 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 79-80

(to Abbé de Soubiran)

How grieved I am at the state of religion in France ! Here, we have to fight against religious indifference and the corruption of Protestant propaganda.

Index : religion in France, religion in India, Protestants

__________

Coimbatore, 26 April 1847

Thanks for his good letter.

It is with true sorrow and sad presentments for the future that I have been following from afar the truly retrograde movement of Religion in our poor but beloved homeland. If the good God does not put some order by dint of his merciful power, wherever will we end up with this licentious manner of thinking and this overturning of all principles ? For the newspapers of France and England, without counting those that swarm in this country, including in native languages, inform us of the moral wretchedness of Europe just as deplorable as the physical hardships bearing down on it, and make our poor people participate in the scandals of the old civilisation. Without doubt God will not abandon his Church, as fortunately we have the certainty, but nevertheless let us not cease praying that he will spare it too violent upheavals.

State of China, thanks to the personal goodwill of Mr de Lagrené. This worthy diplomat has not been sufficiently sustained by the government. However advantage is being taken of this good pass. State of Tong-Kin, Cochin China, etc. Here, we have above all to fight against religious indifference and the corruption of Protestant propaganda.

How painful it is to see Christians destroy one another in almost entirely pagan countries ! Accordingly pray also for us and commend our ministry to those good souls of whom you speak, who do honour to your pious congregation and whose prayers full of simplicity go straight to our good Master's heart.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1847)

Sent_0239

Sent_0239 - à M. Vian - le 26 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0239 - to Mr Vian - 26 April 1847 -1/2

Sent_0239 - à M. Vian - le 26 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0239 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 120-121

(to Mr Victorin Vian)

(chaplain of the hospice of Draguignan, Var)

You are a true friend. Friendly greetings to your parents and to your brother. Poor France with its material and moral evils! Yes, I am bishop of Pruse in Bithynia (mountainous region to the north-west of Turkey).

Index : religion in France, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 26 April 1847

My very dear Mr Vian,

Without doubt your good friendship and your charity above all will excuse me for not having answered until now your excellent letter dating from the Holy Rosary. I cannot tell you how your attention in remembering me, in any case, on such a solemn day, was sweet to my heart. I recognised there a true friend whose attachment is all the more precious since it was our first attachment to our common Master and also friend that shaped it.

As for my blessing, my dear friend, it was given to you that same day when, despite my unworthiness, I was ranked among the pontiffs of the new law, when I prayed with all my heart for those who were kind enough to remember me before the Lord. In any case, I renew it at this moment with all my soul; may the Lord listen to my prayer and have you always as a minister after his heart !

Please thank your respectable parents, and in particular your brother, as well as the worthy parish priest of Lorgues, for the prayers they were good enough to address to heaven for me.

Since for the last two years I have been receiving the newspaper l'Univers, that the steamer brings us here at little over a month from its publication, I am informed of the material and moral evils afflicting France. What licentious ideas, what aberration of principles ! and where will it all end up, great God, if divine Providence, in its mercy, does not put some order in it? I am very grateful to you, nevertheless, for the reflections that you make in your letters on these two orders of things and ask you to kindly continue to share with me your feelings of hope and fear, for the religious future of our beloved homeland, when you write to me ; for I very much hope, dear Vian, that you will continue to write to me from time to time, indeed I claim it of your sweet friendship.

You were correct in situating Prusa in Bithynia, it is the ancient Brousse, the name of which is the title I bear. A Dieu, very dear Vian, pray for me who need it more than ever and believe in the unalterable friendship of him who declares himself

Completely yours in union of prayers and of sacrifices and in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. My address is: Coimbatore, via Madras.

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1847)

Sent_0240

Sent_0240 - à M. l'abbé Vidal - le 27 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0240 - to Abbé Vidal - 27 April 1847 -1/2

Sent_0240 - à M. l'abbé Vidal - le 27 avril 1847 -/1

Sent 0240 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 80-81

(to Abbé Vidal)

God calls men to him whenever he wills ; we should live as he wishes and where he wishes. Why have a special liturgy in the diocese of Carcassonne? There should be unity with Rome.

Index : will of God, death, Rome (unity with)

__________

Coimbatore, 27 April 1847

Thanks for his letter of congratulations.

Thank you for the long and sad necrology contained in your letter. Although far away, it is good to know which of our friends remain and which of them God has already called to him. How the things of the world and the world itself pass quickly! How many mistaken hopes, how many precious lives shattered at all the degrees of age! And we still remain! May the prolongation of our life be solely for the glory of our good master!

What a sad and at the same time useful proximity when I see young priests, and especially two confreres in the vicariate, who have finished their careers before me. Their friendship saw me leave with distress, for they believed I was exposing my life to the dangers of the sea and under the furnace of the tropics ! They are no longer with us, yet here I am full of life still! Truly our existence, together with all we have and what we are, are in God's hands. He disposes of them as he pleases and our only care should be to live as he wishes and where he wishes without any consideration of human prudence.

Thanks to Miss Caillabel.

We had already heard from the newspapers of the struggles between Foissac, Tholosé, Déjan, etc. Would that they were the only ones in France to quarrel in this way ! It will truly be a curious page in the Annals of France to read of this desperate fight for the high posts in society to the great scandal of public morals and of Christian humility.

I do not feel I can congratulate you on your new breviary, missal, etc. And less than ever do I understand that anyone could have the sad, useless and dangerous courage to work on a new liturgy, and to remain separated, even if only on this point, from the solemn and majestic unity of Rome. Even when I lived in the midst of it, I always regarded this diocesan weakness as a stain on the fine Church of France, and I am gratified at having understood it well enough to adopt in my particular case the Roman breviary while I was vicar!

But this stain appears much larger and more clearly imprinted when one considers this fine Church of France outside of French frontiers ; it appears then as a bright star, but of which however the light is weakened by certain stains. For the good that I wish to my diocese, I hope that from the chaos of five or six liturgies which were in vogue, you will only have passed to diocesan unity as a transition to return thereafter to the example of Langres and others to Catholic unity.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 27 April 1847)

Sent_0241

Sent_0241 - à M. Arnal - le 28 avril 1847 -/2

Sent 0241 - to Mr Arnal - 28 April 1847 -1/2

Sent_0241 - à M. Arnal - le 28 avril 1847 -/2

Sent 0241 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Mr Etienne Arnal)

(superior of the minor seminary of Carcassonne)

Finally news of the minor seminary of Carcassonne ! Among the pupils that I had in the minor seminary of Pondicherry, certain were of great validity (intellectual and religious). The royal college of Pondicherry is entrusted to our missionaries. I will give you details on my life when you have answered this letter.

Index : studies, college, attachment (to the teachers of the seminary)

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 April 1847

At last, my dear Mr Arnal, I have received word from the minor seminary of Carcassonne, very laconic without doubt, but after all something ! How often have I desired and waited in vain for news; for despite the fact that I no longer doubted having been completely forgotten in a house which is still so dear to me, not for an instant did I have to reproach myself with having forgotten it, and above all of having ceased to commend it to God in my daily prayers.

How many times have I found myself in spirit in the midst of you and your pupils, above all in the last three years when I was privileged to direct the minor seminary of Pondicherry. It was then that I would have liked to see a response to the advances that I made, both by letter, and otherwise; then an edifying and perhaps useful correspondence for both sides could have been undertaken between your pupils and mine, among whom there are several who speak and write French and Latin better than some arts graduates and, what is even more important, who are pious as angels.

On passing through Pondicherry the excellent and amiable Mr de Lagrené was quite surprised to hear Indians reasoning pertinently on physics, geometry, algebra, etc., and rendering in French as in Tamoul Cicero's prose and Virgil's verses. Finally, at the prizegivings, above all that of 1846, the magistrates from the French colony and the heads of families were so ashamed at the difference existing between the pupils of our black college and the white pupils of the royal college, that they voted unanimously to entrust the royal college to the missionaries if they would take it over.

So that we came to terms and, after having stipulated various advantageous agreements, which ensure we do not become involved in university hassles, we accepted. I left before the royal edict arrived to seal this arrangement. Today, I learn that it is now completed. I have just received the copy of the report made to the King by Mr de Mackan and approved by Louis-Philippe.

At the present time, Principal, Assistant and the whole university crowd have been replaced by our humble confreres. I cannot help chuckling under my long beard when I think of this little success achieved here, while you are making such an uproar there over the great question of education, a question which would soon be settled if they were only willing to be just and reasonable to you.

But what am I doing ? I am speaking exclusively about the past. Things have changed radically as far as I am concerned in the last six months. All of a sudden, here I am in the midst of the barbarians! And my life is completely different from what it was in Pondicherry. What is it like?... Wait, you do not deserve me saying a single word to you, and I will see if you, your worthy and always beloved collaborators, continue to pitilessly maintain a blank silence.

So I will stop here although I still have half a page empty (what a vengeance !), commending myself to your prayers, and those of your pious confreres, of your pupils and especially of the members of the congregation of Mary, to which I have not forgotten that I belong, and in union of which I recite each week the small office of the Holy Virgin.

Completely yours in union of holy sacrifices.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

My address is : at Coimbatore, via Madras. Letter to be stamped for Alexandria.

(Carumattampatty, 28 April 1847)

Sent_0242

Sent_0242 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 2 mai 1847 -/2

Sent 0242 - to Mgr Bonnand - 2 May 1847 -2/2

Sent_0242 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 2 mai 1847 -/2

Sent 0242 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 59-63

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 84-85

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He had written in a single letter that the church of Ootacamund was not beautiful. Rumour falsifies and exaggerates in saying that he had written that in several letters. It is true, the house and church of Ootacamund are falling down. We are about to welcome a few missionaries from Paris, but money is short. I am going to Verapoly for the consecration of the bishop of Quilon. How is the college going?

Index : newspapers, pecuniary difficulties, college, bishop's consecration

__________

Carumattampatty, 2 May 1847

My Lord,

It was with great pleasure that I received your letter of 15 April giving me the explanation of several letters going around here and there and in which I am more or less cloaked as the subject of my letter to My Lord of Calcutta. A letter which, besides, has already undergone the same fate as the good La Fontaine's egg; for today, it is my letters that people are complaining about, asking for information and explanations. Now, I wrote one letter only that I had no idea would be put in the newspapers for which I never write for several reasons and because I have never had any liking for them.

Now, in that letter, I said a lot of good and very little bad about the church, for, as far as I remember, I merely said that it was not acceptable for the place ; which, I believe, is unquestionable. I do not know now what the translator did in all of this; since he altered yours, he may very well have disfigured mine.

Apart from that, I would never have imagined that anyone could be shocked because it is said that a church is not beautiful. If I had known to what extremes an architect's susceptibility goes, I would have omitted an article in a letter that I wrote to Propagation of the Faith, about Ootacamund in which I reported the simple testimony of my eyes and my ears, without imagining that they could be accused of falsehood, or people be shocked at their impression. What should I expect from the tongue and the pen of M.B. if this letter is printed?

Moreover, I would be most happy if a sad material proof had not been added to the evidence of the senses: the fact is that at the present time, the house and the church are falling down! Mr Laugier writes to me on the 19th: "at midnight [...] I woke up with a start, etc. ; at half past one, I hear a noise close to me [...], one column of the tavaram() which is between my bedroom and the kitchen has fallen down, etc. ; the stable is breaking in pieces ; rain is pouring in on a wall close to the main door (of the church) and the frontispiece is cracking, etc. ; this state of things requires prompt attention, etc."

I do not know if Y.L.'s letter indisposed Mgr of Calcutta against me, but he hasn't replied to my New Year's letter. I was curious to read the letter supposed to be mine, as well as that where Y.L. gives the description of the consecration. If Y.L. would be so kind as to pass on the issues containing them, you would be doing me a favour. Perhaps I will learn interesting news such as that which informed me yesterday that I had published a pastoral letter that I still have not composed!

But here is more consoling news. In a letter that I received via Bombay, Mr Tesson announces to me the future departure, on 25 March, of a few missionaries for Coimbatore. He allows me to presume the allocation of funds which will be so minimal for me, above all when the number of confreres increases, that we will spend a poor year. It is true that at the time the funds were distributed, they still did not know in Paris about the purchase made in Coimbatore, but I do not think that that knowledge, which will undoubtedly have arrived after the shares had become definitive, will make any difference.

I would have wished to visit the Christian communities with a single missionary, but I could only take Mr Pacreau, and he has never agreed.

I have received no news from Trichinopoly. H.G. of Chyrra wrote to invite me to attend the consecration of the bishop of Quilon which will be taking place the day of Pentecost at Verapoly. Despite the poor state of my finances I felt I could not refuse him this.

I had requested from Rome dispensations of first degree both of sanguinity and affinity, that Y.L. was not able to give to me. I asked for these to be sent either directly, or through Y.L. Undoubtedly they have used this latter means. Would you be so good as to tell me where I stand, and even could you not send me a copy of the letter from Rome, as least as regards the article that may concern me.

Thank you for the report to the King, copy of which you were good enough to send me. And in this regard, I would like to ask how the College is going. Y.L. has never said a single word about it to me. However, believe me, My Lord, I take a keen interest in it, as in all the good that I hope for you all and in the merits of which kindly concede me some part, as well as that of your prayers and holy sacrifices in the union of which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 2 May 1847)

Sent_0243

Sent_0243 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 mai 1847 -/1

Sent 0243 - to Mgr Bonnand - 14 May 1847 -2/1

Sent_0243 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 mai 1847 -/1

Sent 0243 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 65-67

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 88

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am on my way to Verapoly. I will not be going to the consecration of Mgr Canoz. I shall be receiving three missionaries. As ever, we are in dire straits.

Index : missionaries (my), pecuniary difficulties, bishop's consecration

__________

Coimbatore, 14 May 1847

My Lord,

I have received your letter of the 7th in passing on my way to Verapoly, as announced in my last letter. I have also received letters from Paris announcing the departure, on 26 March of three missionaries for Coimbatore. May the angel of the Lord deign to accompany them and smooth out their way. I hope that in your charity you will welcome them on their journey and send them on to us speedily, as soon as they are a little rested. I will be writing on this subject to Mr Pouplin on my return from Verapoly.

At the same time I received a letter from Mgr Canoz who invites me to go to his consecration. But since I feel sure that Y.L. will be in attendance, and My Lord of Chyrra should be going with the new bishop whom we are to consecrate on the day of Pentecost, I asked him to excuse me.

I thank Mr Fages for the prospectuses. I will try to give them to anyone who may be interested. Excuse the disorder of this letter written in haste and with a headache due to the journey.

The Gentlemen of Paris do not tell me what exactly this year's allocation will amount to ; but, according to what I am led to expect by a letter from Mr Tesson that I received via Bombay, about twenty day ago, we are going to be

(hereafter two lines that are illegible and unusable)...

Hardship is (always here ?) at its height. The weather was (... ?...) () rains, but not very abundant, and besides the weavers are without work.

In the union of your prayers and holy sacrifices, I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 14 May 1847)

Sent_0244

Sent_0244 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 24 mai 1847 -/1

Sent 0244 - to Mgr Bonnand - 24 May 1847 -1/1

Sent_0244 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 24 mai 1847 -/1

Sent 0244 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2149-2152

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 88-89

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare) (

)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Problem of propriety for bishops' consecrations. The Jesuits have not always been very correct with us. If only My Lord of Chyrra could be an angel of peace between the bishops of India! All the wonders that he sees at Verapoly.

Index : susceptibility, Jesuits, ecclesiastical administration, Church of Verapoly

__________

Verapoly, 24 May 1847

I tell him that I have spoken at length with My Lord of Chyrra on the question he raises with me. The archbishop is quite saddened. He would not have accepted to make the consecration if he had thought that this could become a cause of disagreement. Mgr Canoz offered him the consecration at Carumattampatty. He agrees that it was appropriate to offer it to My Lord of Drusipare, but Father Canoz told him that he had offered it to him.

Now, even if it were possible, he would be pleased for My Lord of Drusipare to make the consecration while he would be assistant with joy ; but he does not think that Mgr Canoz is outside of his rights, above all if the bulls state, as they ordinarily do, that the elect may be consecrated by any bishop in communion with the Holy See. I do not think that he declines, now that things have gone so far ahead, but certainly, as far as he is concerned, he will see that Rome's will is carried out.

I felt I had to tell him a little about how the Jesuits have behaved with regard to My Lord of Drusipare for some time now. Since the archbishop is as intelligent as he is charitable, I believe that this overture would be useful in order for him to understand better the cause of My Lord of Drusipare's astonishment, and to carry out better the role so well suited to him, it seems to me, to act among the different workers in India, as an angel of peace, a virtue which we should all place in the forefront of our obligations, so as not to hinder one another in the good that we all wish to do.

I say a word to him about all the marvels that I see here, the beauty of the churches, the wealth of the factories, the canonical administration of My Lord of Chyrra, the seminaries, etc., etc., the way in which I have been welcomed. How I regret that Mgr Luquet had not made a journey in this part of the country. He would have seen implemented all the articles of our most ardent desires, while those which still leave somewhat to be desired are being systematically regularised by My Lord of Chyrra's wise and canonical administration.

(Verapoly, 24 May 1847)

Sent_0245

Sent_0245 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 26 mai 1847 -/1

Sent 0245 - to Mgr Bonnand - 26 May 1847 -1/1

Sent_0245 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 26 mai 1847 -/1

Sent 0245 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 71-74

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 89

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Short letter to advise that My Lord of Chyrra is due to pass via Pondicherry.

Index : news

__________

Trichour, 26 May 1847

My Lord,

A short word in passing to make up for an omission in the letter that I had the honour of writing to you on 24th from Verapoly. In it I forgot to tell you that My Lord of Chyrra has a great desire to pass by Pondicherry on his way back from Trichinopoly. I thought that you would like to know this before your departure, in case you have any arrangements that need to be made to welcome him. My Lord of Chyrra expects to leave for Verapoly Monday or Tuesday next.

I left Verapoly yesterday after dinner, and we arrived this morning, after travelling all night on the river. What a country this is! What a difference from ours in all ways! But I don't have time to go into all the details of this difference which fills me with delighted admiration.

My friendly greetings, please, to all those around you and a place in the memento.

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Trichour, 26 May 1847)

Sent_0246

Sent_0246 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0246 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 June 1847 -2/2

Sent_0246 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0246 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 79-82

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 90

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare) (

)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Whether or not you should go to Mgr Canoz's consecration at Trichinopoly. This is what I think (the proprieties, what Rome has written). For my part, I will not be going (there are already three bishops,great pecuniary difficulties). I agree on separating our three vicariates. Give me news of the royal college.

Index : bishop's consecration, royal college, proprieties, pecuniary difficulties, vicariates (division)

__________

Carumattampatty, 3 June 1847

My Lord,

Your Lordship must have received some days ago a letter that I had the honour of addressing to you from Verapoly and another from Trichour. The first replied to almost everything that Y.L. asks me in (... ?...) which I received yesterday.

Father Canoz (... ?...) to have clearly offended the proprieties. Nevertheless, if in his bulls it states that he can be consecrated by any bishop he wishes in union with the Holy See, he will be right externally and it seems to me that Y.L. would be advised to attend the consecration, if necessary reporting to Rome on what happened there, if something seems irregular to you.

But if the above-mentioned clause is not contained in the bulls, that is quite different, and in that case, I am not sure what I would do. I even think that I would refrain from attending. For since this clause is included in all the bulls sent out thus far in India, its omission would be a sign that Rome, which commended the matter to you, wants you to be the consecrator. Otherwise, it is clear that Rome requires (... ?...) Lordship is not incompetent (... ?...) consecration given by someone else (... ?...) the proprieties.

So that, My Lord, is quite simply what I think. As regards my presence in Trichinopoly, it is not at all necessary if, besides, there are three bishops; and if, by chance, they were not there, it would be up to Mgr Canoz to let me know, since his letter of invitation supposed three bishops and he did not invite me to act as assistant. If he really (... ?...), he can easily insist without fear of causing me pain and without adopting any devious proceeding.

Quite apart from the reasons that I gave him, I have in addition two or three other big ones which it was not necessary to give him, inter quos my financial distress. For truly, with the utter poverty all around us, with no aid forthcoming from the Christians, I do not know how we will get through the year. I tremble at being obliged to borrow. If it is at all useful, I will go to Trichinopoly after a second invitation of course from Mgr Canoz, if not, I won't! ()

On arriving I received your letter of the (11th ?). As regards dispensations, if Y.L. were to send me two of each, that would give me pleasure, but if that does not suit you, I will ask for them gradually as I need them.

I am quite prepared to sign the letter that Y.L. may write to Rome, on behalf of us three, to ask for the definitive separation of the vicariates. Y.L. has only to pass this letter on to me, and I will sign it. My Lord of Chyrra made the same request as far as he is concerned.

I am overjoyed at the success of the Royal College, and I pray the Lord that he will make it prosper ever more for his greatest glory. Kindly convey my compliments to the persons of Pondicherry who mention me to you. I forgot to pass on to you a million good things with which My Lords of Mangalore and of Quilon entrusted me for Your Lordship, although they do not have the privilege of knowing you, as well as My Lord of Chyrra, until he has the pleasure of seeing you, as he hopes, at Trichinopoly.

My compliments, if you would be so kind, to all our dear confreres (... ?...) in the memento.

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 3 June 1847)

Sent_0247

Sent_0247 - à Aroulnaden et Pakianaden - le 7 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0247 - to Aroulnaden and Pakianaden - 7 June 1847 -1/1

Sent_0247 - à Aroulnaden et Pakianaden - le 7 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0247 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 91-92

(to Aroulnaden and Pakianaden)

(Indian seminarians)

Leave profane studies now and apply yourselves to dogmatic theology first of all and then moral theology. How well the Church is established in the vicariate of Verapoly! (large number of Christians, of priests, seminarians and revenues...) Your vocation is a fine one, my friends, cultivate humility, obedience and detachment.

Index : apostolic virtues, native clergy, Church of Verapoly, theological studies

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 June 1847

[...] I can't wait for you to start your theological studies. At this point you have gained enough of that human knowledge of which it is good for priests to have some notion in order to have recourse to it if necessary and for further study, as required, later according to the position that divine Providence reserves for them in the Church, but which is not the true science of the priest. I advise you to apply yourselves from now on wholeheartedly to dogmatic theology first of all, and then moral theology of course according to the direction provided by your superiors.

I would have plenty to tell you if I wanted to refer to you the sweet impressions I gained in the prosperous apostolic vicariate of My Lord of Chyrra. At the sight of so many fine churches, and so much wealth in the form of worship, of so many priests and Christians. Thus, one could say that Religion is established there. If the good God were to permit the demon to send a tempest against the Church of India, who could say what would become of our missions ? In the Malabar country, the Christian religion would not perish. In a misfortune, I might fear heresy and schism for it, because the clergy, and accordingly also the people, are not sufficiently educated; but the country as a whole would not turn pagan again, for Christianity is too deeply rooted and it is not dishonoured by the half pagan practices as in our parts.

The name of Jesus Christ will not be wiped out of the memory of 200,000 Catholics (contained in this vicariate, one of the smallest in India) administered by 388 Syriac priests and 48 Latin priests, without counting 200 Syriac seminarians almost all clerics and living, like the priests, on the revenues of the churches where they are entered according to the ancient discipline, or on their own fortune, without which they are not ordained, and 38 Latin seminarians in the different orders, but almost all at least tonsured ; for according to the rule of the Council of Trent, they are tonsured almost immediately and all the pupils in fact wear the black cassock. This is not to say that everything is perfect among this numerous clergy, but what is there that is perfect on this earth? And what country can say that it possesses a perfect clergy?

Let us never forget that Jesus Christ permitted that among the twelve apostles, there was a Judas. I will not go into that now because it would take more than one letter. If ever the Lord gives me the pleasure of seeing you, I would have many things to tell you. But I will content myself today with two words: your vocation is a fine one, my dear friends (for I regard you as real friends) and if you are faithful, you will be able to do great good. Meanwhile, take advantage of the retreat in which you live to fortify yourselves in an unfailing humility, in a perfect obedience and in complete detachment from the advantages, goods and well-being of this life. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 7 June 1847)

Sent_0248

Sent_0248 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 7 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0248 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 7 June 1847 -2/2

Sent_0248 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 7 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0248 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000, pp 1649-1652

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 92-93

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the regulations of the MEP : importance of following them, even if I do not agree with everything and if there are omissions. I am going to send you the draft regulations that I have written for Coimbatore. Two of my missionaries do not deserve being entered as members of the body. Thank you for the missionaries that you are sending and for the allocation. As always, we are in great financial distress.

Index : regulations, pecuniary difficulties, missionaries (my), bungalow

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 June 1847

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I received in due course a copy of the regulations of the Congregation of Foreign Missions, as well as your letters of 19 January and of 16 March.

I hope that each article of the regulations will from now onwards be strictly observed in all of the missions. This seems to me to be the only way of enabling us to proceed with unity and strength in the sublime vocation that the Lord has given us. If, on the contrary, each of us neglects this or that article because he considers it as unimportant, or because he would like to see it modified or changed, we will fall into a confusion which will not fail to betray our weakness. This is what I will say in answer to Mgr Boucho who writes to me: "We need to be in agreement in order for the business of the body to proceed better than it does; for I believe that the springs, being already very old, have lost much of their elasticity. Thus it is up to us to come to an understanding with one another, so as to give them their previous vigour".

I will answer him that the simplest way of coming to an understanding is to integrally follow the regulations from one end to the other. This does not mean, Gentlemen and dear confreres, that, for my part, I do not greatly regret the inclusion of certain articles and not of certain others which would seem to me very necessary, but that is no reason for me not to feel myself obliged in conscience to observe them and to see that they are all observed by my missionaries with the grace of God. I hope that your zeal will not neglect any means of determining as soon as possible those articles remaining in suspense. In order to conform with article 19 of chapter IV, I will be sending you, as soon as I can, a copy of the purchase deed of the house of Coimbatore.

In order to ensure that article 6 of chapter VII is observed, I have drawn up draft regulations for the mission of Coimbatore. This is only a draft because a few years' experience seems to me to be necessary in order not to risk proceeding in the wrong way. I will also have the honour of sending you a copy so that I can benefit from any remarks you may wish to make, and because it seems to me that it would be advisable for the particular regulations of the different missions to be kept in Paris in order for the directors to make them known to aspirants before leaving if they should consider that useful.

It seems to me today more than ever, since the Seminary of Paris is obliged to receive a crowd of young ecclesiastics, that it would be extremely useful to strictly observe article 3 of chapter II and article XII of the letters patent. If, for example, Messrs Laugier and Barot have not yet been entered in the registers as members of the body, I don't see why they should be. I have the sorrow of informing you, if you do not know this already, that these two young priests are doing a great deal of harm here; if they were not entered, I would like them to be informed that they are not yet members of the body and that they will only become such if, by a different behaviour, they show themselves to deserve the attestation mentioned in article XII of the letters patent.

I thank you with all my heart, Gentlemen and dear confreres, for the benevolence shown towards me in your letter of 19 January, and ask you to request of Our Lord the graces which are necessary for me in order to behave in such a way as to deserve it always, so that we are in a position to work in common agreement for his greatest glory. I impatiently await the three missionaries announced in your letter of 13 March and this year's allocation of which I still do not know the amount.

According to an approximation indicated to me by Mr Tesson in a private letter, this year we can expect to be extremely hard put for money. It is true that you did not know about the purchase of Coimbatore when Mr Tesson wrote to me. Perhaps this news will have led you to decide to grant me something exceptional for this purchase which it was impossible for us to do without. Although we lead a life of real poverty, everything here is so expensive, and we are so destitute of everything, that I really do not know how we will get through the year, above all if the viaticum is not given to the new missionaries and we have to keep them for one year on the supplement.

It only remains, Gentlemen and dear confreres, to commend myself to your prayers and very Holy Sacrifices, in the union of which,

I have the honour of being

Your devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac

Bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty near Coimbatore, 7 June 1847)

Sent_0249

Sent_0249 - à M. Tesson - le 7 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0249 - to Mr Tesson - 7 June 1847 -2/2

Sent_0249 - à M. Tesson - le 7 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0249 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 93-95

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Amazed at his journey to Verapoly (the priests, the administration, the finances, the Christians, the churches...). I am not going to Mgr Canoz's consecration: the reasons... and first and foremost pecuniary difficulties.

Index : bishop's consecration, Church of Verapoly, collaboration between vicariates, financial distress

__________

Carumattampatty, le 7 juin 1847

I speak to him of my journey to Verapoly and the edifying things that I saw there. 388 Syriac priests, 48 Latin priests, 238 clerics or seminarians.

Except for a small number of pupils of the Latin seminary who are brought up free of charge, but who are only ordained with some entitlement of fortune, the apostolic vicariate does not spend a farthing for this numerous clergy. [...] Thus, how everything works in this country and what picicarer () we are in comparison !

Canonical administration of My Lord of Chyrra.

To try to imitate it here in everything would be an anachronism, for despite our common boundaries, we are quite a different country ; but we should, it seems to me, draw as close as possible to it. In order to make all of this work, he now has only two missionaries and if need be finds that sufficient. The money he receives from Propagation of the Faith is undoubtedly very useful, because he does not personally collect anything from the churches and I would like to see such an enlightened and charitable bishop receive even more. However, if Propagation of the Faith were to fall, religion would not be affected essentially in his jurisdiction, whereas in ours, we would immediately be on the rocks.

Regrets that Mgr Luquet has not made this journey...

Not that there are no faults to be found among this clergy, of which ignorance is not the least. But is anything perfect on earth, and what country can boast of having a perfect clergy ? Meanwhile, Christians are there in great numbers, religious aid in abundance, the churches are fine and rich, Protestantism does not bite into them, etc.

Errand for Mgr of Tana. He would like some Roman style vestments, that is to say with the cross in front, which I also ask him to note for the vestments he will be sending to Coimbatore...

It appears there is some squabble going on between Mgr Canoz and My Lord of Drusipare. As for me, I refused to go to the consecration, giving as pretext my difficult position in not having sufficient missionaries, and the preparations I am obliged to make to welcome those now on their way. These reasons would not be sufficient if it were not foreseen that already three bishops were to attend, but as, when he invited me, Mgr Canoz informed me that apart from me there would three other bishops, I considered them sufficient, since there were two others that it was not necessary to give him: the first being my pecuniary distress; and the second the false position I would find myself in a situation where everyone feels obliged to justify himself, not to trust his fellows, to weigh his every word, etc. At this price, even if I were not obliged to count every rupee as I am at the moment, I would much prefer not to be present. A Dieu [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 7 June 1847)

Sent_0250

Sent_0250 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0250 - to Mgr Luquet - 8 June 1847 -2/2

Sent_0250 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0250 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 474

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, 95-96

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I hope you have received my letters. The wonders he has seen at Verapoly (the churches, Christians, priests and the bishop). What a pity you do not know this place! All our ideas (or almost all) have been achieved there. The squabble about Mgr Canoz's consecration which I will not be attending, above all for pecuniary reasons. Mr Pacreau will be going.

Index : bishop's consecration, Church of Verapoly, pecuniary difficulties, my thoughts on the missions

__________

Carumattampatty, 8 June 1847

My very dear friend,

Although at this moment I cannot write you a long letter, as I would like to, I do not want to let any further time elapse without giving some sign of life. My last missive was dated 26 March. I sent it via Alexandria, and I hope that you have received it together with a letter to the S.C. from which I am very anxious to have a reply. How I long also to have an answer to the one I wrote after the consecration!

Since 26 March, I have had the pleasure of receiving your letters of 2 February and of 23 March. I have nothing very much to say to you on their contents after my letter of 26 March. Only, if you were happy enough that my letter to the Holy Father produces some effect, we will see later. Today, I wish to tell you that I have just made a very useful and agreeable journey. I went to Verapoly for the consecration of My Lord of Héraclée, Pro-vicar of Quilon. How I regret you were not able to make a journey to that part of the country! There you would have seen the accomplishment of our greatest desires.

This is not to say that there is nothing else to be desired, but the essential exists and the truly remarkable qualities of My Lord of Chyrra would make him an extremely useful instrument for the holy cause we represent if he were on our side. He is a very intelligent man and truly devoted to the Church. It seems that he is appreciated by Rome, however he deserves to be so even more. Of all the bishops of India, I believe he is the one who could render the greatest services to the general cause of Religion. He is not in favour of the establishment of bishoprics in India, it is true; however, I think that it wouldn't take much to bring him round to it, for he approves the principle ; he admits that the apostolic vicars will not do what the bishops would, etc., but he does not believe in the advisability of the present measure, both for political reasons, and because he is afraid that the Irish might get the upper hand and take over by way of the high administration the ecclesiastic affairs of India, which would be an incalculable misfortune.

I will not tell you all that is admirable that I have seen in this vicariate, churches of great beauty which serve as prayer houses for over 200,000 Catholic Christians contained in this little jurisdiction, without counting 20,000 Nestorians and a few schismatic govears (). For the administration of these prosperous Christian communities, the archbishop has 388 Syriac priests, 48 Latin priests and 238 minor clerics or seminarians. To direct all of this, at the present time he has only two missionaries, yet everything works ten times better than in our parts.

Another thing I want to tell you is that it seems there is a squabble going on between My Lord of Drusipare and Mgr Canoz. Last year when the latter invited My Lord of Drusipare to be consecrator, Mgr Bonnand made the mistake, in my opinion, of telling him that he would do better to invite an Irishman. Immediately the Rev. Father acted on these words and invited My Lord of Chyrra. Now that Rome has delegated My Lord of Drusipare to discharge the affairs of Madurai, he felt he could not carry out this mandate, being simple assistant. I still don't know how all of this will end up. However, I think that Mgr Bonnand will go to Trichinopoly as simple assistant, as I advised in reply to his request to give my opinion, above all if Father Canoz's bulls say that he can be consecrated by any bishop in union with the Holy See.

As for me, I will not be going to Trichinopoly. When Mgr Canoz invited me, he informed me that apart from me there would be three other bishops. I took advantage of this circumstance to ask him to excuse me for various reasons which are real, and some which it was not necessary to give him, of which the main ones are my difficult pecuniary situation and the little desire I feel to find myself in a meeting where those present distrust one another, where they feel obliged to weigh their every word, etc.

You know Mr Pacreau. He asked if he could go; Mgr Canoz himself had invited him; I could not refuse him permission, although I do not think it is for the good of our missions.

A Dieu. Pray for me.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 8 June 1847)

Sent_0251

Sent_0251 - à Mgr Canoz - le 9 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0251 - to Mgr Canoz - 9 June 1847 -1/1

Sent_0251 - à Mgr Canoz - le 9 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0251 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 96-97

(to Mgr Alexis Canoz, sj, bishop of Tamas)

(apostolic vicar of Trichinopoly or Madurai)

Since, if I do not attend, there will not be three bishops at your consecration, I will go. Mr Pacreau will accompany me.

Index : bishop's consecration, Rome (rules)

__________

Carumattampatty, 9 June 1847

On receiving a second invitation in which H.L. informs me that, if I do not go to Trichinopoly, there will not be three bishops at his consecration, I tell him that I will attend.

It was only on the condition that there were three bishops at your consecration I that I felt justified in foregoing the pleasure of attending this august ceremony for grave reasons ; but since divine Providence has disposed events otherwise than you thought at first, I bless the Lord that my duty now goes hand in hand with my own satisfaction.

I had given permission to Mr Pacreau to go in any case. I will let him know the day of my arrival.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 9 June 1847)

Sent_0252

Sent_0252 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0252 - to Mgr Bonnand - 9 June 1847 -1/1

Sent_0252 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0252 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000J, pp 75-77

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 97

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

We will be seeing each other at Trichinopoly. I have received news from France and Rome, but nothing on our future allocation.

Index : bishop's consecration, news

__________

Carumattampatty, 9 June 1847

My Lord,

Thus then I will have the pleasure of seeing Your Lordship at Trichinopoly. I have just received a letter from Mgr Canoz in which he makes me a second invitation, telling me that if I do not attend his consecration, he will be deprived of the consolation of having three bishops at this ceremony. I straightway answered him that I would go.

I have just received the newspapers from France without letters, Thus, I still do not know what this year's allocation will be. How long will this delay continue? Through Mgr Charbonnaux, I have received very extraordinary news from Rome which does not seem good to me.

Since, through the good God's grace, we will soon have the pleasure of meeting, we will be able to discuss various matters at length.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me

your very humble and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 9 June 1847)

Sent_0253

Sent_0253 - à Mgr de Tana - le 9 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0253 - to Mgr of Tana - 9 June 1847 -1/1

Sent_0253 - à Mgr de Tana - le 9 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0253 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 97

(to Mgr Philippe Fontanova, bishop of Tana)

(administrator of the mission of Mangalore)

Pleasure at making your acquaintance at Verapoly. For the triumph of our common cause, I would like to see a meeting of all the bishops of India, with My Lord of Chyrra at our head. I am going to Mgr Canoz's consecration.

Index : bishop's consecration, religious collaboration, my thoughts on the missions

__________

Carumattampatty, le 9 juin 1847

I have not written to him immediately because of books, dispatch of which I wished to announce to him at the same time. Pleasure at making his acquaintance.

If the good God keeps us much longer in this land of exile to work for the good of Religion in India, may he permit us one day to gather together with the other bishops of this country, when the time has come, to combine our efforts for the triumph of our common cause: the regular and solid establishment of Religion in India. I express the wish that My Lord of Chyrra, who appears to me to me closest to this fortunate achievement, should be at our head. I do not doubt that your wishes correspond to mine from this point of view, as also are those of My Lord of Héraclée.

Kindly present my regards to the two prelates, and my friendly greetings to the Carmelite Fathers. Perhaps I will be seeing My Lord of Chyrra before him, for I shall be attending Mgr Canoz's consecration at Trichinopoly. Communion of prayers.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 9 June 1847)

Sent_0254

Sent_0254 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 16 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0254 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 16 June 1847 -2/2

Sent_0254 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 16 juin 1847 -/2

Sent 0254 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 97-99

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Regarding the limits between our two vicariates, on the subject of Manantoddy and of Collegal. The Christians are providing me with excellent consolations. My seminary is going better than I had hoped, despite the poverty of the premises and the lack of means. Praise of Mr Métral.

Index : jurisdiction, seminary of Carumattampatty, consolations

__________

Carumattampatty, 16 June 1847

His letter of the 4th crossed mine of the 1st. Why and how I will be going to Trichinopoly. My astonishment at receiving powers that I had not requested and which I do not envisage using since I consider them dangerous for this place.

As far as Manantoddy and the Collegal are concerned, Y.L. will undoubtedly recall the opinion I had the honour of conveying to you here and on which I have not changed my mind. This opinion, is that as regards limits of jurisdiction, we should base ourselves on the natural and clearly determined boundaries, without worrying overmuch about some particular difficulties which are merely a passing and secondary nuisance. In conformity with this opinion, I asked you not to object to my staying on in the Collegal, only, I asked Mr de Kérizouët to kindly undertake the vissarané () on my behalf for this year, which he had the charity of doing. On this point, I have not written at all to Rome, and propose not to write anything, wishing to keep to the terms of my bulls: the province of Coimbatore, with the subsequent explanation that adds to it the mission of Palghat.

As for Manantoddy, that is a different situation. Since this portion was not contained either in the province of Coimbatore, or in the Kingdom of Mysore, some arrangement had to be made. We agreed, as you know, that Y.L. would undertake its management pending some new arrangement from Rome. And it is on your behalf that Mr de Kérizouët made the vissarané. I have written to Rome to that effect. Now, since Rome has not arranged things otherwise, I base myself on that. Y.L. may dispose of the money and of the land as you see fit, it no longer concerns me, or rather it has never concerned me; and I will not write any more to Rome on this point, for I think that one letter on the subject of the limits is quite enough. I hope that Y.L. will not view this as contradictory, I acted on this point after having considered it before the Lord, as I feel it my duty to do for the present good and above all for the future, and I do not think I can be blamed for holding purely and simply to the terms of my bulls and the letter from the S.C. following on therefrom.

I do not know who could have told you that the Christians have been giving me trouble. On the contrary, I may say very sincerely that they have afforded me exclusively consolations. Help me to bless the Lord for this. It is true that at a certain point I feared and still fear that their patience has been pushed to the limit and that, not understanding what I am not permitted to try and make them understand, they are turning to others, seeing that I do not give them what they have some right to expect. Thus far, the Lord has preserved them, and me too, from this misfortune. Let us pray God to preserve us from it to the end.

My newly established seminary is doing far better that I had ever hoped. It is true that Mr Métral devotes himself to it with unimpaired zeal. May the Lord reward him for it. It is not very big (11 pupils), but all those belonging to it think exclusively of becoming priests. However there are some very young ones on whom one still cannot count overmuch. I have given the tonsure to two. The throng of people in attendance at this ceremony, although it took place on a working day, proved the interest they take in this work that they are beginning to understand and that I do not lose a single opportunity of making them appreciate. Unfortunately, I have no house to lodge them in. Thus they sleep, eat and study in a single room literally insufficient to contain them, above all at night. I hope that their good guardian Angel, who sees that it is not in any way through lack of goodwill that I leave them thus, will look after their good morals. Finally, I pray the Lord to grant your seminary the graces that he seems to be granting to ours, that he may be blessed everywhere for ever.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 16 June 1847)

Sent_0255

Sent_0255 - à M. de Kérizouët - le 16 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0255 - to M. de Kérizouët - 16 June 1847 -1/2

Sent_0255 - à M. de Kérizouët - le 16 juin 1847 -/1

Sent 0255 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 99-100

(to Mr Antoine de Kérizouët)

(apostolic missionary)

My journey to Verapoly where a veritable native clergy exists. Of course, it has its faults, but who has none? It is so different from what we find in our parts that one would think one was no longer in India.

Index : native clergy, faults

__________

Carumattampatty, 16 June 1847

Why such a long delay in writing to me.

I will not tell you the history of everything that has happened to me in this quadrat, it would be too long and above all too sad. Let us go on to what is more consoling. I have just made a very useful journey, I assure you, and very edifying to Verapoly... I wish you had the occasion of making such a journey and you will see what a mission is like where there is a veritable native clergy, although of course this clergy is not devoid of faults, faults which moreover appear to be singularly exaggerated on this side of the mountains, and which, everything considered, are no worse than the faults attached to the clergy in other parts of the world.

In fact what country is there on this round machine that can say that it possesses a clergy without faults ? Only there are faults like virtues which have a particular hue in each place. Seen through exotic eyes, these appear to us as less pure, and the former as more hideous. Whence perhaps the explanation of the exaggerations made in pure conscience. To tell you the difference existing on every point between our missions and those of My Lord of Chyrra would be something impossible to undertake; may it suffice to say that it seems that one has left India to enter into a Catholic country. This illusion is complete if we turn away our eyes from the large number of pagans that still exist, but of which some thousand are baptised each year.

My forthcoming journey to Trichinopoly. What I am writing to My Lord of Jassen on the question of the Collegal and of Manantoddy. Our seminary is doing well. Two pupils have been tonsured.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 16 June 1847)

Sent_0256

Sent_0256 - à M. Tesson - le 2 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0256 - to M. Tesson - 2 July 1847 -2/2

Sent_0256 - à M. Tesson - le 2 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0256 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 16

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 100

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Finally, I am in Trichinopoly for Mgr Canoz's consecration : very fine ceremony. I came in a parissou, I will go back on horseback. What beauty, what wealth in the different buildings of the Church here, whereas we have nothing! I needed to have 50,000 francs more than the ordinary allocation. I don't know how we will get through this year.

Index : bishop's consecration, pecuniary difficulties, Jesuits, bungalow

__________

Trichinopoly, 2 July 1847

My dear Mr Tesson,

The enclosed should have left last month, but I missed the post, I will include it in this note which will bring you a contradiction. In fact I told you that I would not be coming to Trichinopoly, while it is from Trichinopoly that I am writing to you. Mgr Canoz wrote to me a second time to say, that if I did not come, he would not have the consolation of having three bishops at his consecration, since My Lords of Quilon and of Madras could not come. I would have ignored all the proprieties by a second refusal. So I came. To avoid the cost of a palanquin, I went to Codively, then down the river on a parissou (), that is, a basket having a diameter of four and a half feet (lined) internally in cow's skin. It is on this craft that I arrived here. Whereas I think I will go back on horseback.

If I did not fear to present a thesis which might seem to conceal my personal amour propre under the appearance of the honour of our Society, I would write to the Council of directors of the Seminary to describe to them the magnificence of everything that we see here. Magnificent church, house or rather houses of great beauty, gardens, fish-ponds, etc. etc., all of which maintained in an admirable beauty, whereas I have practically nowhere to lodge, I do not dare undertake the urgent repairs on the new bungalow that we have just bought and on the house of Carumattampatty which is falling to pieces, while I have not a single chapel which could decently bear the name of church, nor a school in the villages or at Coimbatore. And over and above all that, no hope of being able to undertake anything for more than a year still.

It is quite painful. To do not as the Jesuits would have done, but however sufficient to uphold our (name in) their neighbourhood, and in the neighbourhood also of Verapoly, it would have been necessary, in addition to the ordinary allocation, for the Seminary to have allocated me 50,000 francs in order to set myself up. It could not do so. May God's will be done. If you only give us 11,000 francs this year, considering the 4,500 that we owe for the bungalow, considering the larger number of missionaries, given the indispensable expenses for setting up house in a place where everything is exceedingly expensive, in view of the delay in receiving these funds, which means that now already two quarters have been paid for in advance, etc., I do not know how we shall manage to live this year.

A Dieu. I won't give you the details of the consecration. Just imagine one of the finest possible ceremonies for any place in the world, the most numerous assembly of priests to have taken place thus far east of the Ghats, etc. etc. My respects and friendly greetings, please, to all of our dear confreres. I have received no news from Paris last month. I await with impatience the new persons due to be sent out, whose date of departure I still do not know.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Trichinopoly, 2 July 1847)

Sent_0257

Sent_0257 - à M. de Colons - le 16 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0257 - to M. de Colons - 16 July 1847 -1/2

Sent_0257 - à M. de Colons - le 16 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0257 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 100-101

(to Mr de Colons,

shop-keeper at Pondicherry)

Could your firm provide work for the poor weavers of my vicariate who are at present unemployed and thus without resources ? If they receive orders for cloth, they will ensure themselves a meagre subsistence and will be happy.

Index : extreme poverty, work

__________

Carumattampatty, 16 July 1847

Dear Sir,

I take the liberty of writing to you to ask you for some information that I would be grateful to obtain from your kindness and charity.

A frightful poverty reigns here among the people and above all among our Christians, for two causes. The first is the lack of rain for several years now, and the second is the lack of work. Most of our Christians are weavers; for some time already they have seen their industry diminish year after year and, at the moment, they are absolutely without work. Not knowing where to turn, they leave their houses, leaving behind their wives and children and all is lost.

Accordingly I would like to ask you, Sir, if there is no way of finding them work and what this means would be.

In the state to which they are reduced, they do not expect to earn much : if some orders could be put in for cloth, so that a poor subsistence is forthcoming, they will be content.

I do not know if the trade in cloth is one of the branches your firm deals in ; nevertheless, I have not hesitated to address you, both because I know your good heart, and because, in any case, your relations with the other commercial establishments will provide you with the means, I hope, of answering me and telling me if I can nourish some hope for these unfortunate people.

Perhaps it could prove a good commercial transaction for someone, in any case it will be an act of charity to be made if possible. I hope that you will be good enough to answer me soon and, in the mean time, to accept the expression of the distinguished feelings with which, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 16 July 1847)

Sent_0258

Sent_0258 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0258 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 July 1847 -1/1

Sent_0258 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0258 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 83-86

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 101

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I agree with the division of vicariates. Marriage dispensation problems. Thanks for having received the missionaries coming out to us. I will go and meet them at Coimbatore. Great general hardship.

Index : news, missionaries (my), hardship __________

Carumattampatty, 22 July 1847

My Lord,

The day before yesterday I received your letter of the 11th with the bull from Rome. Thank you for the interesting news you give me. I did not receive any more than you did news from Paris by the last steamer; this truly saddens me. I did not write to you on my departure from Trichinopoly, because I thought that My Lord of Chyrra's journey had been definitively arranged with Your Lordship and I would have had no other news to give you.

On opening your letter, and seeing the heading of another sheet Beatissime Pater, I thought this would be the letter that Y.L. has the intention of writing on behalf of us three. I hope that Y.L. will soon do this.

I would be much obliged if you would take the trouble to examine soon if we are certain in our consciences on the form of marriage dispensations, for as far as I am concerned, I have nothing on which to form my conscience.

I don't doubt that we will receive notice of the arrival of the new missionaries as soon as they have landed in Pondicherry. I plan to go and meet them at Coimbatore as from the beginning of next week, in order to make the necessary arrangements in advance to welcome them, as well as My Lord of Chyrra when he passes through. If His Grace is already at Pondicherry when this letter arrives, kindly present my respects to him. I would like to know, if possible, on what day he expects to arrive in Coimbatore, and even at Carumattampatty.

Here we find ourselves more and more in extreme hardship : no rain, no work for the weavers, and the villages are gradually breaking up. If this continues, we will soon be in a desert.

Pray for us. Kindly remember me to all of our dear confreres and believe me, in the union of your holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 22 July 1847)

Sent_0259

Sent_0259 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0259 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 July 1847 -1/1

Sent_0259 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0259 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 87-90

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 102

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

To save Mr Laugier, I accept the risk of leaving the Nilghiris unmanned, if Mr Barot refuses to go there. As for Mr Laugier, he can go back to Pondicherry whenever he wishes. Fear of what the schismatic priests may do at Ootacamund; fear that Mr Pajean does not have the spirit of his calling.

Index : missionaries (my), Goa

__________

Carumattampatty, 27 July 1847

My Lord,

After several months of crucifixion that one priest more would have avoided (and perhaps various misfortunes as well), I have sought with the advice above all of Mr Métral, what could be done in order not to leave Mr L.() alone in the Nilghiris.

In view of all the circumstances in which we have found ourselves, which it would take too long to enumerate here, there was only one, which was to leave the Christian community alone, to the wolf's jaws, liable to cause considerable harm by its defection. We considered that Mr L., removed from the occasion of his downfall, and with the spiritual help that we have done our best to offer him, would resist, at least for as long as it would take for some aid and some consolations to arrive from some direction.

However, what Your Lordship tells me of the imprudent words that he said to you in passing, together with some other fears, make me tremble. And since he does nothing but long for his departure for Pondicherry (and perhaps the Lord chooses this path for saving him ?), I wrote to him that he could leave whenever he so desires. I told him this sparing him as much as possible, in order not to vex him any further. I am asking Mr Barot (since I cannot command him to do it!) to go and spend some days in the mountain. If he does not choose to do so, it will remain unmanned with a schismatic priest, and whatever Our Lord decides will happen. I will have done everything that is within my power, and he knows it!

According to the rumours that have reached my ears, I would not be astonished to see the schismatic priest installed by Joachim in our church. I do not think so however, but if that did happen, I would not be surprised.

According to what Y.L. has told me, I very much fear that Mr Pajean is not a missionary with the spirit of his calling. You have some thirty priests, My Lord, could you not hand me over one who is a man of goodwill?

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me

Your very devoted and very humble servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 27 July 1847)

Sent_0260

Sent_0260 - à Mgr de Tamas - le 28 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0260 - to Mgr of Tamas - 28 July 1847 -1/1

Sent_0260 - à Mgr de Tamas - le 28 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0260 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 102-103

(to Mgr Alexis Canoz, sj, bishop of Tamas)

(apostolic vicar of Trichinopoly or Madurai)

If you could send someone to go to the Nighiris for one or two months, you would be doing me a great service ; at least to ensure a presence.

Index : religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 July 1847

I speak to him of the pastoral crisis. Congratulations on the arrival of the new Fathers. The three missionaries I am expecting have still not arrived.

Since one of the four that I have at this moment with me has to leave for Pondicherry, I shall be in great difficulty for a short while. There is the risk that the Christian community of the Nilghiris remains without a priest, which would be a misfortune in view of the presence of a schismatic priest liable to do great harm if none of ours are there.

If any of your fathers would be glad to go and spend one or two months in the mountain, either to restore his health, or out of curiosity, that would at the same time be doing a good service. He could even, if he is a geologist or interested in natural history, make some excursions in the weektime ; it would be sufficient for him to be at Ootacamund on Sundays to say mass. See, My Lord, if Y.L. could not do me this service, at the same time as perhaps giving pleasure to one of your collaborators.

I ask him for news of the sick father.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 28 July 1847)

Sent_0261

Sent_0261 - à M. Leroux - le 28 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0261 - to Mr Leroux - 28 July 1847 -1/2

Sent_0261 - à M. Leroux - le 28 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0261 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 103

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

Reflection on the fact that the teachers eat with the pupils in the seminary of Pondicherry. Our poverty is great, but our seminary functions well.

Index : native clergy, seminary of Carumattampatty, seminary of Pondicherry, Indian usages, poverty

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 July 1847

Departure of the crate of books. Damage caused by the carea (

). Expenses of dispatch..

Your two letters have given me great pleasure. I expect you to inform me soon that the council has decided in favour of your teachers' refectory quite independent of that of the house. This will be a fundamental asset for the establishment, and I do not doubt that, later all the teachers really devoted to the perfection of the native clergy will be proud of the sacrifice they had to impose on themselves for that. The combination of each of you appearing for one week in the refectory does not please me overmuch; it seems clear to me that it will imply various drawbacks which might thereafter become a misfortune, but I am saying this for you alone.

He would have been very kind to come and spend his holidays here.

I congratulate you on being able to build. As for us, we are so poor that I still cannot see any glimmer of the day dawning when we will be able to build something. Meanwhile my 11 seminarians sleep, eat and study in a single room into which the rain falls (when it rains, which is unfortunately all too rare). But at least, I have the consolation of seeing them proceeding plainly and honestly towards the goal that we have fixed. The two tonsured ones are doing very well. Mr Métral devotes himself to their education wholeheartedly, and since this dear confrere is an angel in a mortal body, I hope that he will make good priests of them. Pray for us.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 28 July 1847)

Sent_0262

Sent_0262 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 31 juillet 1847 -/2

Sent 0262 - to Mgr Bonnand - 31 July 1847 -2/2

Sent_0262 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 31 juillet 1847 -/2

Sent 0262 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 91-96

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 104-105

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Why, despite my repugnance, I asked Mgr Canoz for one of his fathers to come to Ootacamund. I did not know that Mr Pajean would be coming to replace Mr Laugier. For this exchange between our two vicariates, this is how we could settle the financial questions. The news of Coimbatore and of Carumattampatty. Great hardship everywhere.

Index : religious collaboration, hardship, religion

__________

Coimbatore, 31 July 1847

My Lord,

I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 25th yesterday. The previous day I had received a letter from Mr Pajean to whom I replied in terms which without doubt he will have shared with you. Mr L. is here at the moment ; he will be leaving, it seems, as you desire, on the occasion of the return journey of the carts which will be bringing the effects of the newcomers here, unless the latter delay for some time, in which case he would leave earlier.

Y.L. told me at Trichinopoly that it was impossible for me to have a replacement for Mr L. before the month of January. In your soli of the 19th, you do not lead me to hope in any prompter relief. Since I could not expect that your council, to which Y.L. submits all questions regarding the mission of Pondicherry, and which had been far from kind to me over the last year, would listen to a fresh appeal on my part, firmly persuaded that I would simply receive from it a 5th or 6th refusal, and from another point of view seeing that Mr L. could not remain alone at Ootacamund, that it is impossible for me to send at the moment either Mr Métral or Mr Pacreau, that Mr Barot either will not wish to go there, or will only accept to stay there for a few days, that the mountain would remain for a long period without a priest, as it is without one at this moment, and that this could be extremely dangerous, that even when the new missionaries have arrived, I could not send them immediately without their knowing a little Tamoul, and without my getting to know them myself, I addressed myself to the Jesuit Fathers to ask them if they could help me out for two or three months.

Quite often, over the past year, I have been tempted to take this step which I only envisaged with great reluctance for reasons that are well known to you. And I did not resort to it because finally I managed to cover the situation on my own, to the detriment of various aspects.

But, finally, pushed to the limit, and unable to foresee the harm that might occur between now and the end of next January, the earliest time when I could hope to have some missionaries available, I addressed myself to Mgr Canoz. Now, things are different since Mr Pajean, or whoever it is that Y.L. decides to send will undoubtedly know a little Tamoul. Accordingly would Y.L. be so kind as to inform me who you intend to send (I do not refuse Mr Pajean at all), and ensure that he leaves at the latest with the new missionaries. I will write to My Lord of Tamas that, since circumstances have changed, I no longer need the help I had asked him for.

As regards the travel expenses, it seems to me that the question is very simple. Mr Laugier will have received his sambalam () up to 1 December, while the person you send me should have received his up to the same time, and then we will continue to give it each on our side, since there is no change in the number of missionaries.

As for the supplement that we give to someone going out to a mission, which consists, I believe, of a horse and payment of half the expenses for the effects, it seems to me that it is the burse of Pondicherry which should pay them for the person you will be sending, since I am not receiving a new missionary from Paris, and he has acquired this right from the time when he would leave Pondicherry if sent to this mission, finally since it should come to the same thing to me whether this replacement were to come from Pondicherry, from Attipacam, from Calanou or anywhere else.

Whereas, if Mr L. required something for his journey to Pondicherry, which he is not entitled to since it is at his request and to do him a service that I am letting him leave, but that it might be advisable to grant him if he does not have enough money to cover the journey, it would be up to us to grant it to him. The bursar's office of Pondicherry might request him to bring his horse back or to reimburse its value, for he has sold it and kept the money, which does not seem to me quite in accordance with the rules.

This is what I think. But when all is said and done, on this point I will abide absolutely by what you consider just, for despite being at the present time, and foreseeing being for the whole of this year at least hard pressed for money, I would wish that, if we from time to time encounter some small difficulties, this should never be because of money.

Thank you for the news that Y.L. gives me. It seems to me, as to you, that Mgr Forcade's errand is to say the least very extraordinary, and liable to have disastrous consequences. However, before judging, I would like to know his reasons thoroughly; I have refrained from speaking of all this to my missionaries, in order not to precipitate serious judgments without having sufficient facts to hand.

I have been here for two days now.

Mr Laugier seems very pleased to be going to Pondicherry. It is said that here there are 75 Tamouler Christian households, but more pagan than Christian. I still have not seen anyone, except Allaquiapoullé who is about to leave, it seems, in two or three days' time.

The Christians of Carumattampatty have given me real signs of great attachment. I believe that it will be difficult for the schism to penetrate thereabouts now, providing the Lord does us the grace of continuing to be prudent, and I hope that I have not completely wasted my time by consolidating this Christian community, by putting it on bases which may enable us to hope to see it doing well for a long time. Unfortunately the Christians are suffering the utmost hardship, the weavers above all, and the population has diminished considerably.

Kindly inform My Lord of Chyrra, while offering him my homage, that his people and effects have been here for several days; everything has arrived safety ; his people are waiting for him.

Pray for me, please, and believe in the respectful sentiments of

Priez pour moi, je vous prie, et croyez aux sentiments respectueux de

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 31 July 1847)

Sent_0263

Sent_0263 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 31 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0263 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 31 July 1847 -1/1

Sent_0263 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 31 juillet 1847 -/1

Sent 0263 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 105

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Two wishes on the occasion of the solemn feast to be celebrated on 3 August at Bangalore., Send me your news.

Index : friendship, news

__________

Coimbatore, 31 July 1847

My Lord,

I anticipate the solemnity which will be great, without doubt, at Bangalore, so that my wishes combine on the same day with those which will not fail to be offered you by the missionaries who are working with Y.L. The Lord knows how ardent are the prayers that I address to him for your happiness and for that of the mission entrusted to you, but it seems to me that next Tuesday I will have the certainty that they are less unworthy by laying them in the hands of the great patron of which Y.L. bears the name.

My journey to Trichinopoly. I await My Lord of Chyrra in a few days' time.

It is a long time now since I received any news of Y.L. I beg you not to forget me completely, above all in your prayers and in the memento of the very Holy sacrifice in the union of which, I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

in the pious embraces of the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

your very devoted and respectful servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 31 July 1847)

Sent_0264

Sent_0264 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 août 1847 -/1

Sent 0264 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 August 1847 -2/2

Sent_0264 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 août 1847 -/1

Sent 0264 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 97-100

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 105-106

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Still no news from Paris. While awaiting Mr Pajean's arrival, Mr Barot has accepted to go to Ootacamund. I received an answer from the SC to the three questions I had asked: it approves everything. I will write in detail on all of this to Mr Leroux.

Index : native clergy, my thoughts on the missions, Rome (authority), seminary of Carumattampatty, religious collaboration

__________

Coimbatore, 3 August 1847

My Lord,

A little note to say to Y.L. that the news arrived by steamer today but that I have not received a single word from Paris. This is beginning to really worry me. I still harbour the slight hope that there may be a note for me in your packet to the government, or at least some news that Y.L. would wish to share with me.

Yesterday I received your letter of the 27th with the copy of your letter to the S.C., as well as the extract from a letter from Mr L. I have had a conversation with the latter, in which I tried to make him say if his plan was only to go to Pondicherry in order to move on from there later. He answered that it was not, that he couldn't stand his position any longer and taking Mr Pajean's silence for a refusal of his proposal, he had written to France, but that this step would lead to nothing since he had obtained what he desired. He is leaving tomorrow for the mountain with Mr Barot who has consented to go there for a I don't know how long. I wouldn't be surprised if he left without waiting for Mr Pajean. He asked me if it was necessary for him to come back here and whether he could not leave directly from Ootacamund.

I have received a letter from Rome from Mgr Luquet which contains nothing much, I think, that could interest you greatly, and another from the S.C. in answer to a letter that I wrote on 5 April asking if it would approve certain views that I had for the direction of my newborn seminary. I raised three questions that it would be too long and perhaps not very interesting to Y.L. for me to refer here. I will be writing about them one of these days to Mr Leroux who will be able to share my letter with you, if Y.L. so desires. I will only say here that the S.C. answered my three questions in these words: hinc tria illa quae in memoratis litteris praeposita sunt, ea sicuti perutilia, et antidictae instructioni consona sunt, ita Sacrae Congregationi vel maxime probata esse monemus. ()

I also received today a small book which, I think, was sent to me by Mr Dupuis, to whom I would ask you to kindly convey my very sincere thanks. My Lord of Chyrra will undoubtedly have left Pondicherry when this letter arrives. It only remains for me to ask you to believe me in union of prayers and of Holy Sacrifices,

Your very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I will be writing, as Y.L. desires, to the S.C., to say that I think in the same way as Y.L. and without adding or diminishing anything to the reasons expressed in your letter.

(Coimbatore, 3 August 1847)

Sent_0265

Sent_0265 - à M. Métral - le 3 août 1847 -/2

Sent_0265 - à M. Métral - le 3 août 1847 -/2

Sent 0265 - to Mr Métral - 3 August 1847 -/2

Sent 0265 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 106-107

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

Mr Barot is going to Ootacamund. I have received a positive reply from the S.C. to the three questions which I had raised regarding our seminary. I was sure to be following the line of the Church: the tonsure, the Church office, the Church ceremonies, some hymns in Latin of the universal Church. No reply from Mr de Colons.

Index : native clergy, seminary of Carumattampatty, Rome (authority), Church

__________

Coimbatore, 3 August 1847

He is far too thrifty. Mr Barot is going to Ootacamund with Mr Laugier who will leave, I think, for Pondicherry after the Assumption. No news form Paris, this is becoming annoying.

I have received the answer from Rome regarding the seminary. They completely approve our views and our project, praising me more than I deserve for the zeal we are putting into dealing with this precious work. Hinc, they tell me, tria illa (you will remember the three things for which I asked for their approval) quae in memoratis litteris praeposita sunt, ea sicuti perutilia et antedictae instructioni (that of 23 November 1845) consona sunt ita Sacrae Congregationi vel maxime probata esse monemus.() Courage then !

I was pretty sure of only following in my plan the ancient spirit of our mother the Church, but we needed to have this precious word from Rome in order for our practice not to be regarded as an innovation in my hands. Accordingly, with your cooperation, I hope to see the office of the Church, the most effective public prayer of all, celebrated in the church of Carumattampatty in all the rules; and I hope that the Lord will listen to these children's voices, whose choir will remain pure as a result of your paternal vigilance, who will sing the Lord's praises while praying for their own homeland. However we need to proceed gradually aiming at our goal but taking just one step forward each day. For the moment, I advise you to prepare from afar the three or four steadiest to receive the tonsure soon, for example at Christmas, making them hope for and desire it and remarking from time to time, by way of conversation, to the principal Christians that this is the time, together with Trinity, when the orders are principally given ; that if there are any of them who are particularly well behaved and who are good at reading Latin, perhaps I could give them the tonsure.

2) Speak often to the children of the ceremonies of the Church, of prayer which is one of the principal functions of ecclesiastics, of the desire that I have for there to be a place in the vicariate where one can always pray in order to obtain Heaven's blessings for Christians and for the conversion of the pagans. Finally, of the project that I have, to entrust this fine function to the seminary if I am well pleased with their progress and above all with their piety. For if they were several ecclesiastics, and they sung well, we could carry out all the ceremonies of the Church and I would give rules for the seminary to be a house of prayer as well as a house of study.

In order to accustom them, I believe you would do well not only to sing the mass on all high feast-days, but also to make them sing on occasion the Kyrie, the Credo, the Gloria, entirely or in part, in the course of the low masses, above all on ordinary days, for on simple Sundays it is good for the people to continue to hear the Tamoul prayers recited by the catechist or by a pupil. Moreover, you could use the time of worship of the Holy Sacrament, during which the children do little but sleep, in singing, for example, a verse from a hymn to the Holy Sacrament, followed by the antiphon of the Virgin and that of the Saint whose feast is being celebrated that day, or litanies of the Holy Virgin or of the Saints, completely or in part, without taking too long so as not to tire the children, and other such things that you could invent while tending to the goal.

No answer from Mr de Colons. Although the Christians are little in the habit of giving the talicattou () just to confirm the rule by its observation, he should be content with that. Small errands.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 3 August 1847)

Sent_0266

Sent_0266 - à M. Leroux - le 5 août 1847 -/3

Sent_0266 - à M. Leroux - le 5 août 1847 -/3

Sent 0266 - to Mr Leroux - 5 August 1847 -/3

Sent 0266 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 107-111

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

He outlines at length the reasons which led him to write to the S.C. to ask for its approval ; in particular, he wants to follow the spirit of the Council of Trent. He wants to have a seminary with resolute children, he wants to tonsure them quickly, he wants to gradually establish recitation of divine office and all the ceremonies of the Church. Rome agrees with everything. Now I will gradually go ahead. If I fail, it will not be the fault of the method. Ah, if only I had more money!

Index : native clergy, seminary of Carumattampatty, Rome (authority), poverty

__________

Coimbatore, 5 August 1847

I have just received some good news regarding the work to which you are as devoted as me; I thought that you would be pleased to know the details, so now I will give them to you.

You know my opinion on the practice of initiating the young seminarians early to the tonsure. It has always seemed to me that in order to make good workers, they should be given a long term apprenticeship; that the more the matter is unreceptive, the more time it will take to shape it; that the more a work is distant from the habits of a people which it is necessary for it to practice, the more useful it is to inculcate that people in it by long practice instead of long theory.

Whence, I concluded that for the difficult work of the priestly ministry, for peoples who have still not received the development of a perfect civilisation, and for Christians breathing an idolatrous air and who have not grown up in the midst of this happy prejudice of truth which enters by all the senses into the spirit and the heart of those who were fortunate enough to be born in a Catholic country, every effort should be made not to improvise priests, but only to vest them with the priesthood after a long ecclesiastic life. Whence I concluded not that they should only be ordained priests at 30 or 40 years of age, above all after having let them live a lay life throughout their childhood and youth, but that they should be introduced into the ecclesiastic condition very early on, so that they are formed by the age when they are best suited to render services.

On another hand, I consulted the general practice of the Church and saw it favouring my opinion, above all if I turned my eyes from present-day France for which besides I see major reasons for adopting a different behaviour, appropriate to the present state of society in this kingdom ; to such a point that, if I were a bishop in France, I do not believe that, for the moment and on this point, I would desire to change what is observed which appears to me to be best for France. But, here things are quite different.

Finally, I tried to analyse the qualities and faults of the Indians, to see if there was any reason to depart from the general law so clearly enunciated in the Holy Council of Trent, session XXIII, chapter XVIII, de religione. Instead of finding any, I saw a large number for which, if the contrary general rule had been established, dispensation was requested for India.

Strong in this assurance, and finding myself in a country where there are no established antecedents, where I could do, from the point of view of the native clergy, immensely more fundamental good than at Pondicherry, where, because of the antecedents we are necessarily obliged to act with reserve, I soon decided to base my seminary, as far as I could, on the rule given by the Council of Trent. Moreover I desired to introduce into the rule of the seminary the usage of public prayer both because I still do not see any other way of introducing it into the country, which is a great misfortune, and to obviate the third shortcoming already referred to.

I know very well that I may not succeed ; I would need to have more people, I would need to be backed up by respectable persons, by whom I have not had the fortune of being understood and who failed to realise that by granting me something from the outset, they were lending at very high interest for the future. Perhaps even you are among the number of these persons, so do not be angry if I say this, for there has been no fault, but merely fear and very natural error that the Lord has permitted, without which you could have achieved at Pondicherry all the good that you are doing and that I would certainly not attempt to impede, while giving me the means to give our work here, all the development of which it is capable at this time and which would unquestionably have reacted on you; finally, a thousand foreign obstacles may prevent a work in my hands even if it is good. I would have been quite easily consoled for myself, even if the building, for lack of good workers or of good materials, had fallen down. The best method may lead to unsatisfactory results in a particular case, as likewise a particular success does not prove that the method which has given birth to it is faultless.

Thus I had the intention 1) of only admitting to the seminary children who were as resolute as possible for their age to embrace the ecclesiastical calling; 2) to tonsure them after one year of trial to ascertain if there is any hope of making them priests later, without worrying about those who do not persevere, by informing both them and the people that it is neither bad or a sin on their part when they recognise that they do not have the vocation to go any further, that it is for this reason that the Church, who desires them to be tonsured statim(), wants them to wait until they have attained 21 years of age before committing themselves irrevocably ; and 3) to establish little by little recitation of the divine office so that, within quite a short time, all the ceremonies of the Church take place integrally in one place.

However I had one fear : that of compromising the work to which the Lord has given me the grace of being completely devoted. For if I do not succeed completely, it might very well not be realised that my proceeding is simply the observation of the general rules and of the wishes of the Church, I might be taxed with innovation, and cause the method to be blamed for a failure which should be ascribed to me alone or to outside circumstances.

Accordingly I resolved to consult Rome and to ask it if it would approve me putting my plan into practice. I even attenuated the expressions in order to have an a fortiori on my side in the case of a simple approval. Thus, instead of one year of probation, I only asked for some months and only some hope of vocation. Desiderarem, I said, pueros aliquibus mensibus probatos ad examinandum si aliqua sit spes vocationis ad prmam tonsuram initiare.() Well, this is what they answered me on 22 June (I had written on 5 April). After great praises of the work of the native clergy and after strongly urging me to continue to deal with this, the S.C. said : Hinc tria illa quae ad ejusmodi instituionem rite perficiendam, ac promovendam [...]in memoratis litteris proposita sunt, ea sicuti perutilia ac antedictae instructioni (that of 23 November 1845) consona sunt, ita Sacrae Congregationi vel maxime probata esse monemus. ()

So that now I will go ahead, I will do this gradually, as much as my slight strength and my small means allow me to. I might not succeed here, either for lack of subjects having a good vocation, or because the demon will not fail to impede me with all his strength, and also because my sins will oppose the merciful goodness of God on this poor people; and I will say: perhaps it is my fault, but it is not the fault of the method. This may require some small local modifications, for there are no two establishments which should follow the same identical proceeding, just as there are no two men who have the same identical physiognomy; but the fundamental bases are invariable and big modifications are only admissible at great distances or in the case of totally different peoples, since a man is everywhere a man, though he may be black in Ethiopia, almost black in India, white in Europe, but with fair hair in England and dark hair in Spain.

Ah, if only I had more resources ! Unfortunately, I am in extreme penury from all points of view. Or perhaps fortunately, for the Lord is almighty and his work will only appear more his own work if he does me the grace, unworthy as I am, of being the instrument of his mercy. A Dieu. Pray for me who am completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary."

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 5 August 1847)

Sent_0267

Sent_0267 - à M. Tesson - le 7 août 1847 -/1

Sent 0267 - to Mr Tesson - 7 August 1847 -1/2

Sent_0267 - à M. Tesson - le 7 août 1847 -/1

Sent 0267 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 18

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 111

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

At what point is the allocation we should be receiving? All the expenses I have been obliged to incur... (the two journeys, the bungalow, the seminary of Carumattampatty, furniture, a sacristy...). We now have only 833 rupees in the mission. And the new missionaries we are expecting will involve us in considerable expense. Our poverty here is very great.

Index : financial distress, hardship.

__________

Coimbatore, 7 August 1847

My dear Mr Tesson,

The last news that I received from Paris was on 7 May. June, July and now August have passed without anything arriving. At what point are we with the allocation, and when can we expect to receive it? The expenses of the consecration, full payment of the viaticum for five missionaries (for I had to return that of Mr Jarrige to Bangalore), the advance on this year's viaticum since 1st April, the indispensable purchase of a few pieces of furniture, the building of a small sacristy at Carumattampatty and of a room in beaten earth for the children of the seminary, the living expenses for 11 children, the two journeys that I was unable to avoid to Verapoly and to Trichinopoly, two thousand rupees paid on the purchase of the bungalow, the indispensable repairs that had to be undertaken to avoid great deterioration and to make it feasible to lodge at least three or four of us, while celebrating the Holy Mysteries there as well, all of this has almost exhausted my resources.

I hoped to receive this year's allocation in April, or by May or June at the latest. And yet here we are and I still do not know what will be allocated to me since you had given me a hope only in a letter that is already old. When I bought the bungalow, I was on the point of undertaking to pay the other two thousand rupees in July. I would have been in great difficulty. Now, all counted there only remain in the mission of Coimbatore 833 rupees, 13 annas (), 2 caches, supposing that we are still owed 400 rupees by Pondicherry, of which I do not know the exact figure. On that, the viaticums are paid up to 1 October. I am beginning to be worried, for we absolutely must have two thousand rupees to pay at the beginning of January, else we will have to pay at least 12% more, without counting the bickering, etc.

The arrival of the new missionaries that I am awaiting with great impatience, and who will no longer arrive in time to avoid a great deal of harm, is going to cause us considerable further expense. The poverty here is absolute, above all among my weaver Christians ; whole Christian groupings are dispersing and dying of hunger. I cannot offer them any help.

I don't doubt that on receipt of this letter, you will already have sent us the allocation, but if the absence of news for a full three months was the result of an accident, I trust that you will take measures not to expose me to failing my word and remaining without means.

Your very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 7 August 1847)

Sent_0268

Sent_0268 - à M. Chevalier - le 12 août 1847 -/1

Sent 0268 - to Mr Chevalier - 12 August 1847 -1/1

Sent_0268 - à M. Chevalier - le 12 août 1847 -/1

Sent 0268 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 112

(to Mr Joseph Chevalier)

(apostolic missionary)

Same details as to Mr Leroux on my request to the S.C. (see letter no. 0266). Why do you not write to me? Mr Métral is succeeding in the seminary of Carumattampatty beyond all my hopes. He is an angel.

Index : seminary of Carumattampatty, friendship, news

__________

Coimbatore, 12 August 1847

Why did he not write to me before leaving. I give him news of the seminary in almost the same terms as to Mr Leroux in the letter of 5 August.

What are you doing in your far-off parts ? Have you found any children who give some hope of an ecclesiastic vocation? Have you any time to devote to the pagans, and could you share with me your thoughts on the way in which you would consider it most advantageous to attack them? [...]

Petty news.

Mr Métral is at Carumattampatty where I am resolved to leave the seminary. He is working wholeheartedly on this cause and you will be pleased to learn, I feel sure (for charity is not envious), that thus far he is succeeding beyond my hopes; and since this dear confrere is an angel in mortal form, I have every confidence that God will give him the necessary wisdom to carry out this work according to our views, that he shares completely and admirably. The answer from Rome filled him with joy and trust.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 August 1847)

Sent_0269

Sent_0269 - à M. Laugier - le 22 août 1847/1

Sent 0269 - to Mr Laugier - 22 August 18471/1

Sent_0269 - à M. Laugier - le 22 août 1847/1

Sent 0269 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 112-113

(to Mr Antoine Laugier)

(apostolic missionary)

Leave in peace with my fullest blessing. Tell all the confreres of Pondicherry that I love them all from the bottom of my soul.

Index : friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 22 August 1847

We cannot make any expenditures.

Let us speak no more of what ends your letter, leave in peace with my fullest blessing. I only ask you to do one thing, and that is to make all of our dear confreres of Pondicherry realise that I love them from the bottom of my soul, how dear the works of charity are that develop under the authority of our common father, My Lord of Drusipare, how grieved I would be to impede any of them, either for my personal advantage, or even for that of the mission of Coimbatore, to the detriment of that of Pondicherry. All of which are truths which are unfortunately not understood by several of our dear confreres, which breaks my heart. Convey to all of them a million friendly greetings on my behalf, and present my very humble respects to My Lord of Drusipare. A Dieu. Angelus Raphael comitetu tibi in via. ()

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 22 August 1847)

Sent_0270

Sent_0270 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 août 1847/3

Sent 0270 - to Mgr Bonnand - 25 August 18473/3

Sent_0270 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 août 1847/3

Sent 0270 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 113-117

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Mgr Bonnand has not appreciated that Mgr de Brésillac shared with Mr Leroux (letter no. 0266) and not with himself the letter from the S.C... Excuse me. I did not want to seem to dictate to you a behaviour to be followed. My correspondence with the young clerics of your seminary ? First of all, I have always recommended that these letters be read on their arrival or departure by the superior of the seminary. He then explains the content of these letters and encloses copies of two letters that he has sent to the seminarians of Pondicherry. If certain points in Mr Leroux's conduct have troubled you, I have absolutely nothing to do with it. Who can ever think for a moment that I want to impede the works of Pondicherry ? All my confreres of Pondicherry are very dear to me.

Index : susceptibility, seminary of Carumattampatty, correspondence, delicate charity, spiritual direction

__________

Coimbatore, 25 August 1847

My Lord,

I have the honour of sending back to you Mgr Forcade's letter, thanking you very much for having sent it to me. I kept it a few days more than was absolutely necessary, because it gave me the opportunity of allowing Mr Métral to read it. Since this dear confrere was alone at Carumattampatty with his little flock, this reading would have afforded him an agreeable recreation. I do not believe that we can judge Mgr Forcade's conduct from this letter; I can conceive of a thousand accidents of position which could legitimate his determination which however I regard, until I have proof to the contrary, as unfortunate and dangerous. Let us pray to him who arranges events and hearts for our venerated confrere, and for the missions of the East.

In their time I received your letters of the 5th and the 10th and 17th. I felt very grieved on learning from your last missive that Y.L. was saddened by something that I certainly did without any wrong intention. Since the letter from the S.C. dealt exclusively with something personal to me, with advice which I had asked for my quite personal direction, I did not feel I had the duty of making detailed communication of it to Your Lordship, not that I wished to hide it from you (Y.L. knows that it is not my way to disguise either my actions or my thoughts), but because it might have seemed that I was giving advice to Y.L. to act in the same way, which I could never consider, and even less in a case which is not practicable at least in Pondicherry for the moment.

I spoke of this at length with Mr Leroux as of news which would not fail to interest him, since he is employed in the work that this concerns. If this dear confrere has abused of my letter by letting certain regrettable expressions regarding Y.L. escape him in the vivacity of the conversation, I hope that Y.L. will not blame me in any way for this. Besides, My Lord, if the explanation that I take the liberty of giving you does not appear sufficient and you still think that I have lacked consideration towards Y.L., please believe that this was unintentional and I apologise very humbly for having done so.

As far as my correspondence with the young clerics of the Seminary is concerned, this is the situation. First of all, I will say to Y.L. that, foreseeing that the day might come when people might mistrust me on this point, I recommended these young pupils never to write to me without presenting their letters to the superior of the seminary, and never to receive any from me except through the intermediary of the superior who could read them in accordance with the sense of the regulations. Accordingly the superior is acquainted or can acquaint himself with everything that is written in this correspondence which is exclusively friendly, edifying or instructive. No, I have no reason to dread that these letters are made public. It is true that, more than once, they expressed to me the desire to come and join me. But who could blame them if this desire is based on a good intention and if it remains strictly subjected not only to the virtue of obedience, but to that of the proprieties? However it is my duty to maintain it as far as I can, within just limits, and that is what I did.

I did this 1) by trying to destroy the disastrous effect produced on their spirit and a little on their heart by the prohibition made to my bringing anyone with me. For I must say that they regarded this as an act of indisposition of Y.L. against me. I told them, before leaving, and I insinuated it to them in my letters that they should take care not to judge their superiors, that they should think, whatever the appearances, that they had reasons that prudence made it necessary to keep secret and that perfectly legitimated their conduct before God.

2) I insinuated to them in every possible way that we should distrust our desires as also our judgments, that however pure they appear to us, they may be contrary to God's good pleasure, and that in this case our greatest desire must be that they should never be accomplished.

3) And I said to them finally, on leaving, that if the desire that inspired them then should weaken with time, they should regard this as a sign that the Lord did not desire it, and that they should go no further, that if this desire, although persevering and supernaturalised as far as possible for them, could not be achieved without remaining within the limits of all virtue, this should be once more a practical sign that God did not accept it, at least for the moment, and that if one day he should desire it to be accomplished, his divine providence would arrange things in such a way that his will is done in us, through his grace.

This morality, that Y.L. will not condemn, I think, I have not ceased to preach to them in my letters, besides never influencing them on this point, and merely answering their questions as briefly as possible. Apart from this, if I except their first letters, and those they have just addressed to me on the occasion of the holidays, the others have dealt above all with objects of piety or study. I am enclosing herewith two answers to these last letters, one of which above all, that from Pakianaden, is one of the most delicate that have ever been written to me. I will not modify the slightest part of them in order for them to pass under Y.L.'s eyes. They are exactly as they would have been under seal of the signet.

Last of all, I must admit, My Lord, I have not tried to dry up the source of this correspondence in which the language of the heart, of friendship and of gratitude is expressed without the admixture, so cruel for me, of a reserve and a severity so far from my tastes and from my desires ! Will you have the courage to condemn me, My Lord? These letters, with those of my poor and old father, were like sweet dews that Heaven granted me from time to time to soften the ardour of different sentiments that I was obliged to compress in my heart. However, if it did happen to me in sorrow (although I do not think so, because I have always tried to be in control of myself before writing to them), if it did happen, I say, to let the slightest word escape me departing from all the consideration due to you, I very humbly beg your pardon.

Finally, My Lord, as regards Mr Leroux's behaviour which distressed you during the prize-giving, I hope that it will not be difficult for you to believe that it has nothing at all to do with me. I only regret not being able to tell you my whole way of thinking on this point. I would fear that Y.L. would not give me permission to do so. However it seems to me that this mutual communication of all our thoughts (above all if, by the grace of Our Lord, it was completely friendly and completely benevolent, even if some would think one thing and the others something else), might lead to some good for the direction of so many works in common to us. For finally, if it is true that a communion of good works exists between all Christians, between all the members employed one on one side, and the other on another, for working the vineyard of the same master, how much sweeter it would be for me to see it reigning in all of its perfection between us who are of the same family and who work on the same stock!

And I now end this letter, My Lord, by protesting that there is nothing in the world that is dearer to me than the works of charity developed in Pondicherry. How could it enter my thought for a single instant to want to impede them? That no person in the world is dearer than your venerated person and our fellow priests of Pondicherry. Although not always sharing their views, I have always maintained for them all the respect due to their virtues and to their unquestionable zeal; I have never suspected their intentions, I only regretted, and I have often been profoundly grieved that their conscience led them to certain determinations some of which appear to me to be very unfortunate. The grief that I felt at this, and that I continue to feel, has broken my heart, however by the grace of God, it has not made my soul deviate from the path of charity. Yes, I can say that Pondicherry is dearer to me than the apple of my eyes, that Your Lordship is dearer to me than that of my natural father, for you are father according to grace. So that, how could I for a single instant have had the intention of offending you? And it is in renewing the expression of these sentiments that I would beg you to give me some share in your prayers and to believe me the most respectful of your servants and of your children.

Mr Laugier's departure. The accountancy aspects will be settled as Y.L. desires.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 25 August 1847)

Sent_0271

Sent_0271 - à Pakianaden - le 25 août 1847/3

Sent 0271 - to Pakianaden - 25 August 1847/3

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0271 - à Pakianaden - le 25 août 1847/3

cSent 0271 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 117-121

(to Pakianaden, Indian seminarian)

You are going to begin study of theology, source of continual delights, for each page will remind you of him for whom alone you work. Take care, banish all sadness; this engenders perplexity and that is where the demon fishes. Do not act out of the love of men, but for the love of God alone. You really want to be sure that God is calling you to the priesthood? These are some general principles: remain in peace; the signs of a call from God are great for you; remain in obedience to your superiors; advance in the joy of your vocation.

Index : spiritual direction, priestly vocation, discernment, studies, theology, profane disciplines

__________

Coimbatore, 25 August 1847

It is several days already, my very dear friend, since I received your letter of the 10th. I thought that you would take advantage of the leisure of the holidays to give me details on the end of your school year which should be the last of your humanities.

Come, take heart, you are about to embark on studies at least as interesting for an ecclesiastic as all those that have occupied you thus far ! studies for which all the others have merely been a preparation. Do not be surprised if you are not well versed, as you say, in subjects which you have only touched on in passing. Everyone is in this position on leaving the college, and you only left it on the 10th of this month. Ever since I remember it has been said that at college one merely learns to learn. When you leave there, some embark on one career, and others on another, and according to the branch of knowledge that you adopt, you can become more or less knowledgeable in some parts only. Apart from this speciality, the other knowledge is purely accessory; but, since everything holds together in science, one may at times need to have recourse to it, and the general principles received in college are wonderfully useful for that.

For this reason I congratulate you on having been capable of seeing a little physics, a little astronomy, etc., not that I believe you to be a great physicist, or a great astronomer, but I would like you to become a good theologian and these principles will help you in that. Accordingly do not complain that, while others employ their waking hours in penetrating the secrets of material nature, or what is even less to be envied, while they work to penetrate into the capricious labyrinths of human legislation, it will fall to you to study the author of nature himself, and his adorable laws. You are going to apply all of your natural and acquired faculties to the triumph of the truth and of pure morality, and that for the very love of him who should be our only love ; so that work will be for you a source of continual delights, for each page, each word almost of your daily lessons, will remind you of him for whom alone you work and whom you love above all else. Is it not true that the best share has fallen to you? So take heart, dear friend, and bless the hand that guides you.

I say to you for the second time take heart, for I seemed to discern in your letter a veil of discouragement and a physiognomy of sadness that must absolutely be banished from your heart. I believe I said to you, and please remember, that sadness was placed for a certain time among the capital sins. Not that ordinarily it is a great sin in itself, but because it is the beginning and source of many sins. It ordinarily gives birth to discouragement, disgust, confusion, and as you know the demon fishes in confusion.

I believe that you were wrong not to take a short holiday, above all since your superiors urged you to do so. You would have made an act of condescendence more meritorious perhaps in God's eyes than your continual retreat. These words above all: "I asked them to leave me in peace", based on the reasons which led to your saying them, seem to betray a sort of vexation. If this were true, it would be a fault that should be nipped in the bud, for vexation is never inspired by the spirit of God which always grows in peace and in gentleness. Spiritus enim meus super mel dulcis. ()

You are going to find me very severe this time. What, your letter is quite filled with expressions of affection and I blame you. It is in some sort for love of me that you did not want any holidays and I condemn you! Yes, dear friend, it is precisely for that reason, for I do not want it to be out of love for me that your least actions, that your least desires arise, but only and purely out of love for God; and that is why you must not deviate by a hair's breadth, as far as it is possible to our human weakness, from the path of God.

I go on to the question you raise which does not seem to me to be very difficult to solve. But in order to fully understand my answer, let us get an exact idea of what vocation is. Is it a commandment of God? Is it merely a counsel? By its nature, it has something of the commandment, for not to walk in the way where God calls us would certainly be disobeying him. It has even all the force of the commandment when it is negative, that is, that he who has certain signs of non-vocation to a calling would be committing a mortal sin to engage in it. And this is what legitimates the very powerful expressions of some saints and even of some passages in the Scriptures.

But when the vocation is positive, it almost never departs from the form of a counsel ; moreover, it is almost never surrounded by infallible signs of certainty. In order for it to be otherwise, it would be necessary for God to deign to speak to us himself as he made himself heard by Saint Teresa, for example. Furthermore one should be sure that this voice is not an illusion, and we see this great Saint doubt for a long time if the voice commanding her was truly that of God and not an illusion of the demon.

The Lord has decided to leave us this uncertainty so that we always walk in the fear and respectful trembling in which every man should achieve his salvation. So that, strictly speaking, one can at times without sin not follow one's vocation, as is insinuated by the words of Saint Vincent that you quote, and the acts of several Saints. By acting thus, these great servants of God answered to another inspiration of God which impelled them to the heroic accomplishment of a virtue, of humility for example, for which they refused the sublime functions of the priesthood, despite the apparent signs of vocation.

Thus they were not unfaithful to grace, on the contrary, and they merely left God for God. Nevertheless this way is not the ordinary way in which the Holy Spirit leads souls. It is a more admirable than imitable principle, so that one could say in general that he who would not obey his vocation, above all if the signs of this vocation are very powerful, would at the least be rash and that he would expose his salvation in the career that he embraced, even by the sentiments of humility which would not be according to wisdom.

Besides, the words of Saint Vincent may have another sense that I am going to try and make you understand by an analogous truth. Although we know through faith that we are wretchedness and that the God whose sublime mysteries we accomplish each day is the essence of perfection, this knowledge is nevertheless veiled, and God wished it thus out of consideration of our weakness. This veil however becomes less thick for him whose saintliness is greatest, so that the Saint knows better than us the abyss existing between him and God, and is the more frightened thereby.

Let us suppose now that the Lord should illumine so much this veil in favour of a saintly priest that he would be enabled for an instant to know, as the angels know, both his wretchedness and the greatness of God, he will be so overawed at the majesty of God and of the profundity of his own nothingness that it will be impossible for him to approach the altar. That same man could say at the very most after his ecstasy: If I knew all the greatness of the mysteries that I deal with, I would never approach the altar. Does this mean that after having been favoured with this vision he will never approach it again? No. On the contrary he will approach it with greater fidelity, but at the same time with greater fear, more love and more merit.

Apply this thought to the sublime calling of the priesthood, and you will have one explanation out of a thousand that could be given to the words of the saintly priest that God favoured with special graces. Do not believe that, if it had been in his power, Saint Vincent would have returned to the past and that he would have been glad not to be a priest, he who renewed so often his vows and his commitments with a seraphic joy. So that you are not right in concluding that "he had this thought too late" and you would not be right in basing yourself on these words to "prevent the laying of hands ever". Draw from it the conclusion that he drew himself as testified by his so eminently priestly life, a perfect conformity with the grace of his vocation all the greater since God gave him further knowledge of the sublime nature of this grace and the nothingness of him who was the blessed object of it.

In practice, dear friend, concern yourself much less with the words and the extraordinary examples that you may find in the lives of the saints, and attach yourself more and more to those which have to do with ordinary life. Remain in peace on your vocation, for the signs are great, until your superiors say to you that you are not called. Remain in peace and do not concern yourself with it except in the sense of making yourself more and more faithful to it and not putting it in practical doubt. If one day this word were said to you, which seems against all probability, then only remember what you wrote some time ago. You said to me: "then I would withdraw from the seminary with as much contentment as I feel at having entered a station to which I know that God is calling me. For I desire nothing but God's will".

Certainly these words have not been dictated to you by the demon ; for, with a praiseworthy indifference on a contingent future which is completely in God's hands, they contain the peace and contentment of the present, and that is what you should hold to. If your superiors say nothing to you, since they have already made you take the first steps, their silence indicates an approval of their first call; remain still in the joy of your vocation. If they told you to take one step more, accept their counsels as a counsel of the Lord. While humbling yourself before God and recognising your nothingness, advance in the joy of your vocation and adore with love the incomprehensible mercy of God who decided to entrust to mortal hands a ministry which would be fearful to his angels themselves. A Dieu. Pray for me.

Your good Father

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 25 August 1847)

Sent_0272

Sent_0272 - à Aroulnaden - le 25 août 1847/2

Sent 0272 - to Aroulnaden - 25 August 1847/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0272 - à Aroulnaden - le 25 août 1847/2

Sent 0272 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 121-123

(to Aroulnaden, Indian seminarian)

How he should approach theology : supernaturalise study and remain in union with God. Put yourself under the protection of Mary, of Saint Thomas and of Saint Liguori. For my part, I skimmed over practically all subjects: there was only theology that satisfied my soul. Errands for his companions of the seminary.

Index : spiritual direction, studies, theology, profane disciplines

__________

Coimbatore, 25 August 1847

So now you are delivered from your humanities, my dear Aroulnaden, I congratulate you for the courage with which you seem prepared to undertake the study of theology. I urge you to take it up with all your heart, for it is the science of the priest, that on which we will be judged on the last day. The somewhat vague principles that you have received thus far either on literature, on the exact sciences will fade away somewhat during the course of theology. You should be neither astonished nor distressed at this. For you this knowledge will merely be accessory; it will only be precious to you insofar as it may prove a great help to you in acquiring a good and solid theology. Then, if the Lord puts you in a position to need to have recourse to it in a particular way, the principles that you have received will provide you with the means.

I urge you once more, my very dear friend, to supernaturalise as much as possible your theological study, in such a way that your work is in some sort a continual prayer. This is an invaluable advantage, for may those who are called upon to devote themselves to this study find in the very nature of their duties an easy means of formally uniting themselves with God at every moment of the day, such a great advantage for the person who seeks to love God with all his heart that it makes other studies insipid and almost contemptible. They are no longer esteemed except by reflection, since they are also a part of the truth and because they help us indirectly to achieve the glory of God in many meetings.

As for me, between the ages of 18 and 20, I was always obliged to deal more or less with other forms of knowledge ; I skimmed over almost all of them ; despite my poor memory, I penetrated sufficiently into some of them to grasp their spirit ; well, I can assure you that theology alone satisfied my soul; of all the others, I could say in some sort what the Sage said of the pleasure and the grandeurs of this world : Vidi cuncta quae fiunt sub sole et ecce universa vanitas.() I would give them all for the clarification of a single question of Religion or for the motivated opinion of the Holy Fathers on the slightest point of dogma.

For you should not believe that theology is limited to the 6 volumes in 18 that will first of all be placed in your hands ; one might as well say that the science of letters consists of the rudiment. Finally for a last preliminary counsel (for I will take the liberty of giving you some from time to time during your course, if acceptable to you), I would recommend that you place your study and your intelligence under the protection of the Holy Virgin first of all and then of Saint Thomas and of Saint Liguori, these two great theological geniuses that God has set aroused just lately by an effect of his compassion for his elect, that the tricks of heresy and the refinement of the world's corrupted morality could have led astray.

You were right to have gone to see the respectable and zealous Mr Roger, and above all to have undertaken this little journey more to please the others than for your own satisfaction. What you tell me about the proceeding of the seminary and the large number of children preparing to enter it fills me with joy: I pray the Lord that he will give you all more and more the ecclesiastic spirit and that he will shower his most precious blessings on you. I know all that Mr Leroux has done for your good, in particular this year, and hope that you appreciate it and are grateful to him.

Tell Gnanapragasam, Abraham and Arokiasamy that I received their letters and thank them for writing. I do not have time to answer them. Besides, you know that it was agreed that I should not answer all your letters; but that does not prevent you from writing to me from time to time. Your letters do me good. Tell Abraham on my behalf that he should not worry about his vocation; that he should love the good God with all the power of his soul and submit to the guidance of his director.

A Dieu, dear child. You ask me when we will meet again ? God alone knows. At the latest it will be in his glory, which cannot be so long now, since time is passing fast, and there, we will have the whole of eternity to praise him together and love him perfectly, I hope. Let us pray in any case that we do not miss this happiness. A Dieu.

Your good Father.

He should continue to write to me at Coimbatore.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 25 August 1847)

Sent_0273

Sent_0273 - au Collecteur - le 31 août 1847/2

Sent 0273 - to the Collector - 31 Aaugust 1847/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0273 - au Collecteur - le 31 août 1847/2

Sent 0273 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 124-125

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

Request to be recognised by the government as head of the Catholics for the province of Coimbatore. Herewith the bulls of the Holy See asking for them to be sent back please. I am also sending Mr Pajean's passport.

Demande pour être reconnu par le gouvernement comme chef des catholiques pour la province de Coimbatore. Ci-joint, les bulles du Saint-Siège que vous voudrez bien me renvoyer. J'envoie aussi le passeport de M. Pajean.

Index : civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 31 August 1847

Sir,

His Grace the Archbishop of Verapoly, whom I had the honour to see in his passage to his station, asked me if I had begged to be acknowledged by the Government as the chief of the Catholics in the province where I have been appointed as such by the Holy See. I replied that without doing so I had only visited the first magistrate of the district immediately after my consecration. His Grace has nevertheless observed it advisable for me to make an official declaration on the subject which I accordingly do by this letter, both in obedience to the council of the Archbishop and in view to fulfil a duty to the Government under which I live.

I have also the honour to send you herein enclosed the bulls from Holy See committing to my care the spiritual jurisdiction over the Christians of this province and to request you will be pleased to return the same after your perusal at your earliest convenience.

I hope that such an official declaration will be but a mere motive for increasing the benevolence which you had always shown in favour of the Christians and for making more agreeable my communications with the civil functionaries if I should have recourse to their im partiality for the free exercise of our religious functions.

I send you at the same time the passport of the Rd M. Pajean, a missionary newly come to labour under my jurisdiction.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 31 August 1847)

Sent_0274

Sent_0274 - au Collecteur - le 2 septembre 1847/2

Sent 0274 - to the Collector - 2 September 1847/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0274 - au Collecteur - le 2 septembre 1847/2

Sent 0274 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 125

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

Would you kindly send me back my bulls.

Index : civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 2 September 1847

Sir,

Being under religious obligation to be always in possession of the two Bulls which I had the pleasure of sending you on the 31 ultimo enclosed in my official letter to you of the same date, may I be allowed to request of you the favour of returning them to me if you have done with them. And oblige.

Yours very obediently.

(M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac

bishop of Pruse)

P.S. Should you require I shall send you authentic copies of them.

(Coimbatore, 2 September 1847)

Sent_0275

Sent_0275 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 5 septembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0275 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 5 September 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0275 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 5 septembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0275 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 21

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 125

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

How impatient I am to receive a letter from Paris ! Great financial distress due to the delay in the allocation. Mr Pajean has come to replace Mr Laugier who left for the college of Pondicherry. May the latter return to a veritable ecclesiastical spirit. The three missionaries promised have arrived in Pondicherry. Herewith a copy of the regulations for Coimbatore. Let me have your remarks before it is finalised.

Index : financial distress, missionaries (my), regulations

__________

Coimbatore, 5 September 1847

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

The last letters that I received from the Seminary of Paris date from March. Since mine of December and January, to which yours answered with benevolence, for which I thank you, I have had the honour of writing to you again (to you or to Mr Tesson) in February, in March, in May and in June. I took care to inform you of the state of our affairs in these letters that you will have received, I hope, and the present one will merely confirm them by reporting a worsening of our singular distress, by the absence of news from Paris, by the delay in the allocation, by the very ignorance reigning of what will be granted us. If this were to last for some time more, especially now that we are going to be numerous, I really do not know what we would do.

Since my last letter, a change of personnel has taken place here between Mr Laugier who has gone to Pondicherry and Mr Pajean who has come to replace him here. This business which has had the effect of even further worsening the distress of this mission was occasioned by Mr Laugier's unedifying conduct. He would have left to go and lose himself in France on a sudden impulse, if My Lord of Drusipare had not had the charity of opening up to him a last means of salvation that he himself requested, that is to say, to be received in the college. I hope that God's mercy will enable him to maintain the sentiments of repentance that this unfortunate priest expressed to me on leaving and that, in a position where he will be less isolated and that he desired, Our Lord will give him the grace of a veritable return to the ecclesiastical spirit. I still do not know Mr Pajean who has only just arrived with His Grace of Chyrra who spent a few days here on his way from Pondicherry to Verapoly.

I learn today that the three new confreres that we are awaiting with such impatience left Pondicherry on 30 August. We may expect to see them at the end of this week or the beginning of next. The post will leave before that, so that I will not be able to speak to you in detail of their voyage until next month. I will not repeat that we are now in desperate need of prompt help, we are in a sad state. I commend myself to your benevolence and above all to your prayers and Holy Sacrifices in the union of which,

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I have the honour of sending you the draft regulations for the mission of Coimbatore, so that you may deign to let me have your observations before it is finalised, as I requested you do in an earlier letter. This morning (6) I received a letter from My Lord of Drusipare who tells me that he has not received anything from Paris any more than me, which likewise puts him in difficulties. I am putting a letter into the packet for the S.C. I am sending it via Paris and not via Alexandria since it deals with a question which does not concern me alone, but the congregation in general.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 5 September 1847)

Sent_0276

Sent_0276 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 5 septembre 1847 -/6

Sent 0276 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 5 September 1847 -/6

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0276 - aux Directeurs de Paris - le 5 septembre 1847 -/6

Sent 0276Reyser copy, AMA 2F17/1847

Corrected copy, AMA 2F11, pp 501-512

Draft regulations for the mission of Coimbatore of which the main lines are : establishment of a native clergy, care of the Christians by the missionaries of each district, conversion of the pagans, clothes, visits between missionaries, general retreat, annual report, some material questions.

Index : regulations

__________

Draft regulations ()

particular to the mission of Coimbatore ()

Article 1

Each missionary will periodically take care to read the general regulations of the Congregation of Foreign Missions, above all the articles regarding him principally, in order to abide by them exactly in all things and be imbued by their spirit.

Article 2

Each missionary will often deliberately consider the purposes for which he has been sent here, and will do his best to fulfil them all according to the order indicated in the general regulations, none excluded.

Article 3

Those not employed by the bishop in the direction of the seminary shall take care not to think that the main purpose for which our Society was established does not concern them. On the contrary, they will make every effort to be faithful to their vocation, both by backing up and by developing any vocations to the ecclesiastic calling (in 2F11 : ecclesiastical vocations) that they may note among the Christians of their districts, both by helping the native priests with their advice, their example and their authority, and by directing the Christian communities so that little by little each of these will have its own priest fed and maintained by the Christians.

Article 4

The missionaries who are specially employed under the direction of ecclesiastics will neglect no means of inspiring in them the virtues of their calling and, above all else, chastity, humility, zeal and disinterest.

Article 5

The missionaries will take care not to despise the native priests and to regard them as being below them ; on the contrary, they will treat them as their brothers and equals and they will seek every possible means to bring them closer to us, not regretting if, in order to do so, they may have to make some sacrifices regarding their European habits, without requiring that all sacrifices of this kind be made by the native priests.

The missionaries will take care not to despise the native priests and to regard them as being below them ; on the contrary, they will treat them as brothers and will seek every possible means to bring them closer to us, not regretting if, in order to do so, they may have to make some sacrifices regarding their European habits, without requiring that all sacrifices of this kind be made by the native priests.

Article 6

The native priests will not receive such a large viaticum as that of the missionaries : the latter will take care not to be a stumbling block for them as a result of this unfortunate difference. Each one will consider before God how he should behave in order to serve as an example for them from the point of view of detachment from the goods of this earth, and also from that of piety, zeal and the other ecclesiastic virtues.

The native priests will not receive a viaticum. The missionaries will take care not to be a stumbling block for them as a result of this difference. Each one will consider before God how he should behave in order to serve as an example for them from the point of view of detachment from the goods of this earth, and also from that of piety, zeal and the other ecclesiastic virtues.

Article 7

Particular regulations will be given to the native priests and to the seminary.

Article 8

After the care which each one will give to the first goal of our institution, he will apply himself to the second with zeal and devotion, never allowing himself to fall prey to the disgust often inspired by an sterile ministry in which he finds no compensation, as in Europe, given the habits of a people with which we are not familiar.

After the care which each one will give to the first goal of our institution, he will apply himself to the second with zeal and devotion, never allowing himself to fall prey to the disgust inspired by a sterile ministry in which he finds no compensation, as in Europe, in the habits of a people with which we are not familiar.

Article 9

Despite the difference of habits, customs and morals, the missionary will always regard himself as the father of the Christians whose salvation is entrusted to him. He will treat them with all the solicitude of a good shepherd. If it is sometimes necessary to use severity with them, however it should never be forgotten that here as everywhere it is principally by gentleness and kindness that the people's affection is won; that this affection is all the more precious since in this country we have no external authority to sustain us in difficulties; that with it finally we are master of the ground and can, without shocking anything, introduce desirable improvements, whereas without it, our efforts are often paralysed and sometimes even turn against the good.

Article 10

Gradually as priests become more numerous, we will work little by little to destroy the usages not in line with the holy practices of the Church and to introduce all those that the Church practises (in 2F11 : those that it practises), by exactly following the rubrics of the Roman missal and ritual. Those who have grown up in dioceses where the Latin rite is not followed will distrust (in 2F11 : will mistrust) what they have seen done in such places and will take care not to introduce other customs than those of Rome, even down to the slightest details of the ceremonies of the Church.

Article 11

In the administration of the sacraments and other ceremonies of the Church, the priest will always be in surplice and stole, when the rubric mentions such, even for the sacrament of penance when he administers it in the confessional.

Article 12

As soon as a missionary has a decorous church in his principal place of residence, he will try to obtain from His Lordship the Bishop permission to keep the holy reserve there (in F11 : the reserve) in order to be able to easily carry the holy viaticum (in 2F11 : the viaticum) to the sick.

Article 13

As far as possible there will be one missionary specially entrusted with each district, of which the ordinary residences will be : Coimbatore, Carumattampatty, Covilpaleam, Ootacamund. Codively, a place in the district of Palghat (

) and another in that of Darabouram.

As far as possible there will be one missionary specially entrusted with each district, of which the ordinary residences will be : Coimbatore, Carumattampatty, Covilpaleam, Ootacamund, Codively, Palghat and Darabouram. The other priests exercising the holy ministry will leave all the external administration to the head of district, taking care to conform to their proxy of powers.

Article 14

From the main town in their district (in 2F11 : of the district) the missionaries will go out either to the various Christian communities, visiting all of them at least once a year, or to the pagan villages to evangelise them ; but they will take care to spend the principal feasts in the main town, in order to establish there little by little all the usages and all the ceremonies of the Church.

Article 15

If the missionary has a horse, he will be bound to go and administer (in 2F22 : will be bound to administer) the last sacraments up to a distance of six miles, and if he doesn't have a horse up to a distance of three miles (in 2F11 : of three miles only), unless the Christians provide him with a means of transport.

Article 16

Save in the case of illness, the missionary will have the children brought in to be baptised from six miles (in 2F11 : up to a distance of six miles) around. Besides, he will supervise with great care those in charge of the administration of (2F22 : charged with administering) this sacrament in the priest's absence.

Article 17

Since the conversion of the pagans is the third purpose of our society, the missionary will take care not to think that his care should only be directed at the Christians of his district. Above all once each district has its missionary, the care demanded by (in 2F11 : required by) the Christians will not be so great that plenty of time is not left to be used ("to be used" does not exist in 2F11) for the conversion of the Gentiles. Accordingly the missionary will abstain from wasting this precious time, from indulging in idleness which would be as disastrous for his soul as regards the progress of the Gospel, or even from spending too much time in futile occupations, not to be condemned in themselves and even praiseworthy (in 2F11: sometimes even praiseworthy) in countries where the clergy abounds, but that a missionary should not permit himself except insofar as is necessary for taking some moments of relaxation (in 2F11: taking some relaxations) over the year, or when unfortunate circumstances combine to condemn him to inaction, despite his will to carry the holy word elsewhere. May everyone thus come to his senses often and wonder if he is doing everything that depends on him for extending the reign of Jesus Christ.

Article 18

In the preaching to the pagans, the missionary will not let himself be discouraged at the sight of the little fruit which his work may sometimes produce. Even if he has not won anything for several years, he will not give up making known the word of the truth for the triumph of which we do not know the time that Providence has fixed. He will also avoid believing that it is necessary to start off with the conversion of the great of the country ("of the country" is not found in 2F11) in order to arrive through them at that of the small and the poor. Without doubt, he must not neglect any occasions which arise (in 2F11 : will arise) to preach Jesus Christ to those who have influence in the country, but by placing his trust exclusively in God, he will attempt above all to make the voice of truth heard by all, simply (and) without entering first of all into discussions on details and refutations which are almost always useless. May he go everywhere where anyone lives and say: "there is only one God. It is through Jesus Christ that we can be saved. There is an eternal Heaven for him who listens to my words and an eternal hell for him who despises them." May he repeat to the point of satiety the great truths of Christianity tanquam auctoritatem habens, and may he then await in the practice of prayer and of mortification that it pleases God to make the seed fruitful that he has entrusted us not to make grow, but merely to sow and to water.

Article 19

The missionary will always wear the ecclesiastic habit, of which the usage was introduced by the missionaries of Pondicherry, which consists of the French cassock or the angui of white colour, the white cloak or salve ("white" is not found in 2F11) and the red biretta. He is advised to let his beard grow. He can ordinarily use Turkish shoes or papatchi (papatchi is not found in 2F11), but never at the altar. In the same way, he should not (in 2F11 : he should never) wear leather shoes, but he can wear at home and at the altar shoes made of cloth or material (in 2F11 : shoes of material or of cloth). The missionary will not modify this costume without permission, under any pretext whatsoever.

Article 20

In this mission (in 2F11 : in this Vicariate) since the missionaries are close enough to one another to visit each other from time to time, they will take advantage of this precious situation to entertain (in 2F11 : between one another) a perfect confraternity and above all for obtaining for one another the benefit of the sacrament of Penance. They will ensure (in 2F11 : they will take care) nevertheless not to allow this praiseworthy practice to degenerate into a waste of time regrettable for a priest and above all for a missionary (in 2F11 : a waste of time always regrettable for a missionary).

Article 21

To avoid this danger, a missionary should never be outside the limits of his ordinary jurisdiction for more than three days running, without permission. However, if in a serious and unforeseen case, such as the illness of a neighbouring confrere, he was obliged to be outside of his ordinary limits for more than three days, without first having obtained permission, he must notify his superiors as soon as possible.

To avoid this danger, a missionary should never be outside the limits of his ordinary jurisdiction for over eight days without permission. However, if in a serious and unforeseen case, such as the illness of a neighbouring confrere, he was obliged to be outside of his ordinary limits for more than eight days, without first having obtained permission, he should notify his superiors as soon as possible.

Article 22

As far as possible, there will be a general retreat each year in which His Lordship will try to ensure the participation of as many missionaries as possible.

As far as possible, there will be a general retreat each year to which the missionaries will make it their pleasure and duty to go save in case of serious impediments.

Article 23

Once a year, after the retreat, if it is possible, His Lordship will try to hold a general council to which he will convene all the priests posted around his person, or having the possibility of getting there, in order to consider together what is best to be done over the following year for the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Once a year, as far as possible after the retreat, His Lordship will try to hold a general council to which he will convene all the priests posted around his person or having the possibility of getting there easily, in order to consider together what it will be best to do over the following year for the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Article 24

Quite apart from this general council, His Lordship will have his private council that he will convene whenever he deems it advisable to consult it.

Article 25

Each missionary will render every year, some time in January, a detailed account (in 2F11, in place of "detailed" Mgr de Brésillac has written "exact") of his administration. In order to do this, he will enter in the form of a report all the details which may concern Religion, and enlighten the bishop on any improvements to be introduced, any abuses to be corrected, in a word on everything that he believes will serve the advancement of the cause that the Lord has entrusted to us.

Article 26

Quite apart from this work, each missionary will write from time to time to His Lordship, at least once every three (in 2F11, " three" has been crossed out by Mgr de Brésillac) month(s), and more often if he considers it necessary or only useful.

Article 27

The missionaries who are not at Coimbatore or in the seminary, will receive in full the viaticum assigned by the Seminary of Foreign Missions. They will themselves provide the bread and wine for the altar, unless they prefer to leave a sum with the bursar's office for it to supply them. Those who are at Coimbatore or employed in the seminary will not receive their viaticum, but the bursar's office will provide them with all they need.

The missionaries who are not in Coimbatore or at Carumattampatty have the choice of receiving the viaticum assigned by the Seminary of Foreign Missions, or of living in common. In the latter case, the bursar's office will provide them with all they need. In any case, those who are in Coimbatore or at Carumattampatty will live in a community.

Article 28

The missionaries who come to Coimbatore should bring with them as few domestics as possible, and they will not have (in 2F11 : they will not have any) personal servants if they are to stay some time in the house.

The missionaries who come to Coimbatore should bring with them as few domestics as possible and will not have any personal servants. If they are to stay there for some time, the domestics of the house will ensure the necessary services.

Article 29

When a missionary merely passes through Coimbatore, nothing will be retained from his viaticum, but when he spends over eight days, the bursar's office will retain a sum corresponding to the time he stayed there from his next quarterly viaticum.

Added by Mgr de Brsillac, in 2F11 : "This article, as well as the following one, concern only those who do not wish to live in a community".

Article 30

When a new missionary leaves Coimbatore to go on mission, the bursar's office will provide him with the objects he may need, if he does not already have them. It will pay half the cost of transport for his effects to his place of destination and will hand over to him one quarter's viaticum in advance. He will receive over thirty rupees (in 2F11 : "he will receive in addition 30 rupees") to buy a horse, if he wants one or in order to obtain one when he should need it.

Article 31

The missionaries will always behave in such a way as not to shock the proprieties of the country, will guard against (in 2F11 : guarding against) despising them because they are sometimes contrary to our usages (in 2F11 : to the usages) of Europe, however without affecting manners no longer suited to recognised missionaries today (in 2F11 : now) for Europeans throughout the country. They will likewise take care not to shock the natives and above all the pagans in the practices of local honesty which are advisable for everyone, and which here, as anywhere else, win public esteem for those who observe them.

A. M. D. G.

(Coimbatore, 5 September 1847)

Sent_0277

Sent_0277 - à Mgr Forcade - le 5 septembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0277 - to Mgr Forcade - 5 September 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0277 - à Mgr Forcade - le 5 septembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0277 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 125-126

(to Mgr Augustin Forcade, bishop of Samos)

(apostolic vicar of Japan)

I have read the letter that you have addressed to Mgr Bonnand. What I think of the mission entrusted to you.

Index : friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 5 September 1847

His letter. Where should I address my answer?

Your interesting letter to My Lord of Drusipare settled it for me. Thus it is in France that this note will bring you my words of congratulation and those that I do not cease to address to Heaven for the spiritual good of Y.L. and for the success of the various undertakings in which his Divine Providence has wished you to be engaged. Perhaps you expect me to say my little word on the advisability of the serious mission which you have assumed with regard to the government. Without doubt, considering the matter in exclusively human terms, it seems to me unfortunate, however I feel sure that Y.L. found yourself in the impossibility of doing otherwise and, relying on your prudence, I leave to Our Lord's divine mercy the task of drawing good from evil itself.

What I am doing here.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 5 September 1847)

Sent_0278

Sent_0278 - à la Propagande - le 6 septembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0278 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 6 September 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0278 - à la Propagande - le 6 septembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0278 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 126

(translation: following page)

(to the Holy Congregation of Propaganda)

Thanks for your reply of 22 June. I am in agreement that the pro-vicariate should become a vicariate.

Index : native clergy, vicariate (division)

__________

Coimbatore, 6 September 1847

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Litteras Eminentiae Vestrae 22 Junii cum maximo gaudio et gratiarum actione recepi, Deum Omnipotentem praecans ut S.C. approbationem consiliorum meorum in iis quae spectant seminarium indigenarum ad majorem gloriam suam vertere dignetur.

Ab illo tempore, R.R.D.D. Drusiparensis Episcopus mihi notas fuit litteras 26 Julii quibus a S.C. quaerit ut Provicariatus Coimbatorensis ad vicariatum apostolicum erigatur ; quod et ego, propter rationes Amplitudinis Suae enumeratas, in quantum mihi pertinet, desidero.

Debita cum reverentia ac omnimodo submissione,

Eminentiae Vestrae,

Servus humillimus et obsequientissimus.

(Msgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 6 September 1847)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

Coimbatore, 6 September 1847

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord,

It is with great joy and thanksgiving that I have received Your Eminence's letter of 22 June, praying the Lord Almighty to deign to turn to his greatest glory the approval by the Sacred Congregation of my projects regarding the seminary of natives.

Some time ago, His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Drusipare shared with me the letter of 26 July, in which he requests the Holy Congregation to raise the Provicariate of Coimbatore to an apostolic vicariate, which, as far as this concerns me, I likewise desire for the reasons enunciated in His Lordship's letter.

With the respect due to you, and my entire submission, I am,

Your Eminence's

humblest and most respectful servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 6 September 1847)

Sent_0279

Sent_0279 - à Mgr de Drusipare - le 6 septembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0279 - to H.L. of Drusipare - 6 September 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0279 - à Mgr de Drusipare - le 6 septembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0279 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 101-103

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 126

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Still nothing from Paris, it is devastating ! We absolutely need 2000 rupees for the bungalow before January. If the allocation does not come, could the bursar's office of Pondicherry lend me such a sum? Otherwise, what should I do? Some news.

Index : finances, difficulties, collaboration

__________

Coimbatore, 6 September 1847

My Lord,

I have just received your (good ?) letter of 1 September. I was waiting for it, hoping that Y.L. would have received some news from Paris, and to say that, for my part, I have received nothing. So that now I am really worried. For after all it is necessary to foresee things in advance. Supposing that the allocation was sent through the government, and they do not know at Paris the difficulties we are now in until it is too late for the money to arrive before the month of January. What am I going to do about the obligation I have to pay 2000 rupees at that time for the bungalow? And to live now that there are eight of us? It is necessary for me, as from now, to foresee this possibility in order to try and guard against it without dishonour and as well as possible.

For this reason, My Lord, I am taking the liberty of asking you, if in such a case, the bursar's office of Pondicherry could not do us the kindness of advancing us 2000 rupees, and what we will need for living as from 1 January, if the money has not arrived, repaying you for these advances as soon as Paris steps in to help us out. I do not doubt that you would do us this service, if you can, and if you cannot, what advice would you give me? If it comes to the point of having to borrow, that would be at 12% or more, so that it would be necessary to borrow further to pay off the interests; for, unless any further misfortunes arrive, we have enough to live on until January more or less, but after that we may as well hang up our teeth.

Thank you very much for the care you were kind enough to take of our dear confreres on their way, we await them with impatience.

My Lord of Chyrra came here on Friday, and H.G. leaves on Monday ; he seems very satisfied with his journey. I would very much like Mr Pouplin to send the accounts, so as to know at least here where exactly we stand. Would kindly ask him to do so on my behalf.

It only remains for me to commend myself to your good prayers and to ask you to believe me for life

Your completely devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 6 September 1847)

Sent_0280

Sent_0280 - à son père - le 6 septembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0280 - to his father - 6 September 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0280 - à son père - le 6 septembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0280 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 122-123

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 126

(to his father)

Thanks for your news ; condolences at the death of Mr Guiraud. My two journeys to Verapoly (consecration of the bishop of Quilon) and to Trichinopoly (consecration of Mgr Canoz, Jesuit). I made this latter journey in a basket on the river.

Index : friendship, bishop's consecration, journey, vicariate (division)

__________

Coimbatore, 6 September 1847

My very dear father,

Whatever my good intention of writing you a long letter, I cannot satisfy this desire today. And yet, I do not want to let this month pass, as I let the last go by, without giving you some news, for it is over three months now since I last gave myself this pleasure.

Thank you first of all for the good things in general and in particular those you tell me in your excellent letter of 12 June that I received at the very beginning of last month. I had already heard from the newspapers of the good Mr Guiraud's death.(

) This is a loss for religion whose good principles he defended, today when there are so few distinguished men in France who dare to proclaim them exclusively in their writings, and even less by their behaviour. I hope that the good God will reward him for his work as an honest Christian. Kindly say to my good aunt de Gaja how close I was to her in her grief and in that of the whole of the Guiraud family.

Since my last letter, I have made two journeys, one to Verapoly, near Cochin, to attend the consecration of a new bishop whom the Holy See has placed at Quilon, and the other at Trichinopoly, once more to attend a consecration this time of Mgr Canoz, a Jesuit, who has just been vested with the episcopal dignity by the Holy See which, more and more favouring our principles, intends to have bishops everywhere, even in the missions of the Jesuits ; and if things cannot be settled otherwise, the Holy See dispenses one of the religious of Jesus from the special vow they take not to accept ecclesiastical dignities. This is what has just taken place for the mission of Madurai which at last has a bishop.

To avoid considerable expense, I made this journey by water, after embarking on the Bavany two days away from its junction with the Cavery, after which I followed this river as far as Trichinopoly. But in what craft? In a steamer? Bah! In a sailing boat ? no ; a rowing boat ? not that either ; towed by a horse or an ox, after the model of the Languedoc canal ? Not at all. Well how then? In a basket, a round basket, a basket of bamboo, covered in buffalo skin and allowing ourselves to be carried along by the current, pirouetting to the right, to the left, going forwards for a bit, then backwards; I arrived in six days' walking at the given point.

As from now my ordinary residence will be Coimbatore : Kindly address all letters there (via Madras). A thousand compliments to everyone.

The most respectful of your children.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 6 September 1847)

Sent_0281

Sent_0281 - à M. Lehodey - le 3 octobre 1847 -/3

Sent 0281 - to Mr Lehodey - 3 October 1847 -/3

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0281 - à M. Lehodey - le 3 octobre 1847 -/3

Sent 0281 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 107-113

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 129-130

(to Mr Julien Lehodey)

(apostolic missionary)

How we celebrated the first anniversary of the consecration at Carumattampatty. In what conditions the tonsure should be given, even if there are some wolves in the fold and some defections. How the upkeep of the native clergy should be ensured: they need to have a subsistence independent of our foreign resources, this is indispensable. Accordingly, the missionary must be disinterested and the people and the young clergy enlightened on this point, they should desire what we desire. Thus, when we arrive at its execution, they are persuaded that we are satisfying their own desires. This is the work of the bishop and of his council and not of the simple missionaries. Everywhere a perfect conformity of action is required. Everyone is well here.

Index : my thoughts on the missions, native clergy, bishop (authority), tonsure

__________

Carumattampatty, 3 October 1847 ()

My dear Mr Lehodey,

A few days ago I received your good letter of 17 September. First on account of one thing and then another, I have not found time to answer it until today, and although today is a very heavy day, I am going to relax by talking to you for a moment.

Let me begin by saying a word about our feast which was less brilliant than in other years from the point of view of numbers, but which was much more pious and more Christian. I had the consolation of distributing the holy Eucharist at high mass to over 130 persons. The office was celebrated with great pomp, according to the exact rules of the ceremonial of bishops, even including the sermon made by the bishop, which under the pontifical habit earned me an abundant sweat; but it was a sweet fatigue, speaking to a people who are doing more or less what I want thus far. Providing it lasts, that will be good.

We laid out for the first time a display of fine altar chandeliers paid by... () the church, despite the hardship of this year, principally through the Sunday collections. Today I established the blessing and the distribution to the church of the blessed bread that I had passed around like a gilded pill to establish one more bond between the Christians of the different ranks. Finally, our seminarians sung a mass with greater precision than could have been hoped from one year's practice. May the holy Virgin be content with all that and obtain for us from her divine son some spiritual blessings first of all, and even temporal ones, for these poor people really need them at present.

Tomorrow the first official examination of the pupils of the seminary will take place, to be followed by one month's holiday, and we will take advantage of this time to make a general retreat at Coimbatore. It will begin, God willing, on Wednesday week. Pray for us during that time, that the good God will grant me, and all my collaborators, the spirit of the lofty vocation to which he has deigned to call us.

After these two pages on our feast which is ending at this moment with the noisy procession of the ter, it is time for me to go on to the subject of your letter. However I will only answer very briefly your two principal questions this time, leaving to other occasions the development of my thesis, if you are interested. Accordingly, I believe:

that the outline of my letter to Rome merely corroborates my sentiment, so greatly encouraged by the reply of the S.C.

  1. I do not think that in general two or three months' of examination suffice to give the tonsure in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. I think that it will take one year, if all goes well, and one and a half years in most cases, after which we should, without hesitation, either send the children back home or tonsure them. I asked for only a few months in my outline, in order to protect us from all blame by tonsuring them after one year, or even earlier in particular cases.
  2. I cannot delude myself that there will not be an increase in the number of defections and a few wolves included among the lambs of the Lord. The second of these evils is inevitable, whatever line is followed, and I feel sure that it will diminish gradually as we give a more ecclesiastical direction. Thus anyone persevering up to the time of becoming a priest in a perverse intention, if only subjected throughout his classes to a merely semi-worldly education, will not put up with ten or twelve years of clericature.
  3. The former, that is the defections, will necessarily be more numerous, but I do not consider this evil comparable to that produced by the discouragement and the innumerable temptations which assail our young Indians once they arrive at the age of 15 or 16. The defections will be much less numerous in fact, only they will be more considerable, because they will be those of tonsured young men. But I am convinced that there are a thousand ways of avoiding that the scandal, or rather the astonishment resulting from this is disastrous. I am ever persuaded that by preparing the people in advance, as should be done for all grave matters with which it is not acquainted, this scandal will disappear in a very short time.

Finally, the general rule of the Church for tonsuring is very broad ; it is content with the slightest little thing; it does not require the test of the seminary; a simple benefice to be obtained, any minor post in respect of a bishop, or in the offices of officialdom, are all quite sufficient grounds for a subject to report to his bishop, and for the latter to tonsure him, immediately, in his room or in his office, providing the young man brings with him a certificate of baptism, that he has been confirmed, and has not led a scandalous life. In those cases where seminaries are established regularly, what the Church undertakes to do, is to require tonsuring statim(), etc. So that we still do not have any margin to prevent us falling into the contrary excess, etc. etc.

As regards the question of the living of the native clergy, this is as difficult as it is fundamental. We have to overcome not only the intrinsic difficulties, but a much greater one still on the part of the missionaries, even the best intentioned of them, due to a fatal error into which those who made the general regulations of our Society have fallen, a very fatal error which, under the appearance of a virtue, has produced precisely the opposite effect to that which was intended. It seems that this was noted in the new drafting of the regulations, however passing over it, thus only remedying the lesser evil.

Nevertheless, it is necessary, despite this new difficulty that the Lord has permitted in his impenetrable designs, to arrive at establishing a subsistence for the native clergy, separate from our foreign resources ; and this is so necessary that, even if we should succeed perfectly on all the other points, we will never have a native clergy. But after all, in fact, what should be done, and what should be done at Pondicherry, for that is your question?

Here once more, I will only reply in the form of general principles, since, it is impossible for me to establish the details. It is necessary to fully realise this need and for those who are in a position to help meet them to think day and night, not to neglect any opportunity of obtaining revenues for the Churches, concentrating above all on small means, for it is little streams that form great rivers. It is necessary to have administrative bases which ensure that these means and revenues do not depend on the caprice of each missionary, otherwise one risks destroying what someone else might have managed to establish.

It is necessary, and this is perhaps what is most difficult, to disinterest the missionary, so that he can concentrate on the foundation of his Church. Finally the people and the young clergy must be enlightened on this point. Finally (and this is essential) all this should be done and said so cleverly and pertinently that the people and clergy are more pleased with this solution than any other.

Accordingly, reason, skill and virtue will serve us as a lever in respect of the clergy : for the people, there are only oubaiam, to be found in number but which should be firmly grasped and all tend to this last end : making them desire what we desire ourselves, before expressing our desire, so that, when we come to carry out our plans, the Christians are persuaded that it is a good that we are granting them, one of their desires that we are satisfying, a grace that we are granting them, etc.

This work, if I may say so, is not that of simple missionaries ; even if it is entrusted to them, it will never be carried out, because since each has only a small sphere of action, and all have at least particular nuances of ideas, one will destroy one day what another has done. It is up to the bishop and his council to have an avowed goal, a plan drawn up in advance, which encompasses at least a lapse of time of some twenty or thirty years, and to get all the missionaries, according to their positions, to contribute to it in a perfect conformity of action.

This perfect conformity of action is one of the virtues that we lack perhaps the most and that we should insistently request of the Lord, while taking great care, in the general administration, to pass over all the little misfortunes that may exist, being careful for example not to order or to prohibit a host of quite indifferent points, being capable of sacrificing little betters, mortal enemies of the good, and the frequent and indispensable violation of which removes the necessary authority for any orders of consequence.

What a lot of theologico-philosophico-administrative politics ! I am not saying that all of this is devoid of faults, or even of error. I am telling you what I think, while it's up to you to take from it what you consider good and to leave the rest according to what you believe to be just before the Lord. What I ask of you unconditionally, is to believe in my good intention, when I speak of such things to you, and to maintain your friendship with me in any case.

I will send this epistle in another one to Mr Pouplin. Kindly present my affectionate regards to all of our other confreres. I intend to write shortly to Mr Dupuis to ask him to print a pastoral letter for me. I pray the Lord to restore the health of all of your semi-patients and to fill them with his grace for the execution of his designs. Our people, here or in Coimbatore, are all quite well; the newcomers are eager to learn Malabar and besides appear animated by a good spirit. Mr Pajean made his first appearance yesterday in the confessional. I am planning to pay my visit to the district of Palghat.

Farewell, Pray for us.

Completely yours in the Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 3 October 1847)

Sent_0282

Sent_0282 - à Mgr Luquet - le 4 octobre 1847 -/1

Sent 0282 - to Mgr Luquet - 4 October 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0282 - à Mgr Luquet - le 4 octobre 1847 -/1

Sent 0282 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 478ss

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 131

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

How sad to read Mr Bertrand's brochure! If you feel obliged to answer it, be prudent. Write to me what you think of saying, and I will be frank with you. The cause of the clergy will be established, though to a lesser extent in Coimbatore.

Index : Jesuits, native clergy, friendship, frankness

__________

Coimbatore, 4 October 1847 (

)

My dear friend,

A few short words only.

I have just received Father Bertrand's brochure with your note announcing your departure for Paris. I do not need to tell you how much the content and form of this work distressed me. The rapid reading that I made of it have not repaid me for the 42 francs' worth of postage, by which I mean that you should never send such works by steamer. But I fear one thing, and that is that you will feel obliged to answer this extremely irritating refutation. I can scarcely give you any final advice on this point, but for the moment what appears most probable to me is that we should have the courage of laying at Our Lord's feet, for his greatest glory, the humiliation this has caused you and has caused us. The Lord will be sure to reward us for this sacrifice. The goal of our efforts will be attained.

For the work of the clergy will be taken up and in a different way from thus far. God who know things utterly will know that the fruits of this determination are due to you and, even if the whole universe were convinced of the contrary, what does it matter to us ? Providing the work progresses and we are recognised as the promoters of it on the day of the great manifestations! In any case, do not be hasty and write to tell me what you intend to do. I will always speak to you frankly and as a friend.

Here we are proceeding slowly but straight to the goal and with more success that I myself would have dared to hope. Only it is unfortunate that Coimbatore is so small for, necessarily, the proportions of our work will be reduced in proportion. But that doesn't matter; with courage and perseverance, I hope that the fruits will come later to support our invincible theories.

Pray earnestly and get some pious souls to pray for us, then let us place all our trust in him for whom we fight and live.

A Dieu. I leave you asking you to write to me at length and embracing you in the peace and charity of our good Master.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 4 October 1847)

Sent_0283

Sent_0283 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 7 octobre 1847 -/1

Sent 0283 - to Mgr Bonnand - 7 October 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0283 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 7 octobre 1847 -/1

Sent 0283 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 115-118

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 129

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The feast of the Rosary at Carumattampatty. Utter destitution of the people! What drought everywhere! The people are without work. Thanks for lending me the money if the allocation is delayed. Father Bertrand's book against Mgr Luquet. Our retreat at Coimbatore; my immediate plans.

La fête du Rosaire à Carumattampatty. Quelle misère chez les gens ! Quelle sécheresse partout ! Les gens sont sans travail. Merci de me prêter l'argent en cas de retard de l'allocation. Le livre du père Bertrand contre Mgr Luquet. Notre retraite à Coimbatore ; mes projets immédiats.

Index : hardship, news, missionaries (my)

__________

Coimbatore, 7 October 1847

My Lord,

It is some days since I received your good letter of the 18th. Then I was just about to leave for Carumattampatty, where I went to spend the feast of the Rosary. Everything went well, although the people are in a state of utter destitution.

Only the concourse of people was less than in other years, which is not astonishing, since three quarters, at least, of the Christians of Carumattampatty have dispersed. I fear even that they may not return, for the root of this great hardship is not only the lack of rain, but above all the lack of work for the weavers, the cause of which will not cease with the dew from Heaven, if God deigns to send it to us, as it seems that we may hope from the change in the weather for the last two days.

If only you saw the garden of Carumattampatty ! not a sign of vegetables, not a banana-tree, not a drop of water in the well, etc. Everything went very well however despite the thorny question of the former catechist which arose once more. These good people are doing more or less what I want them to. Providing it lasts, all will be well.

Thank you for the assurance Y.L. gives me that, in the case of an unfortunate delay, the bursar's office of Pondicherry would come to my aid. Here it may really be said that the intention is worth the action, and I am truly grateful to you for it.

Once more a mute steamer, without a word from Paris. Whereas, I have received from Rome the first volume of a work by Father Bertrand, almost entirely devoted to refuting Mgr Luquet in what to my mind are very deplorable terms. The distress that reading it caused me did not repay me for the 42 francs of postage paid.

We are going to begin all together a retreat next Wednesday. Kindly join your prayers to ours during these precious days, so that the Lord gives us all the spirit of our calling. After that, we will break up. Mr Pacreau will be doing his vissarané() of the whole of the north and east of the mission with Mr Bonjean. I expect to leave in one month's time for the mission of Palghat, where there are various questions to be sorted out. I could do with a good provision of oubaiam.

Pray for us, please, and believe in the sincere respect of

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 7 October 1847)

Sent_0284

Sent_0284 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 8 octobre 1847 -/1

Sent 0284 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 8 October 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0284 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 8 octobre 1847 -/1

Sent 0284 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 23

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 131-132

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the three new missionaries, thanks for the allocations for 1847. Why such a long silence on your part?

Index : missionaries (my) allocation

__________

Coimbatore, 8 October 1847

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Just a few short words to inform you of the safe arrival of Messrs. Bonjean, Vanthier and Bruyères. I cannot thank you too much for this fortunate dispatch which will be followed by that of the two or three other subjects this year, as I have every confidence and as you have led me to hope.

I have learned through Pondicherry what my allocation for 1847 was. Although man is made in such a way that he always wants more, especially when he sees himself surrounded by a host of more or less pressing needs, I must recognise, with pleasure, that you have done for this year all that was in your power, for which I thank you very cordially. I would have many things to tell you, but I am really disconcerted by your long silence. Not a word since your letter of March. What does this signify?

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me

Your very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 8 October 1847)

Sent_0285

Sent_0285 - à M. Godelle - entre le 11 et le 22 octobre 1847 -/2

Sent 0285 - to Mr Godelle - between 11 and 22 October 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0285 - à M. Godelle - entre le 11 et le 22 octobre 1847 -/2

Sent 0285 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 132-134

(to Mr Joseph Godelle)

(apostolic missionary)

Good references for a young man of Coimbatore desiring to enter the seminary of Pondicherry and why I do not need to give him an authorisation. I am not astonished at the effervescence caused at Pondicherry by Mr Leroux. He says why. If only they had listened to me two years ago!

Index : jurisdiction, seminary of Pondicherry, Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, (between 11 and 22 October) 1847

There are only good references to be given on the young man desiring to enter the seminary of Pondicherry. Why there is no drawback to his being incorporated in the clergy of that vicariate, whereas there would be for his being in ours.

As regards the authorisation that you require in writing. I would give it to you very willingly if it was necessary, but it is not at all so 1) because, since Coimbatore in the eyes of the law is merely a pro-vicariate depending on Pondicherry, My Lord of Drusipare can ordain my subjects without my having to empower him in any way;

2) because, even if the vicariates were completely separate, even it they were regular dioceses, as you know there are four ways of being a bishop's subject for the purpose of receiving orders from him : birth, domicile, benefices and familiaritas. If the young man takes up his domicile with you, he no longer has to have recourse to the bishop of the place where he was born. Giving a written permission would imply establishing an antecedent contrary to the general rules of the Church, which to my mind should be carefully avoided in this country, and inclining to the particular practice of France where, through a general agreement of bishops, in a general assembly of the clergy, they agreed only to recognise among them, as one's own bishop for ordination, that of one's birth. This agreement which has not passed into common law may be appropriate in France, but there is no reason why we should transplant it here.

However what consideration demands has been more than fulfilled by his good letter ; and that will show him my contentment without an afterthought. I am not astonished at the effervescence caused at Pondicherry by Mr Leroux's in fact extremely necessary reform.

because I do not see sufficient uniformity or understanding among the missionaries;

because perhaps also there is a rather excessive haste, above all by accumulating reforms ;

  1. because all of this should take place without arousing so much attention;
  2. and above all (at the risk of being considered an old bore always harping on the past) because there was no reason for setting up the principal ones first of all. It is not towards the heart of a great fire that the pump should first of all be directed in order to master it; this would merely have the effect of fuelling the blaze. First of all one should preserve the neighbouring buildings and prevent the fire from spreading, then gradually work towards the centre of the conflagration to put the fire out without ever exciting it.
  3. This is the policy that we should all have adopted starting off two years ago. The Lord provided us with a quite natural way and which, I cannot doubt, would have been extremely effective. I was not fortunate enough to make people understand this idea. I am only telling you the truth, when I assure you that my heart is still bleeding from that. Today, even if we should wish to achieve it, the circumstances are no longer the same and the chances of success are less. The advantage would still be more or less the same for me, much less for you, although it would still be great. In some time from now, it will become nil both for you and for me. May the will of God and not our own be done.

Prudence is in any case required to maintain what is accomplished.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, between 11 and 22 October 1847)

Sent_0286

Sent_0286 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 7 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0286 - to Propagation of the Faith - 7 November 1847 -/3

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0286 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 7 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0286 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 42

State of the mission at the end of 1847 : poverty, the needs, the bungalow, the seminary, the schism. State of revenue and expenditure foreseen for the year 1848

Index : vicariate of Coimbatore, bungalow, seminary of Carumattampatty

__________

"My Lord de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse"

\- Pro-Vicariate of Coimbatore -

for the year 1848 (

)

\- Date :

7 November 1847

\- Population :

* Catholics : 20,000 approximately.

N.B. This number has diminished this year because of the great poverty which has forced the Christians to move elsewhere.

* Heretics:600 approximately.

N.B. Although not very numerous, they do a great deal of harm through their wealth and their influence.

* Infidels : they should be counted in millions.

\- Annual conversions:

Almost nil, since we still cannot directly undertake conversion of the pagans.

\- Easter communions:

They were about 5,000 to 6,000 the other years. This year it is difficult to know the figure, due to the dispersion of the Christians.

\- Clergy :

* Missionaries: 7

* Native priests : 1

\- Churches built

* Churches: 3 or 4. Except for one which is still not finished, these are very small churches built without whitewash and which are in need of repairs, in the absence of which they will soon fall to pieces.

* Chapels : 49. These are no more than little earthen huts, covered with straw and palm leaves.

\- Colleges, Seminaries, Hospitals

We only have one seminary counting 11 pupils, all at the expense of the mission. For over a year now they have been lodged exclusively in a small damp room. I have just written a pastoral letter to urge our poor Christians to do their best to help by offering their work free of charge on the building of a house. For this we will also employ part of this year's allocation and we count on that of 1848 to complete this establishment of prime necessity. Two pupils have received the tonsure and a few others are preparing to receive it.

\- General observations:

We have made little progress this year for lack of resources and insufficient workers. The mission has remained more or less in the state it was in when it was merely a district of the vicariate of Pondicherry. The extreme poverty of the Christians proved a further drawback to our efforts. Nevertheless Religion is more solidly established here, both because of the great attention we have been able to pay to the Christians, and because of the house that we have bought at Coimbatore which shelters us against the principal vexations of the schism. For this purchase we have used up all that remained of our reserve plus part of this year's allocation. The building of a church at Coimbatore and of a seminary are our most pressing needs.

State of presumed revenue and expenditure for the year 1848

\- Resources of the apostolic Vicariate consisting of revenues from properties or other, proceeds from churches, colleges and diocesan associations, casual and church offerings, gifts, aid granted by the government of the country or other, or by associations other than those of Propagation of the Faith, estimated to amount altogether to 1000 francs.

Out of these 1000 francs, practically nothing goes to the Vicariate ; these are offerings, collections, etc. which help with the missionaries' maintenance and expenditure for the different chapels.

\- Expenditure

1/ Expenses for the Bishop, his clergy and other persons attached to the mission, estimated for the year to amount to 7000 francs.

2/ Expenses for visits from missionaries estimated for the year at 0 francs.

N.B. The Seminary of Missions pays these expenses.

3/ Expenses for the establishments already founded estimated for the year at 1580 francs.

4/ Expenses for establishments to be founded estimated for the year at 10,000 francs.

N.B. We would need much more than this since we should found a monastery, a hospital, a catechisate, etc. if we could with these 10,000 francs. We will do what is most indispensable for the moment.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 7 November 1847)

Sent_0287

Sent_0287 - à son père - le 8 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0287 - to his father - 8 November 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0287 - à son père - le 8 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0287 Original, AMA 2F1, p 126-127

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 135

(to his father)

Letter of news from a son to his father : the poverty and dispersion of the Christians because of the drought ; the arrival of three missionaries, the building of a house at Coimbatore and the climate there ordinarily, the English who live like barbarians, my garden which produces three poor crops a year, the bishop's letter that I have just written urging the Christians to help me in the building of the seminary of Carumattampatty.

Index : friendship (family), news, bungalow, extreme poverty (of the people)

__________

Coimbatore, 8 November 1847

I expected, my very dear father, to receive a letter from you this month. Your last one was dated 12 June to which I answered with a short note, two months ago. Since that time, nothing has happened as far as I am concerned that could interest you. This letter will merely be to tell you about the continuing improvement of the state of my health and to repeat what I cannot stress too much, namely how much I love you, how dear my family always is to me, although it pleased Our Lord to wish me to live far away from it.

We have just spent a very sad year here, as in various parts of Europe, because of the public hardship. My poor Christians have suffered even more than the pagans for various reasons put together, and not all of which will disappear with the new harvest which promises well. For the Lord has finally sent us the abundant rainfalls which have been absent for three years running.

This poverty has dispersed a large part of my spiritual children ; and unfortunately there is no great hope of replacing them with a big number of new conversions. The influence of the Brahmins, together with the continuous scandals of the Europeans, stop any considerable progress; we cannot hope for anything except long term and by dint of patience if grace deigns to accompany our efforts.

In any case, I have just received reinforcements in the persons of three new missionaries who arrived about a month ago and should shortly be preparing to share our work a little.

I have already told you that I have established my habitual residence at Coimbatore which is the main town in my jurisdiction. This town situated at the foot of the mountains forming the two divisions of India, east and west, enjoys an almost continual spring. During the six months of torrential rains inundating the parts to the west of the Ghats, and which fall violently as far as at the foot of its mountains, we enjoy a cool but sometimes violent wind, and even often a little rain, when it pleases one of the big clouds of the Malabar to pass over the top of the mountains. During the other six months, we are refreshed both by the winds and by the rains of the contrary monsoon. So that it is quite rare to have to bear an extreme heat here, and even rarer for it to be cold, although that does happen from time to time. But only at night and a few mornings.

We have just bought a decent house here which would be easily big enough for us if we were not obliged to devote a large part of it to divine service, for lack of a church. The town contains practically no Christians. The demon reigns as master, however a small village not very far away comes to mass on Sundays, to the tune of close on two hundred persons. There are several companies employing very rich Englishmen, who possess magnificent bungalows. But they live like barbarians. I have not seen a single one of them since coming here, despite the fact that on my arrival, I paid my visit to the principal ones. It goes without saying that they are Protestants, which contributes further, with their half-wild character, to keeping them away from a Catholic bishop.

Around my house there is a fairly large cultivated garden, which provides three harvests a year. In France, that would be enough to keep a family comfortably ; but here what we get does not amount to a great deal. What else can I tell you to finish my three pages?

If you knew Tamoul, I would send you a bishop's letter that I have just written urging the Christians to help in the building of a seminary ; poor as they are, they could help me by giving me a little grain which would serve to pay the workmen, or else by undertaking to come and offer a few days' work free of charge. I would likewise have sent you the bishop's letter of last Lent. But what would you understand if you chanced on these words: (here several words in Tamoul) which means simply : my very dear brothers ? The pleasure of seeing these baroque letters would not be worth the postage to be paid.

Convey a million friendly greetings, please, to my very dear mother, to Henri, to my sisters and to all the members of the family. And believe me more than ever, of all your children,

the must devoted and the most respectful

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Would you mind putting the enclosed letter in the post.

(Coimbatore, 8 November 1847)

Sent_0288

Sent_0288 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0288 - to Mgr Bonnand - 9 November 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0288 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0288 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 119-122

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 135

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Request for a marriage dispensation for a specific case (an uncle who is marrying his niece). My distress at hearing the bad news of the seminary of Pondicherry. We have had rain.

Index : seminary of Pondicherry, dispensation (of marriage)

__________

Coimbatore, 9 November 1847

My Lord,

It is a long time since I last received a letter from Y.L. Are you now back from your pastoral rounds? How is your health? I hope that you will not leave me too long without writing me a few words.

Today, I am writing to you in haste for a case of marriage. I had promised the dispensation, and the future bridegroom has even settled the penalty imposed, believing that they were relatives of first to the second by affinity. But after the situation was clarified, they are relatives of first to second degree by consanguinity, and Y.L. will recall that you did not wish to hand me over any cases, once the consanguinity arrives at the first degree. I told these people, who were preparing to hold the marriage one of these days that it was absolutely necessary for them to wait to receive an answer from Pondicherry.

Accordingly would you be so kind, My Lord, as to authorise me to give this dispensation, or else to send it to me all ready and signed by your hand, as you prefer ; but it must be done immediately. If you should prefer to send me the dispensation yourself, these are the names and the reason for granting it: the future bridegroom is called Silouvéimouttou; he is brother of Saveriai who married without dispensation a pagan who ran away several years ago. From this invalid marriage, there is a daughter named like her mother Saveriai, and who is the future bride of Silouvéimouttou. They are thus relatives of first to second degree and copula illicita.

(Here, a little diagram with the names)

(The following paragraph is written in the margin, with a reference after the words

: "copula illicita").

The principal reason for dispensing, is that the future couple, being as if casteless, will not be able to get married elsewhere. I have imposed 4 rupees of fine, which is a considerable sum for these people who live from one day to the next. This fine is applied to the seminary. Y.L. may maintain these arrangements in the dispensation or change them if you deem useful. They have already paid the 4 rupees.

Yesterday I received a letter from Mr Roger which caused me considerable distress. He gives me very sad news of the seminary of Pondicherry. I still feel heartbroken at hearing from him that three pupils, including Nallatamby, had left. This child had the stuff for making a good priest! We can only hope that things go no farther!

Finally we have had good rains, however our poor weavers are none the richer : many, I think, will not come back to the village.

I commend myself to your prayers, My Lord, and holy Sacrifices, in the union of which I beg you to believe me,

Your very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 9 November 1847)

Sent_0289

Sent_0289 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0289 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 November 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0289 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0289 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 123-125

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 137

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Best wishes for Saint Clement's day. Mr Gailhot's journey. How I plan to put together the necessary money for building a seminary at Carumattampatty. I really hope that Mr de Gélis is destined for Coimbatore.

Index : attachment (family), seminary of Carumattampatty, finances

__________

Coimbatore, 23 November 1847

My Lord,

It seems to me that I have several things to tell you ; but since I am just about to go and bless a neighbouring chapel, I only have time to write you a few words to wish you a good patron saint's day. Believe me that my wishes for Y.L. are no less sincere or heartfelt than when I had the consolation of conveying them to you personally. It even seems to me that, if there is any difference, this is that they grow day by day. May you accept them, My Lord, with as much benevolence as I have pleasure in renewing my gift of them to you.

Just recently we received a spontaneous visit from Mr Gailhot. We believed him lost; letters arrived at his address without us knowing where he could be. Then all of a sudden, one fine morning we see him arrive after making a devotee's journey. Moreover, I was very pleased with him.

I have received a letter from Mr Tesson brought by the Bombay steamer. This letter supposes others which have undoubtedly passed by the Cape. He comes back to my accounts, in case I have not received the previous ones, which is in fact the case. Out of the money which has been sent to us this year, there are one thousand francs specially applied to the native clergy. I am going to use them for the building of the seminary. Together with what Mr Métral gave us last year and a sum coming from my parts, and which I am going to earmark for it, and finally what my pastoral letter will bring in, which I estimate should amount to 600 to 700 rupees, I hope that we will have enough to build what is necessary for this pro-vicariate.

Five new missionaries who had embarked at Antwerp went aground ten minutes after having weighed anchor ; they came out of it unscathed, but the Seminary of Paris will have lost the ten thousand francs' worth of passage paid.

I think that out of the five missionaries bound for the Coromandel coast, Mr de Gélis is destined for us. Mr Tesson says nothing about it in this last letter, but I was led to hope so some time ago, and my father begins a letter, that I have just received, by saying that he thinks I have received a note that he entrusted to Mr de Gélis who is coming to share my work. Fiat!

Now I really have to close, asking you once more to accept my wishes for your patron saint's day, and to believe me,

Your Lordship's

very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 23 November 1847)

Sent_0290

Sent_0290 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0290 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 November 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0290 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 novembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0290 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 127-130

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 137-138

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I learn of the difficulties occurring in the mission of Pondicherry (it is impossible to say by letter what it is all about). Mr Leroux's inconsistencies. How difficult your position is! Departure of Alaquiapoullé for Combacounam: what a loss for us! Kindly keep the money belonging to us in your bursar's office.

Index : difficulties, burse of Pondicherry

__________

Coimbatore, 27 November 1847 (

)

My Lord,

I received your letter of 17th the day before yesterday at Canampaleam, where I had gone to bless a church. I still have not got over the wretched impression that it produced on me. It almost gave me a fever. But what hurts me most in all of that, and what astonishes me most (for as for what is happening in the seminary, I expected this up to a certain point), is the ever greater misunderstanding which appears to be growing among the missionaries.

The action you speak of does not surprise me on the part of Messrs Leroux and Laugier, but Messrs Fages and Godet ! two grave and reflective men, and Messrs Laouënan and Martin! whom I do not know, but of whom great good is said, it is truly distressing. I pray the Lord not to permit that too much harm stems from all of this.

I will not fail to write by the next steamer to Mgr Luquet in the sense that Y.L. desires. Already last month, I refused to pass on two letters that Mr Leroux wrote to him, and that he had sent to me for my information. Mr Leroux is happily fairly well known for his past inconsistencies, for his words alone not to have very much force. I fear more the acts and the indispositions of the other missionaries. How difficult your position is! Fortunately, the Lord does not fail to give strength in proportion to his tests. Thus, I admire your courage, when I see that similar trials would overwhelm me.

We too are not without some misfortunes at the present time, and the Lord is going to deprive us of one of our strongest props, with the departure of Alaquiapoullé, the best Christian that I have known as yet of all the Malabars. It seems he is to leave for Combacounam.

I am enclosing herewith a letter for Mr Leroux, which I would ask you to kindly read and then hand over to him, but after sealing it, so that he doesn't know that you have read it.

As regards the money that the burse of Pondicherry owes us still, I would be very glad, if that did not inconvenience you too much, if you would keep it for some time more. The reason is that, since we have no very safe place, we are wide open to being robbed, especially now that the bungalow is only sparsely manned, whereas you have a safe and, in case of misfortune, we would not lose everything. At least, I would like you not to send it before my return from the tour of Palghat. Could you not at least keep this money in the form of a deposit, leaving it in the safe? Then it would be as if you had paid it, while the chances of a misfortune, if any such occurred, would be for all of us.

I still do not know when I will leave for Palghat, but it will not be long now. Mr Métral is not at all happy about the way things are going in that district.

Kindly give me some share in the merits of your trials and of your prayers, in the union of which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted and very humble servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. The news of Alaquiapoullé's departure is now absolutely sure. He has just been to see me ; he will be leaving on Wednesday for Combacounam. Humanly speaking, this is one of the greatest misfortunes that could happen to our (mission?).

(Coimbatore, 27 November 1847)

Sent_0291

Sent_0291 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 décembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0291 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 December 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0291 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 décembre 1847 -/2

Sent 0291 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 131-134

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 141

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Question of marriage dispensation which clearly reveals Mgr de Brésillac's intellectual rigour (one could almost say scruple). Mr de Gélis is coming to Coimbatore. Keep him in Pondicherry until the roads are practicable. I am sending you a copy of our regulations.

Index : regulations, marriage, dispensation, scruple

__________

Coimbatore, 10 December 1847

My Lord,

I have given the prospective wedded couple, relatives of first to second degree, the dispensation according to your communication of powers of 17 November. I have overlooked the clause of time, since l'expressio temporis only applies for the 6, 7, 8 and 9 first powers, and odia sunt restringenda.()

However, the reasons seem to me to be the same for all marriage dispensations, and this recommendation should perhaps be extended to them all, since it is placed after all the faculties of marriage dispensations contained in the list of ordinary powers. Y.L. has still not answered me on the difficulty entailed by article 10 of the proxy of powers. Have you not found anything in the Pondicherry archives on this point? Can we be sure that these omissions of form do not affect the validity? I consider this probable, but I cannot say that I am sure about it.

But as regards the obligation of the clause : dummodo etc., to insert the content etc., to express the time etc., it is certain, unless we have some certain document dispensing us from doing so. Accordingly, how can it be left to the missionaries who take no account of all this ? And does not all of this require a written dispensation? I must say that I am most anxious to be clarified on all these points.

Then, in your note of 17 November, you give me the following powers :

1° Tres dispensationes super impedimento secundi mixti cum primo consanguinitatis et affinitatis gradu in linea transversale. Why this et affinitatis ? ()

3° Duas super impedimento primi cum secundo ac secundi tantum affinitatis gradus ex copula illicita proveniente. () But do we not have this power not for two cases, but for an unlimited number, once more for the first degree, in the new text of the S.C. of 10 May 1846, that Y.L. has notified to me with all its powers?

Finally, Y.L. does not tell me if this specified number of cases is to be understood as once and for all, or whether for each year. Would Y.L. kindly clarify me immediately on all of these important points.

I have received a letter from Paris dated 24 June informing me that Mr de Gélis is destined for Coimbatore. I hope he will soon land at Pondicherry. But if the weather is bad, as at present, and in any case, would it not be advisable to wait until the roads which are now in a terrible state have improved, before sending him here? It seems to me a good idea for him to remain for a while at Pondicherry, and devote himself to learning the language, if that is not too inconvenient for Y.L.

It will be a pleasure for me to send you our draft regulations ; if you should so desire, I could have them copied on fine paper and sent to you by post, for they are quite voluminous. I have not received any letters by this steamer. I shall be leaving next week for Palghat. Kindly continue to address all correspondence to Coimbatore.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bihsop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 10 December 1847)

Sent_0292

Sent_0292 - à M. Tesson - le 10 décembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0292 - to Mr Tesson - 10 December 1847 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0292 - à M. Tesson - le 10 décembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0292 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, n° 24

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 140-141

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

He has learned through Mr Tesson that Mgr Bonnand had written to Rome asking to go to Coimbatore and to send Mgr de Brésillac to Pondicherry. I am incapable of doing good in that post. Here, I shall do some small good. Send us a clock here. Have a seal made for me. I no longer receive the Annals. Thanks to Mr Dubois for the service he has just done us.

Index : newspapers, Brésillac at Pondicherry?

__________

Coimbatore, 10 December 1847

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have received almost at the same time your two letters of 24 July and of 8 October. I did not intend to write to you by this post, but what you tell me in this one about the steps taken by My Lord of Drusipare at Rome causes me such distress that I cannot prevent myself from saying that I would regard this as a veritable misfortune.

If the misfortune of returning to Pondicherry were to happen to me, I would need the strength of Saint Martin to say with him : non recuso laborem, fiat voluntas tua (Domine).() All the more since the further one goes, the more the situation in Pondicherry becomes embroiled and it will be almost impossible for Mgr Bonnand's successor to disentangle the situation. Personally I believe, without wanting to appear disproportionately humble, that I am incapable of doing good in that post, whereas here, with God's grace, we will not do much, for I do not think that the time has yet come for doing a great deal in this unfortunate country, but at least some little good.

However, having heard about this business exclusively through your letter of 8 October, and in a confidential manner, I will refrain from writing or saying anything, leaving everything in God's hands ; but as bursar for India, you should see to the general good, and please believe that this demands that I remain quietly at my little post, and that My Lord of Drusipare remains in charge of Pondicherry.

I had asked you in my last letter to send us a clock similar to the one you sent for the seminary, or else a mantel clock but, since circumstances have changed, kindly cross out that or and send us one exactly like the one sent out last year to them, large, striking the quarters, etc.

It is an age since we last received the Annals of Propagation of the Faith. Could you not send us out the last two or three issues and the following ones. Kindly have a seal made for me to seal letters with, accordingly with the characters cut away, and without the words Coimbatore, similar in fact, but much smaller than the model enclosed.

Would you kindly present my respectful homage to Mr Dubois, thanking him for all he has so kindly done for us, while awaiting my message to him next month when I will be writing to wish him a happy new year, which I likewise wish excellent for you too, since this letter will not arrive until the New Year has already begun.

A Dieu. Pray for us. Still no news of Mr de Gélis's arrival at Pondicherry. In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 10 December 1847)

Sent_0293

Sent_0293 - à Mgr Luquet - le 10 décembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0293 - to Mgr Luquet - 10 December 1847 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0293 - à Mgr Luquet - le 10 décembre 1847 -/1

Sent 0293 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 480ss

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 140

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I await your news. Praise of Pius IX. Look out for the English. The mission is going badly at Pondicherry. Mr Leroux goes too fast. What is to become of the young people who gave us such hope? Here we are dragging along.

Index : news, seminary of Pondicherry, Pius IX, Church of India

__________

Coimbatore, 10 December 1847

My dear friend,

Just a small note since the letter to Mr Tesson will not weigh much more, for I did not intend to write to you this month.

What are you doing in Paris ? It is three months since you last wrote to me on just a an note that contained nothing else, that you were going there and would write to me. No letter, and no other news.

Besides, should not the great character and the consoling works of Pius IX give us some hope for the good of the missions ? Should we not fear that the English may do us more harm than good by drawing closer to Rome ? As for me, I expect nothing but harm seeing what they are doing to religion in this country.

The poor mission of Pondicherry is doing very badly ; the missionaries cannot agree. Mr Leroux goes too far and too fast. Certainly, My Lord of Drusipare and all the confreres of Pondicherry want to obey Rome and to follow its advice as closely as possible. Mr Leroux smashes the windows after having acted in exactly the opposite way some years ago. I urge you frankly not to trust his letters and his thoughts. What I fear the most is that the young people who gave us such hope, and who would have become such a powerful lever in our hand to arrive in time at our ends, have been spoiled by the example of disagreement of the missionaries, do not possess the respect and submission necessary for authority, etc. If this should be the situation and the future generation of native priests should not be forthcoming, how long will it take to see true reforms of the Church of India? How long until we can hope for some real successes? I do not know if I am wrong, but the affairs of our missions, in general, are far from going well.

Here, we are still dragging along. The rebound from my isolation following the consecration, when I had only two missionaries of goodwill, is now clearly felt. Three young people who promise to become good missionaries have arrived. And I am expecting Mr de Gélis, of whom much good is spoken. Let us hope!

A Dieu. I have written at greater length than I thought. Excuse me if I do not seal this note ; and, if I should not write to you next month, receive in advance my new year's wishes that no-one in the world, I am sure, will form for you in more sincere and heartfelt terms.

Your friend in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 10 December 1847)

Sent_0294

Sent_0294 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 6 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0294 - to Mgr Bonnand - 6 January 1848 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0294 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 6 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0294 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2157-2160

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 143

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am on a pastoral visit to the district of Palghat and just imagine that it is the Christians who are paying all the expenses. I expected to arrive at this, but not so soon. Give me news, for I have heard that things are going badly at Pondicherry, at Karikal and even at Bangalore. My seminarians are doing well, despite the departure of one tonsured. I will draw up regulations for their maniacarer.

Index : pastoral visit, finances, news, seminary of Carumattampatty, vows

__________

Citour, 6 January 1848

My Lord,

I wanted to write to you on the 1st, then on the 2nd etc., to wish you a good and happy new year ; but the occupations of my pastoral visit have not left me a moment. Yesterday I left Atticodou to come to Citour, where confessions will only begin this evening and business tomorrow. Thus I take advantage of this moment of relaxation to convey to you my wishes in the midst however of the din the people are making to celebrate my patron saint's day. These wishes, My Lord, are the same as those that I had the pleasure of conveying to you on Saint Clement's Day. Kindly accept them with your habitual paternal benevolence.

It is a very long time indeed since I last heard from you. I am still eager for news and, in the present circumstance, more than ever, for if we are to believe the emanations wafted by the east wind, the affairs of Pondicherry are going from bad to worse, and at Karikal the situation is at its worst. It is also said that there is some mist on the horizon of Bangalore. I am anxious to know how much truth there is in all of this. In addition, I would very much appreciate an answer from you on the various points regarding conscience, that I had the honour of submitting to you.

I hope that this pastoral visit will do great good. As from everything that I have done for the last year and a half, I await solid fruits for the future. If the good God is willing to pass over our own imperfections, and to ensure the development of the germs that we lay in his name in this unfruitful soil, I have good hope that, some years hence, religion will be solidly founded in these parts.

But at the cost of how many oubaiam () ! I have a whole bag of them in reserve, and thanks to them I am astonished to sometimes see my hopes surpassed even. For example, it was still not a part of my plan to make the Christians pay the expenses of my pastoral visits. I reserved this useful innovation, in conformity with the Council of Trent, until later. Thus far, I had never expected them to pay the cost of a palanquin, etc. except when I was invited to a particular ceremony or festivity.

But an oubaiam took me further than I thought, so that this visit will cost me practically nothing : palanquin, coolies, food for us three and for the whole seminary and our people, everything so far has been at the expense of the Christians, who will not be any the less grateful to us.

The seminary is doing well too. The departure of one of the tonsured did not produce too bad an effect and the circumstances are such as to prove to me the usefulness of the system adopted for the tonsure in my house. But it would be too long to develop the reasons for this. The sight of the seminarians singing masses, who welcome me in each village in choirboy's habit or in surplice and singing the Benedictus, has a good effect and will arouse, I believe, some good vocations. Here I have a young man who is begging me to receive him although he is perhaps over twenty.

The eccentric operations and pretensions of the maniacarer() will be (bridled ?) by regulations with which I promise to favour them as soon as they wish, and have either built a church, or procured and signed some revenue for the fabric of the building or for the priest, etc.

In short, I have to bless the Lord, and beg you to do so with me, asking him to smooth the ways more and more. What I would really need are two or three native priests of good spirit that I could push forward at a certain point. That would advance me by four to five years.

A Dieu : There you have many details. Please give me yours and believe in the perpetual devotion,

My Lord,

of your very devoted and obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Citour, 6 January 1848)

Sent_0295

Sent_0295 - à M. Dubois - le 6 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0295 - to Mr Dubois - 6 January 1848 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0295 - à M. Dubois - le 6 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0295 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 143-144

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 1498-1500

"Souvenirs", p 770

(to Mr Jean Dubois) ()

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for what you have done for us. I am now visiting the district of Palghat: populous Christian communities, of very poor Christians, but who could give great consolations if we had priests to put things on a reasonable footing. Pray the Lord to send out workers unto his vineyard and send us the supplement of missionaries indispensable for Coimbatore.

Index : pastoral visit, request for personnel, wishes, polite letter

__________

Citour, 6 January 1848

New Year's wishes and thanks for all he has done in our favour over the past year.

At this moment, I am paying a pastoral visit to the district of Palghat. In the forests covering the plains adjacent to the eastern slopes of this part of the Ghats, we have a fairly large number of populous Christian communities, consisting of very bad Christians. However there are plenty of resources in this half-wild population, living in the woods that they clear, more stupid than wicked, and who could give great consolations if they were sufficiently cared for.

The priests of the Malealam(

) who directed them until My Lord of Drusipare took them under his protection were not able to treat them like their Nazarani Christians, in view of the difference of caste and customs. Thus the utmost disorders reigned there when His Lordship of Drusipare sent his missionaries to those parts. These, despite their zeal, were not able to improve the situation much ; for a simple missionary having over five thousand Christians to care for in a diameter of over 40 miles cannot attend to them, it is impossible. Most of the principal disorders still reign there. I hope of the Lord's blessing that this pastoral visit will do great good ; but in order to maintain that and to establish things on a reasonable footing, we need priests.

Pray to the Lord, I beg you, that he will send workers unto his vineyard that the brambles and thorns are overrunning, degrading and ruining even. I count very much on your authority in the Council for obtaining for us this year the supplement of missionaries indispensable for Coimbatore, not to meet all of its needs (we would need too many of them), but to enable us to lay solid foundations which finally ensure the establishment of our holy religion in these parts, for the time when we will have a sufficient number of native priests.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Citour, 6 January 1848)

Sent_0296

Sent_0296 - à M. Voisin - le 7 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0296 - to Mr Voisin - 7 January 1848 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0296 - à M. Voisin - le 7 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0296 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 144-145

(to Mr Joseph Voisin)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for all you have done for us. Polite letter with New Year's greetings. Difficulties at Pondicherry, mist over Mysore: ah, if only they had listened to us! If it is true that they want to appoint me to Pondicherry, do everything to avoid that happening.

Index : Brésillac at Pondicherry ? polite letter of greetings, my thought on the missions

__________

Citour, 7 January 1848 ()

New Year's wishes ; thanks for what he has done for us. He will see what our present situation is by the letter in common that I am writing to the directors.

By this time there are several directors that I do not know at Paris. I will not write to them personally unless some circumstance requires this, but kindly convey to them my respectful greetings and assure than of my absolute devotion to the sublime mission that it has pleased Our Lord to give us, despite our personal unworthiness, which makes me hope that, on any occasion, they will help me as far as is in their power, as all the directors that I have had the privilege of knowing have done thus far, with great consolation for me.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

Citour, 7 January 1848

P.S. It appears that things are going very badly in Pondicherry and that there is some mist on the horizon of Mysore. Oh! How My Lord of Drusipare's situation above all is difficult ! Do not be too hard on him, for his personal virtues are above anything that can be expressed. Only he has the misfortune of not understanding us. It is our fault more than his for we were not sufficiently virtuous for him to be able to trust us and believe that our advice (which, alone, I believe, would have avoided what is happening) was disinterested. The consequences of certain false steps, carried out in succession in the space of two or three years above all, are bearing the bitter fruits that I dreaded. May it not become impossible to remedy this somehow.

But why speak to you of this ? It no longer concerns me, may the Lord be blessed. Yes. However if a rumour which has reached me indirectly were to be founded, if it should become possible that sooner or later I were once more obliged to find myself in the complication of these affairs, I beg you, by the interest you have in our cause, to do all you can to ward off this blow. Here, in our little sphere, with God's grace and your generous aid, there is hope of arriving at the goal that our Lord expects of our feeble efforts; there, I would have neither the strength nor the means and would become a useless instrument. Pray that it will not be thus.

(Citour, 7 January 1848)

Sent_0297

Sent_0297 - à M. Langlois - le 7 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0297 - to Mr Langlois - 7 January 1848 -/1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0297 - à M. Langlois - le 7 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0297 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 145

(to Mr Charles Langlois)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Letter of good wishes. Polite forms in a New Year's letter to the superior of the Council of Directors. I have every confidence that you will continue your benevolent care of the mission of Coimbatore.

Index : polite letter, good wishes

__________

Citour, le 7 janvier 1848

Monsieur le Supérieur,

Although I propose writing a common letter to all the directors, I do not wish to forego addressing you a few words personally to convey to you directly the heartfelt good wishes that I address to Heaven for you at this beginning of a new year. I feel sure that, in your paternal solicitude, you have presented our case to the Lord at this time when the children of God find themselves most closely united at the feet of their common father, to implore heavenly blessings on all their mutual works. You were likewise present in our spirit and we asked the Lord for you to add to your past merits those of a new year which through his grace will be employed entirely for his glory.

Moreover, may the Lord add to all of this the consolations and other goods that we ask him for you, in such a way that this year will be as sweet as it will be meritorious for you. I have learned with the greatest of pleasure that the council of directors had recently re-elected you its superior. Thus I have the sweet confidence that you will continue your benevolent care and that the mission of Coimbatore, which has nothing but blessings to give you for the interest you have taken in it since its creation, will redouble its gratitude as it feels more and more the effect of your generous protection.

Good wishes of all our confreres for him.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Citour, 7 January 1848)

Sent_0298

Sent_0298 - à M. Barran - le 7 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0298 - to Mr Barran - 7 January 1848 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0298 - à M. Barran - le 7 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0298 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 145-147

(to Mr Jean Barran)

(superior in the Seminary of Paris)

Habitual politeness in a letter of good wishes. Thanks for the three missionaries that I have just received and for Mr de Gélis who is on his way to Pondicherry. To achieve the three goals of our institution, I would need three more, but if they do not have the necessary virtues I prefer to wait. Thanks for your book on the explanation of Christianity. Write more. A word on the Syriac Christians of the mission,

Index : wishes, missionaries (my), virtues (of the missionary), request for personnel

__________

Citour, 7 January 1848

Sir and dear confrere,

At least a few words each year. And why should we not sanctify the usage of finding ourselves together at least in spirit, at the beginning of each new year, not in order to wish for one another only passing and illusory goods, but further grace and blessings on our mutual works, that our confraternity makes so common to us all? Oh yes! You were present in our memory on New Year's Day and, with the consolations necessary to our human weakness, I asked the Lord to bless your efforts, while giving you the strength to form for the missions subjects worthy of our sublime vocation, truly prepared to walk in the footsteps of our good master.

I hope that the three collaborators that I received a few months ago will respond to the wise and pious lesson that you have given them. I still have no news of the arrival of Mr de Gélis at Pondicherry. The good spoken of him by those who have known him make me hope that he will be not only a good priest, but a good missionary; would that you could send us speedily three others quite devoted to humiliations, to poverty and to the other virtues without which the apostolate remains sterile.

When I say speedily, the fact is that we need that number to make some progress in the three goals of our institution ; but not so speedily that I would not prefer to wait a long time still rather than receive subjects who were not endowed with the virtues that I have just named, only do not make us wait once you have them, I beg you, and I have the sweet confidence, based on the benevolence that you have shown us at all times, that you will not fail to do everything that is in your power.

I do not think that I have yet thanked you for sending me the second edition of your excellent exposition of Christianity. I had already read it but I re-read it with an even greater pleasure than the first time, proposing to re-read it again; by this you will gather what I think of it; and to prove the sincerity of this praise, I will not conceal from you the two or three small points that seem regrettable to me: I would make the Doctor a little more difficult to convince; it seems to me that the reading of the work would be more interesting for common mortals. I would have liked not to see a final decision taken on certain extremely delicate topical questions. Not that I do not think like you practically, but as an author I would like to leave each person to form his practical conscience on the exact exposition of things such as they are at the moment, leaving a door open to the extreme lovers of freedom of opinion, without forcing them to think like us, under pain of being heretics or recalcitrants against the decisions of the Church.

I express the hope that this useful production will not be the last ; for if, after having given the aspirants all the care required by their apostolic education, you still have the leisure and the strength, could you use them better than to avenge with such gentleness and force the pure doctrine and healthy morality of our holy religion.

I speak to him a little of the mission of the Syriac Christian community and of the Nazarani priest who serves it.

I want to add to it two or three small Christian communities and to urge the Christians to provide him with something. But since the Christians on this side of the mountains are another caste, I doubt that they will consent to hear his mass, above all the Christian community closest at hand. Would you believe it? We are just round the corner from the Malabar Christian communities, and yet there is more difference between them and these than between the Christians of France and the Lapps.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Citour, 7 January 1848)

Sent_0299

Sent_0299 - à M. Albrand - le 7 ou le 8 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0299 - to Mr Albrand - 7 or 8 January 1848 -/2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0299 - à M. Albrand - le 7 ou le 8 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0299 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 27

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 147-148

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thank you for your last letter. It is good to be able to discuss the problems of the mission with you. With the grace of God, I am always ready to abandon and disavow what first of all I believed to be true, if I recognise later that it is wrong. A director at Paris seems to me greater than a bishop! How vital is the position of the directors in respect of the Church. They can do immense good. Happy New Year. Continue your benevolent protection of us.

Index : wishes, request for personnel, respect (of the superiors), discussion

__________

Citour, 7 or 8 January 1848 ()

Dear Sir and very dear confrere,

It is a long time ago that I received your good letter of 19 March. I read it with the liveliest interest; I re-read it with the most serious attention, for I am far from thinking that these sorts of discussion are useless. Although we may be unworthy of such a ministry, the Lord has entrusted to us missionaries a work on the success or fall of which depend the salvation or the loss of thousands of souls, the establishment of our holy religion in immense regions or the stubborn and perhaps perpetual perseverance of paganism.

In this career which is as difficult as it is sublime, one false step has enormous consequences, above all when it becomes a principle either written, or incorporated in the usage. So that on this point, nothing should be indifferent to us. The discussion of everything regarding this great work must necessarily be useful to us, providing we maintain charity in it and that all we do is exclusively for the greater glory of our good Master. Thanks to God, this is how things are between you and me! The reasons one opposes to those that appear to be based on truth make us reflect, make us investigate further and since, with the grace of God, I am always prepared to abandon and to disavow what, first of all, I believed to be true if I recognise it later as erroneous, I am truly pleased to listen to those who, before God, propose to me opinions contrary to my own.

If the reasons that they oppose to my convictions appear to me not to hold before greater reasons, they corroborate them, and I can only act following these convictions in the form of wishes and prayers, at least these prayers and these wishes are every day offered to God so that, in his mercy, he will deign to take pity on so many people and to permit that a blessed hand comes here to remove the dam blocking the effusion of his grace, or there a mere little stone which has fallen across the communicating channel and which, though nothing in itself, nonetheless intercepts the only passage by which the salutary waters were spreading over an immense plain for centuries sterile.

Accordingly, do not stop, my dear Mr Albrand, from speaking to me of these questions and of telling me frankly what you think ; for my part I will be equally frank and do not say : that does not concern me. How is this? A director in Paris appears to me greater than a bishop. For, in order for our work to be done fruitfully according to the ordinary order of Providence, it is necessary for the bishops to walk with them; it is even necessary for any major improvement, on general questions, to receive its impulsion from the Council of Directors, or, if this impulsion comes from elsewhere, for it to be sent there in order to be accepted and transmitted by it with order and intelligence.

Oh how great is the position of the directors of Paris in respect of the Church ! How much good can they do! And consequently (for one necessarily goes with the other), how much harm can they do! Not through action, that evil is rarely to be feared of persons devoted to God, and totally sheltered from all danger with directors such as God has reserved to our Society for these happy times; but by omission which is the cause of an infinity of evils sometimes very serious and very dangerous, which work their way into the administration of those who are entrusted with high office, without them always being aware of it, in the form of a certain letting things be which is a participation in the evil begun, when we are in an erroneous path and which corroborates it by the authority of time and the silence of those who are entrusted with safeguarding God's interests.

So that may nothing regarding the missions remain alien to you ! May each one of you make it his serious business; for with you we will be able to do great things, but without you even God's envoy might find himself stopped in his tracks!

I took up this sheet of paper to wish you a happy new year only to see it about to finish without having done this duty as a friend. Believe me I wish you the happiest, sweetest and most holy year. Write to me from time to time; tell me frankly what you think, what you fear, what you would desire, etc. Believe that I will always receive your views and your opinions with the respect that they deserve and I will always obtain benefit from them. If it is impossible to think like you sometimes, as for example on the question of titular bishoprics, benefices, etc., once more I will always draw some profit from it.

And what I require of you finally is to continue to grant us always your benevolent protection, both for the dispatch of workers who are indispensable to us and for the other forms of aid which our poor mission so badly needs. I bless the Lord that this year, all the directors have done for us all the good they could ; and if they did not do more, I am certain that this is because they could not. And what more can one ask of one's best friends?

A Dieu, my dear Mr Albrand, a Dieu ; pray often for us and for the missions in general, where such a lot of good remains to be done, where such a lot of good is possible if God in his mercy sends someone destined to remove the impediments, filled with strength and courage, authority and saintliness, sustained by all that the missions count by way of devoted, disinterested men of faith and enlightenment.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Citour, 7 or 8 January 1848)

Sent_0300

Sent_0300 - aux Directeurs de Paris - 8-22 janvier 1848 -/6

Sent 0300 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 8-22 January 1848 -/6

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0300 - aux Directeurs de Paris - 8-22 janvier 1848 -/6

Sent 0300 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 11

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 149-157

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

To tell you what we have done, what are our views, our hopes and our fears for the future, to ask you to continue your benevolence to us. It is not very long since the missionaries of the MEP were entrusted with the Christian communities of my pro-vicariate. Previously there were priests of the Syriac rite directed by a goubernator. In the beginning one only, then two, and finally four missionaries from Pondicherry were working here at the time of my consecration. We would need 20. We needed somewhere of our own; I bought a bungalow at Coimbatore. There, we now need a church. Effort of the schismatics; the departure of Mr Jarrige and the moral state of two of my missionaries upset my plans. I need a missionary for each district, plus two for the seminary. In time (20 years?), the Christian communities will be entrusted to the native priests ; thus we will have in each district a single missionary and parish priests. My ideas for the seminary of Carumattampatty, but I need to build. He explains his plan and the state of his finances. Why it will be difficult for the Christians to accept native priests; they will say: send us missionaries because they give to us, whereas we have to give to black priests. Question of the missionaries' viaticum; should the viaticum be shared? Should the bursar's office provide for them? Live on the revenue of the mission and leave the viaticum? As regards the work for the conversion of the pagans, it still has to be begun.

Index : my thought on the missions, viaticum, native clergy, vicariate of Coimbatore, virtues (of a missionary), missionaries (my), seminary of Carumattampatty

__________

Letter begun at Citour 8 January 1848,

ended at Palghat 22 January 1848 ()

Sirs and very dear Confreres,

At the beginning of this new year, which I hope will be supremely happy and meritorious for you, I thought it would be advisable to write you a quite detailed letter that enabled you to become acquainted with what we have done in the course of the past year, what are our views, our hopes and our fears for the future, in short everything liable to enlighten you on our real position and to encourage you, by means of this knowledge, to continue to show us that benevolence of which in this past year you have given us unequivocal proof, to redouble it even, if possible and finally to help us achieve the goal that God expects of our feeble efforts by every means that he is pleased to put at your disposal.

As you know, it is only a short time since the Christian communities constituting my Pro-Vicariate came to be administered by the missionaries of our Society. Previously they were ministered to by priests of the Syriac rite who had allowed the utmost disorders to find their way into their administration. In fact these priests, although they also included some extremely zealous, educated and virtuous persons, had the misfortune of finding themselves in a false position. As soon as they arrived on this side of the mountains, they found themselves among Christians of a different caste, not at all sympathetic with the families from which they had come, unceasingly obliged to exert continual violence on themselves to respect their character, quite apart from their origin.

No-one can fail to be aware of how this kind of abstraction is difficult to the Indians, so that several of them did not have the courage to do it and apostasised. Moreover, these priests were poor and found themselves obliged to insist on a contribution being paid by the Christians. Finally, they had no bishop, and subjected to a Goubernator only, having besides neither vows nor particular Society which could, I won't say replace the authority and above all the solicitude of a bishop, but diminish the affliction of churches without a pastor, they had all the drawbacks of foreign missionaries, without any of their advantages. Add to this that they were forced missionaries, for the grace of the missionary is rare, and it would be a fatal error to expect it ordinarily of native priests.

So this, Gentlemen, is what explains in large part both the disorders reigning here, and the desire of the Christians to have priests from Pondicherry, and the eccentricity of the government system of Christian communities so unecclesiastic compared to other parts (the vicariates of the west) where it is on the contrary so well ordered.

However we take care not to believe that the desire of having priests from Pondicherry was universal ; as a result of this spirit of division which here so rarely permits even the smallest village to agree on a point in less that one year, there were two sides. What is remarkable even, is that the best Christians were not in favour of any change. The good God permitted that the others prevailed, for the good of the country, I believe, provided that we are capable of arriving at the goal that Providence has the right to expect of us.

Thus the missionaries from Pondicherry arrived. They did all the good that could be expected of their zeal and their virtue; however, it is even less for us than anyone else, to exaggerate this good and delude ourselves on the new evil that arose at its side. The Christians waged a sort of war, first of all some of them, then the others, to the great detriment of morals and the faith. The malealam priests(

) grew stubborn and would not submit to the apostolic vicars, even after the brief Multa praeclare. Justice in processes was better administered, the holy ministry was more worthily exercised, but the Christians were scarcely better looked after. For one missionary alone for some twenty thousand Christians, scattered throughout a big province, could well journey day and night, sacrifice his strength, his life even, without the Christians being much better cared for.

Some time afterwards, they were two without the Christians being much better administered, for where there was work for 20 priests (and twenty thousand Christians who confess all more or less and who require all the other sacraments, if we could have satisfied them would have required 20 priests, supposing they had been gathered in a single town, and even more since they were scattered), two do scarcely more than one.

Finally their generosity could be very edifying for the moment, but it would be ruinous for the future, if we do not pray to the Lord to inspire us with the means of directing it wisely. In these few years, the people have already lost the praiseworthy habit of contributing in accordance with their possibilities to the maintenance of their ministers and worship, and find it very surprising that we expect something of what was earlier offered with largess (proportionally speaking). And this is how things were when the apostolic pro-vicariate was formed. Only, My Lord of Drusipare had just sent out two new priests counting that of the Nilghiris, so that after my consecration I had four priests, with things being as I have just outlined to you.

The presence of a bishop amortises, without extinguishing, the party of the Malealam priests which unfortunately has become schismatic. A simple little misfortune could still have overthrown us especially since, having no possession of our own, a simple revolt by the Christians could literally have turned us out. They would have let in the schismatic priests, and we could expect nothing from the English government which does not recognise us, and lets the Christians call in the priests of whatever party they wish. Since then I realised how important for us it was to buy a house in Coimbatore.

There, we are in our own place and in case of misfortune everything would not be lost. Certain churches would break away, others would remain and we would have a centre from which we would let the recalcitrants hear the truth. It appears that after my consecration the schismatics made an effort. Towards the month of January, sinister rumours spread, a schismatic priest was sent to the Nilghiris where he still remains and he spread the rumour, it is said, that the Goubernator was going to arrive shortly and to place priests in Carumattampatty, in Coimbatore and in Palghat, etc. Thanks to God, things have not gone that far. I believe that today the introduction of the schismatics in the churches that we direct is farther off than ever; nevertheless, prudence is required still and it would be very desirable for us to have a church in Coimbatore.

I had planned to pay a detailed visit in the course of the year to the whole pro-vicariate. Several accidents, and in particular the moral state of two missionaries out of four (that you are well acquainted with) and the not very supple character of a third made that visit impossible. Moreover, the seminary of which Mr Jarrige had laid the bases would have fallen if I had not at once entrusted Mr Métral, whom I would have needed for other things, to take it over. Two indispensable journeys to Verapoly and Trichinopoly further impeded our work and occasioned some expenditure which was regrettable in our dire straits.

Although I have not personally visited everywhere, however by this time I have acquired an exact knowledge of things in all parts of the pro-vicariate. With the exception of the district of Darabouram, I have been in the main towns of the others. In order for the Christians to be suitably attended to, and for them to finally emerge from their crass ignorance, etc. it is necessary to have one missionary in each district of Coimbatore, Carumattampatty, Ootacamund, Palghat, Codively, Darabouram and another in the district of Palghat (which will be Atticodou) (

). In addition we need one in the seminary, later to become two.

With this number, the Christians will not be perfectly cared for, but they will be, I believe, as much as could be desired by missionaries which it would be dangerous and almost impossible to multiply as much as is necessary for the Christians. This would make them neglect their vocation and reduce them to the state of country priests in France; they would be overcome by boredom and an even greater evil would follow. Care of the Christians cannot be perfect, or to put it better, cannot hope to attain the perfection that these places would be capable of achieving until we have native priests who would gradually take over the direction of the Christians under the surveillance of the missionary of the district.

If the Lord grants us the grace of carrying out our plan, and for this of being constantly backed up, without any major drawback, by all of our collaborators, this could be achieved in some twenty or so years. By that time, all the Christians can be closely attended by native priests, who themselves will be watched over by the missionary of the district. At that point the latter would have time to carry out the job of missionary, leaving to the natural pastors the ordinarily immediate care of their flocks.

Little by little, some of these priests would deserve by their virtues and their talents to themselves become the watchmen and as it were the great vicars of their peers. In this way the care that we owe to the Christians would gradually diminish instead of increasing each day, leaving us that of pastors and permitting us to extend our solicitude to the infidels, in the evangelisation of whom we would also be helped by the native priests, but more indirectly and according to circumstance, when some vocations would be found among them to become missionaries, which will be very rare.

In order for this plan which appears very simple to succeed, there are many difficulties to be overcome : things need to be prepared from afar, so that they are achieved subsequently by the time fixed, without any need at that point of a jolt to establish them ; special care should be taken with the education of clerics and with the direction of Christians, so that those Christians who have become priests find themselves in their natural place with all the rights to which they are entitled and without expecting those they are not entitled to, and that the latter are prepared, when the time comes, to receive their natural pastors and maintain them as far as is in their power without preferring the Europeans at least for parish priests.

This is no easy matter, but it is possible providing our missionaries are humble, devoted to all the apostolic virtues and sufficiently reasonable to prefer a solid good increasing gradually and unobtrusively, but without danger for the future, to brilliant but ephemeral and at times ruinous effects.

The difficulties regarding the education of clerics are in part overcome, I hope, if I can manage to apply in practice a plan which I presented to the S.C. asking for its opinion. My letter is already so long that I do not dare outline to you here the reasons behind it and its development. I will merely say here that it consists principally of initiating young people very early on in the clericature, of separating them absolutely from the lay pupils, of drawing up their regulations of life so as to teach them everything regarding ecclesiastical matters, much more by a long practice than in books, which is all the more necessary in this country where young people do not see any churches, Christian feasts as they do in the Catholic countries where the spirit of Church matters enters through all the senses into those called to the ecclesiastic condition, even if they decide to embrace it late.

Here, the simplest things are far from the spirit of our Christians most of whom know nothing of worship and divine office except the low mass celebrated in a sort of barn or worse ! The S.C. was kind enough to reply to these three points: maxime probanda. So that we have begun to work in this direction and I have good hope ; only we (are) obliged to go more slowly than would be necessary, both due to lack of subjects, and lack of resources. It would have been impossible for me this year to maintain a considerable number of pupils, since we still have not managed to build a house for those that I have. They are ten at this moment, with a single room barely sufficient for them to sleep, eat, have their classes, etc.

However I have the hope of beginning shortly on a building and this is how : Mr Métral had saved up 1,500 francs since he has been in the mission, and he has given them to me for the seminary. You have allocated 1,000 francs this year for the native clergy, and I am going to use these; and finally I myself had close on 700 francs sent from my home that I will put into this work. In fact I have written a pastoral letter to the Christians urging them to help me. Although they are very poor, above all after a year of famine, they will do something. Accordingly I am going to start. I hope that you will kindly allocate me some aid more for this year.

At Carumattampatty, the only suitable place and which is highly suitable for the seminary, the building will be very expensive seeing that we have neither wood for building, or wood for making bricks, and that the masons and other workers will have to come out from Palghat or other distant places. I estimate that a house having a dormitory capable of containing 20 pupils, a refectory, a study room, a tavaram and 3 or 4 small bedrooms, will cost 2,000 rupees, that is 5,000 francs. And this is the estimate before beginning, which means that we should count seven or eight thousand before we have finished. Although I actually have the 3,200 francs that I spoke to you of, this expense is going to embarrass us financially since this money was in large part used last year ; however we will spend to the limit of our resources so as not to delay this indispensable work any further.

The difficulties regarding the process of preparing Christians to receive their own priests willingly will be much greater, especially since several, and why should we not say it ? why should we delude ourselves? several, I say, are intrinsic in us, as you will soon see. In fact it is of the utmost importance if we want to make something solid, to accustom the people to provide for the prime necessities of worship and the living of its priests, and for these priests to be content with little. We must introduce this from afar, by re-establishing the former usages, and even by establishing some new ones when the natural opportunity arises.

But it happens that, having exclusively European priests, except for the one with a small Syriac Christian community, they naturally appropriate these small revenues. Two main drawbacks arise:

1) the missionary receiving his viaticum does not care if these revenues are forthcoming or not; he finds it easy to put on one side the grief and humiliation that he would sometimes have in requiring them, at times even, he feels he is undertaking a meritorious action in dealing with these trifles, whence it happens that the people are fortified in the habit of providing nothing, and when the moment comes to give them native priests, they will not want them, saying as they do now : Send us your missionaries because they give, whereas we have to provide for the black priests ;

2) the missionary himself becomes accustomed to falling back on his viaticum, fatal source of a host of evils that you may foresee. Moreover, the least missionary, even with his viaticum alone, lives more grandly and splendidly than even the rich Indians, which is a veritable scandal for the clergy of the country. Unfortunately, this is an almost incurable evil, for it would require a heroic virtue on the part of the European priest to set the example of the type of life that the ordinary Indian clergy should live.

In order to diminish the bad effect, I am in the habit of often warning the clerics that the spirit of the Church is that the clergy occupies a middle rank in society which generally speaking should be neither so poor as to beg for alms, nor as rich as the richest and grandest in the country, and to make them see that the life of missionaries is even below this middle term if compared to the Europeans ; accordingly that they are merely required to have the same virtue in initiating them to the average life of the Indians. I guard against promising them a viaticum similar to that of the missionaries, which would mean stopping everything at one blow, assuring them only that the bishop will see that they never lack for either food or clothing in any case.

These reasons are more or less well appreciated, but it would be illusory to hope that they destroy the evil that I regard, as I have had the honour of saying, as irremediable in our position. I see only one means of diminishing it, but in order for it to have some effect, it would be necessary for it to be recognised by an authority other than that of the bishop who wished to employ him, for example by you, Gentlemen. So that I would ask you to immediately give me your opinion on this point.

This means would be that the missionary would be obliged to consider himself as bound not to neglect the existing and future revenues of the churches and that he could nevertheless be neither more nor less at his ease whether the Christian community had any revenues or not. If we are fortunate enough to all belong to a single family, and each missionary lived on the burse handing over to it his viaticum and the revenues of his Christian community, the situation would be perfect, but it hardly seems possible to me here.

The means that I would propose would be that the missionary should have to choose between living on the revenues of the Christian community and the alms of the faithful, which would be perfectly apostolic and would prepare the ways for the future in an admirable manner, or that he should account to the bursar's office for any revenues, however modest, from the Christian community contenting himself with his viaticum. In case he should choose the first way, the burse could provide him with a supplement until the amount equivalent to his viaticum is reached, if he should be unable to live on the proceeds of the Christian community.

All of this which would imply savings to the bursar's office on the viaticums or the revenues of the Christian communities would be used as far as possible for the native clergy, either by establishing the seminary in such a way that gradually it could look after itself, or by helping to build passable churches, etc., which would constitute a fundamental good, at the same time as we could say that our ministry is completely disinterested, since everything we receive from the Christians would be used for them. Here the revenues are still so tiny that it might not seem worthwhile to speak of it ; but on the contrary, I feel sure that this is precisely the time to take an avowed step on this delicate point liable to cause serious impediments later and which, if well settled, could greatly help the development of your work.

We have done nothing for the pagans this year, there were too few of us. We are even far from having done what was necessary for the Christians who are in a pitiable state. We have not been able to set up a school, take over a church, etc. However, if we were eleven or twelve, two of us would begin to make a start on preaching to the Gentiles. I say make a start, for since the Jesuits converted the principal existing Christian communities we only convert pagans by chance on the occasion of marriages often preceded by disorders, etc. etc. There are some exceptions without doubt to this rule, but they are so rare that we may say that the work of the conversion of the Gentiles has still to be started.

I trust, Gentlemen, that this long letter may be agreeable to you ; and I end it by asking you to accept the expression of the affectionate sentiments with which

I have the honour of being in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Since I came to Coimbatore, I have still not received either the letter in common or notebook of the Annals.

In the table I sent to Mr Tesson for Propagation of the Faith, I have counted one missionary less ; I hope that you have kindly rectified this error. I await every day Mr de Gélis who has still not appeared on the horizon.

(Begun at Citour on 8 January 1848,

ended at Palghat on 22 January 1848)

Sent_0301

Sent_0301 - à M. Chevalier - le 21 janvier -/1

Sent 0301 - to Mr Chevalier - 21 January 1848/1

Sent_0301 - à M. Chevalier - le 21 janvier -/1

Sent 0301 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 157-158

(to Mr Joseph Chevalier)

(apostolic missionary)

The stages it would be advisable to follow for establishing a bishop in the region of Maggur (division of Mysore).

Index : advice, prudence, division of vicariates

__________

Palghat, 21 January 1848

Reply to his New Year's wishes.

I come now to the subject of your question and first of all, I will say to you that I would not be in favour of at once adopting your idea in its entirely. And yet it might be good, however it would be necessary to carry it out by degrees, so that the undertaking does not lead to bad results if it is untimely or inopportune. The means of manoeuvring prudently between these two hypotheses would be as follows: 1) all of you together, write a letter to the S.C. expressing the desire and suggesting the advisability of erecting Mysore definitively to an apostolic vicariate.

Having done that, study for some time more the chances of success of a bishop in the parts of Maggur, and if these are confirmed, urge the apostolic vicar (who should be a titular) to request a coadjutor. This coadjutor could, without negative consequences, be sent out to those parts and, if he achieved some success, you could then request the division of the apostolic vicariate of Mysore. It seems to me that this would be the most prudent way of proceeding, the surest and the most practicable. You may share this opinion with whoever you please.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Palghat, 21 January 1848)

Sent_0302

Sent_0302 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0302 - to Mgr Bonnand - 21 January 1848 -/2

Sent_0302 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 janvier 1848 -/2

Sent 0302 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2161-2164

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 157

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

For all the problems of Pondicherry, I am wholeheartedly with you. I have just sent a copy of our regulations to Mr Dupuis. My visit in the district of Palghat. Behaviour of the Jesuits with regard to Mgr Bonnand. Do you authorise me to write to him to let him know my way of thinking?

Index : Jesuits, pastoral visit

__________

Palghat, 21 January 1848

My Lord,

It was only yesterday that I had the honour of receiving your letter of 8 January. A few days earlier, I received that of 18 December and your interesting pastoral letter. I read it avidly but with the sad conviction that the evil goes too deep to hope that it will bring an effective remedy.

The latest news that Y.L. gives me makes me fear that I was not mistaken. I cannot tell you how much the sadness which has broken your paternal heart is echoed in mine. How I wish I could soften its bitterness! Let us hope that the Lord will come to his servants' aid and that, as often happens, he will arrange events in such a way that good comes out of the evil itself.

The explanations that Y.L. gives me on the subject of dispensations (above all where there is consanguinity) merely put me in a fresh embarrassment. In order not to come back any more on this subject, which could end up by boring you, I will act as if I do not have the power of dispensing where first degree consanguinity is involved and I will have recourse to Y.L. in case of need for each particular case.

The day before yesterday I had the honour of putting in the post a copy of our regulations, together with the manuscript of my Lenten letter, the whole addressed to Mr Dupuis. The Gentlemen of Paris have written to me to convey their satisfaction at this small work. I trust it contains something good. In fact, I know many things are lacking, however I did not think that the time had come to publish them.

Here, nothing special is happening. I have almost completed my visit of the district of Palghat. This visit has been more successful that I hoped on leaving Coimbatore. However this does not prevent the Christian communities from being in a truly deplorable state, that I see no way of remedying until we have more priests.

I would have liked the priest of Melarcodou to take over the two or three Christian groupings close to his village. But he did not wish to do so. I could not obtain anything from the savages of Vadecantchery. I did not even manage to divide them. They are so closely associated with this bad lot who is the principal cause of everything, and who has the keys of the church, that they follow him like a flock of sheep. I did not go into the village; the interdict still applies. The bad business of Peramcoulam ended well. I spent three days in that village.

What you tell me about the behaviour of the Jesuit Fathers is most distressing. I did not write to Mgr Canoz on the occasion of New Year, since I do not like the idea of entertaining relations which, under the veil of friendship, might give them the pretext to come and gratify us with an inopportune visit in these bad times; and since it was practically as much up to him as to me to begin, I refrained.

Yesterday I received his New Year's letter. I would like to reply: What do you say? And if I did answer it, I would feel like telling him frankly what I think about their behaviour towards you. But since that would make him realise that you had expressed your discontent to me, I do not want to do so without informing you in advance and without your approving such a course. In any case, I will not answer him before Y.L. has answered me on this point.

I expect to be in Coimbatore for the feast of the Purification. A Dieu, My Lord. May God be your strength and your consolation ! Be sure that I often think of you in my feeble prayers. Kindly do likewise for me and believe me, in the union or your holy sacrifices,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Palghat, 21 January 1848)

Sent_0303

Sent_0303 - à M. Roger - le 23 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0303 - to Mr Roger - 23 January 1848 -/2

Sent_0303 - à M. Roger - le 23 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0303 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 158-159

(to Mr Jacques Roger)

(apostolic missionary)

Regarding a young seminarian from Pondicherry, Nallatamby ; if he is not taken back at Pondicherry, here are the conditions for him to be admitted at Carumattampatty.

Index : seminary of Carumattampatty, native clergy

__________

Palghat, 23 January 1848

Answer to his New Year's wishes. The interest I feel in young Nallatamby ; if he should not be received in the seminary of Pondicherry,

I would take him with pleasure provided:

1) I had certain proofs that the impulsive act that he made has not spoiled his heart and has left that charming simplicity which made me hope that he would make a very good priest one day ;

2) he were warned that my pupils in the seminary live in a much poorer, humbler and more mortified style than at Pondicherry and that he agreed, without any further regrets, to share their way of life in every way ;

3) he gave himself to the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore without thinking he could go back home once he was a priest, except for a visit or some such, but only incidentally ;

4) because of the expense incurred for him at Pondicherry, he would have to obtain a note from Mgr of Drusipare, or from the superior of the seminary in his H.L.'s name, declaring their willingness to write off these expenses and that they do not object to my taking him ;

5) Since he was born in the apostolic vicariate of Mgr Canoz, and the jurisdictions are now completely separated, he would have to obtain an exeat from that prelate.

Perhaps these conditions will be difficult to meet, but I would not take him without that. See what is possible and write to me again about it. Besides, I hope that, if he shows true repentance, Mgr of Drusipare will not make any difficulty in taking him back. Where is Mr Leroux? I heard that he went to find you, but is that finally? I enclose herewith a letter for him that I would be grateful if you would pass on to him. What sad news from Pondicherry!... What do you say? But also what imprudences and how little agreement! Let us pray the good God to himself bring a remedy to this evil which may well lead to others yet.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Palghat, 23 January 1848)

Sent_0304

Sent_0304 - à Mgr Boucho - le 25 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0304 - to Mgr Boucho - 25 January 1848 /1

Sent_0304 - à Mgr Boucho - le 25 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0304 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 164-165

(to Mgr Jean-Baptiste Boucho, bishop of Attalie)

(apostolic vicar of Malaysia)

Importance of following closely the new regulations of the MEP : this is the only way of understanding one another and truly achieving unity between us.

Index : regulations, understanding

__________

Palghat, 25 January 1848

New Year's wishes. I will not give him news of India that he will learn from My Lord bishop of Drusipare.

But we need to truly understand one another, as you remark so appropriately. Oh yes! May this truth have been clearly understood! I feel sure that in general matters, as in those of detail, it is the lack of understanding that constitutes our weakness. Besides, it seems to me that the means is now quite easy, it is to hold ourselves all inviolably attached to the exact observance of the regulations. Now that they are at least completed, printed, known to all, we must abide by them, even if there is some point that does not suit us personally.

It also seems to me that this is the only way of understanding one another, because since we are so far apart, in the impossibility of us all meeting up together, we cannot hope to make up for this misfortune by means of a correspondence which will necessarily always be too rare and too laconic. Thus the regulations are our only common point of support, which is why I make every effort to see they are observed here in all of their rigour.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Palghat, 25 January 1848)

Sent_0305

Sent_0305 - à Mgr Retord - le 25 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0305 - to Mgr Retord - 25 January 1848 -/1

Sent_0305 - à Mgr Retord - le 25 janvier 1848 -/1

Sent 0305 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 165-166

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 1520-1522

"Souvenirs", pp 777-778

(to Mgr Pierre Retord, bishop of Acanthe) ()

(apostolic vicar of western Tonkin)

To show you that I feel true friendship for you, I will be frank : I do not agree with you on certain passages from your two last letters that have caused me great grief. I am also sorry for what you write to me on Mgr Luquet. You have not understood him.

Index : friendship, frankness

__________

Palghat, 25 January 1848

I received on the same day your two letters of 30 April and of 12 June. Thank you very sincerely for the benevolence that you evince to me personally and I beg Y.L., through the close charity which unites us, to keep it thus always. As for me, My Lord, the respect and interest that I feel for you know no other limits than those that may be ascribed to the most sincere friendship. However, this friendship would be a vain word, it would not even be true if it did not have the courage to say what it believes to be true to the object of its charitable affection.

Thus, to prove to you that my friendship is true, My Lord, I will not fear to declare that it is with the deepest grief that I have read certain passages from your two letters which reveal convictions undoubtedly acquired with prudence and after serious consideration, but that the Lord does not permit, in my opinion, in his saints, except in the rigour of his impenetrable justice, on the unfortunate peoples of Asia. How I wish they were far from you, My Lord, for the good of your churches in which I am as interested as if I were there, for charity knows no outline of a geographic map.

I will admit further that I cannot help feeling very sincerely sorry for the words you wrote to me regarding Mgr Luquet, and which without doubt you have not written to me alone. I regard as a testimony of God's anger on our Society the blindness, in my opinion, into which the Lord has allowed several of our most venerated prelates to fall, so as not to see even that they were breaking the instrument that the Lord seemed to send for the salvation of the missions and the happiness of those who rejected him. May this expression of my intimate thought be accepted by Y.L. with the sentiments of charity which caused me to voice it.

New Year's wishes.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Palghat, 25 January 1848)

Sent_0306

Sent_0306 - à son père - le 27 janvier 1848 -/4

Sent 0306 - to his father - 27 January 1848 -/4

Sent_0306 - à son père - le 27 janvier 1848 -/4

Sent 0306 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 128-130

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 159-164

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 1485ss

"Souvenirs", pp 764-769

(to his father) ()

I am on a visit to the district of Palghat, in the west of my vicariate, where, in the midst of the Tamouls, there is a malealam community tended by a Syriac priest : this community is remarkable for its gentleness. Description of a night walk through forests and rice paddies and of his triumphal entry into Palghat, preceded by an elephant. Reflections on the policies of the English government in India. If this government were Catholic, India would soon be Catholic. With an otherwise humanitarian policy, it would have everything to gain. If India is one day Catholic, this will have been accomplished from on high.

Index : pastoral visit, journey into the country, English, religion in India

__________

Palghat, 27 January 1848

My very dear father,

It seems to me that my last letter, the date of which I cannot remember here, brought you my New Year's wishes. However I wanted to write to you at the beginning of January, but was prevented from doing so by the work involved in a pastoral visit which I am making at the moment to the district of Palghat. I am taking advantage of the first free moment to ask you to excuse this delay and to receive my wishes that I renew for you and for the whole family, addressing to Heaven my most fervent prayers for all of you.

The district that I am visiting at this moment is the western part of my jurisdiction, that touching the feet of this long mountain chain that divides India into two unequal parts so dissimilar in all kinds of ways. Here, we are at the point of the merging of the Tamoul people with the peoples of the Malabar. Our Christians are however all Tamoul, except for a small malealam Christian community(

) tended by a priest of the Syriac rite.

I visited this church with great interest, especially since the Christians are of a very remarkable simplicity and gentleness, compared to our Tamoul Christians in whom these two virtues are almost unknown. Here I am talking about that Christian gentleness, so different from that originating from apathy common to the Indian peoples and which produces a sort of gentleness that characterises them, but very different from that present here.

If I had the time to write you a long letter, I would have all kinds of things to tell you on the physical nature of these places, on the vast number of their rich productions, etc. None of that would however be new to you and the interest of my narration would merely be the friendly interest that enjoys hearing repeated what it already knows. For those not acquainted today with the peoples of India, so often described by travellers, so adroitly exploited by the various peoples who, in succession, have made it their prey, and who pitilessly extract its products, until the day comes when they will have made sterile the finest country in the universe, and reduced to the utmost misery the people who, under a paternal system, would be the most prosperous in the world.

But let us leave these reflections too painful to the heart of a true friend of the peoples. Those who could bring a remedy to the evils that we deplore would perhaps tax them with blasphemy, because they would not find their own interest there; or rather because, although their interest was there side by side with humanity and religion, they were obliged, in order to understand it, to rise to considerations they are incapable of making.

What shall I tell you to complete this page that you absolutely want to see filled ? Two little episodes in my pastoral visit will provide me with the matter: one is a race by night through the forests and rice paddies, and the other is my episcopal entry into Palghat or Palacatchery, as you may find it written on some geographical maps.

As I found myself close to a church (a small hut covered with palm leaves, as almost all the churches of my pro-vicariate are) which serves as a meeting centre for eight to ten small villages scattered within the distance of a few miles in the midst of a crowd of other pagan villages, I was very glad to see all these places myself.

Accordingly one evening, having left on foot, walking in the middle of a thousand paths almost continually established on the small dikes serving to hold the water in the rice paddies, by dividing them up into a host of little horizontal squares, differing from one another by some inches in height, I was going in the company of two priests and a crowd of Christians, all sheltered from the sun under the moving shade of numerous parasols made of a single palm leaf, I was proceeding, as I said, from one village to the other.

When all of a sudden the sun set, before we had yet reached the last of these agglomerations, hidden in an immense forest of teak trees, that our poor Christians clear little by little, without ever becoming any the richer thereby, so as to make the ground suitable for planting crops. However we had to make our way back to our shelter, and we still had close on five miles to go along these bad paths, to the asperity of which was joined, during the night, the fear of snakes and other wild animals.

Then suddenly the night gave way to an immense glow caused by a large number of fires of all possible kinds. The Christians of the different villages in fact realised that we were delayed; straightway shouts were heard, the signal passes from village to village, the women light bundles of sticks and dry grass, someone brandishes a long flaming resinous torch that he waves as he comes out to meet us, someone else seizes a bundle of dry bamboo sticks that burn making a great flare for several hours, yet another pours oil over a large rag attached to the end of a burning pole, and jumping like deer, shouting like blind men, happy as kings for a day, they escort us in this way to our lodging. Rarely have I had a pleasanter walk.

My entry into Palghat was more solemn. Although there we have a pitiful church falling in ruins, and the Christians themselves are not very numerous, these participate in the pride of the inhabitants of the towns and they want to march in grand style. Some of them are of high caste and, although poor, they are exact observers of the proprieties; others descend from the Portuguese who have left living traces of their passing in all parts of India; and the rest, finally, although outcasts, are town pariahs who know something and who are in no way second to their lords when it comes to noise, pomp and ostentation.

I think I have told you that the Indians are great lovers of powder ; there is no little church (just as there is no simple pagoda) which doesn't have bombs used for the purpose of bells at least on the big feasts. In these parts, to this are added guns by whose shape one may ascertain to what degree so-called civilisation has infiltrated, for those of the inhabitants of the woods are a long iron tube resting on a shapeless crook, of which the enormous fire-pan is adorned with red broad beans or other trifles neatly inserted in the pitch.

These weapons, before attaining the perfection which will come about with cotton powder, are destined to pass not only by that of percussion caps, but also of flint, in a word these are still wick guns. Whereas the wick is extremely curious. Each shooter carries a packet on his arm in the form of a bracelet. This is a little cord made of tree bark and which burns so slowly that a small quantity lasts for more than a day.

But let us come back to our citizens who had flint guns. At about three-quarters of a league before arriving, the accustomed music was heard and the bombs went off; then, to this music that is found everywhere and about which I have spoken to you in other letters, was added a considerable number of drums, beating now without order but not within din, then stopping at each ten or fifteen steps to perform some roulades fit to shatter the glass of the palanquin; torches were lit, Bengal lights shone and a handsome elephant, very finely caparisoned approached to make his obeisance and place himself at my disposal. In fact it is the custom of the grandees of the country to be preceded by elephants in their solemn marches.

Thus the elephant opening the march, the drums, the bombs, the guns and the shouts of the crowd serving as accompaniment, to the shrill sound of the combou(

) and that of the flageolets, thousands of fires blotting out the majestic light of a thirteen days' moon, in a cloudless sky, we arrived at our modest church. The Christians would have liked me to have crossed the town with crozier and mitre. I did not want this, so as not to contribute personally to an ostentation exceeding the limits in a completely pagan country, and whose government authorities are Protestant.

Only once arrived at the door of the church did I take up the crozier and mitre, as in the other places, and I entered to the chanting of the Benedictus taken up by my little seminarians, not in the stable of Bethlehem transformed into a magnificent chapel, but in the chapel which is still no more than a stable of Bethlehem. There, I gave the episcopal blessing, asking God to make the day come when India will be Catholic. Oh, how religion in all external expressions would be fine here if the mass of the people were Catholic ! But when will that day arrive? To judge by appearances, the dawn has not yet broken.

We should not believe that our feasts and our solemnities impress the pagans ; they have more brilliant and finer ones in their eyes, being richer than us and not understanding the mystical part of ours which is their principal beauty ! They see a Christian procession pass with the same indifference as they saw a Moslem procession pass the day before, glorying besides in having more splendid ones than either the one or the other.

You should not imagine either that the English government is any help to us. It leaves us in peace, without doubt, and that is its merit; it is a merit, as we should recognise, but it is the only one. On another side, it has done us an immense harm, both by the contradiction that it shows up between the Protestant Christians and the Catholic Christians, and by its lack of faith.

No, the governments of Europe have still not understood their glorious destiny in respect of the peoples of the other worlds. Some had the faith, but they lacked wisdom; they made sterile the spontaneity of their first desires for good, by falling headlong into the snares of Mammon. The others, children of darkness, did not lack this human prudence that Our Lord declares is their share. They are clever, rich, powerful over matter, but incapable of producing a principle of life that they themselves do not possess.

If the English government were Catholic, as were the ancient governments of Spain and Portugal, with that superiority of talent that it possesses for the domination of foreign peoples, one could say that India would very soon be Catholic. Vain hope. In order for the time of Charlemagne to return, if it should return one day, it is necessary first of all for the circle of political illusions to have been travelled completely and for the people to pay for the extravagance of their delirium in bearing all the humiliations and all the hardships of their blind utopias. But, if God does not shorten the days of his anger, how many generations will have to pass still before the world once more sees a Catholic government that is truly wise, a wise government that is truly Catholic !

This would have the task of joining to the glory of conquests that of civilising the still half barbarian peoples and of making them happy, that of giving birth to new peoples. Would not this glory be as meritorious as that of discovering a new invention or working out a financial combination? But then, people will say, the peoples of Europe would lose the great wealth that they are taking out of these countries! Wrong, quite wrong! Deplorable consequence of the principles of this human politics incapable of profiting from the benefit of the colonies except by stripping the peoples or exterminating them.

With a policy humanitarian in a different way, or better, charitable in a different way and based on the principles of true wisdom, the peoples of Europe would have assured themselves (they are still in time, but who will have ears to listen ?) they would have assured themselves, I say, an immense and permanent advantage with the foreign peoples, instead of this torrent of gold, silver and precious stones that they have imprudently poured over themselves like an avalanche which has not spared in its ravages those receiving these treasures, a torrent besides which will soon dry up, leaving both victors and vanquished empty-handed.

There would be a fine Communist system to set up and which would not be difficult to find. Unfortunately, it is too simple and too detested by the mass of mortals. The same goes for politics as for its mother, philosophy: one breaks one's head to invent what is already found if one does not choose to close one's eyes to the light, and to deny in full daylight the sun of revelation. There, would be found the assured way of being happy, even on earth, of that happiness above all of people to people, which would be one of the finest glories of the children of God.

But alas ! for as long as the earth spins on its axis, there will be too many madmen who will think themselves wise and have the sad talent of making people believe it to hope that things will change essentially. One form will be replaced by another more or less imperfect one, but for a long time we have nothing solid to expect for the good of religion and consequently of men in general from what are called governments. No illusion on this point. If the day when India will be Catholic is among the decrees of the Eternal, this happiness may be expected only from on high. Accordingly let us pray the Lord to take pity at last on these peoples and on us.

There, I have let myself go into a longer digression than I thought at first. I have only one line left to ask you to present my respects to my good mother, to convey my friendly greetings to all the others and to believe me more than ever, if that is possible,

Of all your children,

The most respectful and the most devoted.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Palghat, 27 January 1848)

Sent_0307

Sent_0307 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 février 1848 -/1

Sent 0307 - to Mgr Bonnand - 5 February 1848 -/1

Sent_0307 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 février 1848 -/1

Sent 0307 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 179-180

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 166

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Illness of Messrs Pacreau and Bonjean who are resting at Bangalore. His visit to Palghat. Mr Métral at Darabouram. What is the state of our accounts with you?

Index : my missionaries, pastoral visit

__________

Coimbatore, 5 February 1848 (

)

My Lord,

Would Your Lordship excuse me if I asked you to kindly pass on the enclosed to their addresses completing them, for I do not know where or how to address them?

I arrived the day before yesterday in the evening to find letters from Messrs Pacreau and Bonjean awaiting me, announcing that they had contracted a violent fever three days out of Bangalore where they went to recuperate. Not knowing when they will return and since the district of Darabouram has not been visited for over a year, I am sending Mr Métral with Mr Vanthier there, and keeping the seminarians here. I will take their classes during that time.

I trust of God's great mercy that the visit I have just made will produce some good. Sending out Mr Métral to prepare the ground in advance, proved very useful.

I hope soon to receive some letters from Y.L. bringing me up to date with the affairs of Pondicherry. I hope that Mr Pouplin has received a letter in which I asked him to pass on to us a bill payable in the first half of February, if possible, or as soon as possible thereafter. I don't doubt that he will soon be sending me an answer with our statement of accounts, so that we know precisely where we are at the beginning of this year.

I commend myself to your good prayers and beg you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 5 February 1848)

Sent_0308

Sent_0308 - à M. Leroux - le 11 février 1848 -/2

Sent 0308 - to Mr Leroux - 11 February 1848 -/2

Sent_0308 - à M. Leroux - le 11 février 1848 -/2

Sent 0308 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 166-168

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F3, pp 1469-1470

"Souvenirs", pp 756-757

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

Reflections on all the consequences arising following Mr Leroux's decision to eat with the pupils in the seminary. It would have been better to wait two or three years longer, and to begin elsewhere than at Pondicherry. I do not want a native clergy that would regard itself as bound to the usages of caste other than those to which their colleagues of Europe feel they can submit to.

Index : native clergy, Indian usages, castes, prudence

__________

Coimbatore, 11 February 1848

I have read with the keenest interest your letter to Mr Langlois. While regretting something in the form, I must congratulate you for the zeal with which you prepare to fight for one of the most fundamental principles whose application has become one of the most urgent for you. Undoubtedly I regret that you have rushed the times. We should have waited two or three years more. That is the mistake you have made together with proceeding too much outside of authority. But, since the thing was accomplished and found good by Mgr of Drusipare himself, why behave as you have all done at Pondicherry for the last three months! It is incredible, it is distressing, it is the greatest possible misfortune.

My Lord of Drusipare has the misfortune of letting himself be influenced by Messrs Lehodey and Dupuis. These dear confreres are saints and they have the best intentions in the world, but the good God permits, in his impenetrable justice against the guilty Indians, that they accumulate faults on faults, so that in my eyes it seems to me that it is to them alone that the real misfortunes which have occurred should be ascribed.

I had never explained myself so openly, but things have come to the point where it is impossible for us to remain silent, for the harm occurring in Pondicherry will not affect Pondicherry alone, and the good which was on the point of coming about there, which we had prepared ourselves in the last few years, would have been for us all. Without doubt, it would have been wiser to begin it elsewhere than in Pondicherry. We would have arrived faster and much more certainly at our goal and the good would have been general, in whatever point of India the thing had begun. In fact I proposed this plan, but I was not understood. After having let the best of all possible occasions pass, we needed more prudence, more time and more precautions. But finally the mistakes were thus far accessory, while those of today are radical.

In fact we may say of these that they will delay our work by 40 years ; what am I saying, that they perhaps make it impossible, for I admit as impossible a native clergy which regards itself as bound to the usages of caste other than those to which their European counterparts are prepared to submit by condescendence. What am I saying? I would regard it as a great misfortune. I will have nothing to do with such a clergy. Let us pray that My Lord of Drusipare realises by himself, and that he sees where the evil really lies, instead of fighting it where it does not exist.

I hope that you and Mr Roger will continue to eat with your pupils. I tremble lest, despite the excellent dispositions of our dear ecclesiastics, and of the only two Tamoul priests who deserve the honour of the priesthood, we end up by making them similar to the unfortunate priests Aroulanaden and Xavier.

As for your plan of going to Rome, I was on the point, a day or two ago, of writing to you that I considered this as excessive. Today, I say nothing. I merely urge you to try all other means first, attempting to make My Lord of Drusipare understand that it would be advisable to take a path which enjoyed general approval, etc. etc., finally not to be overhasty.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. The scandalous words of the malicious referred to by Mgr Charbonnaux should be sent to Rome if necessary to prove with what lightness the adversaries (of Mgr) Luquet (may God forgive them this fault, sources of all the others!) deal with even the most serious subjects.

(Coimbatore, 11 February 1848)

Sent_0309

Sent_0309 - à Mgr Bonnand - les 12 et 14 février 1848 -/3

Sent 0309 - to Mgr Bonnand - 12 and 14 February 1848 -/3

Sent_0309 - à Mgr Bonnand - les 12 et 14 février 1848 -/3

Sent 0309 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 141-146

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 168-172

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 1470-1471

"Souvenirs", p 757

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I would have preferred to say nothing, but friendship requires that I answer quite frankly on the question perturbing Pondicherry. A radical fault of administration is the prime cause of the evils of your vicariate. Mr Leroux acted too fast, but he is only wrong in the form. Rome would back him up. We should have started elsewhere than at Pondicherry. Bringing the clerics up well in India means having a good clergy for centuries. One of the great misfortunes for you is not to have understood Mgr Luquet. You seem in retreat regarding the work of the native clergy; your advisers have been wrong these last three years. You should change your private council. I hope that you will not be angry at all these truths. I will count the days until an answer arrives to this letter.

Index : frankness, authority, native clergy, Indian usages, seminary of Pondicherry

__________

Coimbatore, 12 and 14 February 1848

My Lord, (

)

It is already five days since I received your letter of 2 February. I had just received one from Mr Leroux and heard the story of the unfortunate affairs of Pondicherry by another missionary. I had resolved to leave Mr Leroux's letter unanswered and did not have the courage to answer your invitation when you say to me: "let me know your way of viewing all of this". But now Mr Leroux and Mr Roger have just written to me sending for my information a letter from Mr Leroux to Mr Langlois that my conscience prevents me from condemning except in some faults of form. Besides I see that the evil which, in my eyes, is the principal one is increasing, and this evil will not affect Pondicherry only but also us, just as the contrary good would have been for us all.

Accordingly however painful it is for me to foresee the grief that I may cause Y.L. by telling you what I think, I regard as a duty of true friendship to do so. For the true friend does not shrink in the face of the hard necessity of saying frankly what he thinks to the person he loves. However I beg Y.L. to rest assured that I have no desire whatsoever to vex you and to worsen your position. May you read in my heart and see there that the filial friendship that I have for you makes me incapable of doing this. I beg you also use this letter only with all the prudence that its contents require. I will not enter into the developments which would be too long, limiting myself to formulating my thoughts as these were shaped by the things happening in the last three months and my reflections on the nature of the difficulties and the means that Y.L. has in hand to overcome them.

I think then that a radical fault of administration is the prime cause of all these evils. It produces discontent and disagreement and throws light on the lack of union which produces scandal where there would have been sometimes only a hidden malaise and which impedes all kinds of good.

Mr Leroux is certainly guilty of having gone too fast, of having drawn too much attention and of having proceeded outside of authority, instead of bringing it regularly to approve the good he was doing, or withdrawing if he could not do it. A good administration would have made this evil impossible.

In the extremely serious question of the seminary, Mr Leroux seems to me to only be wrong in the form. He will be approved by all those who want a native clergy and who embrace this cause as a whole; he will be greatly approved in Rome, unless, by his way of acting, he makes himself unworthy of being listened to.

I tremble to learn that Y.L. forbids Messrs Leroux and Roger from eating with their pupils, and Mr Godelle with his. I do not know if the last-named still eats with them. If he has withdrawn, that is a great misfortune.

It would have been desirable to begin elsewhere than at Pondicherry this indispensable reform of the native clergy. It was of the utmost necessity (after having missed the best possible opportunities) to act at Pondicherry with more prudence, more agreement and over a longer period of time (that is Mr Leroux's main fault), but, although it was introduced too fast, the evil could still have changed into good, it was necessary to throw ourselves bravely into the lists instead of bending. That is what should be done still.

The present education of the new clerics is one of the most serious things at the moment. I fear that Mr Godelle is not capable of undertaking it. On this direction the life or death of the clergy of India for centuries to come may depend. I tremble lest we are forcing our best subjects to become new Aroulanadens or Saverinadens.

The writings of the pagans would appear to me a fortune instead of a misfortune used for engaging a terrible battle in writing with them. One of the great misfortunes of religion in this country, is that it has not struggled. There will be dead and wounded in the fight, but the victory does not seem to me to be in doubt, at the same time as the fire of the bloodless persecution which would follow would purify the too much alienated gold of our Christians.

(In the copy made by Brésillac in 2F6, the three following paragraphs are placed a little further into the body of the letter. This copy is perhaps only the rough draft of the letter.)

If Y.L. has no plan of your own, clear, avowed and supported by your private council, even if this council were to be changed twice a year (Pius IX has already changed Prime Minister three times), I do not know where we will end up.

I regard as God's permission in his anger against the Indians that the two advisers in whom Y.L. has confidence have been blinded to the point of going completely astray in almost all the matters that have arisen in the last three years.

One of the constant misfortunes of Pondicherry is to use the remedy to an evil the day after the time when it would have produced salutary effects, and sometimes on the very day when it must change to poison. Which is the effect of the lack of farsightedness of one of these dear confreres whom I love with all my heart, but who I have never been able to believe farsighted, and the meticulous character of the other whom I esteem with all my soul, except as an adviser on exceptional matters.

One of the greatest misfortunes that has befallen Y.L. is not to have understood Mgr Luquet, not to understand him still and to have allowed certain expressions to escape you that would seem to uphold the sad stance of those who treat him, some with superficiality, others with such blindness, and others yet with so little propriety.

This misfortune is worsened by the appearance of being on the side of those who have least studied the cause of the native clergy and who have worked on it least, against those who require for this clergy measures that they regard as indispensable to their existence, which Y.L. first of all approved and which were backed up by the only two native priests who deserve the honour of the priesthood, and all the young clerics that we have worked to bring to the result obtained and whom we should uphold very warily.

The behaviour of certain missionaries is deplorable, but the evil comes from afar. It is principally the lack of regular administration which is the cause. Authority has no longer any nerve because the principles are confused; it is urgent to remedy this abyss of evils. You see, people don't even know what a council is; some confuse it with authority itself, asking themselves seriously if authority is not bound to follow the majority of opinions. And yet they should be granted something, for the number of discontents is too large and includes several of the most commendable missionaries. A change of private council appears to me indispensable, but it will not be sufficient.

12 February

My Lord, the foregoing was written two days ago. Since then I have been in a high fever at the perplexity in which I find myself to send it to you or to be silent. I am taking the first alternative, hoping that Y.L. will see in it only proof of the interest that I take in your position and nothing else. If I am right, however painful my thoughts may be to Y.L. they could be useful to you and I would be glad of having expressed them to you. If I am wrong, Y.L. has only to despise them, and I will not hold it against you in any way, provided you write to me soon that you are not angry with me.

If after this, Y.L. should demand that I tell you my thoughts, I will do so with the same frankness ; if, on the contrary, you are glad for me to be silent, tell me that, I beg you, and I promise that I will say nothing to you of it. But let a friendly and charitable correspondence continue always on other subjects, I beg you through the love that I have for you, asking you to believe me, more than ever,

Your very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I will count the days until your answer to this letter arrives.

(Coimbatore, 14 February 1848)

Sent_0310

Sent_0310 - à Mgr de Tana - le 16 février 1848/1

Sent 0310 - to Mgr of Tana - 16 February 1848/1

Sent_0310 - à Mgr de Tana - le 16 février 1848/1

Sent 0310 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 172-173

(to Mgr Philippe Fontanova, bishop of Tana)

(apostolic vicar of Mangalore)

Would you kindly tell me why My Lord of Chyrra has not answered my last two letters ?

Index : proprieties

__________

Coimbatore, 16 February 1848

I have received his letter of 13 January. The purpose of the present one is to ask if he could kindly tell me why Mgr of Chyrra has not answered my last two letters.

Could I, certainly without wishing to do so, have done anything which decided Mgr of Chyrra on this distressing silence ? Would you be so kind as to inform yourself on this subject and have the charity of letting me know, so that, if anything is due to my fault, I can make reparations, or if that is not the case, hope is not removed of being able to communicate from time to time by letter with a prelate whom I esteem wholeheartedly.

While waiting for your answer that I pray you will give me as soon as possible I hope, I beg you, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 February 1848)

Sent_0311

Sent_0311 - à M. Leroux - le 1er mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0311 - to Mr Leroux - 1 March 1848 -/1

Sent_0311 - à M. Leroux - le 1er mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0311 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 173-174

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

To attenuate certain terms of his letter of 11 February (no 0308), for one should be very prudent in what one says and even more in what one writes. Destroy this letter of 11 February, and if you have notified anyone of it, let him know my retractation.

Index : prudence, integrity, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, March 1848

Under the painful impression that a letter from Pondicherry caused me and the one from you to Mr Langlois, that you sent me for my information, on the impulse I wrote to you on 11 February certain expressions that I later regretted and that I believe it my duty to point out to you ; for matters in Pondicherry are taking such a sad turn, and without doubt sooner or later they will have repercussions on us, that it is necessary to be very prudent in what one says and even more in what one writes :

1) First of all I regret in general the too passionate tone of this letter.

2) By congratulating you on fighting for the principle in question, I did not intend to congratulate you on all the acts that you felt it right to do for that, that you have done for the good, but among which there are several that I could not approve of, as in fact I pointed out to you in certain cases.

As regards that of sending Mr Langlois the letter that you communicated to me, I said nothing to you and I still say nothing.

As for your plan of going to Rome, I said to you : "I was on the point, two days ago, of writing to you that I regarded it as excessive ; today ; I say nothing". I disavow this phrase and persist in regarding this plan as excessive at least. I also disavow the P.S. because the words regrettable without doubt to which if refers may have been, and quite probably were pronounced somewhat lightly, by way of a joke perhaps, and thus prove nothing. If people were to use against us all the words that escape us when joking, who of us would be innocent?

Perhaps you had noted these faults in my letter before I pointed them out to you, my dear Mr Leroux, and I hope that you have not communicated these imprudent words. If however you have used them, kindly make known this retractation to those who have been notified of them and, in any case, destroy this letter and be so kind as to write to confirm that you have done so.

Please give me your news also. Would you kindly tell me what the young man from here whom Mr Laugier brought to you is doing. It appears that he writes letters which, in the present state of things, could become dangerous. Without letting him suspect anything, keep an eye on him please and let me know what you think of him.

A Dieu, very dear confrere; let us pray for one another and believe me always your very devoted friend in Our Lord.

P.S. Friendly greetings from me to the good Mr Roger.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 1 March 1848)

Sent_0312

Sent_0312 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er mars 1848 -/2

Sent 0312 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 March 1848 -/2

Sent_0312 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er mars 1848 -/2

Sent 0312 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 215-218

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 174-175

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have just received your answer to my letter of 12 February (no. 0309). I am really edified by what you write. You are overwhelmed, devastated, but you have incurred no fault. If the schism sets in at Pondicherry, let us hope that a good may come out of this passing evil. Some news of Coimbatore.

Index : charity, friendship, compassion, schism, my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 1 March 1848

My Lord,

I have just received your letter of 24th and 25th ; it was impatiently awaited and I cannot tell you immediately the impression that it produced on me. It almost brought tears to my eyes and I kiss it with respect, as having been written by the hand of a saint. Whatever happens, My Lord, one could blame certain faults of administration (much easier in fact to discover after the events than to avoid when one is embroiled in the complication of affairs), but one will bow before Your Lordship's personal virtues!

Seeing that your reply was some time in coming, I further examined my conscience and found that, in my last letter, I had let some expressions stronger than my thought escape me which could win me precisely Y.L.'s wrath. You have been more indulgent that strict charity required ; I am edified thereby as well as consoled.

Thus, when I said a radical fault of administration, these words may have suggested what I did not mean, and the same goes for several others. The principal fault that I had in view here is that of having been too paternal, which is more or less equivalent to having too good a heart. These are faults, without a doubt, but they are noble faults! etc. etc.

Another sin that I reproached myself with, is to have written too promptly to Mr Leroux while sending back his letter to Mr Langlois and to have let escape me, under the impression of grief, certain expressions that he could abuse. I have written to him to retract two or three passages of this letter. I pray Our Lord to forgive me for these faults and after him, I beg Your Lordship to do the same.

But what caused me most grief, in reading your respectable letter, is to see the distress and almost the desolation, in which so many evils have flung Y.L. I do not doubt that the Lord will come to your aid, pouring over you the Spirit of strength of which Y.L. has such need. In fact it seems to me that, in the grief that we would be guilty of not feeling at the sight of the evils afflicting the Church, there is one consideration quite capable of bringing calm to our hearts, when we can testify to ourselves privately that the faults we have committed were not faults before God.

Now who more than you can make this consoling testimony ? The events that do not depend on our will not be ascribed to us, even if they may have depended on our material action, perhaps at fault, or perhaps irreproachable, only God knows exactly; and does he himself not permit it sometimes either for a greater good that is hidden from us, or in the impenetrable designs of his Providence? Without doubt this thought must not impede our active solicitude and prevent us from having recourse to all the means of a pious prudence, but it seems to me quite right to keep ourselves always without sin, whatever happens.

Thus, My Lord, do not let yourself be downcast. Your plan of writing to Mr Langlois and to the S.P. troubles me; do you really think that anyone who feels authorised to criticise certain acts would do any better than you if he was in your place? I admit that he is right in his particular observation; but if he was actually involved, perhaps he would have done a hundred times worse? Let us listen with humility to what people say about us, above all blame, we will find much to be gained in it, and then let us do our best, without troubling ourselves about what happens independent of us.

I have taken a long while in saying what you know better than me, but I have let my heart speak out, and my pen went on writing. Excuse me.

And so it appears that the schism is going to build up in Pondicherry. Who knows if from this passing ill some good may not ensue? The Christians will build a church. Pondicherry has need of a secondary one; it will serve later. The Christians will pay their schismatic priest, and when this ridiculous schism ends, or when they quarrel among themselves and want to come back, we will say to them: you can pay your priests; when you pay for them, you will have them, and when they have paid, they will be wiser! Who knows?

What is most important at the moment is to have a clearly conceived and uniform plan of conduct for the present and the future, and not to desist from it whatever happens. This together with a fervent prayer will prevent any evil occurring that the Lord has not resolved to permit with regard to the unfortunate Indians.

I fear that the rumours from Pondicherry will have some repercussions here. There are letters circulating without fail. I am waiting for Messrs Pacreau and Métral to come back to hold a council so as to learn their opinion, regarding the doubt I am now in of whether it would be best to go ahead of the difficulty, by myself speaking to the principal Christians of what is happening at Pondicherry, thus leading them to reject any perfidious insinuations made to them, or else to say nothing, chancing that evil may be smouldering under the cinders.

(here two lines are destroyed)

He is judge at (... ?...) He is an excellent Christian. If you called him to Pondicherry and he was able to go, he could perhaps do you some vital services. Here, I feared that he would go too far in his contempt of the usages of caste. Just imagine that his son served mass, here and at the feast of Saveriapaleam, for fifteen days, and that he left wearing black (boots) like an equerry. It might be better not to mention that. I have just given it as an example, to give you some idea of him.

Pray for me, My Lord, and believe me your very devoted son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Mr de Gélis has not yet arrived. At Salem he met Messrs Pacreau and Bonjean suffering a recurrence of fever on the way. There they hired a suspended carriage and are proceeding in short stages. I am alone. Messrs. Métral and Vanthier are making a pastoral visit of Darabouram. I propose to go and spend Lent at Carumattampatty.

(Coimbatore, 1 March 1848)

Sent_0313

Sent_0313 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 2 mars 1848 -/2

Sent 0313 - to Mgr Bonnand - 2 March 1848 -/2

Sent_0313 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 2 mars 1848 -/2

Sent 0313 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 147-150

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 175

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Sometimes I write too promptly, but I have never maintained my faults once I have seen them. What he has written to Mr Leroux to retract (Cf letter 0211). Some news of Coimbatore.

Index : humility, integrity, my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 2 March 1848

My Lord,

It has happened to me three or four times in my life to write too promptly and thereafter to have cause to repent of certain expressions. This is the case of the letter that I wrote to Mr Leroux, while sending back his letter for Mr Langlois.

However unfortunate, in my opinion, the determinations it was decided to take at Pondicherry on the various matters developing one from another in the last three years, and above all in the last three months, it was not appropriate to say so to him. I ask forgiveness for this fault first of all to God and then to you, My Lord, and I hope that you will grant it to me. Besides, the letter that I wrote yesterday to Y.L. must have indicated to you that I had recognised my fault before the note that I received today from you referred to it.

I also did my best to make up for this imprudence by another letter to Mr Leroux of which the principal passages are:

"[...] 1) I regret in general the too passionate tone of this letter.

2) While congratulating you for fighting for the principle in question, I had no intention of congratulating you on all the acts that you felt you had to make for that, that you have done for good, but among which there are several that I could not approve of. [...] As regards your project of going to Rome, I disavow (what I said to you), I consider this project as excessive at least. [...] I hope that you have not communicated these imprudent words. If however you should have done so, kindly make known this retractation to those acquainted with what I said and, in any case, destroy this letter and be so kind as to write to me to tell me that you have done so."

My Lord, it has happened that I have incurred various faults, but, by God's great mercy, it has never so far happened, as far as I know, that I maintained them once I had seen them. Kindly ask the Lord to continue to give me this grace, and to help me to make up for those I may not have been aware of, by pointing them out to me yourself. This is a true service that Y.L. would be doing me and I would be infinitely grateful to you for that.

Mr de Gélis arrived today together with Messrs Pacreau and Bonjean. The latter is now in bed with a return of fever, while Mr Pacreau expects to be so affected tomorrow. Mr de Gélis is quite well. I plan to leave Saturday for Carumattampatty and to spend Lent there. Kindly continue to address my letters here.

I have only just realised that I forgot to hand over your mitre to the people from Pondicherry that I saw off nine hours ago. Although it is now night, I will go and see if I can find them and hand it over to them.

A Dieu, My Lord. May charity be tightened between us through the trials that Our Lord sends us, so that nothing in the world, even our faults, can (loosen it?).

Your Lordship's

very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 2 March 1848)

Sent_0314

Sent_0314 - à M. Dupuis - le 7 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0314 - to Mr Dupuis - 7 March 1848 -/1

Sent_0314 - à M. Dupuis - le 7 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0314 copy, AMEP, vol. 1000 D, pp 522-524 ()

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 175-176

(to Mr Louis Dupuis)

(apostolic pro-vicar)

When far away, it is sometimes easier to judge of a situation. As adviser to Mgr Bonnand, wrongly or rightly, it is on you that the responsibility falls for the acts that have led to the present crisis in Pondicherry. You should retire from these affairs and deal exclusively with your printing press. Do so publicly.

Index : advice, charity

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848 (

)

My very dear Mr Dupuis,

Now, I feel I have to give you some friendly advice, and I hope that you will take it as such. Farther removed than you from the hotbed of irritation, it seems to me that I can judge your position better than you. It is certain that while wishing for the good, as everyone wants it, the administration of Pondicherry has made some very great and very regrettable mistakes. The acts of administration have been made known. One cannot accuse those who consider it bad of ill will. Now believe me they will be judged thus by the vast majority of the missionaries and by our Gentlemen of Paris.

Moreover, wrongly or rightly, it is on you and on Mr Lehodey that the responsibility for these acts will fall, because, wrongly or rightly, you are regarded (Mr Lehodey above all) as directing H.L.'s spirit. What should you do? You should absolutely withdraw from these questions, above all now. For I have learned indirectly that you are to have a second meeting in January. From now until then, many things will happen; many other faults may be committed, the prejudices against you will pass, so that you will be able to once more offer your services to H.L. after the synod. Or else things will take another direction with the partisans of another system, and you will be the first to delight in the fact. Believe me, you are in the position of a minister who can no longer be of service to his King, for the moment, despite his absolute devotion.

As a result of the interest I take in you and in My Lord of Drusipare, I feel sure that you should openly hand him in your resignation as personal adviser. H.L. will know full well that this proceeding is not dictated by any disinterest of the person, or by disgust and fatigue, or for any other human reason, but exclusively by the conviction that you cannot be useful to him for the moment. H.L. should accept this resignation, and send Mr Lehodey away from Pondicherry, until the synod, while you would deal peacefully with your printing press only, until that time.

A Dieu, pray for me...

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848)

Sent_0315

Sent_0315 - à M. Pouplin - le 7 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0315 - to Mr Pouplin - 7 March 1848 -/1

Sent_0315 - à M. Pouplin - le 7 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0315 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 176

(to Mr Henri Pouplin)

(apostolic missionary)

Questions of the burse. How sorry I am for Mgr Bonnand ! May the Lord enlighten him! Send me for my information Mgr Bonnand's circulars and common letters.

Index : compassion, ecclesiastic administration

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848

I have received the rest of our accounts. I ask him to pass some money on to Mgr Charbonnaux. Mr de Gélis had a slight touch of cholera at Salem. He is well. I ask him not to send any new missionaries by ordinary cart.

Shall I end my letter without saying a word about Pondicherry ? Alas! I will perhaps distress you, better to hold my peace. Poor Mgr of Drusipare ! How sorry I am for him! How I regret it all! I have just learned that he has announced a second synod for next January: That is very late. Oh how I pray the Lord to enlighten him before then and not to make him wait until that time to see where the evil really lies, and where the remedy really is.

It appears that H.L. is no longer sending me his circulars and common letters. Does he distrust me? Ah, if he only knew how much I love him, and how I only desire his happiness with the good of his church. You would do me a real kindness if, without displeasing him in any way, you could pass on to me a copy of these items which are in some sort public, as soon as they have been sent out.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848)

Sent_0316

Sent_0316 - à M. Leroux - le 7 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0316 - to Mr Leroux - 7 March 1848 -/1

Sent_0316 - à M. Leroux - le 7 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0316 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 176-177

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

Thank you for having sent me your letter to Mgr Luquet. If I am asked to give a personal opinion, I will answer; but I prefer not to take part in any work or in an act, please exempt me from that..

Index : advice, friendship

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848

You should have received my letter of 1 March which will explain to you why I am sending back the one you entrust to me for Mgr Luquet. However I am very glad to have read it, and I thank you for having communicated it to me. As regards the advice that you ask of me for the work you are preparing, very dear friend, I would prefer not to have any hand in it. Everything that is happening there is so extraordinary and so painful, so embroiled and so delicate, that I am very glad to keep myself out of it as long as I can.

If a confrere writes to me and asks me for a personal opinion, I ordinarily answer him, for it seems to me that this is charity ; but to take part in any work or act, no. I am all too happy that all of that does not concern me any longer. A Dieu. Write to me sometimes and believe me always, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848)

Sent_0317

Sent_0317 - aux séminaristes de Pondichéry - le 7 mars 1848 -/2

Sent 0317 - to the seminarians of Pondicherry - 7 March 1848 -/2

Sent_0317 - aux séminaristes de Pondichéry - le 7 mars 1848 -/2

Sent 0317 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 177-178

(to the seminarians of Pondicherry)

Thank you for your letters. Write more frequently. Thanks to God who has given you strength and courage in the storm now shaking Pondicherry. Do not judge the missionaries: they all want the good. Remain in obedience. Strip yourselves of the old man and put on the gospel.

Index : spiritual direction, advice

__________

Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848

On several occasions, my dear friends, I have received letters from you which, as always, have caused me the greatest pleasure. There is only one thing I have to complain of, and that is that they have been too rare; please make them more frequent in future. I am answering you all together today, because I don't have time to do so one by one, and besides do you not know that you are all in my heart?

I have made impassioned thanksgivings to God on learning from various sources that it has pleased his divine majesty to give you the strength and the courage necessary for you in the midst of the furious storm that he has permitted the demon to raise. This tempest has still not passed. I hope of his infinite goodness that he will sustain you to the end, nay that he will fortify you more and more and that everything that happens to you will merely serve to make you more perfect ministers of the altars. I admit that your position may appear embarrassing to you at times; the demon is so cunning that he could take advantage of this embarrassment, of this perplexity to disturb first of all your judgment and descending from there, if he can, down to your heart, but his ruse will not succeed, I hope. Accordingly listen now to my advice.

Your embarrassment is due to the fact that the missionaries themselves are not in agreement. They all desire the good, but it does not seem to all of them that this good should be achieved in the same way ; whence the proceedings that appear to you as opposed. Well, may that not disturb you. The Lord has permitted it, so that from the shock of contrary winds, there comes this terrible storm which was part of the designs of his Providence and which will later turn to the good, unless the unfortunate Christians accumulate to such an extent crimes upon crimes that God's Mercy is forced to give way to his Justice.

Listen to what is said, see what is done, without yet passing judgment, and keeping yourselves in the practice of complete obedience to your superiors, that is, to H.L. first of all, if he deigns to communicate to you personally his orders or his desires, and then to the superior of the seminary, whoever he is and whatever he orders you. The time will come when you will be called to give your opinion on what should be done for the best. May everything that is happening serve exclusively to form your judgment for this time to come; but for the present, judge little and make yourselves unassailable as regards obedience; with that, I defy the demon to harm you.

Meanwhile, work ceaselessly on stripping yourselves of the old man which is no other than our corrupted nature, and putting on the new man who is Jesus Christ, imbuing yourselves more and more with the gospel and living on prayers and faith. Put yourselves into such a habit of sacrifice that the sacrifice of your honour, of consideration in men's eyes, of your reputation and of your life even does not cost you any more than that of the vain pleasures of the senses, of the riches of this earth and of any other more common affection. Yes, my dear friends, may these words be a truth in your mouth: "O Jesus, I am completely yours and I want you only"!

I hope, my dear friends, that you will write to me soon and that you will assure everyone that you are prepared to suffer rather to desert the holy cause of God. I hope more, I hope that you will delight in suffering.

I give them news on my seminary that, thanks to God, is not going as badly as they have been led to believe.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 7 March 1848)

Sent_0318

Sent_0318 - à M. Gouyon - le 8 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0318 - to Mr Gouyon - 8 March 1848 -/1

Sent_0318 - à M. Gouyon - le 8 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0318 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 178-179

(to Mr Pierre Gouyon)

(apostolic missionary)

Questions of jurisdiction for the Christian communities of Coimbatore neighbouring on those of Pondicherry. I only reserve myself the right of marriage dispensations.

Index : jurisdiction, ecclesiastical administration

__________

Carumattampatty, 8 March 1848

Thanks for a supply of coffee.

Mr Pacreau tells me that you were sometimes in difficulties regarding your powers over the Christian communities neighbouring on yours. In order for you not to be embarrassed, I hereby authorise you to use all the powers that you hold from Pondicherry, over our Christian communities neighbouring on yours when these are not more than three miles from the limits of your jurisdiction. I only reserve the right regarding marriage dispensations for which you should refer them either to me or to the missionary of the pangou.

I ask him to make the vissarané () of Irodou. When will he be coming to see us ?

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 8 March 1848)

Sent_0319

Sent_0319 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 17 mars 1848/2

Sent 0319 - to Mgr Bonnand - 17 March 1848/2

Sent_0319 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 17 mars 1848/2

Sent 0319 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 151-154

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 179

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Letter of news ; an old letter from Mgr Luquet ; what my missionaries think of Mgr Luquet's appointment as bursar in Rome ; the foundation stone of our seminary ; our patients, some minor ordinations.

Index : news, sharing

__________

Carumattampatty, 17 March 1848

My Lord,

The numerous occupations which have filled these first days of Lent have prevented me from writing to Y.L. on the arrival of the steamer. The only news I have received is an old letter from Mgr Luquet written when he was about to leave Paris for Rome. Since this letter has gone right round the world, Y.L. has received more recent news from him and saying more than this one.

I have received the letters in common through Mr de Gélis ; I have made them known to the missionaries who have two years to give their opinion on the questions requiring an answer. I do not know what Mr Pacreau's will be regarding Mgr Luquet. It appears that he will send it off signed and sealed. Mr Barot appears to have been shocked by the common letter which deals with this question; he wrote to me about it in very Original terms, allowing me to understand that he will also be writing to Y.L. and to My Lord of Jassen. But you know him; I hope that, whatever he says, Y.L. will not fail to appreciate his reasons at their rightful value.

But Mr Métral and myself are going to reply that we consent to him being bursar in Rome, if it is impossible for him to come back to India. Finally, I have received some letters from the East that do not enter into long details, referring me for this purpose to Y.L.

That is all my news : I will add that a letter from Mgr of Mangalore informs me that H.G. of Chyrra has just been appointed by Pius IX Count, domestic Prelate and Assistant to the pontifical throne.

If Y.L. has any news, I trust that you will pass them on to me. We laid the foundation stone of our seminary on Monday with considerable solemnity but without a great concourse of people. Besides, our poor Christian community of Carumattampatty is reduced to less than half, since most of the scheder() have dispersed ; the few who remain are dying of hunger.

Our two patients, after an acute relapse occasioned, I think, by the journey, are much better now. I hope that their health will soon be completely restored.

Our little seminary continues to go well, though few in number and all of the pupils are very young. I hope to tonsure five the day before Easter Sunday, and to bestow the order of Porter on the one who is tonsured. I have scraped the bottom of my bag for news, but have come to the end of my Latin.

It only remains for me, My Lord, to ask you to commend me to the Lord so that he does me the grace of spending a holy Lent and to believe me always, and more than ever, if that is possible,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

Carumattampatty, 17 March 1848

P.S. I was forgetting to tell you that, for the other points proposed in the common letters, we are all more or less of the opinion of the Gentlemen of Paris. As for the representative of our missions in Paris, Mr Métral and I, at least, while admitting one only for the three missions, would prefer his election to take place on a plurality of votes in the three vicariates. Among the principal reasons which have led us to opt for this model is also the fact, that in the other hypothesis, when it comes to our turn to take it in Coimbatore, there might not be any missionaries there suitable for being director, whereas there might perhaps be several at Pondicherry or at Mysore, and vice versa.

(Carumattampatty, 17 March 1848)

Sent_0320

Sent_0320 - à M. Dupuis - le 27 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0320 - to Mr Dupuis - 27 March 1848 -/1

Sent_0320 - à M. Dupuis - le 27 mars 1848 -/1

Sent 0320 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 180

(to Mr Louis Dupuis)

(apostolic pro-vicar)

If your decision is taken under the influence of discouragement or irritation, it will not produce any good ; an understanding should be reached between Mgr Bonnand and you.

Index, advice, friendship

__________

Carumattampatty, 27 March 1848

Your letter of 16th distressed me above all owing to a certain spirit of (... ?...) that I seem to have noted in it, of discouragement and nervous irritation, very natural in the midst of the events in which you find yourself, but which we should mistrust to the utmost, for fear that the demon takes some advantage against us and against the good entrusted to us.

If the step which you refer to in the P.S. has been taken under that influence, it will not produce any good, it will not be the one that I ventured to suggest to you. In order for it to be such as would appear to me to be useful, it should be understood between yourself and My Lord of Drusipare in such a way as to be a pure tactic and not an act of discouragement and of mutual distrust.

How I conceived this act. Encouragements to overcome the attempts of the demon inspiring him to leave the printing press with the Society. News of Mgr Luquet's mission in Switzerland.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 27 March 1848)

Sent_0321

Sent_0321 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 6 avril 1848 -/2

Sent 0321 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 6 April 1848 -/2

Sent_0321 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire de Paris - le 6 avril 1848 -/2

Sent 0321 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 28

copy, AMA 2F6, pp 180-181

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Arrival of Mr de Gélis. Mr Métral and myself agree to Mgr Luquet being bursar in Rome; my other missionaries will reply personally. How we could proceed for the election of the representative of India to the council of directors. Health problems of the missionaries. Shortage of funds once more oblige me to cancel a journey to Mysore and to limit my activities.

Index : my missonaries, my finances, financial straits, Mgr Luquet

__________

Carumattampatty, 6 April 1848 ()

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Prevented first by one occupation, then by another, I have put off until now announcing to you the arrival of Mr de Gélis who finally reached Coimbatore at the end of February. I likewise acknowledge receipt of the letters in common and prepare to answer the questions proposed in them.

As regards that concerning Mgr of Hésébon, it is my desire that he should be general bursar in Rome if it is morally impossible for him to come back to India, or for him to be appointed apostolic vicar of some other of our missions. Personally, I do not see this as impossible; however, I cannot claim to be any judge of that, and leave it to your appreciation and to his, never doubting that your desire and his will be to meet as directly as possible the desires that the Holy See had on making him bishop.

On the other points dealt with in the other letter, it will suffice for me to say very briefly that I completely share your opinion on them all, not understanding how our Society can proceed well if the seminary is not free in matters of general administration, since it alone is in a position to know the situation of the various missions and the subjects proper to such or such a post.

Regarding the procedure for electing the representative of the missions of India in Paris, there will always be drawbacks. Nevertheless it seems to me that they will be lesser if he is always chosen collectively, for when it comes to be the turn for example of electing him in the vicariate of Coimbatore, there might not be any subjects here suitable for carrying out this important function, while others endowed with all the qualities required might be available either at Pondicherry, or in Mysore. Only it seems to me that the article that you propose modifying on this point might be couched in more general terms such as not to require a new drafting in the case of future increases or divisions of vicariates.

The opinions I am expressing to you here are identical in the case of Mr Métral ; they are not absolutely the same for Mr Pacreau, who has reserved the right to write to you about this directly. Mr Barot will not hear any talk of Mgr Luquet as bursar of the missions in Rome and wants him absolutely in India ; he has not answered the other questions.

Messrs Bonjean and Pacreau were struck by violent fevers while making the vissarané of the north of the mission. They went to Bangalore to recover, whence they returned to the mission only to suffer a relapse. After their second convalescence, Mr Pacreau went up to the Nilghiris to recover fully, while Mr Bonjean stayed on in Coimbatore. I hope that the fever will not recur, but I fear that his health will be affected for a long time by this great blow.

I am obliged to end my letter without going into further details. I will only tell you that the state of financial hardship we were in last year will be repeated if you do not have the charity to speed up dispatch of this year's allocation and if you find it impossible to make any allowance for the enormous deficit caused to us this year by our obligation of maintaining four new missionaries (three of whom have spent a whole year without viaticum) on our feeble supplement into which considerable inroads had already been made before it arrived.

Since my consecration, I have always postponed going to visit My Lord of Jassen. Finally, I acceded to his reiterated invitations for when I should be relatively free after the Easter festivities. Nevertheless, I am going to write to him tomorrow or the day after to withdraw my word for the sole reason that the slight entity of our finances does not permit me to incur the expense of the journey.

I will not repeat to you that we have found it impossible, this year, to keep any catechists (there are none even at Coimbatore), to establish some schools, etc. I will not conceal from you besides that the position of a bishop with so few resources, in a country like this, is really humiliating and humiliated; please God that it is humble ; thus personally I would have no reason to complain about it, on the contrary.,

With this precious virtue of humility, kindly ask the Lord on my behalf for many others which would be necessary for me and to believe me, in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 6 April 1848)

Sent_0322

Sent_0322 - à la Propagande - le 8 avril 1848 -/4

Sent 0322 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 8 April 1848 -/4

Sent_0322 - à la Propagande - le 8 avril 1848 -/4

Sent 0322 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 182-183

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

We are now eight and will soon be ten or eleven missionaries. We could start the evangelisation of the infidels; our seminary gives us some hopes: part of the service is recited and a construction is under way. My seven districts each has its missionary and I am trying to organise them on the basis of the future arrival of native priests. A question of marriage and of publication of the decrees of the Council of Trent.

Index : official report, seminary of Carumattampatty, ecclesiastical administration, marriage

__________

Carumattampatty, 8 April 1848

Plurimis ab hinc diebus E.V. scribere debuissem ad rationem reddendam praesertim de rebus anno praeterito peractis in missione mihi a S.S. commissa. Sed visitatione apostolica in provicariatu fungens usque nunc impeditus, duplicem obligationem hodie implebo, scribens scilicet nonnulla de missione et mittens, juxta tenorem brevis Concredita nobis, exemplaria juramenti prestiti a quatuor novis missionariis qui has regiones attigerunt mensibus Septembris 1847 et Martii 1848.

Nunc, Dei misericordia et cura moderatorum Seminarii Missionum ad Exteros, octo habeo cooperatores, quinimo duo vel tres alios brevi venturos esse spero. Omnes ardenter tamuliae linguae studio operam impendunt ita ut, in decursu duorum vel trium annorum, eos aptos fore spero non solum ad instruendos alumnos seminarii et ad administranda sacramenta fidelibus, sed etiam (duo vel tres) ad evangelisandos infideles ; quod opus a tempore fere immemoriali derelictum est propter defectum operariorum.

Seminarium vero quasi numerosum non sit in dies dat nobis spem et consolationem. Simplicitas christianorum hujus regionis sufficientem nobis dat libertatem in eo quod attinet ad inextricabiles difficultates tribuum ; ita ut, Deo juvante, cum prudentia et patientia, sperare possumus non solum ecclesiasticos ducendi ad despectionem talium distinctionum, sed etiam introducendi in statu ecclesiastico, nisi infirmiores tribus populi, saltem plures quae admitti non possent in pluribus locis Indiae Orientalis.

Unum tamen timendum : id est indirecta oppositio extremorum christianum qui, si ad nostros reclamaverint oppositionem surgendam conabuntur. Undecim nunc habeo alumnos, ex quibus quinque ad primam tonsuram elevati sunt, et unus ad ordinum Ostiarii ; et jam aliquid officii divini persolvitur in eccclesia beatae Mariae Virginis in vice dicto Carumattampatty, exacte juxta ritum S.R. Ecclesiae. Domus tandem pro seminaristis in eodem vice construitur.

Missionem Coimbatore dividi in septem districtus in quibus singulis suus aderit missionarius usquedum aliae divisiones gradatim possibiles fiant ; quas a longe praevideo ut, tempore opportuno, dispositae sint sub aliqua forma parochiarum committendarum sacerdotibus indigenis ; ad quos opus concursus christianum quasi necessarius videtur ut cum gaudio novam formam accipientes auxilio sint suis sacerdotibus necdum (quod saepe saepius in istis regionibus accidit) eis adversentur, praesertim si quid de suo dare jubebantur ad sustentationem ministri et cultus, quod quantum necessarium tantum erit difficile obtentu.

Unum addam, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, juxta impedimentum clandestinitatis. Aliquod est dubium utrum decretum Concilii Tridentini publicatum fuerit in aliquibus partibus Provicariatus mei. Mihi videtur multo probabilius illud minime fuisse publicatum ; quinimo consuetudo generalis vigebat paucis ab hinc omnia contrahendi matrimonia, absente missionario, qui tamen sponsos vocabat, tempore visitationis suae, ad benedictionem nuptialem dandam ; aliqui etiam sacerdotes jubebant eos renovare consensum saltem sub conditione.

Hodie, cum sumus sufficientes missionarii, haec consuetudo non viget, sed nonnulli ex fraude vel impietate contrahunt clandestine, in conscientia dubia, cum consuetudo missionariorum sit, eos relinquere in ignorantia validitatis matrimonii propter metum gravis (desordinationis ?). Haec omnia mihi videntur temperanda per publicationem decreti Concilii ; et S.C. rogo ut dignetur notum facere mihi utrum approbaverit hanc publicationem.

Denique, E.V. et S.C. rogo ut nostri memores in orationibus vestris a Deo postulare digneritis benedictionem uberrimam super missionum nostrum in quae tot et tanta desiderantur."

(Carumattampatty, prope Coimbatore, 8 April 1848)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(To the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

Carumattampatty, 8 April 1848

It is a few days already that I should have written to Your Eminence in particular to report to you the things that have happened last year in the mission entrusted to me by the Holy See. But, prevented thus far because I was paying an apostolic visit to the pro-vicariate, I will today carry out a twofold obligation, namely to write to you on several things regarding the mission and to send you, in accordance with the terms of the brief Concredita nobis, copies of the oath taken by four new missionaries who reached these regions in September 1847 and in March 1848.

Now, with God's mercy and thanks to the efforts of those directing the seminary of Foreign Missions, I have eight collaborators, and I hope even that two or three others will soon be joining us. They have all wholeheartedly taken up the study of the Tamoul language, so that in two or three years' time, I hope they will be capable not only of instructing the children of the seminary and of administering the sacraments to the faithful, but even (two or three of them) of evangelising the infidels, a task that has been abandoned, almost from time immemorial, because of the lack of workers.

Although it has few pupils as yet, the seminary gives us hope and consolation every day. The simplicity of the Christians of this region gives us sufficient freedom as regards the inextricable difficulties of the castes, so that, with God's help, with prudence and patience, we may hope not only to lead the ecclesiastics to despise such distinctions, but further to introduce to the ecclesiastical condition, not those of the lowest castes of the people, but at least several who could not be admitted in several parts of Eastern India.

However there is one thing to be feared : that is, the indirect opposition of the extreme Christians who, if they oppose our efforts, will attempt to set up an opposition.

Now, I have eleven pupils five of whom are elevated to the first tonsure and one to the order of porter ; and already part of the divine office is performed in the church of the blessed Virgin Mary, in the village known as Carumattampatty, exactly according to the rites of the Holy Roman Church. Finally a house for the seminarians is now being built in the same village.

The mission of Coimbatore is divided into seven districts, in each of which there will be a missionary until other divisions gradually become possible. In fact I have foreseen these divisions well in advance so that, when the time comes, they are arranged in a certain form of parishes which would be entrusted to native priests. For such a project, the collaboration of the Christians appears necessary, so that by accepting the new form joyfully, they will help their priests and not oppose them (which is quite frequently the case in these regions), above all if they are required to give something towards the maintenance of the minister and the cult, which will be as necessary as it will be difficult to achieve.

To this, Very Eminent and Very Reverend Lord, I will add something regarding the prevention of clandestinity. There is some doubt as to whether the decree of the Council of Trent has been published in certain parts of my pro-vicariate. I seems to me very probable it has not been thus published. On the contrary, the general habit remained for a small number, on such a basis, to contract all marriages in the absence of the missionary, who however called on the married couple, when making his visit, to impart the nuptial blessing on them; some priests even ordered them to renew their consent at least conditionally.

Today, since we now have a sufficient number of missionaries, this habit is no longer in force, but some due to bad faith or impiety contract marriage clandestinely, in a doubtful conscience, since the habits of the missionaries is to leave them in ignorance of the validity of the marriage for fear of a serious disorder. It seems to me that all of these things should be settled by publication of the decree of the Council. And I ask the Sacred Congregation to let me know if it would approve such publication.

Finally, I beg Your Eminence and the Sacred Congregation that, remembering us in their prayers, you may deign to implore of God his most abundant blessing on our mission in these things which are so many and so desirable.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 8 April 1848)

Sent_0323

Sent_0323 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 avril 1848 -/2

Sent 0323 - to Mgr Bonnand - 9 April 1848 -/2

Sent_0323 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 avril 1848 -/2

Sent 0323 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 159-162

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 183

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Letter of friendship and giving news. Soon it will be Easter. My seminary goes well with Mr Métral, and the building with Mr Pajean. My journey to Bangalore is cancelled because of financial problems. Alaquiapoullé will be passing through Pondicherry.

Index : friendship, news

__________

Carumattampatty, 9 April 1848

My Lord,

It is a long time now since I last received any news from Y.L. Besides, I do not know if it is you who owes me a letter, or if I am your debtor, since our latest letters must have crossed. I will take the second hypothesis and, although I don't have time to write you more than a few words in haste, I wish to do so before the great solemnities into which we shall soon be entering, to ask you to remember me now and then between the sorrows of Calvary and the joys of the Resurrection.

Lent is held quite worthily here. I preach every Sunday at the first mass and confess almost everybody, except on Saturday, for Mr Métral is very busy with his children and Mr Pajean with his building. Regarding the latter, we have reached the height of the apartments; it will be a very handsome seminary and will easily accommodate 20 or 30 pupils.

At the same time as we are building these material foundations, we are trying to elevate the veritable seminary by fostering the good dispositions of certain children that the Lord appears to be calling to become the first priests in the pro-vicariate. The good Mr Métral gives himself wholeheartedly to this, and I hope that God will bless his devotion.

We have had a small ordination. (... ?...) was made porter and five were (... ?...) tonsured. I arranged the church in such a way as to have a choir in front, and the ceremonies take place integrally and very well.

I had practically promised My Lord of Jassen to go and see him after Pentecost, however I have written to him today to withdraw my word, for I have just drawn up the statement of our expenses, and we are very short. The maintenance of four missionaries without a viaticum, three of whom at least will have spent a whole year here in this way, is a great drag on us. Add to that the building of the seminary, and it will be a miracle if we can make both ends meet. Accordingly I forego this journey, thus making a sacrifice to the holy virtue of poverty.

I still have not received this month's newspapers.

I hear with pleasure that matters at Pondicherry are settling down. (... ?...) God be blessed.

Alaquiapoullé wrote to me saying that on the 25th or 26th of this month he was going to Madras passing through Pondicherry. Could the presence of this fine man be of any use to you? Perhaps he will hand over to Mr (Pouplin?) (... ?...) that he has supported for the seminary. If he did, I would be very glad, and I will ask Mr Pouplin to let me know (...?...) better.

Kindly remember me to all our dear confreres, to whose prayers I commend myself, as well as to yours, My Lord, in the union of which,

I have the honour of being,

your very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 9 April 1848)

Sent_0324

Sent_0324 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 17 avril 1848/1

Sent 0324 - to Mgr Bonnand - 17 April 1848/1

Sent_0324 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 17 avril 1848/1

Sent 0324 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 155-156

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 184

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Have you any news from Paris and from Rome ? I have just learned indirectly that everything is put to fire and the sword.

Index : news, political situation

__________

Carumattampatty, 17 April 1848

My Lord,

It is a very long while since I received news from Y.L. Although I wrote to you only a few days ago, and despite the numerous occupations of this holy week, I am writing you a few short words in haste, for I have just learned indirectly, not having received any newspapers, that everything has been put to fire and the sword in France. It is said that the republic, etc. etc. It is also said that the Pope has been driven out of Rome. I would be very obliged if you would write to tell me how much truth there is in these rumours and give me some details.

Have you received any letters from our Gentlemen of Paris which say anything about the fate of religion and of our seminary ?

I also learn that matters in Pondicherry are working out. May the Lord be blessed and may he shower Y.L. with consolations with which he is in the habit of making up for the trials he sends down on his servants. I just have time to commend myself more earnestly than ever to your good prayers and to declare myself your very devoted servant and Son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 17 April 1848)

Sent_0325

Sent_0325 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 2 mai 1848 -/2

Sent 0325 - to Mgr Bonnand - 2 May 1848 -/2

Sent_0325 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 2 mai 1848 -/2

Sent 0325 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 185-186

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 1528-1530

"Souvenirs" pp 781-782

See also copy, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 166-167 ()

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The situation is improving in Pondicherry: so much the better ! Enlighten me on the rumour going round that you would be coming to Coimbatore and I should be going to Pondicherry. What is it all about? If this comes from any other source than you, I can say to you that I oppose it with all my strength. But if this comes from you, would I not be entitled to complain about you, My Lord, if a son were permitted to complain about his father? Great profession of humility for him and praise of Mgr Bonnand's qualities. If it is to relieve you of fatigue, ask me anything you like. But how could you imagine that I could replace you?

Index : humility, frankness, charity, change (Pondicherry - Coimbatore)

__________

Carumattampatty, 2 May 1848 ()

I had the pleasure of receiving just recently your good letter of the 19th. I am glad with you and I bless the Lord for having permitted you at last to overcome the famous cathou(). Nevertheless, there is one thing that I would like to know, for its concerns us greatly here : is it on a condition that the directors of the seminary will not be eating with their pupils ? Will there be even one more priest, even one more sub-deacon who will be ordained with the resolution of remaining separated from us at table, that is to say, of considering us as pariahs? It that were so, my joy would be much diminished.

And now I pass on to something else, My Lord, on which I find it very difficult to speak to you and that I have been keeping to myself for several months, but at last I believe I can no longer remain silent. I have received letters from all sides which seem to suppose that Y.L. will be coming here and that I will be sent to Pondicherry. Is this just one more rumour like so many others, or has it some foundation? If it has some foundation, is it a shameful plot carried out without Y.L.'s knowledge, or else is Y.L. himself the soul of this combination ? These are all mysteries to me, and I might add, distressing mysteries. (in MEP: "as many questions, and I am completely mystified").

Several months ago, I received a letter from a director of Paris who gave me the first hint of a change : from the way in which he put it, Y.L. yourself was reported to have made the request which was however to remain for the contingent future, finally, he told me this, while swearing me to secrecy. Accordingly I felt I should not speak to you of it, and even less write on this subject to Rome; I was content to answer at some length to this director conveying to him how much such a measure would have troubled me, not only for myself personally, but also and above all because of the general good which I cannot understand having to advance in this way. I begged him instantly to oppose this combination inasmuch as was within his power.

Since then, I heard no further talk of it. But for some time now, I hear the question raised again from various different sources as something very probable. I beg you, My Lord, tell me what the truth of all this is and, if Y.L. was not the principal prompter of this measure, oh! for pity's sake, tell me frankly and I assure you that I will write to them so that they will lose any desire to think of me for contributing to do you some harm. I have sometimes diverged in opinion with Y.L., I have always avowed it with the frankness that is habitual to me, sometimes perhaps I have been too frank, but I have never wished, and do not wish in any way, and would never wish to cause you the slightest hurt! Never will I consent, I don't say to lending a hand in, I believe myself to be incapable of that, but to accepting a combination that would be personally hurtful to you.

But if you yourself, My Lord, were the soul of this business, how could you have entered into it without notifying me, without warning me of the blow that was threatening me and putting me in a position to deviate it if the reasons that I may have are such as to exceed those that Y.L. would have for all this. Would I not have here a complaint to make against you, My Lord, if a son is permitted to complain about his father?

I know very well that you have a right over my person since I am only your very humble pro-vicar. Thus, in all other circumstances, in a time of calm and of peace, if there was only a difference of more or less work, I would understand, with humility of which you are so greatly provided, that you might come here to rest, while sending me out where there is more to be done; but in the times we are living in, that cannot be the reason for such a combination. Clearly, you would be led to take this step for the greater good or the lesser evil in general affairs.

Now I ask you, My Lord, how I who am still young, without sufficient experience, in the complication of the affairs of Pondicherry, in the eyes of several under the false and humiliating prejudice that I have done something to elevate myself to the bishopric, whom it would have been well to have left at the lowest level of the humblest missionaries and who finally, since God wanted me to be a bishop (for I really believe that it was God, but for my sins) am perfectly in my place in the humblest place in the universe, how could I do more good than Y.L. whose merits are recognised, whose experience is long, in whom our confreres of the episcopate in India have acquired confidence, etc, etc.

Clearly, all of this explained to Rome would have prevented anyone complying to the desire that your humility, for the reasons that it alone will have given, will perhaps have depicted as useful. Just imagine, My Lord, that in your place I would have made ten times more mistakes (if there were any such) in everything that has occurred and I would have done ten times less good. Accordingly, I beg you My Lord, have the courage to sacrifice yourself to the end, as you have done thus far; leave me in last place and continue to offer me your friendship alone. I repeat in conclusion: if it was merely a question of pleasing you and of sharing your work, of diminishing your fatigue, oh!, yes, count on me.

For example, is Y.L. tired ? Does more pressing work retain you in Pondicherry? Then send me out in your place to make the vissarané of the district of Salem, or other, I am at your disposal; but to put yourself in my place and to put myself in yours, I cannot bear the idea because I believe that the interests of religion are against it.

In the last few days I have received a quite extraordinary letter from a certain Mr André Reinaud, apostolic missionary to Ceylon. Since I know this missionary neither in white nor in black, and by his letter he would appear to be quite a live wire, I would be obliged, if you know him, to tell me who he is before I answer him.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 2 May 1848)

Sent_0326

Sent_0326 - à M. Tesson - le 8 mai 1848 -/1

Sent 0326 - to Mr Tesson - 8 May 1848 -/1

Sent_0326 - à M. Tesson - le 8 mai 1848 -/1

Sent 0326 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 30

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 186-187

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

This year's allocation : when ? how much? Will affairs in Europe affect it at all? I have no financial advance. Please send me a rapid answer.

Index : allocation, financial difficulties

__________

Carumattampatty, 8 May 1848

My dear Mr Tesson,

At this moment I have received your letter of 6 and 24 March. I still have not received the newspapers which, for some time now, almost always arrive more or less late. I don't know if I will be in time to send this note off by this post; but I will risk it, for you tell me nothing about this year's allocation, and I have some fears that the sad state of affairs in Europe may have a negative effect on our finances. It is important for me that you do me the favour of writing to me immediately to tell me : 1) if we have nothing to fear as regards this year's allocation; 2) what you think it will amount to; and 3) when we can hope to receive it.

As you can well imagine, it has been impossible for us thus far to make any savings for the future, even in case of misfortune. The arrival of four confreres this year, who do not receive any viaticum, has been a financial drag on us; the building of the seminary, the only thing that we were able to undertake is now at such a stage that it would be ruinous to abandon it before it is roofed. I would not have begun it if I had foreseen a republic! But who could have foreseen such an eventuality! So please, quick, quick, send us a few short words in answer to our three preceding questions, I beg you.

I do not know if the simple proxy that I am sending you will be sufficient. If it is not, could you not use the one that I left on departing to Mrs Raymond de Marion Gaja (at Lascourtines, by Castelnaudary, Aude) made in the presence of a notary? If that is not sufficient, be so kind as to indicate to me the form and procedure to be taken.

A thousand things to all of our dear confreres. Let us pray for one another.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 8 May 1848)

Sent_0327

Sent_0327 - à M. Pouplin - le 25 mai 1848 -/1

Sent 0327 - to Mr Pouplin - 25 May 1848 -/1

Sent_0327 - à M. Pouplin - le 25 mai 1848 -/1

Sent 0327 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 189

(to Mr Henri Pouplin)

(apostolic missionary)

I am awaiting an urgent answer from Mgr Bonnand. Could I have let some expression that hurt him escape me ?

Index : charity

__________

Coimbatore, 25 May 1848

It is a long time ago already since I wrote a letter to My Lord of Drusipare, which by its nature, required an immediate reply. In your last letter, you tell me that H.L. was to write to me in two or three days' time, whereas days and days that have gone by and still I see nothing coming. Would you have the charity to tell me the reason for all of this? Have I once more inadvertently allowed some expression that hurt him to escape me? Oh dear God! When will we be capable of writing to each other without needing to count the full stops and the commas?... I beg you, in the name of the holy virtue of charity, to write and explain as soon as ever you can.

Questions of the burse.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 25 May 1848)

Sent_0328

Sent_0328 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er juin 1848 -/3

Sent 0328 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 June 1848 -/3

Sent_0328 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er juin 1848 -/3

Sent 0328 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 219-222 + 185-186

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 190-191

"Souvenirs", pp 786-787

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have never intended to cause you grief, or to incite confreres to disobey you. Forgive me for all the distress that I may have caused you, but let the past be past. I am at your orders for everything and everywhere, but with the rumour that is spreading on our mutual change, is it really prudent for me to go to Pondicherry? I am glad about your future synod. The first question to be dealt with is the relation of religion with the castes. But will you manage to reach agreement? Would a report from the S.C. and a decision from Rome not be better? As regards our mutual change, you could perhaps write to Rome to disavow your previous request. If we are destined to meet up, may it be after making a clean sweep of everything that has just happened. Some news of Coimbatore and of the missionaries.

Index : synod, humility, Indian usages, Rome (authority), my missionaries, change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore)

__________

Coimbatore, 1 June 1848 (

)

My Lord,

The day before yesterday I received your letters of 19, 23 and 24 May. I will not attempt, My Lord, to tell you how troubled I am at the additional grief caused you by my manner of expressing myself at times, when writing to certain confreres. May it suffice to assure Y.L. that I have never had the intention to incite them to disobedience, or even to resistance of your orders. I may have urged them to persevere in certain acts, so long as these were not forbidden, and I may have regretted that they were forbidden, but that is all.

Besides, I recognise that at times I may have gone too far, and made use of terms exceeding my thought, above all in one letter that I have retracted, as I notified you. I ask forgiveness to God and to you, to whom I believe I have already asked it, imploring from you a second grace, that the past be past!

Y.L . has caused me the keenest pain without meaning in any way to do so, and in things that you believed necessary or useful ; I have caused similar pain to Y.L., also quite unintentionally, believe me, and in things that I believe for my part to be directly or indirectly necessary or very useful to the mission entrusted to me ; finally the questions have become so closely interlocked that all hope of arriving at a happy ending by the means which have broken down one after the other appears to me to have vanished.

Accordingly let us leave these means with the proper names attached to them ; let us forget everything, considering only what our present position is, the present state of the peoples and of the clergy, etc., so as to work together in union and in charity. That is my only desire. This desire is so great that, if it could not be satisfied, it would be impossible for me to go to Pondicherry. No, I would not have the strength. Let us leave each one with his conscience of the past of which God alone will be the judge.

Let us suppose that they all wanted to do good and that, when they were mistaken, it was with good intent, and considering solely the present departure point, let us understand each other in order to do some good together. May the pleasure of seeing you, when it is granted to me, not be poisoned by any unpleasant memory ; may that of embracing my confreres of Pondicherry, all of whom I esteem, be without afterthought.

And now let us come to the appeal that Y.L. was so good as to make to me.

1) I am at your orders for everything and everywhere.

2) Kindly consider still before God, I beg you, if there would not be more drawbacks than advantages in calling me. In this connection, I will venture to make a few remarks that I would ask you to examine with the prudent persons surrounding you.

Is the rumour that has spread of a change in position with Y.L. not going to throw fresh discredit on my person ? Indeed, in the eyes of some not very well informed of things, would I not be regarded as going ahead by a position, that I dread above all else, but that people might well think that I desire? Will it be possible for everyone to be convinced that it is only to obey you, and to comply with your desire itself, that I am coming to see you? And if the misfortune that, according to your last letter, I may be permitted to dread, occurred while we are together, would our position not be false for both of us?

I am delighted at the desire Y.L. has to proceed to a true synod, and I have often regretted that the first was in actual fact less than that. But the difficulties of achieving it in a satisfactory and truly fruitful manner appear very great to me. It is not only the distrust that I must have of myself, but also the presentment that I cannot help you effectively, that make me ask if Y.L. may not have been mistaken in hoping to find in me resources that with a little more reflection on the qualities of the subjects you can employ, you will find more abundant in others.

Will Mgr Charbonnaux be called to the synod ? If he did not come, will I not have to dread a redoubling of the above-mentioned negative effects? Would that not take place if he did not stay on at Pondicherry as long as me, even when it would be Y.L. who would impede it for good reasons?

One of the most delicate and most urgent points that you have to deal with, will be that concerning the relations of religion with the castes, and reciprocally. The present situation, where not only does each apostolic vicariate in India do as it pleases, but where each missionary acts in his own way, is clearly ruinous. It can produce no good, while it produces every day a growing harm.

Now, on this fundamental point, not only do I no longer know what to think since all that has happened, but it seems to me that it is impossible for us to arrive at any determination whatsoever. Whatever our personal thoughts, we will have against us a terrible party and things will remain as they are because, on one and the other side, there will be authorities above the synod, if it does decide something; and if it doesn't decide anything, its silence will be the confirmation, at least momentarily, of the state of things which is ruining us.

This is one of the strongest reasons that make me fear for the convocation of a true synod at this time, and that would make me desire not to take part in it if it did take place. It is not that I would not wish with all my soul to participate in the determination of this capital point, but I do not think that we have the means to do so yet.

I can only see one way of getting out of it and thereafter walking with a firm step : that would be to make a report to the S.C., in which the danger of the present situation, and the hypotheses for getting out of it, would be made clear with all the probable consequences which would follow, asking it to order us to make a choice. Now if you were of the opinion that this line should be taken, we do not have time to achieve that between now and January. And without that, will we be doing anything else than waste our time and falling deeper and deeper into an inextricable maze?

I beg you, My Lord, to carefully consider all these things and to see if it would not be better to leave me quiet here, far from all these questions, which I would desire greatly for my own personal good, but of which I leave you absolutely as judge. If you persist in wanting to have me, I would ask you to kindly let me know as soon as possible, and to indicate to me more or less the time when you would desire that I go to see you, so that I can arrange things in such a way that here they suffer as little as possible from my absence.

Let us come back now to the question of a change of position. I do not need to repeat to you how much this idea disturbs me. So that it was Y.L. who asked for it from Rome. Whatever the cause which disclosed this project, would the Lord not have permitted this in order for us to be in time to stop it? Would Y.L. permit me to write to Rome and to Paris on this subject ? Why could you yourself not go back on your request?

Finally, if this misfortune should occur, it would be very useful for the general good, it seems to me, for people to know, without the shadow of a doubt, that Y.L. is the prime cause of this change, in which I count for nothing, which will not take place, I hope, and which Y.L. knows is utterly distasteful to me. It seems to me that it is in Y.L.'s power to produce a conviction contrary to the prejudice which might be established, and later become impossible to destroy, if Y.L. and myself were unfortunately obliged to go ahead.

Mr Leroux has not informed me of the content of the letter from Mgr Luquet. He only wrote to me that Y.L. had spoken to him of a change between you and me and he asks me what I can tell him on this subject. I still have not answered him.

I would be very pleased to receive the new edition of the synod.

And I end this long letter, My Lord, begging you to remember us in your prayers that trials merely make more agreeable to God, and to convey my friendly greetings to the dear confreres who may have been wounded by certain of my words, asking them, above all if I have to go and find them, to completely forget them so that there is no longer any question, when we do meet, either of things past, or of persons who had a hand in all of these questions.

It is my desire that we meet up with as great joy as if we were arriving for the first time on this soil of India, making use, for our guidance in the good to be done, of everything past, merely as historical facts from which persons would be excluded, and of the little experience that we have managed to acquire by this test, only as a gift from heaven. A Dieu.

More than ever, I have the honour of being,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. The schism is on the point of becoming established, if it has not already done so, in the mission of Palghat, starting off from Atticodou. This is one of the fruits of Mr Ba.'s bad head. Which could have another very fatal consequence. Mr Pajean, whom I have been pleased with thus far, is also beginning to show signs of a bad spirit. The newcomers promise well, but they are still children, that our state of things makes it difficult to form. Mr de Gélis appears to be one of those men from whom only consolations are to be expected. Provided the study of Tamil which is giving him great trouble does not discourage him.

(Coimbatore, 1 June 1848)

Sent_0329

Sent_0329 - à ses missionnaires - le 8 juin 1848 -/3

Sent 0329 - to his missionaries - 8 June 1848 /4

Sent_0329 - à ses missionnaires - le 8 juin 1848 -/3

Sent 0329 copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 31 ()

copy, AMA 2F6, pp 191-193

(circular to all his missionaries)

A word on the political situation of Europe : what consequences can we expect ? Reduction in the aid from Propagation of the Faith. The last letter from the directors is very clear on this subject. Then let us try to obtain something from each Christian community, let us reduce the viaticum, let even try to do without it. If you agree, let me know in writing.

Index : political situation, finances, viaticum

__________

Coimbatore, 8 June 1848 (

)

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

You all know more or less the extraordinary events shaking Europe and convulsing society down to its very foundations, revealing a universal change in social forms. Is it God who strikes in his anger, or will the arm of his mercy stop all at once the corrupting current which was dragging us gradually into the abyss of materialism and irreligion ? No-one can tell. But, for every man who thinks, reflects, and in whose heart a spark of faith still shines, it is clear that the finger of God is there and that the superhuman work taking place is the work of Providence. Thus, all our brothers in Europe hope, fear and pray.

As for us, Gentlemen, though we are far from the places where these events are taking place, we cannot remain indifferent to them. Without doubt, we have left, never to return, the homeland which saw our birth; following the example of the apostles, we have broken, through God's grace, the closest bonds which held us attached to the life of this world.

However, love of homeland continues to live in us and God will not consider it a crime if this love, purified by faith, only serves to elevate us to generous sentiments ; if, instead of inspiring in us regrets on our sacrifice, it merely makes this greater and more meritorious, by making voluntary what is personally crucifying. Besides, the interests of the whole of society are compromised by the grave questions under debate and the boat of Peter is in danger in the frightful storm that they raise. God, as we know, will not abandon his Church. In the midst of the conflict of extreme ideas, and among the trials of so many revolutions, the Church may be cruelly tormented, but it will not perish. On this point, we cannot fear.

And yet, God may permit, and he will doubtless permit, that it draws from all that is happening either a great good, or a great evil. Therefore let us too, Gentlemen and dear confreres, lift our arms and our hearts to him who governs all empires and who can make of these very stones children of Abraham. Let us pray him to inspire the peoples with the counsels of his almighty wisdom, and to assist in a special manner the holy and glorious Pontiff Pius IX who finds himself personally compromised in the complication of all the affairs of our time.

But the foregoing considerations, however grave they may be, are not those which determined me to address this circular to you. They will not have failed to arise spontaneously in your minds and to inspire in you fervent prayers, the only succour that we are in a position to grant to our numerous brothers fighting elsewhere for justice and truth. What it is important to tell you at this moment, is the influence that affairs in Europe will have on our missions.

Without prejudicing anything for the distant future, we may be sure that one of the immediate effects will be the prompt and considerable reduction of the generous aid that we have received thus far from those associated with the work of Propagation of the Faith. Now you know, Gentlemen, that this work is our foster-mother. If all of a sudden it should become no longer available, humanly speaking, we may say that we do not know what will become of us. The mission of Coimbatore, since it has no funds and no reserve, would be one of the first to succumb, if God did not deign to offset our poverty by an excess of apostolic virtues on which I count, Gentlemen, and that is one of the bases of my firm confidence.

Well, this fear that the work of Propagation of the Faith may no longer be available is real and imminent. We could have conceived this on our own, and without anyone telling us this, by considering what is going on in Europe. Quite apart from the ugly passions that are liable to wipe it out in such moments of trouble, the agitation of minds is essentially harmful to a work of this nature and, by an additional misfortune, financial distress is extreme in the kingdoms where it flourished most, leaving practically no resources to the class of society which provides the largest number of subscribers.

But in support of these general grounds for fear, an official letter has just arrived from the directors of the Seminary of Foreign Missions. Unless some particular misfortune should occur, which is a very real possibility at a time when disorder is immense in the financial world, these Gentlemen give me to understand: 1) that we can count this year on the viaticum and a feeble supplement which, despite all the goodwill they have to come to the rescue of Coimbatore, does not amount to more than 4,500 francs, that is to say 1,800 rupees ; 2) that they entertain the liveliest fears for next year. "What can we do for all of our missions next year? Perhaps nothing, if Propagation of the Faith is not swept away by the revolutionary hurricane, it is at least very probable that its receipts will be reduced to almost nothing."

Accordingly, they urge me to take measures for the Christian communities to come to the help of the missionary, adding : "If it is insufficient (the help of the Christian communities) for the needs of our dear confreres, it is to be hoped that the Christians will come to their aid for the duration of the crisis that we can expect to traverse. We know that the Christians are poor, but when sufferings are general, how can we not hope that the missionaries will accept their share of the privations imposed on them by necessity and that they will say with the Apostle: scio abundare, scio et esurire et pauperiem pati". ()

God forbid that because of this, we lose any of our full trust in God. We are the children of Providence and, provided that we make ourselves worthy of it by practising the virtues which should be inseparable from our lofty vocation, Providence will not fail us. Nevertheless, this confidence does not exclude, or rather it requires of us a prudent foresight, above all if it is only in order to draw closer and closer to the examples of detachment and of poverty that are given us by the Apostles first of all and, after them, by the saints who have won an immortal crown in the exercise of our functions.

So here is what I propose for the moment :

1) Work to obtain in each Christian community some small resource, and to lead the Christians to help us as far as it is in their power. This, nevertheless, should be done with extreme prudence, great charity and in such a way that we may not be suspected of being interested in the exercise of the holy ministry.

2) Reduce our viaticum a little, only receiving for example 50 rupees every three months, instead of 60.

Réduire un peu notre viatique en ne recevant par exemple que 50 roupies par trimestre, au lieu de 60.

3) Not having recourse to this viaticum except insofar as we need it, considering ourselves happy before God if we can manage to do without it altogether, and repulsing far from our heart what the demon might slide in of concupiscence with regard to our brother, if we can, more than him, help by this means to the general good of the mission ; moreover persuaded that he contributes more than us in some other way, although his share of sacrifice regarding the viaticum may be less considerable than ours.

It seems to me that it would be easy to remove from this third resolution anything it might imply of embarrassing for certain persons by observing the following procedure : when the revenues from the Christian community do not suffice for the missionary (which will happen in a general way at the outset), without him having to give account to anyone either of what he has received, or of what he has spent, he will request money from the confrere entrusted with the expenditures of the bursar's office. The latter will be bound to send him immediately a three months' allowance. When this three months is over, he will not be sent any more money until he asks for more, but at his simple request, he will once more be sent a three months' allowance which will be counted as from the day of such request.

This manner of proceeding, Gentlemen and dear confreres, besides the fact that it appears to me eminently fraternal and apostolic, would seem to possess several other advantages that it would take too long to enumerate here. However, I do not wish nor can I oblige you to adopt it at my simple proposal. If you adopt it, it must be of your own free consent and I will bless the Lord for that; but if you do not adopt it, you remain within your rights, and I could not reproach you for that. Only, I do ask you to let me know as soon as possible in writing if you consent to it or not, so that I can take my measures accordingly. This resolution, if you decide you should take it, should extend at least until we have received the allocation for 1849.

Although I know that those of our dear confreres who live in the bursar's office all behave with a real economy which would be exemplary in ordinary times, I nevertheless urge them to redouble still, if that is possible, their economy, which however I advise you all should be undertaken with prudence, trying not let it affect the objects constituting our food as a rule quite poor in general, and not sufficiently delicate for us to be able to retrench very much without impairing our health.

I pray the Lord to spread his most abundant blessings on your persons and on your work, commending myself, Gentlemen and dear confreres, to your good prayers and to your holy sacrifices in the union of which I love to declare myself

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 8 June 1848)

Sent_0330

Sent_0330 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 juin et le 1er juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0330 - to Mgr Luquet - 8 June and 1 July 1848 -/3

Sent_0330 - à Mgr Luquet - le 8 juin et le 1er juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0330 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 318ss

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 202-203

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

The questions occupying the world do not permit Rome to listen to our voice. I have no relations with the Jesuits. I know little of matters at Pondicherry. I strive to do as well as possible what I have to do in my corner. Consolations of my seminary and of Mr Métral. Great financial difficulties. Mgr Bonnand counts on me for his second synod. Rome permits him to come here and would authorise me to go to Pondicherry. We would go straight to the ruin of our missions. Insubordination of the newcomers in the missions. If you have placed yourself in contradiction with the Holy See, retract. Let us always follow the line of our superiors.

Index : political situation, seminary of Carumattampatty, financial difficulty, change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore), Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 8 June and 1 July 1848

My very dear friend,

I think I have not written to you since 10 December last ; since then I have had the consolation of your two letters of 12 October and of 31 January. I can only explain my long silence to you as a result of the pain weighing continually on my heart at seeing unrecognised still your zeal and your intelligence and delayed, if not wiped out, all hope of solid good in these parts, where we are merely dragging on miserably to the end of our sad careers. I don't have the courage to enter into the questions that you suggest to me. Besides, I could only deal with them very imperfectly by letter ; and apart from that I feel I have neither the strength, when I see that people distrust us so much, etc. It appears that they have come to destroy our principal strength, that of the benevolence of the S.C. Well. We will pass like so many others animated by the desire to do good, and who have been reduced to silence and to inaction.

The questions occupying the world at this moment do not permit Rome to listen to our feeble voice. Accordingly unless Our Lord clearly conveys to me his contrary determination, I am going to fall back more than ever on myself, trying to do the best I can personally, but leaving every question foreign to the little corner of India which I have to look after. In any case, I could not do anything much. We are in a completely false position; and the faults depending on our poor Society come to complete our impotence for the good.

However if it pleased Our Lord that we should be permitted at last to something for the good of the Church, of our Society and of our missions, if he opened up a way whatever that might be, I would embrace it ardently, for it is so painful to see the good and not to be able to hope for it ; to see the causes of the evil and not to be able to remedy it ! I will tell you in confidence that it often happens that I turn my eyes towards Europe, sometimes regretting having left it, however I reject this thought as a temptation, often hoping that I could make people understand some of my thoughts for the good. What do you say?

I will not speak to you either of the Jesuits with whom I have absolutely no relations, nor of Pondicherry where very serious things have happened, but with which I am only imperfectly acquainted, for My Lord of Drusipare tells me very little in his letters, always with very great reserve, and with such coldness that it is almost more than that. What you tell me about H.G. of Chyrra astonishes me, if one should be astonished at anything in this world. As for the other parts of India, I do not even know what is happening there, well assured that it cannot be anything very good, for that is impossible as long as things remain as they are, and the little good that a few persons do will be ephemeral and offset by a great deal of evil. Oh if we could come to an understanding with Rome!... We still have had no reply regarding the division of the vicariates. This is delaying very much, too much even.

I have made a few ecclesiastics who give me great consolation ; but I only have one missionary who really backs me up and that is Mr Métral ; the others vex me more than they will help me I think, except perhaps for one or two of the new ones, but that still remains to be seen. The more I go on, the more convinced I am that the absence of native clergy is not due to the lack of vocations, or to the fault of the Christians, but to that of the missionaries.

To all of these causes of sadness, is joined for me a very great financial embarrassment. Far from any sea port, here everything is extremely expensive. Four new priests who have still not received a viaticum and that have to be fitted out on arriving, the extreme poverty of our Christians whose number has considerably diminished in the last two years, for lack of a living, and a whole crowd of other circumstances mean that I really do not know how we will manage if the aid from Europe comes to be lacking or even to diminish considerably.

I will now end this letter written in fits and starts and which bears the mark of my sadness. But I do not want to let this post go without sending it to you, for you might doubt of my friendship if it was silent for too long. Keep yours for me, and write to me often, I beg you.

Completely yours in the holy hearts of Jesus crowned with thorns and of Mary pierced by the sword of grief.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

Coimbatore, 8 June 1848

Having missed last month's mail, I am adding this note to my earlier letter.

My Lord of Drusipare seems to be drawing closer to me and to understand that I am truly devoted to him, that I never intended to cause him pain, etc. He would like to hold a second synod and he asks me to go and help him. I must admit that all of this really troubles me, for I do not know how to refuse him, and the affairs of India are such that it is very difficult to do some good. What weighs down on us now in the interior is this crowd of new missionaries, who write, who act one on one side, and another on another, believing themselves all to be doctors or prophets and who, knowing that we have no means of holding them back, say and do as they please from the first day that they arrive from France. And we should not delude ourselves about it, this is the principal cause of the great troubles of Pondicherry, which are beginning to spread their ravages here.

My Lord has just notified me of a letter from the S.C. permitting him to come here and to send me to Pondicherry, but while maintaining the powers and jurisdiction over the whole vicariate. This letter is one of the greatest misfortunes that could happen to us because of the false position in which it is going to place us all. For the moment, I don't know where we will end up. We are heading straight for the ruin of our missions.

There is much talk of a letter that you are supposed to have written to the Swiss government in which you put yourself in contradiction with the Holy See. I still have not received the newspapers. I hope that that is not exactly the case and that, since the Lord permitted that you were mistaken once in the difficult matters that you were called upon to deal with, you will not hesitate to retract, and to hold yourself inviolably attached to the cause of the Holy Father, whatever the direction to be taken by public affairs in Europe and whatever your way of seeing or of thinking may be, if it were to depart ever so little from that of Rome.

In that case, I hope that you will be willing to make the sacrifice of your own opinion, practically at least, and until Rome herself has recognised the truth of it and has explicitly authorised you to produce it in public. At a time when subordination is so little known, let us take pride in not doing anything that is not highly approved by our superiors, in this way we will be sure of always doing a good that we would certainly compromise, I do not say by an opposite conduct, but by the appearance even of such conduct.

A Dieu. Pray hard for me.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

1 July 1848

(Coimbatore, 8 June and 1 July 1848)

Sent_0331

Sent_0331 - à M. Pacreau - le 15 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0331 - to Mr Pacreau - 15 June 1848 -/1

Sent_0331 - à M. Pacreau - le 15 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0331 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 195-196

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pacreau)

(apostolic missionary)

Thanks to Mr Pacreau who has just notified him that he accepts the terms of his circular (cf. letter no. 0329).

Index : finances, viaticum

__________

Coimbatore, 15 June 1848

Thanks for the news that he gives me. I ask him, if he learns that the English newspapers contain anything concerning religion, to pass it on to me. It would be very useful for us to have an English newspaper; but we cannot, for the moment, afford it.

Like you, very dear Mr Pacreau, I do not doubt that divine providence will come to our aid whatever happens, in some way, however I am persuaded that she wants us to do all we can for our part : « fac quod in te est et deus adherebit bonae voluntati tuae » (

).

I do not doubt that these are also the inclinations of all my missionaries and of you in particular, above all after the adhesion that you have just given to the conclusions of my circular. I would only have preferred that you had said: "I comply etc. with H.L.'s desire", and not "with the will...".

I am quite aware that in the Nilghiris the missionary may at times find himself more financially stretched than another, though also sometimes less so ; but if it should happen that the first of these two things were to occur, you would I hope inform me of it, and unless I was totally destitute I would come to your aid.

Although I have notified the contents of your letter to Mr de Gélis, I have told him to count this quarter on 60 rupees, seeing that otherwise you might be embarrassed, not having expected in advance a reduction and because of the expenses occasioned by your horse.

Matters at Palghat.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 15 June 1848)

Sent_0332

Sent_0332 - à M. Barrot - le 17 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0332 - to Mr Barot - 17 June 1848 -/1

Sent_0332 - à M. Barrot - le 17 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0332 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 197

(to Mr Jean-Baptiste Barot)

(apostolic missionary)

Prohibition until fresh order of giving blows. He should give up all dealings with Atticodou, but attend to Codively.

Index : gentleness, corporal punishment

__________

Coimbatore, 17 June 1848

Affairs of Atticodou. He is relieved of the care of this district. Mr Métral will take it over. He should send in the statement of account of the churches.

I feel I have to tell you here that it is with the utmost pain that I am acquiring more and more the sad conviction that your conduct has been far from conforming with article 9 of our regulations.

Since the use of blows, always dangerous, would seem to expose you more than others to violating the unalterable virtue of gentleness which should accompany all of our actions, even the most severe, I forbid you absolutely to use violence until new order.

He should take care of Codively at least until his withdrawal.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 17 June 1848)

Sent_0333

Sent_0333 - à M. Bonjean - le 17 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0333 - to Mr Bonjean - 17 June 1848 /1

Sent_0333 - à M. Bonjean - le 17 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0333 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 197-198

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

He accepts the terms of the circular (cg. Letter no. 329). If we are in dire straits, I will consult with my missionaries. Continue your care of the children of the seminary.

Il accepte les termes de la circulaire (cf. lettre n° 329). Si vous sommes dans une gêne extraordinaire, je consulterai tous mes missionnaires. Continuez vos soins aux enfants du séminaire.

Index : finances, viaticum, counsel

__________

Coimbatore, 17 June 1848

[...] I am very satisfied with your answer. I mean by the allocation for 1848 the one already announced, and by that of 1849 the following one. It goes without saying that the right to request money after at least three months is not for once or twice, but for the whole time that this resolution applies, until we receive the whole viaticum from Paris and are not within the terms of article 5 of chapter XII of the regulations. As to the savings resulting from this way of proceeding, I hope that the missionaries will have the same trust in me that I have in them, there will be no personal account, but together with the money from the bursar's office, it will serve the general needs according to circumstances.

If the good God sends us the trial of real financial difficulty, I cannot say what I will do then, it will depend on a thousand and one accidents which may arise. If I found myself now in that situation, I would consult with all of my missionaries in order to obtain their opinions and then I would take the line that I would believe before God to be the most salutary. But we are not at that point yet.

Since Mr Métral will soon be obliged to return to Atticodou, I ask him to continue his benevolent care of the children of the seminary. Mr Barot will be entrusted with Codively.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 17 June 1848)

Sent_0334

Sent_0334 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 juin 1848 -/3

Sent 0334 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 June 1848 /3

Sent_0334 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 juin 1848 -/3

Sent 0334 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 169-173

copy, AMA 2F6, pp 198-199

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare) (

)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Attitudes of Mr Barot at Atticodou. Dispatch of Mr Métral, the only one capable of doing something. Regarding a report to be sent to Rome (on the Indian usages), let us be in no hurry. Let us try to establish several hypotheses containing all the various opinions. We must write to each other and meet up before writing this report. He goes on to give two reasons for delaying the synod and perhaps, at the time of the retreat, replacing it by a general council. How to do this. Dispatch of a copy of his latest circular.

Index : synod, collaboration, Rome, Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, 18 June 1848

My Lord,

I would have liked to communicate to you yesterday two ideas that your letter of 11 June suggested to me. I was prevented from doing so by the arrival of Mr Métral whom I had sent to see how things were going in the district of Atticodou. The schism is well established there and I do not really know how or when it will go, because it is the chiefs of the pangou themselves who sent for a schismatic priest and took steps to obtain yet another one. Mr B. has so soured spirits by incredible excesses of severity that, not only can he not return to that pangou, but the position of the other missionaries promises to be very difficult there too. It is true that most of the chiefs now realise that they made a mistake in calling for the schismatic priest, but their honour is involved, the priest is there, and it is very difficult for them to go back on their steps.

However, remorse is still very keen in the hearts of the most guilty, and if we let things go, the schism will very probably go on for a long time and could have disastrous consequences for the rest of my mission where the old rivalries of those for or against the priests of Pondicherry are still not forgotten. All of this has made me decide to send Mr Métral once more to that pangou for an indefinite time. He is the only one who could hope to obtain some degree of success, for the others are either too violent or too young, except for Mr Pacreau who is nailed to his bed at Ootacamund since his return from Bangalore. Mr Bonjean still has not shaken off his fever. As a temporary measure, I am going to entrust him with the seminary, which will necessarily suffer thereby, for he is young still and does not know enough Tamoul. But let us come to the question now.

I have seen with very great pleasure that Y.L. has taken into consideration what I told you in a report to Rome, but it seems to me that we should take care not to be too hasty, and mature this step well in order for it to assure us a truly solid result. A simple letter, however detailed it might be and however im partial it might appear, would not be sufficient. Moreover, supposing that in Rome something is decided, we will not be very much further forward if this decision does not involve the conviction of an explanation which perfectly clarifies the question. And that will be inevitable; people will say (and, if they do not say it, will think) that you or I have written according to the dominant thought in our hearts or our intelligence with which, in the times in which we live, people will feel themselves less than ever obliged to conform.

Finally, the thing is too serious to hope that Rome will give a decision such as that we would need, on a simple exposition of this kind ; either it will not reply, or it will reply in an evasive manner that will not advance our cause in any way. Accordingly I beg Y.L. not to be overhasty, but to mature the question further and to reflect on the different ways we have available to arrive at a happy ending.

Among those which come to my mind since I have been reflecting on our ruinous position on this point, that which seems the safest to me is to establish two or three hypotheses which are the sincere expression of different opinions, and to pose on each of them a series of questions enclosing the essence of the system with the good and bad results which would probably follow, then to submit each of these questions either to each missionary, or to a certain number of them only (I have still not decided on this question, of whether it would be better to submit them to all or only to the most experienced missionaries), after having received their oath that they will express in conscience their most intimate persuasion.

And since here more than ever sentiments should be ponderanda et non muneranda, a table will be sent to Rome at the same time as these answers, which would indicate the age, character, present and past functions, etc., of each subject. All of this would be accompanied by a report to the S.C. on our present state, on the need to get out of it, etc. The only thing that I would dread in the implementation of this plan would be that our investigation on questions irritating for the people might become known outside and might revolutionise spirits even further.

Perhaps there might be some means of avoiding this danger, but it would be necessary in all cases to reflect carefully on this in advance and not to be overhasty. The only thing that Y.L. could do at this moment, if you believe my thinking to be good, would be to clearly explain our position to Rome, asking it to take some final measure to get us out of it. Once more this letter seems to me to perhaps imply various drawbacks that it would be too long to explain here, and I would be in favour, since Y.L. expresses the friendly wish that I should deal with grave matters concerning both of us at this time, of our writing to each other from time to time before you address yourself to Rome on this subject, and even more, of talking with you, if that were possible.

The second thing on which I want to communicate my idea to you is related to the question of putting off the synod planned by Y.L. You are aware, My Lord, that the missionaries distrust us on this point and that they accuse us of fearing to see them gathered together. This is not true of course, however there is something real in it because of the false step that has sometimes been followed in these meetings, and which has given the superiors reason to dread the consequences that they might imply. I see two causes for that: the first, is that we were not prepared to deal with the questions that the circumstances raised, besides each attributing himself the right of placing new topics on the table. Whence, there arose a real confusion sometimes painful and always ruinous, both because the questions had not been studied, and because the less urgent ones often took up the time that should have been devoted to the more serious ones, which at times passed unperceived or were merely skimmed over.

The second cause arises from the fact that the burse footed the bill for these meetings, whereas it is so natural that each person should contribute to them, as an immediate consequence of the division of the viaticums. If we all had the fortune to live in the bursar's office, this reason would disappear, for, whether the bursar's office keeps its missionaries separated or together, it would come down to the same; but if there are those of them that take their viaticum, it is clear that, while they are gathered together, they should be on the same footing as those living in the bursar's office, and the financial dilemma would disappear.

Now, it seems to me that it would be easy for Y.L. to remedy these two evils. The present circumstances favour us even as regards the second, and from whatever side we consider the meeting, for if it is a synod, chapters 6 and 7 de synodo diocesana, book V, show clearly that no synod has ever been held at the bishop's expense; (here, the bursar's office is the bishop, to whom alone the administration of funds falls); if it is a retreat, the example of ecclesiastic retreats in France is there during which each participant pays his expenses, even if he only attends for one day.

As for the first drawback which is so serious that, with it, it is doubtful if a meeting will be ad aedificationem or ad destructionem, if it is a true synod, it cannot exist, the work of Benedict XIV provides for this ; if it is a consultative meeting, before or after a retreat, it seems to me that we should write in advance to all the missionaries that a general council will take place in which the most urgent matters will be dealt with, asking each missionary to let us know what he would like to see considered. Once all these desires have been made known, hold a preparatory council which could be the ordinary bishop's council, to which it would be well to add one or two counsellors more to judge which of these questions it is advisable not to deal with, and the order in which they will be considered.

Having done that, notify the missionaries on these matters, so that they can prepare to deal with them, informing them that we will not pass on to the second until the first has been completely dealt with and so on, reserving those which might remain for another occasion, since the meeting should not last more than a few days. By doing that, it seems to me that there should not be any drawbacks for Y.L. to bring together your missionaries this year, especially since the financial and other drawbacks will in all probability merely increase as time goes on, and that if there was not a meeting for a long time, that could produce a bad effect.

Now, instead of a true synod, would it not be better to convene the missionaries for a short council only, followed or preceded by a retreat ? I would tend to believe this, and we would have more time to prepare for a true synod, for the good execution of which this meeting itself would be of great help. So there, My Lord, is what I wanted to notify to you as promptly as possible, asking you to have me for life as

Your very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. At this instant I have received a letter from Mr Tesson, dated 8 May. He gives me grave news that Y.L. will know better than me from the newspapers that I only receive through the Madras steamer.

I have the honour of sending you enclosed herewith copy of a circular that I have just addressed to my missionaries. I still have not received all the answers, but those that I have make me hope that they will do honour to my missionaries.

(Coimbatore, 18 June 1848)

Sent_0335

Sent_0335 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 juin 1848/2

Sent 0335 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 June 1848/2

Sent_0335 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 juin 1848/2

Sent 0335 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 175-176 + 178

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 200

Brésillac extracts, AMA 2F3, p 1541

"Souvenirs", p 784

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

After having received copy of a letter from the S.C . relative to the change between Pondicherry and Coimbatore of Mgr Bonnand and Mgr de Brésillac, the latter asks Mgr Bonnand to maintain the most absolute secrecy on this letter until they meet up. Outwardly, let us continue as if nothing has changed.

Index : change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore)

__________

Coimbatore, 19 June 1848

My Lord,

I went to reflect before God on what I could write to Rome to avoid being placed in Pondicherry, and how I could go about it so that this step did not pain you, when your letter of 14th arrived with copy of that of the S.C. dated 15 February. Immediately the pen fell out of my hand and I will not write anything until I have seen you.

All that I can say to you in the distress overwhelming me at this moment, is :

1) the letter from the S.C. must be kept strictly secret until we have seen each other.

2) I hope that, after carefully considering things before God once more, as the S.C. asks you to do, and after bearing in mind particular circumstances which did not exist when Y.L. wrote, and finally those created by this letter itself, you will be as convinced as me that, at least for the moment, it is extremely important for us not to give even the slightest impression that we know this answer.

3) If this letter comes to the knowledge of even the best missionaries, it will be a source of perplexity, discouragement and perhaps more than that in the three missions. Accordingly I will not speak of it even to Mr Métral and I beg you to require the utmost secrecy of those to whom Y.L. may have communicated it.

4) It seems that Y.L. would do well to continue to prepare your synod, or your meeting, according to the views that I proposed yesterday, and to call me there on the same terms and in the same way as you would do otherwise, whatever you intentions for the future are.

5) I hope I do not need to prove to you that I have nothing to do with anything Mgr Luquet may have done to whom I have not written a word since 10 December last. It seems that he is going astray. Let us pray God that he will find the way back.

Finally, My Lord, more than ever, let us be united in heart and in action, having before our eyes only the little good that we can do, and let it be known in Rome, as in Paris and in the mission, that the closest charity reigns between you and me. That if, despite my convictions, you order something, that I have merely to obey, however I beg you not to order before we have had the opportunity of meeting.

More than ever, I commend myself to your prayers and ask you to believe me

Your very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I wrote the day before yesterday to Mgr Charbonnaux, asking him to send me extracts of his letter to the S.C.

(Coimbatore, 19 June 1848)

Sent_0336

Sent_0336 - à Mgr Canoz - le 25 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0336 - to Mgr Canoz - 25 June 1848 -/1

Sent_0336 - à Mgr Canoz - le 25 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0336 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 201-202

(to Mgr Alexis Canoz, sj, bishop of Tamas)

(apostolic vicar of Trichinopoly or Madurai)

Best wishes for the first anniversary of your consecration. Sad situation of Europe.

Index : political situation, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 25 June 1848

One year has already passed since I had the honour of seeing you in a very solemn circumstance. Allow me to celebrate the anniversary of that great day, with you, at least by letter, since I cannot do so otherwise, and above all by a redoubling of wishes and prayers for Y.L. I trust that Y.L. always reserves a place for me in yours, and that you will remember me in a particular way before the Lord on the day of holy saints Peter and Paul.

What sad events have occurred since we then met! And can we hope to see an end to them soon? What will be the destiny of our holy religion in Europe and as an indirect consequence that of our missions ? What a sad future can we expect to foresee! However, let us hope that God will come to the aid of his children and that he will not permit the test to be beyond our strength.

Kindly convey my friendly greetings to all the Reverend Fathers at Trichinopoly and particularly to those whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, I have the honour, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 25 June 1848)

Sent_0337

Sent_0337 - à M. Vanthier - le 26 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0337 - to Mr Vanthier - 26 June 1848 -/1

Sent_0337 - à M. Vanthier - le 26 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0337 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 202

(to Mr Louis Vanthier)

(apostolic missionary)

Thanks for your adhesion to the circular. Reproaches on having left the vicariate without authorisation.

Index : regulations, viatic\um

__________

Coimbatore, 26 June 1848

I thank him for his adhesion to article 2 of my circular. Affairs of his mission.

I cannot help saying that I it is with considerable pain that I have learned that you left for Trichinopoly without having requested permission to do so, thereby going both against the regulations and against the respectable usage of never leaving the vicariate for several days on end without permission, save very serious circumstances such as an illness suffered, etc. This news greatly diminished my joy at receiving your letters. By writing to ask for permission, your journey would only have been delayed by a few short days.

Will he convey my friendly greetings to all the Reverend Fathers he has the occasion of seeing.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 June 1848)

Sent_0338

Sent_0338 - à M. Barrot - le 27 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0338 - M. Barot - 27 June 1848 -/1

Sent_0338 - à M. Barrot - le 27 juin 1848 -/1

Sent 0338 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 202

(to Mr Jean-Baptiste Barot)

(apostolic missionary)

He is up to his old tricks again at Codively... Follow instead the model of the respectable missionaries of old, instead of criticising them.

Index : grief, reproach

__________

Coimbatore, 27 June 1848

His letter of the 25th did little to edify me. There is no need for him to be embarrassed at the doings of the pangou ; he is only there to replace Mr Bonjean who is the regular parish priest of the pangou. The grief I felt on hearing of his latest impulsive act at Codively.

Where will you end up if you continue in this way ? You would do better to follow the example of the respectable missionaries of old whose conduct you criticise so lightly, since you would benefit doubly thereby and would not cause me so much pain.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 27 June 1848)

Sent_0339

Sent_0340 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire - le 1er juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0339 - to Mr Tesson - 1 July 1848 /2

Sent_0340 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire - le 1er juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0339 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 32

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 204

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Suspend all purchases, except of the red cloth : the new missionaries wear red shoes. Pain at what you tell me about Mgr Luquet: he never admits that he is wrong. His impressions on his missionaries: Barot, Pajean, Pacreau, De Gélis and Bonjean.,

Index : my missionaries, Mgr Luquet

__________

Coimbatore, 1 July 1848 ()

.

My dear Mr Tesson,

Last month I wanted to write to ask you to suspend all purchases for Coimbatore if you had not yet carried out our errands. I missed the post and your letter which arrived via Bombay confirmed that I would not have been in time.

I am annoyed at having used the word piece for the red cloth, for it is one of the things of which we will have greatest need, because here it is very expensive, and we use a lot of it since all the new missionaries have taken to wearing red shoes. Although we are so poor and foresee being so for a long while to come, would you please buy and send us as soon as possible a chalice all in silver, the value of which does not exceed 100 francs. I have received this sum for a church which does not altogether trust the fidelity of the missionaries and, if that were no longer forthcoming, we would pass for...

What you tell me about Mgr Luquet grieves me sorely. I await with impatience the details and the continuation. I must admit that there is one thing that frightens me about Mgr Luquet, and that is to see that he never admits he is wrong or has been wrong in anything. I often had occasion to tell him that I was far from approving him on such or such a point. At which he did not answer me, or else he skirted round the question. I hope that the good God will do him the grace of not deviating from the straight path.

You will see by the letter I am writing to the directors that all is not well here. The poor Mr Barot does us great harm, and I cannot see a single good that he has done since he has been in India. I very much fear that Mr Pajean does more harm than good. Mr Pacreau is at the end of the road, he has been sick for the last 6 months, and will never be capable of carrying out the mission proper any more.

Of the four newcomers, I only have well grounded hope in Mr de Gélis. The others are children who have acquired certain impressions produced by imprudent correspondence, etc, etc. Mr Bonjean would however seem solidly virtuous, but he is so young ! I would hope great things of him if he were 30. Besides, his health is very poor and affords me serious fears; I even fear that his nerves may be affected and that there is some danger for his head. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I am awaiting the newspapers impatiently.

(Coimbatore, 1 July 1848)

Sent_0340

Sent_0340 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire - le 1er juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0340 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 1 July 1848 /3

Sent_0340 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire - le 1er juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0340 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 33

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 204-205

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

If the future allocation is slight, do not send any new missionaries. Mr Barot's attitude. Can the seminary of Paris pay for his return journey? Mr Pajean is also posing problems for me. A word on each of the other missionaries. The reasons I would have for not going to the future synod of Pondicherry. I will do my utmost not to go and replace Mgr Bonnand at Pondicherry.

Index : my missionaries, change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore), synod, finances

__________

Coimbatore, 1 July 1848 ()

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

One month ago I received your letter of 17 April. This announces our slight allocation for this year, and inspires in us fears for the following year. I have the honour of sending you enclosed herewith copy of a circular letter that this state of things inspired me to write.

You go on to promise me the complement of the missionaries requested for Coimbatore. While I am extremely grateful to you for this, I would however beg you not to send them if you are not morally sure of continuing to send us at least the viaticums; for since we have no local resources here, it would be impossible for us to maintain ourselves without that. Moreover, even if you did think you could continue to send us the viaticums, I would ask you to delay their departure so that they will not have to wait a long while before being in a position to receive them, as happened for the four new missionaries. We had such need of subjects that I do not regret the sacrifice imposed by their arrival so far from the time when the viaticums are sent out, however it would be impossible to do this again.

I would like to have nothing but good news to give you on my collaborators ; but there is one on whose account I have nothing but very sad things to tell, and that is Mr Barot. As you know, this missionary never satisfied either My Lord of Drusipare or myself; however just lately he has allowed himself to take unbelievably harsh actions which have ended up by completely alienating the Christians of the second district of the mission who, already tired by his way of acting, refused to have anything more to do with him and called for the schismatic priest.

It was impossible for me to parry this blow without sacrificing the honour of this missionary, but by wishing to spare him I avoided neither one nor the other misfortune. So that he was obliged to leave and, no sooner had he gone to Codively, the main town of the third district, than he abandoned himself to another impulsive act, etc, etc. I can see no way of keeping this missionary. Not only is he incapable of doing any good, but he compromises his confreres and indisposes the Christians communities against us. I do not have any hope that My Lord of Drusipare would be prepared to take him on, and dare not propose it to him even, since he has already refused him more than once. Accordingly I believe that he will have to be sent back home. I am sure that if you offer to pay his passage, he will accept very promptly, while foregoing any pension from the Society.

So that I would request you to authorise me or to authorise Mr Pouplin to provide him with a passage payable by the Seminary of Paris, for it is impossible for our mission to incur this expense. I did not understand, some time ago, the answer that you gave me, when I wrote to you about him on completion of the two years that had elapsed since his arrival in India. I asked you then not to include him yet in the number of the missionaries belonging to the body of the association, nor Mr Laugier either. You answered me that you could not change anything with regard to them, however it seems to me that, in order to be received, it is not sufficient to have spent the two years, but that they must have spent them to the satisfaction and with the approval of their superiors. I have never given that approval.

The same goes for Mr Pajean who is about to complete his two years. I cannot approve of his conduct, nor agree to his being included on the registers of the body. My Lord of Drusipare gave him to me in exchange for Mr Laugier. Knowing that he was hot-headed, I begged H.L. to give me someone else. My Lord felt he could not do so. So that he came, and I was very pleased with him for a few months; but for some time now, his conduct is not acceptable, and if he is unable to correct himself, his lack of humility and of abnegation will lead him to such a point that it would be more advantageous not to have him. However he is quite resourceful; but it seems to me that, with any such subjects we should say that they have not behaved with sufficient prudence during these two years to deserve to be received, and that they still need a further trial period. Such an example would also be useful, I believe, for several others of the newcomers.

Finally, I would like to see that when they are received, they are sent by Paris an official communication of their inclusion on the registers, and that they are only treated as members of the mission body on receipt of this. You may do what you consider is best with this idea, but kindly let me know whether Mr Pajean is received or not.

Messrs Pacreau and Bonjean have still not recovered fully from their illness contracted in January. I fear above all for the latter; he learned Tamoul in an instant; but I very much dread the climate of India on him. His piety is maintained, but he is very young. As yet I feel I can say nothing regarding Messrs. Vanthier and Bruyère. Mr de Gélis is learning Tamoul with great difficulty; providing he does not become discouraged; however I don't doubt but that he will come to learn it. From all points of view, I have nothing but consolations from him. I have sent Mr Métral (whose extraordinary virtue is above all praise) to try to make up for Mr Barot's faults; meanwhile the seminary is going to suffer greatly from his absence.

I would not speak to you of matters at Pondicherry which do not concern me if My Lord had not just informed me of a letter in which he will be given the power of coming here and of sending me to administer that sad Christian community. I hope that this will not take place. I will do all I can to avoid such a misfortune falling on me; for I tell you frankly, I cannot see the way to doing any good, with so many new missionaries, who no sooner set foot in India than they behave as if they are outside of authority, without the latter having any other means except extreme ones to oppose such licentious ideas and such personal presumption. Initum sapientiae timor (). Now if we are to make ourselves feared, we have nothing either to make people hope of us or to take from us. Opinions? I have still not given or seen given a single one that was received with humility, I would say almost with respect. It always gives rise to a long apologetic letter!

Before receiving the letter from the S.C. of which I spoke to you, My Lord of Drusipare had had the project of convening a second synod, and H.L. had written to me asking me to go and prepare the subjects with him, and to be the very soul of this synod. I had answered that I could refuse him nothing, but that however several serious reasons appeared to oppose the holding of this synod at this moment, that a simple meeting of missionaries on the occasion of a retreat would seem to me more practicable; that for serious reasons I would desire not to appear there or at least not to be its soul ; that I would submit all these reasons to his appreciation and to that of the grave persons that he is in a position to consult, but that in any case I would do as he commanded.

I am still awaiting his answer, as well as that to the letter that I wrote to him the same day that I was informed of the letter from Rome, in which I expressed to him the profound sadness this news caused in me, and the hope that, after reflecting on it at greater length before the Lord, H.L. himself would see the inadvisability and danger of such a step to which I would feel myself obliged in conscience to refuse my consent insofar as it depends on me.

I beg you to kindly answer me as soon as possible regarding Mr Barot who I no longer know what to do with and to believe me in the union of your prayers and of your holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 1 July 1848)

Sent_0341

Sent_0341 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0341 - to Mgr Bonnand - 9 July 1848 -/3

Sent_0341 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0341 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 181-186

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 206-209

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding the change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore) between Mgr Bonnand and Mgr de Brésillac. For the moment, we absolutely need to meet. I am the younger, so it's up to me to make the move; I will go to Pondicherry as soon as you give me the sign. Question of the final division of the three vicariates and of the effects on the allocation of Paris. What you could do to change your future synod into a simple meeting. I beg you not to reveal the main reason for my journey to Pondicherry.

Index : change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore), vicariate (division), synod

__________

Coimbatore, 9 July 1848

My Lord,

Yesterday I received your good letter of the 30th ; it gave me both a great deal of pleasure and of pain ; I will explain what I mean:

I see with satisfaction that Y.L. is entering into the idea which alone, it seems to me, could get us out of the false position we find ourselves in regarding the exercise of our ministry, and which is one of the principal causes of the ruinous division existing between the missionaries. Its execution will be difficult, but not impossible I think, providing you and I come to a clear understanding.

But then I see that you are going to put an obstacle in its way from the outset, if Y.L. does not take it upon yourself to make no use of the last letter that you have received from Rome, and if you do not take all the necessary measures for the revocation at least of its terms which themselves revoke those of the previous letters of the S.C., and which undermine the division of the three missions. I feel I have to say this to you without an afterthought: here there is quite enough (knowing the dispositions of various missionaries and of the directors of Paris) to cause the ruin of our three missions.

The first effect will be to strike a mortal blow at Coimbatore, whether Y.L. comes here, or not, and the indirect consequence will fall on Pondicherry without giving it any advantage. Believe me, My Lord, believe me before what I say takes place; for then you and I would be left with nothing but vain regrets.

In my last letter, I asked five things of Y.L. : you promise me only the last of them, and as for the others, not only do you seem prepared to make use of them, but Y.L. feels it necessary to start as from today, as I see clearly from your last letter. This gives me the greatest pain.

Besides, My Lord, I realise that it is impossible to deal by correspondence with everything we have to consider together at this moment. It is absolutely necessary for us to see each other. Where and when? I do not see why Y.L. should inconvenience yourself. I am the younger; it is up to me to walk. Besides, we will at times need the opinion of certain of those confreres whose experience and piety have won them your trust and mine. If we were alone, it appears to me certain that, neither you nor I would convince ourselves whereas perhaps we both need to make some concessions and some sacrifices, although it seems to me that, as far as I am concerned, I have the evidence.

So I will come to you in Pondicherry. When? In the position in which the Seminary of Paris finds itself, one month's delay could compromise everything. The benevolence it has always shown to Coimbatore will cool once it sees that we are procrastinating on its complete separation from Pondicherry, and next year, we will have perhaps 5,500 francs of supplement for the three vicariates. So I will leave as soon as possible, that is to say, at the end of this month or the beginning of next. I hope that Y.L. will not place any obstacle in the way; I await your answer impatiently so as to fix the day for departure.

If I could, I would bring Mr Métral with me. He is truly a man of God; his advice could be extremely useful to us. Unfortunately, that will be impossible, since he is in the mission of Palghat where things...

... (here, the top of page 183 is unusable) ...

... ruined (his ?) efforts there. No sooner did this poor missionary arrive at Codively, where I sent him to prepare the feast, than he took another ill advised action. This missionary can no longer continue in the mission. I have written about this to the Gentlemen of Paris. Mr Pacreau, whose character you know, cannot stay alone with young people, some of whom also have their own ideas, etc.

I was utterly amazed to see in the letter in common that you only have 5,500 francs of supplement. Without knowing your internal difficulties, I wondered how you could manage. Nevertheless, it seems to me that Y.L. cannot at this point postpone the meeting of the missionaries. Besides, by retaining the viaticum corresponding to the time they remain in Pondicherry, the expenses will not be any greater. If there are 30 missionaries, the bursar's office can easily arrange not to spend more than 20 rupees per day.

Hereafter not advice, but an idea which I take the liberty of suggesting to Y.L. : it seems to me that in your place, I would write a circular letter to say to the missionaries:

l) that your intention expressed in the letters of February was to hold a synod in January, and to offer them at the same time the benefit of a general retreat ;

2) that the serious matters which have arisen since, etc. etc., prevent you from holding this synod ;

3) that however you do not wish to deprive them of the retreat which is still possible, nor to deprive yourself of a general council on the particular affairs of the mission, at a time when more than ever we need to gather our thoughts so as to proceed with prudence in the hard position which may very shortly arise for us ;

4) that accordingly you invite your missionaries to go on this retreat which will begin on such and such a day and will last for so long, and to inform you of the subjects they would like to see dealt with in this council which will last two days in four sessions ;

5) that if the synod had taken place, you would have called me, as well as Mgr Charbonnaux but that, foregoing for the moment the synod (which hopefully will only be postponed), you will merely call on me to give the retreat, if it is your intention that I give it, as I seemed to understand from your earlier letters. Finally, instead of the synod for January, you would call the retreat for September or October 1848.

In this way, it seems to me that Y.L. would satisfactorily conciliate spirits and prepare them for the general reconciliation which, I hope, will take place in the retreat. The Malabars would have nothing to object ; the main reason for my journey to Pondicherry would be hidden, which is important to the utmost degree, My Lord, as I urge you to realise, for you and for me, or rather, for Pondicherry and Coimbatore whose interest are more ours than those concerning our persons. I hope that Y.L. will see fit to reply straightway and to believe in the unalterable attachment with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Y.L. says nothing about my circular. I am pleased to inform you that it succeeded perfectly. Two only had made...

(here 5 words are illegible on the Original)

... they have withdrawn them.

(Coimbatore, 9 July 1848)

Sent_0342

Sent_0342 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 12 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0342 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 12 July 1848 -/1

Sent_0342 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 12 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0342 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 208-209

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Question of the viaticum sent by Paris which does not seem to be the same for all the missionaries. How such an inequality could be explained among the confreres. It is true that in certain posts, salaries are envisaged. Perfect equality would be better.

Index : equality, viaticum

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1848

I explain to him how there is no error in the common letter.

I do not know why they have counted you only 7 viaticums instead of 9. I think this must be because the missionaries of Bangalore and of Mysore receive their salaries, for I see also that at Pondicherry too they do not give as many viaticums as there are missionaries. This is something that I find unjust and which I would feel all the more inclined to complain about since I am perfectly disinterested.

It seems to me that they should in any case send out all the viaticums in full and have regard in the figure of the supplement only to the resources afforded by the salaries to the mission. It is true that this should be a resource for the mission and not for a missionary. I have never been able to understand why a missionary should receive more than his confreres whatever his position. For it is well for equality and fraternity to be the rule between us, not in words but in fact.

Besides, all posts should be the same for each missionary ; now they are no longer so if one receives a viaticum or a salary, whatever their name, more considerable than that of his confreres. If things are thus, the conduct of the council of Paris is reasonable, just and necessary. It is true that this does not concern us; but since it is a (cause) of much harm arising elsewhere, instead of much good that could ensue from a complete equality in the different positions of the missionaries, and that besides this harm or good could happen for you, I felt it my duty as a good confrere to convey my idea to you. I hope that you won't resent this.

I would not be astonished to be obliged to make a journey shortly to Pondicherry, which inconveniences me considerably. Result of my circular.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1848)

Sent_0343

Sent_0343 - à M. de Kérizouët - le 12 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0343 - to Mr de Kérizouët - 12 July 1848 -/1

Sent_0343 - à M. de Kérizouët - le 12 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0343 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 209

(to Mr Antoine de Kérizouët)

(apostolic missionary)

Letter of friendship and of news.

Index : friendship, news

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1848

I thought he was dead ! Here everything proceeds as usual.

However it appears that a fresh storm is preparing over my head ; but I am accustomed for so long now to the thunder and the flashes of lightning that I am not surprised. I have confidence in God for whom my desires, my work and my difficulties have been, and I await from him my reward elsewhere than in this world of contradictions.

News of the various missionaries of Coimbatore.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1848)

Sent_0344

Sent_0344 - à M. Bruyère - le 12 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0344 - to Mr Bruyère - 12 July 1848 -/1

Sent_0344 - à M. Bruyère - le 12 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0344 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 209 bis

(to Mr Jean-Claude Bruyère)

(apostolic missionary)

Thanks for having accepted the terms of my circular. Progress of the schism.

Index : viaticum, finances

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1848

I have just received his letters.

I hope that the good God will bless the truly apostolic act that all my beloved collaborators have just made. It is no small consolation for me. However, you should not wait to ask for your viaticum since you have nothing else to bite into.

Question of the schism. I send him newspapers, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1848)

Sent_0345

Sent_0345 - à M. Leroux - le 15 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0345 - to Mr Leroux - 15 July 1848 -/1

Sent_0345 - à M. Leroux - le 15 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0345 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 210

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

I send him back his correspondence with Mgr Luquet. I do not want to run the risk of darkening the good climate now reigning between Mgr Bonnand and myself. We should be prudent for the moment regarding Indian usages. One day, the road we have to follow will become clear.

Index : Mgr Luquet, trust, Indian usages, prudence

__________

Coimbatore, 15 July 1848

Once more I am sending you the packet of letters that you were kind enough to communicate to me ; do not feel hurt at this, I will tell you the reason very briefly. For some time now, My Lord of Drusipare evinces a certain trust in me which I would like to be able to use for the good of us all, to arrive finally at a result meeting all desires, all opinions, all systems, and in accordance with order and agreement with authority. For this end, it is very important, as you will realise, not to do anything that could shock him, which would not fail to happen, if he knew, as he would end up by doing, that you pass your correspondence with Mgr Luquet through Coimbatore.

I urge him to proceed gradually and to suspend any practical actions contained in his resolutions.

I hope that by the grace of God we will not remain for long in the false position we are in regarding the exercise of the holy ministry. I will refrain from saying who is wrong and who is right; indeed I may say that I have no clear idea on this count, since what has happened in the last year and a half has so changed my convictions, however things cannot remain there. Meanwhile, it seems to me that we must be very prudent, and not allow any doubts we may have to show to the Malabars, for if we were not right, we would destroy without hope of rebuilding, and if we are right, we would gain a great deal by having abstained until everyone is obliged to proceed in agreement with us.

Thanks for his offering to the seminary.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 15 July 1848)

Sent_0346

Sent_0346 - circulaire à ses missionnaires - le 21 juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0346 - circular to his missionarires - 21 July 1848 -/3

Sent_0346 - circulaire à ses missionnaires - le 21 juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0346 copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 34 ()

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 211-212 + 215-217

(circular to his missionaries)

You have all accepted the three proposals of my circular of 8 June. These are the dates of our future retreat (13-20 September). Generally, each annual retreat will be followed by a council of all the missionaries of the mission. The general rules to be observed for every council. An idea of the agenda of this year's meeting (21 and 22 September). I intend to bless our new seminary on Rosary day. If you can come, do.

Index : finances, retreat, general meeting, seminary of Carumattampatty

__________

Coimbatore, 21 July 1848

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

I was eager to notify you of the result of the circular that I addressed to you on 8 June. It does you too much honour, Gentlemen, for it not to be a real pleasure for me.

I regret that the extent of some of your answers prevents me from giving them textually. Each of you would see with joy that the apostolic sentiments which inspired his answer are variously reproduced by his confreres with practically all of them coming together in the case in point. Accordingly suffice it for me to tell you here that you have all accepted my three conclusions, proclaiming them, if not unanimously, by a large majority, highly appropriate and very useful at least in the present circumstances.

I only delayed so long, Gentlemen, in informing you of my edification on this point because I hoped at the same time to be able to fix the date of our forthcoming retreat and of a general council that will follow it, proposing besides to establish the rules of conduct for this kind of council, so that we may be permitted to hope always for good, without ever having to dread any regrettable effects from it.

Perhaps this term will astonish you and you will wonder how it can be that one ever had to regret the consequences of these meetings to which everyone brings his desire for the utmost good, where everyone explains his way of thinking with the holy liberty due from confreres all animated by the spirit of their condition. Nevertheless it may happen, Gentlemen, and that is what we have to guard against. For there is no good thing that does not also imply certain drawbacks and dangers. These drawbacks should be foreseen before they occur, so as not to have to deplore them once they come to pass.

Now, there are three principal causes which may make these sorts of councils often useless and sometimes dangerous. I will summarise then in these three words: ignorance, untimeliness and disorder.

Ignorance. This is present when the members of the council, not knowing in advance what they will be dealing with, have not had the opportunity of studying any aspect of the difficulties they are required to solve. It often happens that, even in the simplest deliberations, one may be surprised, give one's opinion haphazardly, be too quickly impressed by the opinion of the confreres with whom one is dealing, or all too hastily conclude, without due consideration to the probability of their opinions.

Untimeliness. Tempus tacendi et tempus loquendi (). There is no question or administration so small that this divine oracle does not find its application. The best proposals require us to consider whether the time is ripe for making them or even speaking of them. Every wise man must therefore guard against the fault of talking too much or merely too fast. Well, this fault could insinuate itself even despite ourselves into these councils, if each of us thought he could propose here all sorts of things on a momentary impression.

Disorder. It is reasonable and useful for questions to be dealt with according to the order indicated by the general needs of the mission, by the dimension of the difficulties on which the superior consulting his missionaries calls their attention, finally by the gravity of the questions proposed. Otherwise, precious time may be wasted, we may deal at length with trifles, discussing for hours on futile incidents, while grave questions have not been dealt with, which is regrettable, or else only superficially considered, which is often even more so.

To avoid these faults and benefit from the contrary advantages, here, Gentlemen and dear confreres, is the procedure we will follow in the councils that I will convene each year, as far as possible, according to the desire expressed in our regulations, and in any other similar councils.

Either by means of a circular, or else by individual letters, I will notify you, somewhat in advance, of the time decided for holding the council. I will indicate the questions on which the missionaries' attention will be focused, and since I may require the benefit of their opinions on any point I might not have envisaged, I will invite them ordinarily to let me know if they wish to see some other question proposed to the council.

After having been made acquainted with their desires, I will submit these to my private council, to which I will add another missionary, if at all possible, so as to judge of their appropriateness and the order of the subjects. Immediately afterwards, I will send out to you the series of questions finally to be dealt with. These questions will be numbered and we will never go on to the following one until the council has adequately discussed the previous one. An exact report of the sessions will be kept, in which the opinion of each speaker will be given together with the reasons supporting it, so that those so requiring may have recourse to this document and weigh its validity at any time.

This year, the retreat will begin on Wednesday evening 13 September and will last until Wednesday 20th. You are all invited to it. Kindly let me know in advance if you will be coming and approximately what day you will arrive.

The retreat will be followed by a general council which will begin on Thursday 21 and which could be prolonged, if need be, until Friday evening, however without lasting for more than four sessions. I hereby invite you to let me know as soon as possible what you would like to see dealt with, so that by 13 August I can notify you of the final content of this council.

As for me, I can tell you as from now that I propose giving you an exact knowledge of the positive and negative situation of our bursar's office, and to pose the following questions to you :

1) In the present state of events, should we suspend all expenses other than those which are strictly indispensable for our subsistence and the maintenance of what has already been set up ? Or else, while drawing on reserves and with prudence, can we continue with the improvements that the mission requires on all hands ?

2) Supposing that the second part of the proposal should gain the majority of votes, I will invite each missionary to outline the needs of his district or of the work he is attached to.

3) When the needs of all are in this way made known to everyone, I will ask each member of the council to indicate to me what, in his opinion, is the work to be placed first, second, etc., supposing that we can undertake one, two or even more such works.

4) Could not each missionary, in his district, begin as from this year to deal in a special way with the evangelisation of the pagans ?

5) Supposing that the majority think that this could be done, what proceeding should be adopted to start up this work ?

You will be pleased to learn that the seminary building is now almost completed. I hope that it will be possible for us to bless it on the Sunday of the Rosary. Those of you, Gentlemen and dear confreres, who can allow themselves a moment of relaxation, without prejudicing the grave matters of their district are invited to spend the eight days following the retreat either here, or at Carumattampatty, as they prefer. We will do our best to all go to Carumattampatty on the Sunday of the Rosary; thus as many of us as possible will attend this blessing to which it would be well to give all due pomp.

I commend myself to your pious prayers in the union of which I ask you to believe me,

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. The answer of one of our dear confreres to my circular of 8 June contains the following passage : "I would propose to our dear confreres that each of us says a mass on the same day for the cause of Propagation of the Faith and that we agree on saying a second mass for one another for the purpose of drawing the blessings of heaven on our projects and works in these difficult times.

Lastly, I will take advantage of this occasion to make another proposal that I have been considering for a long time : I will ask all of our dear confreres to call for a quite special union of prayers and of merits to help one another in the work of our personal sanctification and to draw the graces of God on these poor missions where we have so few consoling results".

I think that all of this will be submitted to you in the council. Meanwhile reflect on it in advance.

(Coimbatore, 21 July 1848)

Sent_0347

Sent_0347 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0347 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 July 1848 -/3

Sent_0347 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 juillet 1848 -/3

Sent 0347 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 187-192

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 212 bis-213

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

For the good that the Lord expects from us, there must really be understanding between us. Exact explanation of this word. Now I have fixed the dates of our retreat and of our council. I cannot go to Pondicherry before the end of October. As regards our change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore), you can go to Coimbatore, but my bulls of 1845 send me to Coimbatore and not to Pondicherry. I will put myself at your disposal, but there is no question of my going to Pondicherry. This is what I shall write to the S.C. Give me the plan I should follow for the retreat at Pondicherry. The difference of viaticum between Mysore and Coimbatore: he explains why.

Index : agreement, retreat, general meeting, change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore), viaticum

__________

Coimbatore, 22 July 1848

My Lord,

On arriving from Carumattampatty only yesterday, I found your letter of the 14th. My greatest desire, as I have often said to you, is that we understand each other in everything that we do. This understanding seems to me not only very useful for our mutual consolation, but for the little good that the Lord expects from us. Thus, I demand it once more.

At the same time we both must have the same idea of this word, in order not to compromise it by acts where our opinions differ and that one or other of us believes to be our duty. If Y.L. conceives of this opinion as I do, it consists in not hiding anything from each other (I mean in the matters concerning both of us directly or indirectly), in communicating to each other our acts and thoughts, and in making them agree as far as possible. But this doesn't mean that all the actions of one should have the other's approval, and be recognised by him as good and appropriate.

Only, the one who should believe it his duty to do what the other does not approve of, should tell him so without fear, and the latter should tell him also without fear and without danger of angering him that he does not approve of it and why ; and if, despite this frank opening, one should feel he has to act according to his judgment, the other should not hold it against him and he should have the charity of thinking that it is not in order to vex him that he is acting thus, but because he believes before God that he has to do so. If we should require more than that, we should not use the word understanding, since we would be compromising it by our mutual prejudice.

I know, and I will never forget, that on my side my position, my age, etc., require something else than this understanding that I expect from Y.L. I owe you condescendence. Please believe me when I say that I will have regard to it whenever my conscience allows.

In the hope that Y.L. will grant me these presuppositions, I will act accordingly in this letter by telling you frankly :

1) that I awaited your answer so eagerly that I had not made any preparation for departure, despite the fact that I was persuaded, and still am, that the interest of both is that I should leave at once.

Thus I do not understand the expression used by Mr Pajean (for I think it must be him) to whom I have not spoken of your letter from Rome, to whom I did not say that my departure could be advanced, but who only knows that I propose at some time to make a journey to Pondicherry ; that having seen me sad for some days, he must have concluded that this time was close, that he used hyperboles in his terms, is possible, and it seems to me that we should pay little attention to this, for finally the missionaries would no longer be allowed to write to one another without weighing all their terms, which is clearly impossible.

2) If Y.L. had permitted me to leave at once, I would not have been in a palanquin, and I would have taken a single coolie (), so sure did I feel that my return was unquestionable and that it would be no later than October or November. I would have postponed our annual retreat until that time ; finally I would have written nothing on my sad position to Paris or to Rome. Your letter destroys this plan and many of my hopes. Since it takes close on 15 days for a letter to be sent out and for the reply to come back, I cannot wait for a fresh answer from Y.L. to make an alternative plan.

You will see part of this plan in the circular of which I have the honour of sending you a copy ; this part supposes that Y.L. will have the goodness not to convene your missionaries before the end of October, if you wish me to attend. I have advanced the retreat here as much as I could in order to be at your disposal immediately after the feast of Carumattampatty. Furthermore, it is impossible for me to keep silence until we meet, at least with regard to Rome. This silence, to my mind, would compromise our two missions too much.

After having thought carefully since reading the letter of the S.C., this is the procedure I have decided on with regard to my personal position: I regard myself as obliged to administer the mission of Coimbatore by virtue of my bulls and of the letter from the S.C. addressed to me on 3 October 1845. In these two documents, there is explicit mention of the province of Coimbatore and there is no question of Pondicherry in any case. That is what I accepted and nothing else. No-one, even the S.C., can entrust me with something else without my consent. They can discharge me, but not charge me.

Whence, if Y.L. wants to use your last letter, I will certainly not oppose it, I will be too happy to be discharged from Coimbatore. I will abandon joyfully (personally speaking) the administration to Y.L. , but will not take on anything. I will go wherever Y.L. orders me to, but as a simple missionary, exercising according to Y.L.'s orders the episcopal functions that you are unable to accomplish yourself without too much fatigue, but without involving myself at all in any administration.

This is what I am going to say to Rome, and I am sure that it will not blame me, for I am consequent and ask for nothing, certifying that, without an explicit order from the Holy See, I will maintain this line.

Now I do not have to fear that an order will come, for I will forestall it by showing what dramatic consequences it could have, since it would awaken the unfortunate sentiments that several missionaries conceived, and published on my account, on the occasion of my promotion, since Y.L. yourself regards the faculty that you have just received not as the intimate thought of the S.C., but as the effect of the "entreaties of Mgr Luquet".

It is with joy, believe me, that I would see Y.L. use the right you have to come here. Up to the moment when you make a first act of administration, I will not cease to work with as much zeal as if I were to remain here always; but once that act is done, I withdraw completely and Y.L. can send here some other pro-vicar such as Mr Jarrige, or come here and send a pro-vicar to Pondicherry other than me, for I will not accept. This is my plan, My Lord; and only extremely strong reasons would make me change it: I am letting you know it unreservedly. I hope that you will use the same proceeding towards me.

In order to enable the retreat of Pondicherry to bear its fruits, it would have been my desire to see you sufficiently in advance to consider with Y.L. what are the principal points that should be dealt with, those on which it would be wise to insist, etc., for I need a certain time to prepare myself, not by textually writing speeches, for which I do not have the time, but by putting things together and meditating on them before God.

Kindly let me know them by letter as soon as possible, noting for my benefit the number of days, the number of exercises, etc. Since I propose not taking a palanquin, if Y.L. could not delay my departure too much after 1 October, you would do me a kindness, for the rains are due soon after that.

I would very much desire to invite Father Lazare to the blessing of our seminary. However I do not wish to write to him before being assured of Y.L.'s consent. I cannot hide from you that I fear that you might refuse me. However, it seems to me that we should start to put ourselves above these continual fears which make us see drawbacks everywhere, and which do us so much harm.

On this occasion, I have one further thing to tell you, in case you know it already, and you may have felt that I had some hand in it. I was very much surprised just recently to receive 50 rupees of alms for my seminary from Messrs Roger and Leroux. They tell me that they will try to send me something more later on. I did not feel it my duty to send them back their banknote, but merely told them not to bother to do any more, seeing the good that they have to bring about in their own mission.

I beg you not to let these Gentlemen know that you have heard of this from me, and not even to suggest to them that in fact you do not know it.

Mgr Charbonnaux has recovered from his fear, for he wrote to me on 9 July to complain about his viaticum. I hope that Y.L. will be satisfied by the explanation that I have given him, and which would have dispensed him from writing to Paris if he had addressed me first. This explanation, which makes the matter simple, is as follows.

I let them know in Paris how unfortunate it was, for a mission just starting out, to have had on the burse's account four new missionaries who have spent three of them nine months and one a year without viaticum, and I asked for them to grant the viaticums of Messrs Bonjean, Vanthier, Bruyère and de Gélis as from their arrival in mission. To some extent notice was taken of my request, by granting almost eight months, that is 1,375 francs, for the first three; nothing was granted for Mr de Gélis.

I was informed of this in particular letters and my account is exact. We would have done well to point this out in the letter in common, for it is natural to believe in an error when one sees a different figure beside two equal personnels. Now, why have they not counted more missionaries at Mysore? It is not my business. I think that it is because there are some who receive salaries from the government, but once more that does not regard me, I am content for things to be right as far as I am concerned.

Oh, what a long letter ! Forgive me all this verbiage; I would have preferred to tell you all of this personally. However I console myself by thinking that the pleasure of seeing you is merely delayed. Pray God for me who am

Your Lordship's

Very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 22 July 1848)

Sent_0348

Sent_0348 - à M. Godet - le 26 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0348 - to Mr Godet - 26 July 1848 -/1

Sent_0348 - à M. Godet - le 26 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0348 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 214-215

(to Mr Louis Godet)

(apostolic missionary)

Regarding the change between Mgr Bonnand and myself, I can tell you that at present that is impossible. Difficulties of our ministry in Coimbatore. Few pupils in the seminary.

Index : change (Pondicherry-Coimbatore), seminary of Carumattampatty, difficulties

__________

Coimbatore, 26 July 1848

Pain caused by his letter of 21 March.

Until I received your letter, I had no fear on this point (the question of the change between H.L. of Drusipare and myself) except through a letter from a director of Paris which informed me that My Lord of Drusipare had made such a request to Rome. I hoped to have destroyed the possibilities when your letter and others came to give me a fresh alert. Fortunately at the present time I am morally sure that this misfortune will not happen and will not happen to you. This is what I am pleased to be able to say to you and since I could not say it earlier, this is one of the causes which have delayed my answer, for I did not know how to speak to you of something that you spoke to me about at such length and, on the other hand, I was not in a position to entirely reassure you.

We are working here in a small way. At times the Lord seems to bless our efforts, while other times our sins prevent his blessing from descending on us. Besides, the demon arouses all sorts of embarrassment. At this moment, it seems that we are losing ground underneath our feet. This enemy of all good aims above all at discouraging us but, with the grace of God, he will not succeed and, if it is not granted us to ensure the victory, at least we will fight on to the end.

We have few pupils for the seminary. Our need to found schools. What is he doing? Where is he? I plan to go to Pondicherry to preach the retreat, and hope to see him and converse with him.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 July 1848)

Sent_0349

Sent_0349 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0349 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 July 1848 -/1

Sent_0349 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 juillet 1848 -/1

Sent 0349 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 193-194

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 214

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I think that a synod today at Pondicherry would be at the least useless. A simple meeting would suffice. In addition a synod would lead them to believe at Paris and at Propagation of the Faith that you are not financially distressed.

Index : synod, general meeting, finances

__________

Coimbatore, 27 July 1848 ()

My Lord,

Your Lordship should have received yesterday or today a letter from me containing the principal answers to yours of the 20th of this month. Thus I would have waited to receive a fresh one from you before writing to you once more, if it wasn't for this question that you raise at the end, after having returned to the idea of the synod, asking me what I think about it.

The more I reflect, My Lord, the most it seems to me that a synod would be at the very least useless. I even seems to me that it could be very dangerous in the present circumstances, while we could easily obtain what Y.L. desires from a simple meeting, without letting any irregular antecedents be established as regards the synod, thus reserving it all of its potential when the time comes.

Moreover, this meeting of three bishops and their assistants would not be such as to make people believe in Paris and in Propagation of the Faith that the Vicariate of Pondicherry is in financial difficulties, etc. etc. In brief, in Your Lordship's place, I would completely forego the idea of a synod and I would take my measures to ensure that the general council produced its practical fruits for the moment without danger.

I will arrange my affairs so as to leave...

(here, two whole lines are destroyed at the bottom of page 193)

... the dire straits in which such a drastic reduction of the supplement must leave you. I have written to Mr Pouplin that I am prepared to help you out, requesting what is due to us little by little only. He wrote to me that he was going to send me close on 3,000 rupees. I still have not received anything. It would be sufficient for us to receive a thousand rupees before 1 October, and the rest in the course of the year, up to May or June.

It only remains for me to commend myself ever more to your good prayers in union of which, I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 27 July 1848)

Sent_0350

Sent_0350 - au Collecteur - le 31 juillet 1848 -/2

Sent 0350 - to the Collector - 31 July 1848 -/3

Sent_0350 - au Collecteur - le 31 juillet 1848 -/2

Sent 0350 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 217-219

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

To request the aid and protection of the Collector in case partisans of the archbishop of Goa should try to make difficulties in the vicariate of Coimbatore and to prevent them using the churches where missionaries are not always resident.

Index : government, difficulties, schism, civil authoritites

__________

Coimbatore, 31 July 1848

Sir,

From a long time, I entertain a desire of seeing you for the purpose of speaking on some matters ; but the difficulty I experience of expressing myselùf in English being an obstacle, I address this note to you for the purpose of preventing an evil I fear.

You are aware, Sir, of the disturbance which arose among the Christians of India owing to the Holy See having suppressed the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in these parts of the Archbishop of Goa. You are also aware of the many difficulties which the missionaries experienced when they were sent here by the Bishop of Pondichery. All these troubles happily terminated long ago ; and when I was sent here as bishop of this province, I found all matters in a peaceful and quiet state. Nevertheless, I fear that these disturbances may again occur ; and that they may not, I beg of you to afford me your assistance upon your authority, as far as it in you lies, that the poor Christians already reduced to poverty and misery may not be plunged into dissensions and strife.

I am aware of the praiseworthy policy of the government of the Company in not interfering in matters of religion. Whence it is in respect of religious difficulties, but in respect of that which may be the cause of disturbances and injustice, that I come to you, before hand, that by promising us your assistance, we may live tranquil in the administration of the Catholic Churches which now in peace acknowledge us as their pastors, and that we may be in no fear that the quiet we now enjoy be not ruffled by some few who are turbulent and lovers of strife.

This one favor I request to you that, if it be found necessary, we may have recourse to you for the peaceful administration of the Churches which are now under our jurisdiction ; and now the whole of the Churches in the province of Coimbatore acknowledge and accept our ecclesiastical authority, the small church at Ootacamund except which it is said belongs to a man called Joachim.

But you will say : If all is quiet and peaceful, why do you seek special protection from me ? To which I answer because two priests who say that they are sent by the Archbishop of Goa are now disturbing the Christians belonging to some portions of my ecclesiastical jurisdiction situated in the territory of Cochin. I fear they may gradually extend their endeavour and introduce disturbances among the Christians of the Coimbatore province. One or two depravated Christians will be enough to invite them and put them in possession of any of the small chapels which the missionaries do not always reside in as their biding place, and hence they will disseminate strife and dissension everywhere.

From your justice and love of peace, I am in the hope that, if it is necessary, you would order the keys of those Churches to be given up to the missionaries who now have their administration, when requisite.

And hoping that in your kindness you will send me a favorable reply to this, I remain, Sir, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 31 July 1848)

Sent_0351

Sent_0351 - à M. Tesson - le 1er août 1848 -/3

Sent 0351 - to Mr Tesson - 1 August 1848 -/3

Sent_0351 - à M. Tesson - le 1er août 1848 -/2

Sent 0351 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 35

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 219

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thank for your last letter containing the accounts. Mgr Bonnand wants to hold a synod in Pondicherry and would like me to be its soul. In my opinion, the time is not appropriate; in view of the present circumstances, it might be dangerous to convene a synod; at the very most we could convene a general meeting to prepare a synod. Moreover, Mgr Bonnand has obtained permission from Propaganda to come to Coimbatore and to send me to Pondicherry as his pro-vicar. I am absolutely opposed to this. But I could accept his coming to Coimbatore and place myself at his service as an ordinary missionary.

index : change, synod, Rome (authority), retreat (preaching), relationship (between vicariates)

__________

Coimbatore, 1 August 1848

I had just put last month's packet in the post, my very dear Mr Tesson, when I received your letter of 4 May containing our accounts. I have nothing to say on them, except to thank you. While the sum is small, it is obvious that you have done everything you could; let us pray God that next year we are not treated worse still. Kindly thank also on my behalf the other directors with whom you may share this letter, if you see fit, as well as the enclosed circular which will inform you of our domestic affairs. But I propose to talk to you above all about my present position with Pondicherry, which has plunged me for over one month now into a sea of sorrow.

You know, and you were the first to notify me of it, that My Lord of Drusipare asked Rome to come here, and to put me in Pondicherry. You know how much this news distressed me, how I always regarded this arrangement as regrettable. However, My Lord of Drusipare had said nothing to me about it, and since I had left Pondicherry, his relations with me were absolutely not intimate in any way: however I wrote to him often and he wrote to me too, but sometimes not very pleasant letters, because he imagined that, in the numerous and sad events that have succeeded one another in the last year above all, I was against him and on the side of certain missionaries who were against him. The fact is that it was impossible for me to approve everything that was done in Pondicherry, although I would not have been in favour of the line taken by certain missionaries, and above all that spirit of division which has arisen among them, and which makes the government of that vicariate well nigh impossible.

Things were thus when, on 24 May, H.L. wrote me a long letter to tell me that he wanted to convene a second synod in January, and asking me kindly to be its soul, to agree for that to go and spend several months at Pondicherry, in order to arrange its carrying out and to prepare all of the various subjects for it. This letter astonished me. I answered it, with the utmost friendship, that I was at his service for everything depending on me. However, I listed for him various drawbacks which I believe would argue against my going to this synod, and above all against becoming involved in what would be dealt with there. I then explained to him the difficulties there would be in holding a true synod at the present time. I explained to him the desire that if we were to hold a synod, it should be a true synod such as that for which Benedict XIV lays down the rules, and not like the last one, where so many things were done against or beyond the rules, which proved a great misfortune.

I proved to him that in the inclinations of people's minds, and in the ignorance of most of the missionaries on what a true synod is, it might be dangerous to convene it. I suggested to him that we could convene only a general council after a retreat, and make use of this meeting to prepare the synod for when the time would be ripe. Finally, after having asked him to dispense me from being involved in all of this, I told him that if he required me to go to Pondicherry, I could only resolve to do so after he had made me a promise that everything that happened in the past would be absolutely forgotten, with all the proper names attached to any part of it, and that we would merely attempt to unite our efforts to make the future better by agreeing on our proceedings.

It would take too long to make you an analysis of the active correspondence which then took place between H.L. and myself on this subject. Suffice it to tell you that it was quite amicable, and that My Lord of Drusipare evinced a confidence in me to which I was not accustomed. I admit that then a ray of hope appeared to me, that of putting an end to the divisions tearing apart Pondicherry, by serving as a middle course between the missionaries and My Lord of Drusipare, and to see the past truly forgotten, in order to walk in common agreement towards a better future; when all of a sudden on 18 June I received a letter from H.L. with copy of that from the S.C., which permits him to come here and to send me to Pondicherry as his pro-vicar, while maintaining the title and powers of apostolic vicar of the three missions, as before the division.

The way in which H.L. spoke to me was such as to make me think that he would shortly make use of this permission. At this news, my arms fell! Without doubt I would have regarded it as a great misfortune that, if the vicariates had been finally established, the change should take place as My Lord had requested it of me. But if it took place in the conditions of this letter, this would be not a misfortune, but a fruitful source of misfortunes liable to lead to nothing less than the ruin of our three missions. These will suggest themselves so readily to your intelligent mind for me not to need to enumerate them. Add the false position for both of us, and the difficulty already so great of guiding Pondicherry, in the present state of things and people's minds, become a veritable impossibility once the authority would be multiple.

However, it is no easy task to make My Lord of Drusipare understand all of this, because he is tired of Pondicherry and desires to get out of it. He suggested to me an interview in the interior. I accepted the proposal, but at Pondicherry, for alone, in some other place, we would have accomplished nothing, Whereas at Pondicherry, I hope that the trust that H.L. has in Messrs Dupuis and Lehodey, who will undoubtedly be of my mind, will determine him not to make use of the letter from the S.C. and on the contrary to push for the complete division of the three vicariates. I would have wished this interview to take place as soon as possible. Unfortunately, H.L. has delayed it and I do not know quite when it will be. From another point of view, although H.L. admits that he himself made this request of Rome, various missionaries will believe, and make public, that Mgr Luquet is much more the author of this change than My Lord of Drusipare. Moreover, My Lord of Drusipare himself wrote to me that the S.C. did not want to grant him this, but that "following Mgr Luquet's entreaties" of which he complains, they granted it to him.

Seeing all of this, my last letter to My Lord of Drusipare said that : "I considered myself obliged to care for the pro-vicariate of Coimbatore by virtue of my bulls and of the letter from the S.C. entrusting me specially with the province of Coimbatore. That, in these two documents, there is no question of Pondicherry, in any case. That that is what I have accepted and nothing else. That they could discharge me without my consent but that, without my consent, they could not charge me with something else. That if H.L. wanted to make use of the last letter you received, I would not oppose it in any way, in the sense that I would be relieved of Coimbatore, but that I would not take on something else. That I will continue to look after Coimbatore with all the zeal that depends on me, and as if I were to stay there for good, for as long as things remain as they are ; but that if H.L. takes over the administration here, I will withdraw completely, exercising the holy ministry under his orders as a simple missionary, without being involved at all with anything to do with the administration either of here or of Pondicherry."

I am still waiting for the answer to this letter. As you see, my dear Mr Tesson, my position is not one of velvet. I try to offer to God its content of bitterness and pray him not to impede by fresh complications all those that already exist which paralyse our efforts for the good. Pray to him also for us and believe me

Your very devoted confrere and friend

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Mgr Charbonnaux wrote to me a few days ago, guess why ? H.L. thought that they had got the lines wrong in the printing of your common letter, and begged me very seriously to recognise that his figure was mine and mine his. I answered him by your letter of 24 May.

(Coimbatore, 1 August 1848)

Sent_0352

Sent_0352 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 2 août 1848 -/1

Sent 0352 - to Propagation of the Faith - 2 August 1848 -/1

Sent_0352 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 2 août 1848 -/1

Sent 0352 copy, AMA 2F17/1848

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 219

(to the Council of Propagation of the Faith)

Yes, since 1846, I celebrate each year the service that your piety demands. Thank you very much for your help.

Index : finances

__________

Coimbatore, 1 August 1848

Gentlemen,

I have received today only your circular of 25 September 1847.

I am happy to tell you that your pious desires have been met. Since the province of Coimbatore was raised to a separate pro-vicariate, and it has participated separately in the largess of the cause of Propagation of the Faith, I have had celebrated exactly every year the service that your piety demands; and I can assure you that we will never fail in this duty, any more than all those dictated to us by a cause so dear to us and on which, after God, our existence depends.

Be so kind as to accept the expression of the feelings of complete esteem and profound gratitude with which,

I have the honour of being,

Gentlemen,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 1 August 1848)

Sent_0353

Sent_0353 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0353 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 August 1848 -/2

Sent_0353 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0353 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 195-198

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 231-233

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for the latest news. How your letter pained me! Kindly look for someone else to preach the retreat. You are far too severe with Mgr Luquet. I would feel I was failing the courage of friendship if I hid from you the sorrow that your words have caused me. If it is decided to relieve me of Coimbatore, I will leave without complaining.

Index : retreat (preaching), change, synod, friendship, frankness, relationship (between vicariates)

__________

Coimbatore, 10 August 1848

My Lord,

Y.L. has undoubtedly learned the sad news that I announced hastily Saturday evening at 9 o'clock to Mr Pouplin. I do not need to commend the soul of this dear confrere to your good prayers and to those of all your missionaries.

Thank you very much, My Lord, for the news that you give me in your note of the 3rd. The newspapers that I have received only give those of 22 June. I still have not received any letter from Paris, but only one from Rome in reply to the report that I made on my mission in February.

I will only say a few words to Y.L. on the sadness caused in my soul by your letter of the 1st. The very different language that Y.L. had used to me for quite some time was balm to my heart. The time of reproaches, of suspicions and refusals... how has it returned so quickly? Besides, this makes me hope that Y.L. will no longer think of putting in your place a person who makes you an unreasonable request, whereas you believed and still believe you have so many reasons not to expect this fresh refusal.

I feel I have to ask Y.L. to think of someone else than me for giving the exercises of the retreat. There is still time to ensure that, by excusing myself, I am not leaving Y.L. in difficulties, and it would be impossible for me to open my mouth if I thought that my words would be weighed in the balance of the utmost rigour and that, from one exercise to the other, I might alienate Y.L.

When on 1 June I promised Y.L. to go to Pondicherry, this was on the understanding that the past should be absolutely past, with the persons it calls to mind, with the hypotheses that may vary according to men's judgment and that God alone knows. I said to you that, without that, I would not have the courage to go there. How could I have now after reading the distressing words that Y.L. saw fit to write on 1 July about Mgr Luquet? after the accusation that you make against this prelate, of whom history will tell the great works and the pure intentions, providing the good God grants him perseverance in his love?

Doubtless, that same history will remark on certain faults, the inevitable result of our nature. But the courage he has had of admitting them, and of protesting against them once he has recognised them, will indicate his pure intention, and call for our indulgence regarding those that he does not see, if in fact they are faults. Even his behaviour in Switzerland will prove that his ignorans feci of earlier on was sincere. I would have refrained from speaking of it, and above all of praising it in your presence, but I would feel I was failing in the courage of friendship if I hid from you the grief caused me by Y.L.'s words. I would have the same courage to maintain Y.L.'s intentions if someone told me that the opposition you have made to this prelate is based on any other principle that the feeling of your duty. Of Y.L., I would say, as of him : he may have been mistaken, but he did not betray his conscience.

But since Y.L. feels you have to return on the past, I hope you will dispense me from the journey to Pondicherry.

I hoped to become a middle course and a bond of peace between the workers of Pondicherry. This hope has disappeared, to be replaced by fear and bitterness.

I still have not written to Rome. I hoped always to receive an answer from Y.L. to my letter of 22 July before the post left. I do not even know what I will write, for I will delay this torture for as long as I can. For the same reason, I have still not written to the directors of Paris. I have merely said some words to Mr Tesson, assuring him of my resolution not to accept the direction of Pondicherry. The further I go, the more resolute I become to withdraw completely if it is decided to relieve me of Coimbatore, that I will leave I won't say without sadness, but without complaining.

I commend myself to your good prayers, in the union of which I beg you to believe me as always,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 10 August 1848)

Sent_0354

Sent_0354 - à M. Bonjean - le 12 août 1848 -/1

Sent 0354 - Mr Bonjean - 12 August 1848 -/1

Sent_0354 - à M. Bonjean - le 12 août 1848 -/1

Sent 0354 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 223

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

Summary of a letter that "puts in his place" Mr Bonjean who had criticised his bishop's way of proceeding and who writes to him in too familiar a manner.

Index : authority (of the bishop)

__________

Coimbatore, 12 August 1848

I am really troubled by the spirit underlying his answer to my circular. The danger he puts himself in if he does not give it up. Much greater distress caused me by his suspicion of infidelity regarding his letter. It was necessary for us to open the letters of our dear deceased confrere, above all those that, like his, contained others, in order to see whether they concealed something that should have been kept before burning them. We did not even see the signature of his once we noted that it was a letter from a confrere, believing it to be from Mr Pajean.

I do not understand here your expression: between us. It is much too familiar in such a circumstance.

I send him the final list of questions which will be submitted to the council.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 August 1848)

Sent_0355

Sent_0355 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 17 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0355 - to Mgr Bonnand - 17 August 1848 -/2

Sent_0355 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 17 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0355 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2165-2168

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 224

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for your news. In my vicariate, I have made it clear that the council is not above the bishop. Future blessing of his seminary: an explanation concerning the possible coming of Mr Leroux. The spirit of the pupils of Pondicherry risks spreading to us. Difficulties at Palghat. Mr Métral has left for Cochin ; I expect nothing from this journey.

Index : seminary (of Carumattampatty), authority (of the bishop), interest (in news of the world)

__________

Coimbatore, 17 August 1848

My Lord,

I have received your short but interesting letter of the 12th. I knew nothing of what was contained in this special edition of which you were good enough to send me a copy. Thank you very much for your kind attention. I am astonished not to have received any letter from my home for several months now, nor anything from Paris either via Bombay or via Madras. When other grave news arrive, I would be most obliged if you could give me an analysis in this way, for even the newspapers that Mr Tesson sends me via Madras are sometimes delayed.

Since my last letter to Y.L. of 10 August, I was in some difficulty, because the rules that I established in my last circular for the holding of the council seemed not to please everybody ; the words and proposals of some members aimed at no less than establishing the council superior to the bishop, and at making the latter account for his conduct to it. I was obliged to use firmness, with regard to two above all, but I hope, and I am today almost certain to have made them hear reason.

This last circular fell into the hands of Mr Leroux who went to Trichinopoly on receiving news of Mr Vanthier's agony and who found it among the papers of the dear deceased. He felt at liberty to read it and keep it. I am saying this to Y.L. for it may be that he might also make it known to other missionaries, so that you know what may be the source of this making public which has nothing to do with me.

Mr Leroux, in writing to me on his visit to Mr Vanthier and mentioning his knowledge of my circular, tells me that he or Mr Roger will do their best to come and see us and attend the blessing of our seminary. I answered that I would be very pleased to see them, but urged them not to come without your explicit permission. I also asked them not to bring their disciples with them.

I do not know why he has allowed the son of the former catechist to come and spend a month's holidays here. His presence will do a great deal of harm to our pupils who were until now in blissful ignorance of many things that he will not fail to tell them, who cannot help being scandalised by the attitude, dress, etc., in a word of the air of Pondicherry which they have not learned to distrust. Already, they have asked questions and made requests that prove this. If I had been warned in advance, I would have forestalled the harm, but I was not at Carumattampatty, and, unfortunately, Mr Métral is not here either.

Matters in the district of Palghat continue to go badly. Mr Métral has gone to Cochin; he has great hopes of this journey, while I expect no good and fear that, by not succeeding, he will make the future much worse. However, I let him go ahead, because he knows things much better than me, having being a long time in those parts.

Mgr Charbonnaux has doubtless informed Y.L. of the terrible accident that occurred to Messrs Beauclair and Mauduit. Fortunately there should be no after-effects, it would appear.

I commend myself to your good prayers, My Lord, and beg you to believe me always

Your very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 17 August 1848)

Sent_0356

Sent_0356 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 24 août 1848 -/1

Sent 0356 - to Mgr Bonnand - 24 August 1848 -/1

Sent_0356 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 24 août 1848 -/1

Sent 0356 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2169-2172

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 225

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Please God that I am not the cause of a scandal. Yes, I will go to Pondicherry to preach the retreat. I will leave immediately after the feast of Carumattampatty.

Index : retreat (preaching), respect, deference, scandal, relations between vicariates

__________

Coimbatore, 24 August 1848

My Lord,

Please God that I am not through my fault the cause of a scandal. When I begged Y.L. to dispense me from the journey to Pondicherry and from the difficult mission of giving the retreat, I was far from dreaming of a rupture which, I hope, will never take place, and the very appearance of which would fill me with sadness.

O God. Through your grace, I have not yet been the enemy of anyone ! And I hope never to begin, and certainly, it would not be against you, My Lord, whom I venerate as my father, and whom I have constantly loved more than you may at times have thought, because unfortunate circumstances have obliged me to express thoughts different from those of Y.L. This divergence has never spread from the intellectual part of the soul, and my heart has remained constantly the same. Only I hoped that Y.L. had not yet spoken of my future journey for the retreat, and that a host of reasons could excuse me for foregoing a journey undertaken for other reasons.

But since Y.L. has gone so far ahead and you fear the negative consequences if I refused to go, I am quite prepared to depart very soon, however not before the feast of Carumattampatty. I will do my best to leave as soon as possible after that, so as not to be on the road when the great rains begin, above all not taking a palanquin. Besides, I hope that between now and then, I will have the pleasure of receiving more than once word from you.

I beg you to reserve for me your paternal affection and to believe me in the union of your prayers and holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted servant and son,

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 24 August 1848)

Sent_0357

Sent_0357 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0357 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 August 1848 -/2

Sent_0357 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0357 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 199-202

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 225

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The reasons why our retreat here will have to wait for my return from Pondicherry. At our next council, we will deal with the question of gentile practices: send me some documents. Mr Métral's prolonged absence from the seminary may be harmful to the children. Mr Bonjean is still very young.

Index : gentile practices, seminary (of Carumattampatty), retreat (at Carumattampatty)

__________

Coimbatore, 27 August 1848

My Lord,

Would it be abusing your kindness to ask you to have the enclosed death certificate of Mr Vanthier legalised by an agent of the French government and to send it to Paris on the next occasion Y.L. has of writing.

I think that our retreat here will be delayed until after my return from Pondicherry, for Mr Pacreau, who is still not perfectly recovered, will perhaps not be able to attend it. Mr Métral has still not returned from his journey to Cochin where he went for the affairs of Atticodou, and I do not know when to expect him back. If only he were here, we cannot leave the district of Palghat without a priest at this time, even for ten or twelve days. Mr Pajean needs all the time remaining before the feast to complete the building of the seminary that I want to bless on the occasion of the feast, etc, etc.

All of which, I think, will oblige me to postpone the retreat especially since I can hardly delay my journey, for the rains are at hand and they are threatening to arrive here before the usual time.

Nonetheless, if two-thirds of our personnel attends the feast of Carumattampatty, I would really want the council that I had announced as following the retreat to take place then. Now, among the many questions that certain missionaries have proposed, of which I have cut out nineteen out of twenty, there is one concerning Gentile practices that I have retained.

I know it as certain that on this occasion some of them will be up in arms against certain practices tolerated by the older missionaries, and that some of them would like to see them absolutely prohibited. To avoid their going too far, I would need the support of certain documents, if such exist, such as a letter of which I have heard mention, in which the S.C. had said that, when the older missionaries agreed not to see anything pagan in such or such a practice, it could be permitted; such further as the decision given on the subject of a certain red pottou in the north.

It seems to me that we find no difficulty in Pondicherry in permitting the custom of the sandanam on feastdays, marriage days and even habitually for Brahmins. If Your Lordship could answer me explicitly on this last article, and as far possible on the others, above all by sending me a few authentic documents, I would be infinitely grateful to you.

Mr Roger's disciple has gone back, much to my relief. Not that we had noticed anything unseemly in this child, but everything that he must naturally have told his fellow disciples about matters in Pondicherry, the seminary, etc., etc. was capable of making an impression on children still too young to be confirmed in the path they have chosen and who give us such good hope. I paid a visit on purpose to Carumattampatty to destroy this impression, which I hope will have left no trace.

Mr Métral's prolonged absence will be more harmful to them, for whatever Mr Bonjean's goodwill, he is too young and without sufficient acquired authority to avert a difficulty if any such arose. Apart from that, there is nothing new in our little sphere. I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me for life,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 27 August 1848)

Sent_0358

Sent_0358 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 31 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0358 - to Mgr Bonnand - 31 August 1848 -/2

Sent_0358 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 31 août 1848 -/2

Sent 0358 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 203-206

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 226-227

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Yes, this year I am going to make known to my missionaries the state of our burse, for the reasons I explain, but this will not be a rule for the future. If I had known your circular, I would have put in a word to avoid any appearance of contradiction; but you never send them to me. How we should share our circulars between vicariates.

Index : burse, finances, circulars, sharing, relations between vicariates

__________

Coimbatore, 31 August 1848

My Lord,

This morning I received your letter of the 25th with the extract from the circular containing it. I do not wish to delay any longer giving Y.L. some explanations on what constitutes the subject of your fear. I will say to you first of all that we are perfectly in agreement on the substance. (I have maintained?) in all meetings the principles that your circular contains and strive to put it into practice.

Accordingly it is neither as a principle nor as a rule that I will be making known this year to the missionaries the state of our burse; my plan was to declare it even at the opening of the council, so that it could not become a dangerous antecedent. This is the sense of the answer I gave to a confrere who believes the contrary. If I am doing so this year, it is an exception, a matter of circumstance, as in fact is proved by my circular, for if it was something due and obligatory, there would be no need to speak of it.

But why this year ? 1) because I really need to be enlightened on certain questions to which there is no answer without this knowledge; 2) because, the missionaries having evinced a great confidence by foregoing a part of their rights this year over the viaticum, I was quite pleased to be able to respond also by an act of confidence towards them. I was far from thinking that this could seem to contradict your circular of February which I was not acquainted with, and which besides I would only contravene if I established that as a right of the missionaries, which I will refrain from doing.

However, if I had had the advantage of knowing your circular, I would have put in a word so as to avoid any appearance of contradiction with Y.L., something I am quite set on.

On this occasion, I must tell you, My Lord, that there is one thing that causes me great pain, and that is that Y.L. has never sent me your circulars. Without doubt, it would be against the order to send out these circulars ourselves to the missionaries of the neighbouring missions, if we should do it by way of authority ; but as a personal sign of friendship, of confraternity, as an edifying document, not only could it be done, but it would be very appropriate. It needs only the unfortunate state of the misunderstanding affecting the missionaries of India to have to dread something on this point.

As a result of this unfortunate misunderstanding, I have refrained from sending mine to anyone at all, excepting Y.L., Mgr Charbonnaux and the Seminary of Paris ; but if someone had asked me for a copy, or if they had asked it of one of my missionaries, I would have regarded a refusal as an insult in ordinary times, and as far too excessive a distrust in the times in which we live. A circular is not of private nature, it is like a bishop's letter or a pastoral letter. Sending it is a mark of trust and of friendship, refusing it cannot be done without wounding hearts. Ah, let us avoid such wounds which are too painful, and never produce happy results!

This will explain to you my behaviour with regard to Mr Leroux. I did not wound him by telling him that he was guilty, which I do not think, by having retained my circular, but I wrote asking him not to broadcast it around: Unfortunately, his letter, not having been (...?...) by the post, arrived late; and it seems that he communicated it before having received my advice. How vexatious! But what to do? Especially since it seems to me that Y.L. has a thousand ways of ensuring that no embarrassment ensues to you as a result of this, or any inopportune result to anyone.

It would be useless to enter into the details of your letter. If I had a large number of priests whom it was dangerous to inform of the state of the burse, I would not reveal anything to them; indeed, even if I had no such fear, I would only speak of the burse if it were necessary, as it is this year for me.

If I had native priests, they would not be told anything about my business, or that concerning our congregation. They would have no sambalam,(), etc. etc. If I called them to a synod, they would come to receive my orders, and not to discuss with me. I would take advantage of the counsel of sages, if there should be any such, and that is all.

On this occasion of the synod, I will tell you one thing that surprised me greatly and which surprises me even more today after the letter you quote from Mr Langlois : that is that in the edition which Y.L. has just brought out on the synod of Pondicherry, you have mentioned the signature of the members of the synod, which is one of the most irregular acts taking place there. This synod must not and cannot be signed by anyone except Y.L. All the other signatures are vain first of all, and for those who have no clear idea of what a synod is, they may be dangerous. The Rome edition took care to omit them, limiting itself to listing at the beginning the names of the members present.

Mr Roger's pupil has gone back after several days spent with his sick father. He behaved well. Doubtless he could not help telling our dear pupils many things that it would have been better for them not to know. But I hope that the harm will not have been great. I paid a visit on purpose to Carumattampatty to destroy the impression that these inevitable stories could have made on (young Levites?),and that it would have been preferable to forestall if I had been notified of this young man's arrival.

Things in the district of Palghat are just as bad as ever. Mr Métral is still not back from Cochin. Mr Bruyère cannot leave the pangou at present. Mr Pacreau is still not perfectly recovered. Mr Pajean cannot send away his masons, carpenters etc. now that work is nearing completion: I am forced to postpone our retreat until after my return from Pondicherry. If however two thirds of our personnel could be present on the occasion of the feast of Carumattampatty, the council will take place.

I commend myself to your good prayers, in the union of which I beg you to believe me always,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted servant and son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 31 August 1848)

Sent_0359

Sent_0359 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire - le 1er septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0359 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 1 September 1848 -/2

Sent_0359 - aux Directeurs du Séminaire - le 1er septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0359 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 37

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 227

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Details of Mr Vanthier's death: perfect attitude of the Jesuits on this occasion, Mgr Bonnand wants me at Pondicherry to be the soul of the synod and to preach the retreat : the conditions I laid down for going there. The situation at Pondicherry distresses me and Mgr Bonnand's attitude towards me pains me deeply: causes and remedies.

Index : synod, retreat, scandal, relations between vicariates

__________

Coimbatore, 1 September 1848

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

A word that Mr Pajean added in my absence to a letter last month will have informed you of the sad and premature death of Mr Vanthier. In six months this young missionary had made such rapid progress in the Tamoul language as to make him capable of administering the Christians. I had sent him to the district of Darabouram that he knew already, having paid a first visit there with Mr Métral. At the extremity of the district, he was seized by some form of violent colic that he had the misfortune of considerably worsening by imprudently taking quinine for five days running.

On Sunday 30 July, I learned by a letter from the Christians of the dangerous state he was in, alone and far from all help ; being at four long days' march from here. I straightway left for Carumattampatty in order to immediately send Mr Pajean out to him, however the evening of that same Sunday, I received a brief note written in his hand informing me that he had left in a poor litter for Trichinopoly where he was only two days' journey away.

In fact it is there that his all too short career ended on 1 August at 10 in the evening, "falling asleep gently in the Lord," as Rev. Father Wilmet informed me, "after suffering a violent attack and a terrible assault by the evil spirit who tried to make him despair of his salvation. He cried out in his delirium: 'I am damned, etc. etc.' We all fell to praying, and immediately the temptation disappeared. He went on to make acts of love, of hope, etc. and was very peaceful up to the last moment". It is useless to tell you that the Reverend Jesuit Fathers, with whom he died, offered him all the spiritual and bodily comforts that were in their power.

This dear deceased had been too short a time in the work for me to be in a position to say many edifying things about him. But everything had made me hope that he would have become a good missionary; and these all too short words are no little thing. The Lord, by depriving us of him at the very time when he was becoming capable of being of some service, has wished to test our mission and, I hope also, give him a special intercessor in Heaven.

I found no will or any papers needing to be sent back to you or to his family. A few days ago, I sent his death certificate to Pondicherry, asking My Lord of Drusipare to have the signatures legalised by a French government official and to send it on to you.

You may know, Gentlemen and dear confreres, that My Lord of Drusipare, having planned a second synod, had urged me to be "its soul" ; to go for some time to be at his side so that we could prepare the various subjects together, to prepare to give the instructions for the synod and a retreat. This proposal astonished and frightened me for several reasons that it would be too long to enumerate here. I laid them before H.L., begging him to spare me so difficult a task. H.L. having insisted, I felt it my duty to place myself at his disposal. However I laid down one condition, and that is that we would put on one side all the past misunderstandings with the proper names they recall. That we would not accuse anyone for what had happened, concentrating solely on clearly understanding our present position, in order to try and remedy the existing evils, whatever may have been the causes that produced them, and to proceed in common agreement towards a better future.

Since that time, My Lord has informed me of a planned change of position which I find it impossible to agree to, because in conscience I believe it such as to complete the ruin of our missions. My reaction pained him and I think that this is the cause of the distressing manner which H.L. has once more adopted in writing to me, and in several of his letters, has seen fit to lay the blame on certain persons, etc., etc.

Seeing this, and the sad affairs of Pondicherry going from bad to worse, with people's minds becoming daily more embittered, I have lost all hope of doing any good at Pondicherry. I then asked H.L. to allow me to withdraw my word and to dispense me from this journey and from preaching the retreat, especially since it would appear that H.L. has given up the idea of the synod. My Lord answered me that, having announced that I would preach the retreat, if I did not go, it would be a scandal! God forbid that I should ever, though my fault, be the cause of a scandal! So I will go; but with extreme reluctance, in the moral certainty of not doing any good, and of perhaps witnessing our further ruin. For we would not have to go much farther to arrive at that and I deem that if we take even a few more wrong steps at Pondicherry, we will find ourselves in the abyss. I say us, for this mission will necessarily be affected by the misfortunes of its mother; especially since we are still not regularly constituted as an apostolic vicariate, which at this moment is a great misfortune. If this question had been settled last year, we would have some resources more in the peril.

I think that, by speaking to you of the evils of Pondicherry, I am not speaking an enigmatic language, since you must already know something of it. As for the causes which produced it, it may be that you do not clearly comprehend them, and neither do I perhaps, however I believe them to be multiple, and the most serious, in my opinion, are not those which appear to be so to those who have not fully palpated the sore; but it is not up to me to say anything further, and even less to indicate the remedies that alone would appear effective to me, besides they would need to be proportionate to the evil and, even if they were to hand, one hesitates at the idea of using them. What remains for me to do, is to pray to the Lord whom I beg you to invoke for us, considering me for life as

Your very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 1 September 1848)

Sent_0360

Sent_0360 - à M. Tesson - le 1er septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0360 - to Mr Tesson - 1 September 1848 -/2

Sent_0360 - à M. Tesson - le 1er septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0360 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 36

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 227

(to M. Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

How I have been led to accept to go to Pondicherry for the retreat and the synod. With what a heavy heart I shall be going! No, I do not want to go to the see of Pondicherry. Mgr Bonnand never stops blaming Mgr Luquet and at Pondicherry I would never have my hands free. Why I promised my missionaries to reveal to them the state of our burse. Mgr Bonnand does not agree, but I am not acquainted with his circulars. How difficult it is to work in a mission where people do not get on!

Index : retreat, synod, relations between vicariates, change

__________

Coimbatore, 1 September 1848 (

)

I wrote to you, I believe, the last time, my dear Mr Tesson, to tell you that the hope that I had conceived of going to bring peace among the workers of Pondicherry had been replaced by fresh griefs and new impediments. They have merely redoubled in the course of this month. My Lord has seen fit to resume his hard words towards me and towards others. Seeing then that my presence in Pondicherry would be unsustainable for me, and perhaps dangerous, I begged My Lord to dispense me from this journey. H.L. would not consent, saying that the public would regard that as a scandalous rupture between him and me. Accordingly I must condemn myself to go. I can't tell you with what pain, it is impossible. This pain is not personal, without which, with God's grace, I would count it as nothing, but it affects the work of God which risks losing thereby despite all that I can do. For it will be impossible for me not to cause grief to My Lord de Drusipare in his present inclinations, with the state of things, in whatever way I behave.

Perhaps you will tell me that the way to put an end to all of this would be to comply with My Lord of Drusipare's desires, to hand over my place to him and to take on the direction of Pondicherry. But besides the fact that I don't have the courage, besides the fact that the happy hopes that we have here attach me to the post I now occupy, My Lord of Drusipare makes this every day more impossible. He has let it be known on several occasions that he considers this combination as the work of Mgr Luquet; he never ceases to blame him, and as for me he treats me with a painful rigour. Thus I would have against me all the missionaries who agree with H.L.'s ideas. He can well say that it is he who wishes it, that he has wished it for a long time now, etc., the effect of these complaints against Mgr Luquet will always remain; he will have the air of a victim and I of his persecutor, I who love him as a father, and who have always avoided causing him grief as far as possible.

These missionaries are generally the older ones. But you may say: you will have the new ones. Yes, but I will tell you frankly, there are so many faults among them, that to have only them as my support would be equivalent in appearance to putting myself on the side of lightness and folly. Besides, since My Lord of Drusipare remains titular apostolic vicar, the antecedents prove to me that H.L. will not remain soumma (), he would contradict me without cease on the important reforms that are urgent, the missionaries that I would be obliged not to spare would appeal to H.L. Disorder would be complete and ruin certain. In order to be in a position to pull Pondicherry out of its state worse than death, I need to have real, sustained authority in which they would have confidence at Paris and at Rome, all things that I cannot hope for at this moment. I think that they would sustain me in Paris. But I have reason to believe that certain letters from My Lord of Drusipare have indisposed the S.C. which might not trust me.

In the last few days, H.L. has written me yet another letter in which he complains that I promised my missionaries to let them know the state of our bursar's office at the future general council. H.L. claims that by so doing I have gone against a circular that he addressed to his missionaries in February, but 1) I was not acquainted with this circular (I have always sent mine for information to H.L., but he has not seen fit to send me his); 2) I am far from establishing this as a rule or a right of the missionaries, but if I do it accidentally this year, this is because I need to be enlightened on two questions to which the missionaries cannot answer without this knowledge, and because, after they for their part have evinced great trust in me by foregoing, at my proposal, part of their viaticum, I felt it my duty in turn to give them this proof of good understanding. I am writing this in case My Lord should speak to you of it. Oh, how painful it is for me to work in a mission where there is no agreement! Let us pray the good God that this will come to an end and believe me

Your very devoted confrere and friend.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 1 September 1848)

Sent_0361

Sent_0361 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 septembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0361 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 September 1848 -/2

Sent_0361 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 septembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0361 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2173-2175

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 227

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

A request from Mgr de Brésillac regarding his future journey to Pondicherry. Some news of his pro-vicariate. The Diwan has ordered Joachim to leave Atticodou. The feast of the Nativity at Ootacamund

Index : schism, my missionaries

__________

Ootacamund, 10 September 1848

My Lord,

I had the pleasure of receiving yesterday at Ootacamund your letter of 2 September. The two missionaries for Coimbatore are Messrs Cornevin from Langres and Ravel from Gap or Digne. Yesterday I received a letter from the Council of Paris announcing them to me.

I truly do not know what to answer to Y.L. on the question you raise regarding Mgr Luquet. Besides it appears certain that he will not have the majority of votes according to what Mr Tesson tells me. In any case, it seems very difficult to me that he will now return to India.

If the good God permits, I expect to leave for Pondicherry on 2 or 3 October. I will have the honour of writing to you between now and then. I would very much like to know if the missionary from Salem will be at Salem when I pass through. If he were not far away, could he not go there, for I think I will have to stay for a day or two to rest my horse.

We have just managed to send about his business the schismatic priest who had attached himself to Atticodou. He received an order from the Diwan of Cochin to leave the territory of the kingdom forthwith. He has taken refuge here, namely at Ootacamund, from where I am writing these lines, with the famous Joachim. I do not know what tonderavou() he will cause us in this new position. Precisely I came to pay a little visit announced for a long time now, and I hope that this will serve to fortify the great majority of the Christians who are for us.

Last Friday and today, our church was full as an egg. I officiated pontifically on the day of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, having brought Mr de Gélis and two young ecclesiastics with me. Mr Pacreau is perfectly recovered; he presents his very humble respects to you. I expect to leave tomorrow.

In just a few days' time, I hope to have the pleasure of embracing you, you and our very dear confreres of Pondicherry. Kindly convey to them my friendly greetings in the meantime, and believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted and respectful servant.

M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Ootacamund, 10 September 1848)

Sent_0362

Sent_0362 - à M. Pacreau - le 16 septembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0362 - to Mr Pacreau - 16 September 1848 -/1

Sent_0362 - à M. Pacreau - le 16 septembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0362 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 228-229

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pacreau)

(apostolic missionary)

Mgr seems to have been accused of having sent Mr Pacreau as far away as possible. He writes to him to defend himself and to ask him to let it be known that he is at Ootacamund at his own request.

Index : relationship (with his missionaries)

__________

Coimbatore, 16 September 1848

Distress caused me by Messrs Bonjean and Pajean when I passed through Carumattampatty.

I forgive them their fault with all my heart. May they not make any others. I did not try to destroy the accusations that they saw fit to address to me. I leave it to God and to time to be my advocate. There is one however against which I protested and that should be destroyed for our good, so I would ask you to come to my aid. They said to me that: "I had put you a remotis (), that I had relegated you to way up in the mountains and they knew very well why." I feel sure that you have very different thoughts, however it is important for people to be truly convinced. Accordingly I would ask you to lose no time in writing to me what your feelings are on this subject, so that I can make use of your testimony even to prove to those for whom it is important to know that I esteem you too much to put you a remotis.

When I sent you to the mountain, it was not my intention to leave you there, I only wanted to give you the means of perfectly recovering your health. Then I conceived the idea from some of your letters that you would like to have that post. You evinced this desire to me with every suitable reserve and in such a way as to be completely sure of your conscience in any case.

On another side, I saw that you could do good there, and I was happy to be able to combine the good of our work with the desire of a missionary whom I esteem. I only regretted one thing, and that is of no longer having you close at hand. That is the truth. I have no doubt that you are persuaded of it and if you should have the slightest doubt on this subject, I would hasten to find you some other post so that it was clearly seen that I have not repulsed you.

I hope to see him soon. I ask him to prepare himself to preach in the pontifical mass on the feastday.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1848)

Sent_0363

Sent_0363 - au Collecteur - le 19 septembre 1848 -/4

Sent 0363 - to the Collector - 19 September 1848 /2

Sent_0363 - au Collecteur - le 19 septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0363 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 229-231

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

He explains to him the whole story of the priest of Goa at Atticodou and how, on Mr Métral's intervention, the Diwan of Cochin ordered him to leave his territory. I am informing you of all this, for this priest from Goa is at present at Ootacamund which depends on your authority: he risks making trouble there among my Christians. He gives a list of the missionaries who work in the pro-vicariate of Coimbatore.

Index : schism, civil authorities, administrative formalities

__________

Coimbatore, 19 September 1848

Sir,

Fearing that a priest of Goa would create disturbances among the Christians of Coimbatore in the same way as he did among those who are under my ecclesiastical jurisdiction at Atticodoo, a village situated in the territory of Cochin, I on the 31st July wrote to you respecting him. Your kind letter of the 6th August in reply to it I had the pleasure to receive and I thank you.

It will be necessary for me in a few days to proceed to Pondichéry, and I consider it reasonable to inform you of matters that have taken place respecting this priest in order that you may be able to trace the origin and cause of disturbances, should they occur.

Two or three Christians (head people) who were prohibited by my missionaries from practising heathenish ceremonies in the celebration of marriages invited him. They raised a faction in his favor and attempted to put the church there into his possession. Immediately as I became informed of their doings, I sent the Rd M. Métral who ordinarily resides at Carumattampatty to put down the faction and to bring matters to a good issue. But they refused him and created greater disturbances. He then sought the assistance of the Dazildar requesting that the keys of the church may be delivered to him. But the Dazildar out of fear ordered that the church should remain shut and that the keys should not be given up to anybody.

I then sent the Rd M. Métral to the Divan to relate these facts. The Divan after acquainting himself with them and enquiring into the conduct of the contentious priest of Goa gave M. Métral a sealed precept to the Dazildar.

In that precept, he not only ordered that the keys should be delivered to us and that we should be left to the quiet exercise of our ministry, but also ordered that the priest of Goa should forthwith quit the territory of Cochin. Thus we obtained more than we asked for.

The priest of Goa immediately quitting proceeded to Ootacamund, to the Church which M. Joachim says belongs to him ; and I myself, before becoming acquainted with the resolution of the Divan and the issue of the matter, very much to my surprise, met him at the bungalow at Coonoor, on the 5th of this month, on my way to Ootacamund whither I was going to administer Confirmation.

I imagine he will now attempt to disturb the Christians at Ootacamund and from there probably the other Christians. It is for this reason that I have thought it fit to relate to you all that has happened in hope that you will afford me and my missionaries your kind aid, should it be necessary.

Whenever missionaries arrived from France or any other place to evangelize the provicariate of Coimbatore (which is committed to my charge by the Holy See), I forwarded to you their passports and names. From another place, the Rd M. Jarrige has given you the name of those who were there before me. The Rd M. Jarrige from there is gone to Mysore, M. Laugier to France and M. Vanthier is dead. The missionaries who labour with me now, under my ecclesiastical jurisdiction are the Rd MM. Métral, Pacreau, Pajean, Bonjean, Bruyère and de Gélis. There are no priests under me who are natives of this country. Any other priest therefore who may come into the province of Coimbatore to perform ecclesiastical duties without my approbation and sanction cannot be considered a priest of the Holy, Catholic, apostolic and Roman Church.

I have, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 19 September 1848)

Sent_0364

Sent_0364 - au Collecteur - le 21 septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0364 - to the Collector - 21 September 1848 -/1

Sent_0364 - au Collecteur - le 21 septembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0364 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 231-232

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

To ask him if he has any errands for Pondicherry.

Index : civil authorities, civilities

__________

Coimbatore, 21 September 1848

Sir,

Though I find it accordingly difficult to speak English, yet confident of your good wishes I would not wish to proceed to Pondicherry without seeing you.

I am aware you have relations and friends here and if you have any commissions to give me for them, I shall most gladly accept them.

As it is necessary for me to go Carumattampatty the next Saturday, and I have no intention returning at Coimbatore before my departure to Pondicherry, let me know whether I may see you to morrow and at what hour ?

I have etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, le 21 September 1848)

Sent_0365

Sent_0365 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 6 octobre 1848 -/1

Sent 0365 - to Mgr Bonnand - 6 October 1848 -/1

Sent_0365 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 6 octobre 1848 -/1

Sent 0365 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 207-210

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

My departure for Pondicherry is delayed until 9 October ; arrival at Pondicherry should be around the 25th or 26th. The feast of the Rosary at Carumattampatty; blessing of the seminary; the council following it. I will be pleased to see Mgr Charbonnaux at Pondicherry

Index : journey, council (bishop's), seminary of Carumattampatty

__________

Carumattampatty, 6 October 1848 ()

My Lord,

Y.L. should have received a letter from me dated from Ootacamund in which I informed you that my plan was to leave here on ( ?) October. However that is impossible for me. I absolutely need the eight days following the feast to put some order in an infinity of things. Accordingly I will only be leaving on the day after tomorrow, the 9th.

Since I have not received a letter from Y.L. for a long time now I hope to find one at Salem where I expect to arrive on Sunday 15th , and to spend Monday and perhaps Tuesday there. The following Sunday 22nd, I think I should be at Oloundourpet, and if I knew that the missionary of the district was at Colanour, I would go and say holy mass. So that it will probably not be before the next Wednesday or Thursday that I will have the pleasure of embracing you.

We celebrated our feast with great pomp, carried out the blessing of the seminary although there are still no doors or windows, however the bulk of the building is up, and although no-one will be able to sleep there for some time still, it can be used for studying and eating, etc ; held our council which was very peaceful, although a few days earlier I found myself in a pretty spot, which I will explain to you personally, for it would take too long here, and besides Our Lord permitted that it all ended for the best ; I hope that more good than harm will ensue from it for the future.

Mr Charbonnaux wrote to me that he also had to come to Pondicherry. It will be no small pleasure for me to see him there and converse with him.

In one of my crates, I found Mgr Luquet's letters to the Protestant clergy of Germany, for Y.L. I will bring them for you and I presume I have your permission to read them on the way in the long moments I will be spending in the bungalows.

I beg you ask the angel of the Lord to accompany me in the journey and to believe me, as always,

Your very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 6 October 1848)

Sent_0366

Sent_0366 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 octobre 1848 -/2

Sent 0366 - to Mgr Bonnand - 14 October 1848 /2

Sent_0366 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 octobre 1848 -/2

Sent 0366 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 211-214

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 233

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Letter sent from Salem when Mgr de Brésillac has been on his way to Pondicherry for 8 days. How our caravan is organised. Who accompanies me. How I envisage our journey as far as Pondicherry. You are preparing much too brilliant a feast for me; it is a dangerous antecedent. If you consider it useful, I will accept it for God's glory.

Index : journey, reception, friendship

__________

Salem, 14 October 1848 ()

My Lord,

It was only yesterday in the evening that I had the pleasure of reading your good letter of 2 October. Y.L. should have received one from Carumattampatty, of which I do not recall the date, which informed you that I could only arrive about the 25th or the 26th of this month. Our team is as follows: an old horse pulling an old cabriolet bearing your servant and Mr de Gélis who is accompanying me, a cart pulled by two old oxen of the church and driven by my old bearer improvised carter. (That?) and my cook make up all the caravan.

We proceed very peacefully, indeed very comfortably and very economically, but very slowly. Moreover, we have to fear the rains and the terrible roads after Sinassalam. We can only go the distance between one bungalow and another each day, and in addition have to make the occasional halt. We propose setting off from here on Monday morning the 16th, which should bring us to Oloundourpet by Saturday. We will stay there Sunday.

If Mr Bardouil was at Colanour, we would go to say mass there ; if not, we will stay soumma,

since we have not brought with us any aïtam(). By setting off once more on Monday, we could be at Pondicherry Wednesday evening, but all of this is if our old carriage does not break down, if the horse does not collapse, if the oxen do not refuse to budge, if, if, an infinity of ifs ! I will write to you from Oloundourpet to give Y.L. firm news as soon as possible, as you desire.

I hardly need to tell Y.L. that a reception such as you are preparing for me seems much too brilliant, and that I would prefer it to be simpler. If I did not fear to hurt you, I would beg you to dispense me from it. I would even say to you frankly that such a reception appears to me to constitute a dangerous antecedent, in that it is too similar to that which should be made for the bishop entering his jurisdiction for the first time. I beg Y.L. to weigh this reason, as well as the embarrassment that it could cause Y.L. if having done it once, you found yourself obliged to renew it often, etc., etc.

Y.L. must have no fear of distressing me by coming back on the project that you mention in your letter. Just as I will only accept such a reception for the glory of God, if Y.L. believes it useful, in the same way, and with more contentment, I would see that Y.L. does not believe it useful and that you will only invite piety and friendship to meet me.

If Y.L. really wants me to arrive Wednesday evening, you must necessarily have the goodness to send us palanquins, or at least one palanquin and a horse to the customs, seeing that with our Rosinante, we could only arrive at Olgaret towards 7 or 8 in the evening. I hope to receive a letter from Y.L. at Oloundourpet, whence I will write again without fail.

While awaiting the pleasure of seeing you, I ask you to commend me to the Lord as

Your Lordship's

Very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Salem, 14 October 1848)

Sent_0367

Sent_0367 - à MM. Arbuthuot et Cie - le 3 novembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0367 - to Messrs Arbuthuot and Co. - 3 November 1848 /1

Sent_0367 - à MM. Arbuthuot et Cie - le 3 novembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0367 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 233

(to Messrs Arbuthuot and Company)

(bankers in Pondicherry)

Regarding a draft for 334 pounds that he should receive

Index : finances

__________

Pondicherry, 3 November 1848

It was only yesterday 2 November that I received at Pondicherry your letter of 14 October with the sets of bills that it contained and in which you inform me that you have been commissioned by Messrs Coutts and Company to pay me the sum of £334.4.8. I hasten to send you back the bills, duly signed, asking you to have sent to me here at Pondicherry a draft on the principal Collector of Coimbatore.

I have the honour of being, etc

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry, 3 November 1848)

Sent_0368

Sent_0368 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 5 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0368 - to Propagation of the Faith - 5 November 1848 /2

Sent_0368 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 5 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0368 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 60

Table sent to Propagation of the Faith

(enclosed with the letter sent to Mr Tesson on 6 November 1848))

Annual table sent to Propagation of the Faith giving some information on the pro-vicariate of Coimbatore : population, baptisms, communions,. clergy, churches and chapels built, schools, seminaries, state of receipts and expenditures etc.

Index : statistics

__________

Pondicherry, 5 November 1848

Mgr M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac

Apostolic pro-vicariate of Coimbatore

Date of the information provided

5 November 1848

Population

Catholics :the famine of last year having dispersed up to 2/3 of certain Christian communities, it is impossible at present to establish the number of faithful who are gradually coming back to their homes.

Heretics: several hundreds.

Non-believers: unknown.

Number of baptisms of adults or annual conversions

Nothing fixed.

Number of Easter communions

Being accidentally absent from my Pro-vicariate, I cannot give the exact number, which amounts to over one thousand.

Clergy

Missionaries: counting the two who left France in July and whom I am expecting any time now, the number of missionaries for 1849 will be 9.

Priests born in the country: 0

Churches or chapels built

Churches: two or three can scarcely be called by this name.

Chapels : six or seven can bear this name ; about thirty more are no more than shacks.

Secondary schools, seminaries, hospitals, various establishments :

A seminary : this year we have built a very suitable house for the seminary. It contains several lay ecclesiastic pupils, one minor orders and five clerics. Apart from the building, there is nothing consolidated for the upkeep of this establishment.

All the other establishments have still to be built.

General remarks

Since the establishment of the pro-vicariate, considerable progress has been made as regards the administration of the Christians and the work of the seminary, etc. We have confidence that this good will continue to grow if the resources of Propagation of the Faith permit it to continue the good that it does for us and to increase the number of our missionaries. This increase in personnel is indispensable if we are to be in a position to deal directly with the pagans. As slight as the supplement that it grants us is, providing the viaticum of the missionaries is reliably sent, we will advance slowly, but without ever falling back. If the supplement was nil, we might remain stationary, which would be equivalent in some sense to falling back, above all if this state of things were prolonged. If the viaticums were not integrally sent out, we would immediately fall back.

State of presumed receipts and expenditures for the year 1849

Resources of the apostolic pro-vicariate consisting of revenues from properties or other sources ; proceeds of the churches, colleges and diocesan associations, casual offerings, gifts and offerings, aid granted by the government of the country or others or by the associations other than of Propagation of the Faith, estimated altogether at 800 francs.

Expenditures

1) Expenses of the bishop, his clergy and other persons attached to the mission, estimated for the year at 8,300 francs.

2) Expenses for missionaries on their way, coming from Europe, estimated for the year at 00.

3) Expenses for establishments already founded, estimated for the year at 2,000 francs.

4) Expenses for establishments to be founded, estimated for the year at (

) 5,000 francs.

5) Particular expenses of the mission, estimated for the year at 2,000 francs.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 5 November 1848)

Sent_0369

Sent_0369 - à M. Tesson - le 6 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0369 - to Mr Tesson - 6 November 1848 -/2

Sent_0369 - à M. Tesson - le 6 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0369 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 38

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 234

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

A word on Mgr Luquet. No, he is not driven by ambition, but he would need to have an adviser. A word on the change requested by Mgr Bonnand between Coimbatore and Pondicherry. How I was welcomed in grand style in the hope of winning back the Malabars. The sickness of Pondicherry goes deep. The cause is the absolute absence of administration, the confusion in people's minds, and the ruin of the episcopal authority. A commission is set up to study what could be decided and done. Will we do anything good? Pray for us.

Index : Change, reception, ecclesiastical administration, synod, difficulties

__________

Pondicherry, 6 November 1848

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have received your two letters of 24 August and of 24 July. Thank you for the interesting details that you give me. Please keep me up to date regarding Mgr Luquet. However it may be, I cannot believe that he is impelled by ambition! And I am persuaded that he is a man who wants the good and who is capable of doing a great deal. How he needs to have a friend close at hand who has sufficient authority over his mind to tell him to stop at times, to wait further or to remove such or such a word from what he writes!...

Here I am at Pondicherry ; to do what ? My Lord calls me to help him prepare a second synod. Seeing the state of minds, I ask H.L. to forego this plan and to convene at the most a general council. He seems to agree, but during that time, he receives a letter from Rome giving him the faculty of going to Coimbatore and entrusting me with the administration of Pondicherry. At the same time, imprudent letters are received by several persons from Mgr Luquet which divulge the matter before My Lord of Drusipare has allowed anything to transpire.

My Lord of Drusipare groans even more than I, since at this point my cause was strangled by the moral impossibility of the change. My Lord of Drusipare might well have protested that he had asked Rome to take this step, it would have been impossible to think that it was not through the intrigues of Mgr Luquet, in agreement with me.

Meanwhile, My Lord wants to see me absolutely. H.L. can bear it no longer, overwhelmed by the disorders of the Christians of Pondicherry and the even more deplorable disorder reigning in the minds and acts of the missionaries. He hides appearances, saying that he has called me to preach a retreat. But he conceals his trouble poorly. I cannot refuse to come. I am given a magnificent reception, hoping that this will win the Malabars back.

In fact, they gather for a moment to receive me, but their hearts are so wounded that the evil is very far from being healed, if it is healable. My Lord assembles his private council and asks me to attend. Since things are in this state it is impossible to hold, and also impossible not to hold a synod. This council goes very well, and it really serves to probe things deep down. The evil is so great that it is impossible to delude ourselves. The principal and invisible cause can no longer be in doubt, it is the absolute absence of administration, the confusion in ideas and the ruin of the bishop's authority.

My Lord, whose fault is certainly not that of humility, recognises it and begs us to help him to find some remedy for the evil. The thing is extremely difficult ; it comes over 10 years too late, and still we need to use extreme prudence and a fairly long time to compose the remedy and to administer it without killing the patient ; on another hand, it appears evident that if we were to let things go for some time more, we would run straight into the complete and perhaps prompt ruin of religion in Pondicherry first of all and, once Pondicherry has fallen, I swear all the rest.

I propose that we study the question thoroughly and that we draw up a plan of administration which encompasses everything concerning religion in this part of India. That for this a commission is appointed which draws up written reports maturely worked on in order to be presented to a council appointed explicitly and which admits or modifies or rejects the conclusions. That, once this work is finished, we compose constitutions which lay down the law. That before promulgating them, we communicate them to Paris, so that nothing inadvertently finds its way into them which is not in harmony with the rules of our Society, and to Rome to be sure in advance of its approval. That before the time comes to promulgate them, we agree to act prudently without exposing ourselves, so as not to be obliged later on to contradict ourselves ; and since all of this is not the work of a day, to do very little in the future synod.

All of this is admitted, or in the course of being admitted. I am appointed rapporteur of the commission consisting of your servant, of Mr Dupuis, the only excellent head that I know at Pondicherry and who had withdrawn completely from such matters since he saw that everything was crumbling away, of Mr Godelle and of Mr Le Goust. The extraordinary council, besides My Lord of Drusipare and myself, includes the members of His Lordship's private council, plus Messrs Le Goust and Fages. Now, will we do anything good? And if the good God should give us this grace, who will put it into practice? And how? Pray for us!

I would have many other things to tell you, but I don't have an instant. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I am sending you the table for Propagation of the Faith. Now knowing how long I will remain here, please continue to write to me at Coimbatore and continue to send the newspapers there.

(Pondicherry, 6 November 1848)

Sent_0370

Sent_0370 - aux directeurs du Séminaire - le 6 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0370 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 6 November 1848 /2

Sent_0370 - aux directeurs du Séminaire - le 6 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0370 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 39

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 234

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Messrs Cornevin and Ravel have still not arrived. I am at Pondicherry where Christianity is very sick. Mgr Bonnand has almost given up the idea of changing with Coimbatore. He really wants to find a remedy for the ill. He will be writing the details to you himself. I am kept busy over 10 hours a day. Some reflections on all of the missionaries of the pro-vicariate. Fears regarding Messrs Bonjean and Pajean; the others are doing well; and Mr Métral very well indeed.

Index : difficulties, ecclesiastical administration, my missionaries

__________

Pondicherry, 6 November 1848

Gentlemen and very dear confrères,

Whatever my goodwill, it is impossible for me to write you a long letter as I would have desired. I absolutely have to be content with the strictly necessary, for lack of time.

I had the pleasure of receiving your two kind letters of 20 June and of 24 August.

Messrs, Cornevin and Ravel have still not arrived, we are expecting them any day. Since divine Providence permitted that the inclinations of our venerable deceased confrere and benefactor were not thwarted, I have not to repent that you have sent us these two new missionaries. Nonetheless, be kind enough not to send us any more unless you are morally sure of being able to continue to send us the viaticum in full and at least some small supplement.

I was on the point of leaving for Pondicherry when I received the authorisation for giving a passage to Mr Barot on your behalf. I have still not spoken to him of it, for, if he should have been entered on our admission registers, prudence will be required in order to settle things in such a way that he has no right to claim any aid on your part when he arrives back in France. I will try to deal with the matter as prudently as possible.

I wrote to you in September that I would be obliged to make a journey to Pondicherry. In fact it is from that town that I am writing you these lines. My Lord of Drusipare received me with great goodness. He even welcomed me with honours that were far too grand for me, I protested, however I felt I had to submit, in the hope that H.L. had conceived that this was a ground for winning back the unfortunate Christians of Pondicherry.

I am happy to be in a position to almost assure you that H.L. has given up his plan of an exchange of our positions. I am quite prepared to do all I can for him, to help him by every means in my power, but not to accept his place.

However, the Christians of Pondicherry are very sick and we should not have any illusions, their fall would be terrible for all of our missions in India. Unfortunately, the cause is not on the part of the Christians alone. It was not until the harm reached the point where it now is that we realised this. Please God it is not too late for all remedies to be ineffective! That is what I fear most. For I believe that My Lord of Drusipare does not have any illusion on the ill, that he really wants to find a remedy for it, and that the Lord has inspired in him the thought that he alone can produce salutary effects. I cannot enter into the details. Besides, My Lord will undoubtedly be doing this for you himself, only I believe that it is 10 or perhaps 15 years too late ! On account of all of this I am kept busy over 10 hours a day, please God we obtain something for his glory from this work. Thus, I will close here, asking you to believe me always,

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant,

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. You will be disappointed to learn that Mr Bonjean is far from giving me the satisfaction that I hoped of him from the information that you had given me of him and the favourable impression made on me by his way of behaving in the beginning. Unfortunately, this young missionary seems to me not to have explored things very deeply. He expected to find India and the Indians such as they are sometimes depicted in the imaginative pictures included in the Annals. The contrary disconcerted him. At this point he engaged in theories and sustained them in writing, orally, and in practice, reared up against those who suggested he should wait before conceiving fixed ideas, and above all acting in conformity with his ideas. He no longer feared to judge of his superiors, and was incited to do so by those poor confreres whose life is spent in the opposition. I really do not know where he will end up.

Happily (if one can put it thus) this way of behaving led him to commit such a serious fault which might have had the most distressing consequences, and which it proved easy, after a few days' reflection for Mr Métral to make him realise. Straightway he jumped on his horse and came in tears to make his apologies to me at 18 miles' distance where I was at the time. This act proved to me that he is not devoid of resources. However I fear his active correspondence with certain confreres, with Mr Pajean among others, that his bad head leads astray in Coimbatore, just as it led him to commit so many errors in Pondicherry. I would very much like the latter to be notified that he needs a further trial period before being entered in our registers of admission, and for that one of you who was Mr Pajean's director in Paris, to write giving him some advice on practical humility, obedience, submission, etc. I believe this would be rendering him a great service. So far, I have only good information to give you on Mr Bruyère, and excellent on Mr de Gélis. Mr Pacreau affords me some fears. Mr Métral is the pillar of Coimbatore, a perfect model of the true missionary.

(Pondicherry, 6 November 1848)

Sent_0371

Sent_0371 - à son père - le 6 novembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0371 - to his father - 6 November 1848 -/2

Sent_0371 - à son père - le 6 novembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0371 Original, AMA 2F1, p 131

(to his father)

Very short letter. I don't have time to write. Mgr Bonnand gave me a very fine reception.

Index : reception

__________

Pondicherry, 6 November 1848

My very dear father,

I said to you in my last note that I would write you a long letter from here. And now I am taking up a simple sheet, for lack of time. What can you do! Man proposes and God disposes. My Lord of Drusipare called me here to work on questions regarding religion, which obliges me to study or to write for over 10 hours a day.

I will try to replace the length of the letters by their number, by writing to you more often.

The religious affairs of these parts are not going at all well.

Nevertheless, I have been given a brilliant reception. The Christians have kept some affection for me, and I had not returned to Pondicherry since I was made bishop; so that there was a big festivity on my arrival. The government lent a hand in it and granted My Lord of Drusipare, who treats me as his son, everything that he asked for. The soldiers of the Republic (if there is a republic here, for people are not at all republican) intermingled with the crowd of citizens without hats or breeches. A Dieu.

Thousands of good things to everyone. To my good mother above all.

Your very respectful child.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Since I do not know how long I shall be staying here, kindly address all letters to Coimbatore.

(Pondicherry, 6 November 1848)

Sent_0372

Sent_0372 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0372 - to Mgr Luquet - 9 November 1848 /2

Sent_0372 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 novembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0372 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 488ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

If I speak of India, what sadness not to be able to let you know what you desire : faults of administration, the missionaries do what they like. What we need would be an authority approved by Paris and Propaganda. The reasons why I have not accepted the post of Pondicherry. With several others, I am now working on a general plan of administration. Difficulties of the English and of the schism of Goa.

Index : religion in India, change, ecclesiastic administration, difficulties, schism, spirit of the missionaries

__________

Pondicherry, 9 November 1848

My very dear friend,

It is already several days ago that I received your letter written on Saint Peter's day. Forgive me if I have not written to you more often. This is partly due to my occupations, but more often it is the sadness of not being able to tell you what you would like to know, and if I am speaking of India, of being obliged to groan! After the short time that this lasts, we will have finished, and there will be no more religion in India, at least in the Indian India, among the real people.

Even more unfortunately, the faults inherent in an administration that you do not know make the sickness almost incurable, for the missionaries should be the first to be cured, and what measure should be taken with people who are accustomed to do exactly as they please, and to treat ecclesiastical affairs more grandly than the pope ? To whom : you must, or I order you, has never been said! Who on the contrary say to one another, I must, I will do, etc. And what is worst of all is that young people arriving from Paris, having just completed their theology, some of them priests before their time, make no scruples about immediately setting out on this footing, etc.; thus creating such confusion that it's impossible to understand anything any more. If all the rest were to go well, how could religion hold out ?

If it is still possible to have some hope, this is that the evil has become so great that My Lord of Drusipare can no longer delude himself. He called me in to help him get out of so much embarrassment. But I really fear that I will be powerless to do so; I would need entire authority and the assurance of being sustained, whatever happens, at Paris and by the S.C. The remedy on the missionaries is still not impossible, but it would require a firm hand that was sure of not being disavowed. Then, you may say, why did you not accept the direction of Pondicherry that His Lordship offered you ?

To that, I reply that 1) it is too difficult for me to accept it without an order from my superiors who are the voice of God for me, for without that I would fear to have presumed on my strength, and if were true that I have so presumed, undoubtedly I would only be doing harm.

2) The faculty that the S.C. has given to My Lord of Drusipare is such that it would have put both of us in a false position, which would certainly have prevented any possibility of good.

3) Because unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, and certainly unintentionally, you have written to several persons that the thing would be desirable, before My Lord had allowed anything to transpire outside. This could not fail to be considered as a question of ambition, decided between you and me, etc., etc. So that the question is thus impossible.

At the moment, My Lord of Drusipare, Mr Dupuis, Mr Godelle and various other principal missionaries listen willingly to what I tell them. They see that I am right, but it is too late ! My Lord has asked me to work on a general plan of administration. I am doing so. But how can so much abuse be corrected ! How can things be contrived in such a way that the remedy is not too strong and kills the patient! And then, supposing I should succeed, how could we ensure it was accepted without modifications which denature it, and finally how will we get it implemented! Oh, what need there is for God's grace! Pray for us. The schism is making furious ravages. The English are increasingly disinclined against the Catholics. And yet, in order that from all of this a great good could still arise, what do we need ? A man, a saint, who has the intelligence of the things of India, and the full confidence of Rome! Mitte quem missurus es. () A Dieu.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Continue to write to Coimbatore.

(Pondicherry, 9 November 1848)

Sent_0373

Sent_0373 - à M. Pajean - le 12 décembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0373 - to Mr Pajean - 12 December 1848 /2

Sent_0373 - à M. Pajean - le 12 décembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0373 copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 41 ()

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

Your silence troubles me. I have just written to Paris to tell them to wait some time more before entering you on our registers as a member of the body. You are young, you need to have more humility; I pray for you. Before writing to you, I asked for Mgr Bonnand's opinion and that of four members of his private council. They all agree with my letter.

Index : regulations of the MEP, authority of the bishop, spirit of the missionaries

__________

Pondicherry, 12 December 1848

My dear Mr Pajean,

It is now two months since I received any news from you. Since you left for your mission, not a word either of you or of your works; I cannot conceal from you that this silence troubles me.

Hoping each day to receive a letter from you to which I can reply, I have waited until today to let you know that, despite the fact that two years have passed since your arrival in India, you must still not consider yourself as belonging definitively to our Congregation. You know that the regulations require that ecclesiastics sent out by the Seminary of Paris should have passed two years in mission "to the satisfaction and with the approval of the superiors", and that it is in fact "on the testimonial to be sent out by the superiors of missions [...] that they are entered on the registers as members of the body".

Now, I am saying this with great regret, but not without hope for the near future, this satisfaction has left much to be desired, both during your stay in Pondicherry, and during that you have made in Coimbatore, so that my conscience cannot be persuaded to give as yet this testimonial required by the letters patent. I informed the directors of Paris some months ago that this testimonial might be pending for a time, and I will send them copy of this letter so they see at the same time that I hope to be in a position shortly to give them more positive information and authorise them to enter you on the registers as a member of the body, however you may only consider yourself as such after having received an authentic testimonial from me.

You have allowed yourself to be dragged in a fatal path, my dear Mr Pajean, which has done you great harm and does us great harm, but allow me to say to you that what you lack is more humility, greater distrust of yourself and more submission; judge other people less and above all air your judgments much less outside. Without that perhaps you could do good elsewhere, but never in the mission. I pray the Lord to grant you all the graces, and you to believe me

Yours completely devoted in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Since it could happen that the demon should impel you to a make yet another rash judgment and cause you to glean from this letter bitter fruits instead of those that the grace of Our Lord should allow you to find in your humility, and to prevent you from thinking that in this grave circumstance I have acted rashly and on my own, I want you to know that I asked the opinion in council of My Lord of Drusipare and four members of his private council ; they were unanimous both in the hope of seeing you enter into the sentiments of a true apostolic missionary and in approving my way of behaving towards you for the moment. I shared this letter with them. So do not be angry with anyone but yourself, my dear Mr Pajean, and make a little effort to enter truly into the spirit of your vocation, and your definitive acceptance will not be long in coming. I commend myself to your good prayers.

(Pondicherry, 12 December 1848)

Sent_0374

Sent_0374 - à M. Bruyère - le 14 décembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0374 - to Mr Bruyère - 14 December 1848 /2

Sent_0374 - à M. Bruyère - le 14 décembre 1848 -/2

Sent 0374 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 235

(to Mr Jean-Claude Bruyère)

(apostolic missionary)

Some practical questions: repair of the big church, how to make some changes in acquired habits... Then quite a long confidential warning to Mr Bruyère not to fall into the spirit of division that the demon tries to introduce into the pro-vicariate. Practice prudence, charity and humility. If you have any problems, let me know about them. Consider me as your father.

Index : counsels, spiritual direction, role of the bishop, spirit of the missionaries

__________

Pondicherry, 14 December 1848 (

)

[...] I very much desire that, whatever happens, you should have the big church repaired this year and that you yourself should oversee this work. Although this is a material task, the general state of the Christian community requires this so strongly that we would be exposing the spiritual rather than advancing it in any other way. It is impossible to immediately let you have a collaborator, so that you can make the vissarané () as usual in all the villages this year, and that is the truth. You will do next year what you have not been able to do this year.

It is very difficult to forbid the saying of mass in the churches, although less decent, where the custom has been introduced of saying it now and then. Let us not go too fast. In order to make such changes, we should have considered at length the reasons for and against and besides be powerfully anchored in the country and in the spirit of its inhabitants. If the good God does you the grace of being able to stay for several years in the same places, you will see that the various desirable improvements will come about on their own and will be easy. But if even this should mean causing the slightest irritation to change one thing for something preferable, one may say that the time has not yet come.

I reserve the paper remaining for a quite confidential opening, for I have confidence in you, my dear Mr Bruyère, and I have the hope that Our Lord wishes to make a veritable missionary of you. May what follows be absolutely for you.

It appears that the demon, jealous of our happiness, wants to put trouble and division among us. For this purpose he uses the same means that he used in the mission of Pondicherry. Rash judgments on those who are not to be judged, false interpretations of their acts, spirit of independence in one's acts instead of the submission which should distinguish our character. The best missionaries are exposed to this tragic misfortune, and I could introduce to you some, that need not be named, since they do not come from our ranks, who have done more harm in a few short years than ten missionaries together are capable of doing good, and they have become a veritable subject of scandal for young missionaries who left Paris with the best possible inclinations and who were lost as soon as they came in contact with them.

May the good God preserve us from so great a misfortune in Coimbatore, but since I can no longer delude myself and since it is beginning to creep in, I request you in grace, for your happiness and the peace of your soul, for the glory of Jesus Christ that this harm attacks directly, take care not to allow the temptation of the demon to get a hold. That if you receive letters, or if you hear considerations tending to evil as I have just indicated, however true they may appear to you, abstain from judgment. Take care also not to irritate these sick souls by contradicting them openly. On the contrary pour oil on their sores and the wine of charity, but without entering into discussion on points outside of your ministry.

As for you, remain firm in the line that you have followed and which alone can fit you to meet the sublime vocation with which the Lord has favoured you. Deal with your own business and no other. Do what you can without troubling yourself that you cannot do more. In all cases of doubt, take counsel, and if they should indicate to you a line which you do not consider to be the best, follow it by the holy virtue of obedience that the good God will not fail to bless.

If you have some need, some desire even, speak to me of them without fear. If it is in my power to do it, believe me it is a hundred times sweeter to grant it to you than to refuse it. Accordingly if I refuse you, know that this is because my conscience or the circumstances are against it and not for any other reasons. Consider me always as your father and believe that this is no vain word.

So the poor Mr Bonjean is still ill ? I am writing to him to suggest he goes for a while to the mountain. Let us pray to the Lord to keep him for us. Farewell, very dear Mr Bruyère, once more I commend to you courage, patience, humility, distrust of your own judgment, etc, etc., all the apostolic virtues in a word! Oh, how I pray the Lord to grant you them without measure!

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I recommend that you straightway see whether in your district there are not any children or any young people suitable for entering the seminary, and do everything you can to enrol them.

(Pondicherry, 14 December 1848)

Sent_0375

Sent_0375 - à M. Métral - le 20 décembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0375 - to Mr Métral - 20 December 1848 /1

Sent_0375 - à M. Métral - le 20 décembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0375 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 236

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

Impossible to know the content of this letter

__________

Pondicherry, 20 December 1848

Sadness that his letter has caused me. If he could retain Mariannen until my arrival, I would be pleased. Fear on the one hand and on the other.

May the good God come to our aid.

P.S. It would be advisable for Mr Bonjean to go as soon as possible to the mountain, however after having consulted the doctor in Coimbatore.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry, 20 December 1848)

Sent_0376

Sent_0376 - à M. Métral - le 24 décembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0376 - to Mr Métral - 24 December 1848 /1

Sent_0376 - à M. Métral - le 24 décembre 1848 -/1

Sent 0376 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, p 236

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

Anxieties regarding the new missionaries. Keep an eye on those they frequent.

Index : my missionaries, role of the bishop

__________

Pondicherry, 24 December 1848

What he should do with regard to Mariannen.

Between you and me, it is very astonishing that, if Mr Pacreau has certain needs, he proclaims them to everyone, except to me to whom alone he should have made it known. Send him 50 rupees immediately.

Hope that I have of Mr Ravel ; he should take good care of him. It would be good for him to frequent above all him and Mr de Gélis.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry, 24 December 1848)

Sent_0377

Sent_0377 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 7 janvier 1849 -/2

Sent 0377 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 7 January 1849 /2

Sent_0377 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 7 janvier 1849 -/2

Sent 0377 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 43

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 237

(to the director in the Seminary of Paris)

Letter accompanied by the letter to Mr Pajean in which he refused his testimonial for entering him in the registers of the Society. The difficulties of Pondicherry come first of all from the lack of apostolic virtues of certain missionaries. I foresee nothing good from the future meeting. Mgr Bonnand, a saint, lacks strength of character. A few words on his missionaries. New Year's wishes.

Index : my missionaries, difficulties, spirit of the missionaries, ecclesiastical administration

__________

Pondicherry, 7 January 1849

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

You will see, by the copy enclosed of a letter to Mr Pajean, that it is impossible for me to give you the testimonial that he has spent these two years in such a way as to deserve to be entered on our registers of admission ; if he does not change, he is a man capable of doing us great harm (as he already had done abundantly) and who, in my opinion, cannot do good in mission. Oh, what harm is done by missionaries who do not have the spirit of their calling! And these young people who arrive here without being grounded in humility and self-abnegation ! It is already quite enough to have those devoid of the gift of perseverance after having started off well! Let us not add any new ones to them.

At this moment the mission of Pondicherry is two inches away from its ruin through lack of apostolic virtues in certain missionaries. I am not saying that there are not other evils, but if they are great (why delude ourselves?), this is because the former favours them instead of stopping them. I say this weeping tears of blood; if the good God gives us the grace of remedying as soon as possible this immense evil, which from certain points of view has almost reached its peak here, I can see for the future only ruins instead of construction.

It is under these sad impressions that I am sending you my new year's wishes. May the Lord give us all the strength and the courage that we need to maintain for our dearly beloved congregation its honour, and for our missions the aid they have a right to expect from veritable apostolic workers.

I presume nothing good from the meeting of the missionaries soon due to take place here. Our respectable father, My Lord of Drusipare, shows himself to be more and more a saint. Unfortunately, in my opinion, he lacks somewhat strength of character, thus fostering I cannot say how much the unfortunate propaganda that certain missionaries began some time ago and which has made so many young heads deviate!

I hope to leave again immediately after the meeting. Many things are suffering in my mission for the aforesaid causes.

I have strong reasons to hope that Mr Bonjean will not allow himself to be dragged into the sad path where he began to slide following the example of Messrs. Pacreau and Pajean. Nonetheless, I still have some fears. I hope much of Mr de Gélis and the appearance of Mr Ravel made a favourable impression on me. May the good God come to our aid! Pray to him, I beg you, for our poor missions, where there is already quite sufficient embarrassment not to need one more terrible than the others and coming from ourselves.

I beg you to believe me, in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 7 January 1849)

Sent_0378

Sent_0378 - à M. Tesson - le 8 janvier 1849 -/1

Sent 0378 - to Mr Tesson - 8 January 1849 /1

Sent_0378 - à M. Tesson - le 8 janvier 1849 -/1

Sent 0378 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 44

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Short letter of good wishes. The personal spirit, that of independence, is what is ruining us.

Index : friendship, difficulties

__________

Pondicherry, 8 January 1849

My very dear Mr Tesson,

It is a very long time since I last received a letter from you. Although I am exceedingly busy, this is just a word to wish you a good 1849, and to ask you to remember me to all our confreres of Paris, above all those whom I have the pleasure of knowing.

I will not speak to you of what is happening here. It is much more distressing then consoling. I dread more evil than I hope for good from this meeting of all the missionaries. The personal spirit, the spirit of independence, and a little more than that, is what is ruining us. May God come to our aid! Pray this for us, we really need it; pray it for our poor missions. A Dieu, have a good year, if that is possible.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 8 January 1849)

Sent_0379

Sent_0379 - à M. Tesson - le 8 février 1849 -/2

Sent 0379 - to Mr Tesson - 8 February 1849 /2

Sent_0379 - à M. Tesson - le 8 février 1849 -/2

Sent 0379 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 45

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 238-240

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

My impressions at the time of leaving Pondicherry. Certain fundamental ideas have been appreciated, but what will their effects be ? In order to guide the new arrivals a firmer hand is required. The retreat that I preached seems to have done some good, but what will its effects be? The evil at Pondicherry is deep-seated. There is reason to fear for our mission in India and for religion in this country. And yet the country does not lack resources. On my return to Coimbatore, I am going to try to do all the good I can.

Index : retreat, religion in India, bishop's authority, spirit of the missionaries, ecclesiastical administration

__________

Pondicherry, 8 February 1849 ()

My dear Mr Tesson,

I think that you will be expecting me to share with you my impression on leaving Pondicherry. I hoped to be able to tell you better things. This hope which did not exist on my departure from Coimbatore, which had arisen after a few days' stay here, has faded away again, and everything makes me fear that we will merely be dragging along for a long while in a way of laissez-aller, which can only favour decadence down whose slope we have been sliding for the last few years.

This is not to say that nothing good has been done. It seems to me that the good God gave me the grace of producing certain fundamental ideas which have been singularly appreciated by My Lord of Drusipare, by My Lord of Jassen and Messrs Dupuis, Lehodey, Godelle, Fages and a few others; perhaps they will produce some fruits? I hoped that we would build, in harmony with these ideas and the present state of the mission, a general plan of administration, from which would come, more or less rapidly, a real good, which in all cases would prevent acts which, at times good taken in isolation, have terrible consequences since neither natural or expedient. This plan worked fairly well for a certain time, but then fatigue set in, and it has remained so incomplete that I very much fear that it will not lead to anything, or that, only giving rise to disconnected things, it will not produce a good effect.

To this misfortune, is joined the incomparable sorrow of seeing the apostolic spirit diminish each day among us. These numerous young people arrived with so little probation and finding themselves delivered up to themselves without almost any rule, seizing with an incredible ease the spirit of independence and contradiction animating several of the older ones, instead of that reigning in certain excellent but not very numerous confreres, which gives me the most lively fears for the future. They would need a firm and solid hand to lead them, and that hand is not at Pondicherry. My Lord of Drusipare is too good, Mr Dupuis too timid, etc., etc.

The retreat appears to have done some good. I thought it necessary to attack front on the anti-apostolic faults which are growing every day. This was singularly difficult, for when facing an audience of some thirty persons, it is easy to feel that personalities are being targeted. In fact, my words wounded several persons, astonished everyone, they touched the sore, but our divine Saviour was so good as himself to heal the irritation that they caused and the force of the truth was, it seems, softened by the balm of grace. After the retreat, everyone came to thank me, and those who would have had most grounds to complain showed a better attitude to me than before. However, this good can only be of very limited scope, besides which it will soon be dissipated if it is not supported, and I cannot see how it could be.

The Christian community of Pondicherry is far from being healed. There is a fire hidden under the cinders which merely awaits an occasion to make spirits flare up once more. My Lord of Drusipare evinced great friendship for me, trust even in many things, but to my mind he has certain very regrettable ideas, and does not enter frankly into the way that could preserve us, in my opinion, from the future evils even more to be dreaded that those of our days.

In short, I have serious fears for our mission in India, and if I consider beyond our limits what is happening in the other vicariates, I fear even more for religion in general in this poor country, in which however all kinds of resources abound, but that we fail to seize in the right way, that we destroy even, for lack of unity, of action and authority.

So there, my dear Mr Tesson, are the impressions I have on leaving Pondicherry to return to my little sphere, where I am going to try to do, as quietly as I can, the little good that will depend on me, leaving it to Providence to produce the salvation of means that it can readily cause to come to pass if the time of the mercy of the Lord for these unfortunate parts does not have centuries still to run.

A Dieu.

I have received the chalice that you sent me.

My Lord of Drusipare shared with me a letter from Mgr Luquet which gives me great sorrow. Pray for us, commend me to the pious memory of all our dear confreres of Paris, and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 8 February 1849)

Sent_0380

Sent_0380 - à son père - le 9 février 1849/2

Sent 0380 - to his father - 9 February 1849/2

Sent_0380 - à son père - le 9 février 1849/2

Sent 0380 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 132-133

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 238

(to his father)

Some reflections on political life in France. The political situation of France and of Europe have their repercussions here. Will Propagation of the Faith continue its aid as before ? May the Lord come to the help of his Church. My health is excellent. Greetings to all the members of my family.

Index : politics in Europe, religion in India, attachment (family)

__________

Pondicherry, 9 February 1849

My very dear father,

Despite the promise I made you in November to write to you more often, here we are in February without my keeping my word. I am really ashamed and assure you that it has needed nothing less than my incessant occupations to make me so negligent of a duty that is a real pleasure for me.

I hope that you will have presumed my new year's wishes for you, for my family, and for France ! This poor France, always convulsed and which has convulsed the world. Oh, when will it please God to see that peace is reborn. When will men have suffered sufficiently to understand where their absurd systems are leading them and to come back finally to the only true principles that make the happiness of peoples as of individuals. What a pity to see and to read such ridiculous follies conceived and reproduced by men who however are not mad! What a humiliation for human intelligence. But why talk of these sad questions !

As I told you, I had come to spend some time at Pondicherry where My Lord of Drusipare had begged me to come and help him in certain matters and to give the retreat to his missionaries whom he brought together last month. Political affairs have their repercussions here and seem destined to vex us from all points of view. Thus it is that Europe and France which could do so much good outside for the cause of true civilisation impede our efforts by their misunderstanding.

France, so despised, so humiliated abroad, so ridiculous in India, at least offered us its help in the work of Propagation of the Faith and in the generosity of its numerous missionaries. What will become of it in future? We have no idea. But, whatever happens, we are in God's hands, so that we have not much to fear for ourselves personally. Our Lord told us not to fear, for if not even a sparrow falls to the ground without his permission, how much more are we worth than them : multis passeribus meliores estis vos (), nolite timere, pusillus grex ().

But we have more or less to fear for the progress of the Gospel of which we are the defenders and the propagators. This is our only sorrow, this is our only fear. May the Lord come to the help of his Church! We know full well that he will not allow it to perish. But, in his anger, he could very well allow it to fold its wings and no longer cover with its salutary shadow more than a small number of elect.

Now here I am back at my lamentations. What can I tell you? To speak of my health is quite useless. I am very well and on the point of making the journey back to Coimbatore. Your last letter was dated 28 September. I hope to receive another one soon. Thank Henri for the words that he added at the end and tell him to give me this pleasure often. Convey a thousand friendly greetings to my mother, to my sisters and to all those who take an interest in me. May the Lord deign to keep them in peace and happy in the midst of the troubles agitating the world.

And you, very dear father, think always of your son, think of him above all before the Lord and love me always with that paternal tenderness of which you never cease to give me proof. A Dieu. Write to me often and believe me, of your children,

the most loving and the most respectful.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Pondicherry, 9 February 1849)

Sent_0381

Sent_0381 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 février 1849 -/2

Sent 0381 - to Mgr Luquet - 9 February 1849 /2

Sent_0381 - à Mgr Luquet - le 9 février 1849 -/2

Sent 0381 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 240-242

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

The retreat, the synod and the meeting of missionaries have not gone too badly, but at Pondicherry the harm goes deep. You have contributed to this harm by certain letters to missionaries who did not deserve your confidence. Ah! If you had only listened to your friend! Certain of them felt themselves authorised, by your example wrongly understood, to enter into a path of criticism, opposition and independence. To be frank with you, I did not find your last letter to Mgr Bonnand edifying . At Coimbatore, I am going to try and do what I can. If they had granted me a few pupils from Pondicherry, the cause of the native clergy would be more advanced in our parts.

Index : difficulties, frankness, native clergy, spirit of the missionaries

__________

Pondicherry, 9 February 1849

Very dear friend,

Although it seems ages ago that I last received your news, I do not wish to leave Pondicherry without writing you a few lines. The retreat, the synod and the meeting of the missionaries of Pondicherry with which your servant, My Lord of Jassen and Mr Jarrige were associated, all of this went fairly well, however I do not think that any great good will come of it for our poor mission. The harm goes too deep and the divergence of opinions is too excessive. The Christian community of Pondicherry continues as ever a volcano. Last year's eruption seems to have calmed down somewhat, but the harm has been done and certain of the consequences are irreparable, at least for a long time. Besides there is a hidden fire that merely awaits the right occasion to convulse everything once more.

If you were here, you would see that one of the principal causes of this immense evil is having wanted to go too fast, and above all an incredible imprudence of several in their writings and their words. This has caused us to fall back by ten years instead of taking a step forward, and made our real hopes problematical. I have had the opportunity here of seeing several of your letters, and I cannot conceal from you that they have caused me great pain. Inadvertently, you have contributed to this evil by your correspondence with exalted missionaries who are far from being those who would deserve your confidence in such matters.

Oh, how mistaken you have been, allow me to say so, and how I regret that you have departed from that spirit of gentleness, of patience, of mistrust of yourself, which alone could have achieved a happy outcome. O my very dear friend, why did you not believe me from the beginning ? Who more than I spoke to you as a friend? The imprudences that escaped you in your first writings would not have had any consequence; you would have come back to the time marked out by Providence, there where it wanted you; at the present time, we would have had a core of almost perfect ecclesiastics, with the moral assurance of seeing them grow under normal and Catholic institutions. Today, all of that is in a contingent future against which what seem to be invincible obstacles are raised.

Moreover, a good number of missionaries have felt themselves authorised, by your example poorly understood, to enter into a path of criticism, of opposition and of independence of their superiors, which has singularly increased the evil and which has made them lose much of the apostolic spirit.

I have also seen your last letter to My Lord of Drusipare which, I admit to you frankly, and as a real friend of yours, which I say, was not edifying : I fear that this language may cause you pain, but if I used any other, would I be keeping the promise I made to you, to always speak to you frankly and say my mind ? Believe it then: adopt quite a different language and quite different forms if you want to do us any good, and take no part in this impulsion towards a future of destruction, to which a crowd of other causes is leading us, against which we should combine our efforts instead of aiding and abetting them. What a sad future I see before us, dear friend, if God does not come to our aid.

As for me, I am going to return to my little sphere where I will try very gradually to carry through some beginnings which were full of hope, but that the spirit of the missionaries and the commotions of Pondicherry may wipe out from one moment to the next, as they have already been weakened by them. Having above all so few resources, in a very circumscribed district, where there are only a small number of Christians, having consequently only a very small number of ecclesiastical pupils and still very young etc., etc., it will take too long to wait for there to be something solid before a new whirlwind descends to destroy the work of the past.

When I left for Coimbatore, it proved impossible for me to make people understand how useful it would have been for the common good, for me to be given a few sure and fairly advanced pupils of the seminary of Pondicherry so as to establish through them, far from this wretched town, the usages indispensable for the formation of a local clergy.

I was so convinced of the immense usefulness of this measure that I went almost as far as to beg. But to no avail. This, in my opinion, is one of the greatest negative misfortunes that could have occurred to the cause of the native clergy. Today, the occasion has passed never to return. I could do so only in part, but not everyone sees it, and I think that I will be obliged to withdraw with a contraction of the heart, not the same as that of two years ago (for it was such that it is still not healed) but similar.

Thus, on the one hand, God does not permit that the means liable to arrive at a real result succeed, while he permits that those which rest on mere abstractions, impossibilities, bruising of the heart, disturbances among the people, have enough partisans to produce all of these evils, without being able to produce any good. Are the times of the mercy of the Lord thus still denied for these poor peoples? Let us worship him, trembling.

You see, dear friend, that the future does not appear to me to be rosy. Do not be angry if I use the language of conviction and believe me, of your friends, the most real and the most sincere.

A Dieu.

Pray for me,

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Pondicherry, 9 February 1849)

Sent_0382

Sent_0382 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 mars 1849 -/1

Sent 0382 - to Mgr Bonnand - 16 March 1849 /1

Sent_0382 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 mars 1849 -/1

Sent 0382 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 233-236

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 243

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondichéry)

He writes from Salem, on the way back : cholera, extreme fatigue of Mr Pouplin, one of the oxen drivers suffering from cholera. Greetings to all.

Index : journey, illness

__________

Salem, 16 March 1849

My Lord,

We have made a safe journey as far as here, despite the extreme heat which makes the journey extremely tiring for Mr Pouplin. The jolting of the carriage has also disturbed him very much, so that he is extremely tired and so weak that at times I am assailed by fears. But in the little house of Salem, it is so hot that at night it almost unbearable and, in addition, one of our people has caught the cholera (a man who came from Carumattampatty with the bearer).

At 4 in the morning, the (.../...) of the stomach with vomiting ; he has just received the avasté (), and I expect to see him expire before midday. I do not want Mr Pouplin to stay here any longer, for the place is untenable for a sick man. I have just hired a palanquin and I hope that he will leave this evening for the nearby bungalow with Mr Cornevin, and tomorrow they will go as far as Sanguilidoudouram, where I will do my best to join them, after staying here this evening to see what turn this poor ox-driver's illness takes.

Mr Pouplin and Mr Cornevin ask me to offer you their respects. I join them to mine, My Lord, and to the friendly greetings that I ask you to convey on my behalf to all of our dear confreres of Pondicherry.

I commend myself more than ever to your good prayers, My Lord, and to your paternal benevolence, asking you to believe me for life,

Your very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Salem, 16 March 1849)

Sent_0383

Sent_0383 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 mars 1849 -/2

Sent 0383 - to Mgr Bonnand - 25 March 1849 /2

Sent_0383 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 mars 1849 -/2

Sent 0383 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 237-240

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 243

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

First letter of news at the end of his journey : death of the ox-driver at Salem, Mr Pouplin's fatigue. At Salem, I had a long talk with Mr Leroux who seems convinced that he should submit to the orders of his superiors. He would need to receive the visit of a confrere from time to time to keep him of this mind. Mr Bonjean's health; behaviour of Mr Pajean..

Index : submission, my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 25 March 1849

My Lord,

Finally, here we are back at Coimbatore. We arrived at Carumattampatty Wednesday evening, very tired and saddened by the death of the poor man whom we lost on the way back, at Salem. I feared that this death would make a bad impression on the Christians. Nonetheless, they came out to greet me with great alacrity.

The air of Carumattampatty helped restore Mr Pouplin whom I almost feared at one moment to leave on the way. Yesterday we came on here, and he will be leaving for the mountain tomorrow. The night was cool and he felt strong enough to take holy communion in my mass.

It is at Carumattampatty that we received the day before yesterday your letters informing us of the premature and so regrettable death of Mr Bomard ; he was a missionary of whom great hopes were entertained. How impenetrable are God's designs! Let us worship his holy will.

I wanted to write to you from Salem to speak to you of the talk I had with Mr Leroux at Voujapouram, then the agony of our poor man made me forget it completely. He arrived there a short time before us, at about 8 in the evening and, although we had to leave again at about 2 or 3 in the morning, he kept me up till 1 at night. I found him not very well inclined. A thousand extravagant ideas, by the excess to which he pushes them, were reproduced in turn; I had some difficulty in combating them all. However it seems that he is strongly convinced that he should submit with more simplicity than he did earlier to the orders of his superiors. It is above all on this point that I insisted and, from this point of view, I hope that this long talk will have produced some result.

But since he is alone to continually ruminate on his ideas, it would perhaps be advisable to ensure the visit from time to time of some good confrere who would calm him and uphold him, without giving the impression of contradicting him, in this spirit of submission. Besides it appears that he has a great many excellent qualities, which with modesty would produce good fruits. He was somewhat astonished at still not having received an answer to his questions from Y.L.

Here, I can see nothing very remarkable to communicate to you. Things and people are dragging. Everything and everyone requires money, I do not know how we will manage. I fear very much for the chest and head of Mr Bonjean; he has committed some extravagances which in fact are a little more than that. However it appears that the cool air of the mountain did him a lot of good from that point of view; though the same cannot be said for his chest. Moreover he is the second volume of Mr Mathian for the spirit of order.

Mr Pajean had left again for Codively before my arrival. I received a packet of cheroots very dry, from him without a word of accompaniment. However I think that it is a good make. Mr Pouplin thinks he will be strong enough to write you a few words that he will include in this letter.

I leave you, asking of you a large part in your prayers and requesting you to convey my friendly greetings to all of our dear confreres.

Your Lordship's

Very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 25 March 1849)

Sent_0384

Sent_0384 - à M. Tesson - le 1er avril 1849 -/1

Sent 0384 - to Mr Tesson - 1 April 1849 /1

Sent_0384 - à M. Tesson - le 1er avril 1849 -/1

Sent 0384 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 47

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 243

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

A clarification regarding the orders passed to France : not everything is arriving. For the newspapers, continue to send them to Coimbatore, otherwise they do not always arrive. Things are going badly at Pondicherry. No news from Mgr Luquet. Why? News of several missionaries.

Index : questions of the burse, newspapers, difficulties

__________

Carumattampatty, 1 April 1849

My dear Mr Tesson,

On my way back here, I received your letter of 24 January. The end of Lent occupations prevent my writing to you at as great length as I would like to, but I do not want to delay in saying two things to you.

The first is that the chalice you mention to me is in fact the one I have received so that it is not necessary to send another. In order to avoid any error in the dispatches, I will try to conform to what you tell me, but you should also have the goodness to inform me why you do not send certain objects requested, or if you send them late, etc. for otherwise we do not know if you have forgotten the request and if we have to renew it, or if these objects have got lost. etc. In fact I still have not received several things requested two years ago.

The second is that the newspapers did not arrive during one of the months that I was at Pondicherry, which for the times we are living in is a real privation for these Gentlemen. Furthermore they have told me that they sometimes arrived through the post of Avanashy, which leads me to renew my request to address everything to Coimbatore, whatever the place we may be in, and whatever the different postage stamps that you may see at times on the letters. Otherwise, there may be losses.

I left Pondicherry in great sadness. No, things are not going well there, far from it. I don't have time to explain the causes of this which are multiple and very unfortunate. Besides I have written you several very serious letters from there, to which I would very much like you to answer me more fully than by a few short lines.

Mgr Luquet has not written to me any more. What is he doing? Where is he? You have undoubtedly seen the letter that I addressed to him from Pondicherry. If he hasn't written to me by disinclination against me, I very much fear that this letter will be the last. But I will have done my duty of true friend to the end; and if he does not understand it, he will have disappointed me greatly.

Messrs Ravel and Cornevin are physically well and, I think, spiritually too. Mr Pacreau is in one of his fits of the sulks. Since my return I still have not seen Mr Pajean who almost jumped the picket, however it seems that he has now put some water in his wine.

Excuse this scrawl, I have neither ink, nor pen, nor table. Pray for us, and believe me yours completely in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 1 April 1849)

Sent_0385

Sent_0385 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 30 avril 1849 -/1

Sent 0385 - to Mgr Bonnand - 30 April 1849 /2

Sent_0385 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 30 avril 1849 -/1

Sent 0385 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 241-244

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 244

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Great affluence for the Easter festivities at Carumattampatty. Reflections on several missionaries: Messrs Barot, Ravel, Leroux. I do not know if I shall continue my correspondence with Mgr Luquet.

Index : my missionaries, newspapers

__________

Coimbatore, 30 April 1849

My Lord,

I have to answer your two good letters of 6 and of 25 April. Thank you very much for the news that you give me. I have not received any news from Bombay and was not aware of this last act of the Sovereign Pontiff. I do not know why the newspaper Homo Novus which should arrive on 1 March has still not come. I would be very much obliged if you could notify your Madras correspondent (Mr Barz, I think) to whom Mr Pouplin had written about it.

Apart from the Easter festivities which went very well at Carumattampatty, where the Christians had come in such large numbers only on the feasts of the Rosary, I have no good news to communicate to Y.L. And bad news ! Why bother to talk about them, if there is no remedy ?...

I still do not know if Mr Barot will take the road of France or of his mission, but he is behaving in such a way as not to make me regret one or the other alternative, unless, by remaining, he should go from bad to worse, which it is impossible to prejudge or to fear.

It appears that the two new missionaries who are here are animated by a good spirit, above all Mr Ravel. May the good God keep it so.

I have received by the last steamer from Madras a short letter, just a few lines, from Mgr Luquet, in which he says nothing ; the only thing that is apparent is irritation. This fails to edify me. I am almost resolved not to write to him any more, save in case of great need or usefulness.

Mr Leroux had not spoken to me about his pariah colleague. I do not know if you have changed in the proxy of powers the word homicidio voluntario. I fear that this expression does not cover abortion and culpable infanticide by negligence of the mother, etc., both of which, it seems to me, should not be reserved.

Would Y.L. kindly convey my friendly greetings to all our dear confreres of Pondicherry, and above all to Messrs Dupuis, Lehodey, Godelle, Fages, and believe me, in the union of your very holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Y.L. has doubtless learned of the (.../...) by cholera at Idapady during the Easter feast. Mr Pajean who went there proved a great help to Mr (Gougeon?) in this circumstance where numerous Christians of my... (a few words are missing).

(Coimbatore, 30 April 1849)

Sent_0386

Sent_0386 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 mai 1849 -/2

Sent 0386 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 May 1849 /2

Sent_0386 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 mai 1849 -/2

Sent 0386 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 245-248

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 244

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding Mr Barot. He has just handed over to Mgr de Brésillac his renunciation of the MEP and has left for Pondicherry, but he has not signed it. Will Mgr Bonnand see that he signs and pay him the return journey to France, which will be reimbursed to him by Paris.

Index : renunciation of the MEP, regulations of the MEP, Barot affair

__________

-Coimbatore, 3 May 1849

My Lord,

On my arrival here, Mr Barot returned to the charge, protesting to me that he could not take on any pangou. Then, I informed him of the authorisation I had received from the Gentlemen of Paris to offer him a passage, on condition that he declared he no longer belonged to the society. Nonetheless, since for the last six months he seemed to be doing his duty better than at the time when I had requested this authorisation, I urged him strongly to reflect and did not press him to leave. I conveyed to him that I would prefer him to remain, however pointing out that he must understand that, if he stayed, he must be prepared to undertake what I entrusted to him.

After a great deal of tergiversation, which lasted two weeks, he decided to leave. He handed over to Mr de Gélis the objects of the congregation in his possession and sent me his renunciation in duplicate, one to be kept here, and the other to be sent to Paris ; but whether by a pitalatam() or distraction (probably it was just a distraction), he has not signed them. Thus, I am sending them to you to ask him to sign them at Pondicherry and to send them to me thereafter. Moreover, I would ask you to have a passage paid for him by your bursar on our account. I believe that it would be good not to put it into his hand, but to treat him just as you did for Mr Laugier, and as economically as possible, for this is what the Gentlemen of Paris recommended to me.

I would not be astonished if at Pondicherry he interceded with Y.L. to keep him on, but it seems to me that after having given up the congregation in writing, and if he had purposely not signed his renunciation in order to keep himself a back door open, after a disloyal act (which I do not believe should be supposed), it would be a great disorder for him to remain at Pondicherry.

In any case, he should be considered by us as having absolutely left from all points of view, even for the viaticum. We have handed over to him enough to make the journey from here to Pondicherry. This and the other travel expenses from here to his home should be reimbursed to me by the Seminary of Paris, accordingly I would ask you to request your bursar to let us know exactly the amount of the expenses he will have incurred for Mr Barot, with what he will have given him to go from the port to his home, and what will have been handed over to the captain. I will arrange for you to receive this sum as soon as possible and will ask for it to be reimbursed to me by Paris.

As soon as he has arrived at Pondicherry, would you please send back the horse, giving the coudireicaren () enough to cover the expenses of his journey and those for the horse. We will give him his sambalam () here counting from the day that he left Pondicherry.

It could be also that Mr Barot might try to get in with the Apostolic Prefect. I do not know if we should be angry or pleased about that. After all, I think it would be unfortunate, for he would be a bad example at Pondicherry for so many missionaries with a hot head and eccentric ideas. After all, his character is not unlike that of Mr de Villers.

I would be very much obliged if you would send me back the two notes enclosed herewith as soon as possible, signed.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me, My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted and obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 3 May 1849)

Sent_0387

Sent_0387 - à la Propagande - le 27 mai 1849 -/6

Sent 0387 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 27 May 1849 /6

Sent_0387 - à la Propagande - le 27 mai 1849 -/6

Sent 0387 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 245-248

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

What has happened in the course of the last year : the affair of the priest of Goa, the difficulties caused by caste and the difference of opinions and actions of the missionaries regarding caste. Certain generally approved modern writers (Rorbacher, Crétineau Joly) seem to bear them out. In addition, the practice in force does not always agree with the spirit and at times with the letter of the bull of Benedict XIV. All of this means that the future of India is very sombre. Mgr Bonnand has just convened his missionaries to try to remedy the situation. Regarding the change with Mgr Bonnand, I hope that the S.C. will never force me to accept it. I have been very close to Mgr Luquet, but I want you to know that many things that he has done now have neither my participation nor my approval. Some words on the sad news from Europe.

Index : castes, bull, usages, different opinions, change

__________

(Carumattampatty), 27 May 1849

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Anno praeterito, advenerunt plurima de quibus Eminentiam vestram certiorem facere mihi incombit.

Et primum quoad specialiter missionem Coimbatorensem spectantia contra multa impedimenta omnem ad bonum progressum removentia colluctandum habui. E quibus infestissimum fuit conatus sacerdotum Goanentium ad unum invadendum districtum cum spe exinde in totam missionem irreptionis. Vehemens nec non sine scandalo fuit colluctatio. Infelices hi sacerdotes imprecationes omnis generis adversus vicarios apostolicos quinimo adversus Summum Pontificem ipsum evomere non erubuerunt. Tamen ad fugam reducti sunt, magnam tamen relinquentes perturbationem in animis et multa dissidia in locis qua transierunt ; unus ex eis tantum retinet parvam ecclesiam quam semper in eorum possessione fuerat.

Alia res admodum flebilis, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, est opinionum et actionum diversitas apud varios operarios evangelicos in India. Tantum abest quin difficultates ex tribubus (castis) usibus caeremoniis et aliis ad ea spectantibus exortae finem habeant ! Multi missionarii, maerore confecti ob inutiles conatus nostros, pro certo habent tantillum progressum apud gentiles moraliter impossibilem esse nisi ad pristinum modum Jesuitarum saltem in parte revertatur.

Insuper Christianos ipsos magis ac magis indifferentes erga nostram sanctam religionem et etiam aliquando hostiles esse videntes ex eo quod indesinenter eorum usibus contrarie cogimur, Eminentissimum cardinalem de Tournon praecipitatione nec non rerum locorumque inscientia accusant. In sua vero sententia, confirmantur scriptis nonnullorum auctorum recentium qui generaliter approbati videntur et adversus quos nulla ex parte Romae reclamatio animadvertitur : inter quos eminent Rorbacher in sua historia universali Ecclesiae catholicae et Crétineau Joly in sua historia Societatis Jesu.

Alii vero puritatem evangelicam cum praxi quam ad nostrum in Indiam ingressum vigentem invenimus et quae adhuc communior est (quamvis fatendum sit quosdam suae conscientiae dubium suorum superiorum conscientiae subjicientes ex obedientia quidem sed magna cum repugnantia illam sequi), jungere non posse arbitrantur : dicuntque plurimas consuetudines usus et caeremonias a nobis tolerata Bullae Ben. XIV Omnium sollicitudinum cujus observantiam juravimus opposita esse quoad spiritum saltem et etiam quod litteram in aliquibus. Igitur persuasum habent se non solum posse, sed etiam debere contrariam praxi suorum confratrum quin vero superiorum agendi rationem amplecti.

Cum vero, per singularem circonstantiam, puritas evangelica concilietur in hac regione cum libertate Europeanorum, cum esus bovis exempli gratia et Parearum famulatus minus onerosum sit quam eorum abstinentia, huic parti ordinarie adherent et novi missionarii quibus istorum locorum usus repugnant et hi qui frequentes habent Europeis relationes, praesertim cum Anglis qui de talibus rebus irrident, et demum hi qui naturaliter proclivi sunt ad spiritum innovationis et independentiae.

Meum non est ut arbitror plura de his dicere quinimo de re tam gravi tamque difficile privatam meam videndi rationem enuntiare ; existimo vero mei episcopalis officii esse ut S. Sedem moneam christianitates Indiae (eas scilicet quae citra Gates inveniuntur) ad suum exitium ruere nisi promptum remedium afferatur. Nova scandala imminent et utinam non magis destruant quam ea quae tempore Eminentissimi cardinalis de Tournon exorta sunt et quae infelices istas christianitates in eum miserum statum quo eas videmus compulsere, ad earum rehabilitationem vanis remanentibus innumerabilium missionariorum caritate et zelo et pietate.

De rebus a nobis jam expositis in vicinis vicariatibus magis quam in Coimbatorensi rumor accrescit ; non minus tamen nostri summopere interest quia nostrorum populorum indoles eadem est ac Pudicheriensis, Madurensis et Madracensis ita ut istorum vicariatum impulsum sequi cogimur. Insuper R.R. D.D. Drusiparensis Episcopus, huic devastatorio torrenti sicut et quibusdam aliis difficultatibus molem ponere cupiens, ut mutuas de his rebus conceptiones nobis invicem communicaremus, apud se aliquamdiu me mansurum rogavit. Pudicherium igitur petivi ubi aliquot tempus remansi. Interea R.R. D.D. Episcopus suos omnes missionarios ad cessum ecclesiasticum vocavit ; quapropter malum et altas illius radices aestimare potui et contremisco.

Eminentiam Vestram insuper certiorem facere debeo quod R.R. D.D. Episcopus Drusiparensis mihi diversis vicibus communicavit suum propositum Coimbatorensem administrationem accipiendi mihi commissurus administrationem Pudicherianam. Non injuste fateor, venerabilis et bene dilectus Episcopus, ut a suis diuturnis laboribus sublevaretur, hanc restrictam et minus difficilem administrationem desiderat. Sed pro aliis gravibus rationibus, quas enuntiare mihi non convenit huic, proposito totis viribus renixus fui.

Denique cum R.R. D.D. Episcopus Drusiparensis nuper mihi ostendit litteras Sacrae Congregationis, per quas suum adimpiendi propositum facultas sibi relinqueretur, me nunquam consensurum esse responsurus arbitratus sum ; et revera speciale praeceptum (quod nunquam eventurum spero) a Sacra Congregatione necessarium esset ut coactus consentiam.

Alia demum res, cordi meo amara, sed adhuc Eminentiae Vestrae non tacenda, est quod omnem autumandi modum R.R. D.D. Luquet Hesebonensis Episcopi a me amplecti credere forsitan potueritis. Fateor me cum illo amicitia conjunctum fuisse et saepe saepius pro virtutibus quas in eo animadvertere existimo Deo gratias egisse. Certum est quoque nos unanimes fuisse quando cogitavimus opus adeo indispensabile cleri indigeni neglectum esse, institutionem hujus modi cleri possibiliorem esse quam putant, multis missionariis infaustam quoad illud opus repugnantiam inesse et alia opiniones illae nedum imminutionem in mente mea patiantur quanto sive per me sive per relationem major missionum cognitio mihi acrescit tanto veriores mihi videntur.

Sed R.R. D.D. Luquet nostrorum communium opinionum manifestationi multas alias sibi proprias et a me non approbatas ideas immiscuit. De aliquibus etiam, cum apud illum reclamassem, meas observationes parvi praetii aestimavit ; demum multa missionum operibus extranea fecit quae judicare nolo, quae vero nullomodo nec participationem nec approbationem meam habere Eminentiam Vestram scire desidero.

Dei adjuvante gratia, non solum desiderium habeo vivendi in fide SS. Ecclesiae Catholicae et Romanae sed etiam nolo ab ejus spiritu quoad opinionum dominium recedere nec minus a moderatione benignitate et caritate et aliis virtutibus quibus sancti coronati sunt.

Quotidie valde tristes nuntii ex Europa praesertim ex Italia nobis adveniunt. Utinam abreviatur talis probatio Matris Ecclesiae cujus caeterum fiiii esse gloriamur, tam in illius humiliatione et dolore quam in prosperitate et gloria quae illi debetur.

Meipsum meamque missionem benevolentiae et orationibus Eminentiae Vestrae commendo, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. Huic epistola adjunctum ad Eminentiam Vestram juramentum scriptum DD. Cornevin et Ravel qui ambo duo novi missionarii recenter ad meam missionem appulerunt.

(Carumattampatty ?, 27 May 1849)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to the Congregation of Propaganda)

(Carumattampatty), 27 May 1849

Very Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

Last year, various things happened, of which it is my duty to keep Your Eminence informed.

First of all, as regards the things concerning specially the mission of Coimbatore, I have had to fight against obstacles which deviated any progress towards the good. Among which, the most tragic was the effort of the priests of Goa to take possession of a district in the hope, from there, of working their way into the whole mission. The fight was violent, but without scandal. These wretched priests were not ashamed to utter curses of all kinds against the apostolic vicars, and even against the Sovereign Pontiff himself. Finally, they were reduced to flight, however leaving souls perturbed and great discord in the places through which they passed. One of them only keeps a small church which had always been in their possession.

Another quite regrettable thing, Very Eminent and Reverend Lord, is the diversity of opinions and actions of the various evangelical workers in India. How far we still are from that day which will mark the end of the difficulties arising from the usages and ceremonies of caste and of the other things regarding it! Many missionaries, overcome with sadness at the uselessness of our efforts, give it as certain that any progress, however little, is morally impossible in the pagans, unless we revert, at least in part, to the manner of acting of the Jesuits in former times.

Furthermore, seeing that the Christians are more and more indifferent with regard to our holy religion, and even at times hostile as a result of the fact that we are ceaselessly pushed in the opposite direction to their usages, they accuse the Cardinal of Tournon of precipitation and also of poor knowledge of these parts. In their opinion, they are borne out by the writings of some recent authors who appear to be generally approved and against whom no complaint by Rome has been noted. Among these, we might quote Rorbacher, in his History of the Universal Catholic Church, and Crétineau Joly, in his History of the Society of Jesus.

From another point of view, other persons think it is not possible to combine evangelical purity with the practice that we have found in force on our entry into India and which is still the most common (although it should be agreed that certain, putting the doubt of their conscience in the conscience of their superiors, follow it by obedience, but with great repugnance). And they say that various of these customs, usages and ceremonies tolerated by us are opposed at least to the spirit, and sometimes to the letter of the bull of Benedict XIV Omnium sollicitudinum, which we have sworn to apply. Accordingly they are convinced that not only they can, but further that they must follow the manner of acting contrary to the practice of their confreres, and even of their superiors.

But when, for a particular circumstance, evangelical purity is reconciled in this region with the liberty of the Europeans, when the fact of eating beef for example and the fact of being served by outcasts cause them less embarrassment than doing without them, we find adhering ordinarily to this line both the missionaries who find the customs of these parts repugnant and those who have frequent relations with the Europeans, and above all the English who laugh at such things, as well as those who have a natural inclination to a spirit of innovation and of independence.

It seems to me that it is not up to me to say anything more regarding them, but to present my own way of viewing such a grave and difficult subject. In fact I think that it is a part of my episcopal duty to inform the Holy See that the Christian communities in India are running to their ruin (I am speaking here of those located on this side of the Ghats), unless a prompt remedy is applied. Fresh scandals are imminent and please heaven that they will not cause more destruction than those born at the time of His Eminence the Cardinal of Tournon and which constrained these unfortunate Christian communities to the unhappy state in which we find them now, with the charity, zeal and piety of the innumerable missionaries for their rehabilitation remaining vain.

Of the things already referred by us, the rumour grows in the neighbouring vicariates more than in Coimbatore. But all the same that cannot fail to concern us deeply, because the temperament of our populations is the same as that of the populations of Pondicherry, of Madurai and of Madras, so that we can expect to follow the movement of those vicariates. His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare, desirous of throwing up a rampart in the way of this devastating torrent, as also of certain other difficulties, so that we mutually communicate our opinions on these things, asked me to remain for a certain time with him. Accordingly I went to Pondicherry where I stayed for some time. During that time, His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare convened all his missionaries to an ecclesiastical meeting. Thus I was able to estimate the evil and its profound roots and I tremble at it.

In addition, I have the duty of informing Your Eminence that His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare communicated to me several times his plan of accepting the administration of Coimbatore, while I would take over the administration of Pondicherry. I admit not unjustly that this venerable and well beloved bishop desires a smaller and less difficult administration, in order to be relieved in his daily work. But for other grave reasons that I do not feel it expedient to explain here, I am totally opposed to this idea.

Finally, as His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare recently showed me the letters from the Sacred Congregation, in which he is left the faculty of carrying out his plan, I felt it my duty to answer that I will never consent and that a really special order coming from the Sacred Congregation (which, I sincerely hope will never arrive) would be necessary for me to consent, if I were obliged to do so.

Finally, there is another thing bitter to my heart, but which should not be hidden from Your Eminence, and that is that you may perhaps believe that I embrace the whole way of thinking of His Excellency Mgr Luquet, bishop of Hésébon. I admit that I was bound by ties of friendship to him and that I acted thanks to God most often because of the qualities that I think I see in him. Undoubtedly we were in agreement when we thought that the extremely indispensable work of the native clergy was neglected, that the institution of this kind of clergy was more possible than is thought, that a fatal repugnance for this work existed on the part of many missionaries ; and in fact, these opinions, far from diminishing in any way in my mind, seemed to me all the truer as, either on my own, or by discussion, I gained a greater knowledge of the missions.

But His Excellency Mgr Luquet, with the expression of our common ideas, mixed many other ideas proper to him and not approved by me. And on the subject of certain of these, when I protested to him, considered my observations of scant importance. Finally, he has done many things foreign to the works of the missions that I do not wish to judge; I only desire that Your Eminence knows that they do not, in any way, have either my participation, or my approval.

With the grace of God, I have not only the desire to live in the faith of the holy Catholic apostolic and Roman Church, but further I do not wish to depart from its spirit as regards the sphere of opinions, nor from that of moderation, gentleness, charity and the other virtues for which the saints have been crowned.

Day by day, extremely sad news has reached us from Europe, and above all from Italy. Please heaven an end is put to such a trial of our Mother the Church of whom for the rest we are proud to be the sons, as much in her humiliation and sorrow as in the prosperity and the glory due to her.

I commend myself, as well as my mission, to the benevolence and prayers of Your Eminence, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. Enclosed with this letter Your Eminence will find the written oaths of the Reverend Fathers Cornevin and Ravel who are both new missionaries recently arrived in my mission.

(Carumattampatty ?, 27 May 1849)

Sent_0388

Sent_0388 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 28 mai 1849 -/1

Sent 0388 - to Mgr Bonnand - 28 May 1849 /2

Sent_0388 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 28 mai 1849 -/1

Sent 0388 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 249-252

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 248

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

A few words regarding the question of Mr Barot who has still not arrived at Pondicherry. Internal news of finances and administration and on 5 of his missionaries.

Index : finances, ecclesiastical administration, my missionaries

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 May 1849

My Lord,

I awaited each day the news of Mr Barot's arrival at Pondicherry and the sending back of his signed renunciation, copy of which I would have been pleased to send off to Paris by the next steamer, but it appears that he has gone to make a big tour before coming to you. We do not know here where he passed. Yesterday, Mr Métral received a letter from him from Negapatam, I believe.

I would be very much obliged if you would have the copies of the powers that Y.L. had the goodness to have printed for me passed through the (Bangly tapal ?), adding one or two copies of the little ones. If nevertheless the coudireicaren() and Mr Barot's horse return immediately, see if it would not be possible to entrust them to him, which would mean a saving of a few annas (). Eh ! in these times, we have to consider every small saving.

I have not taken the copy of Mr Leroux's letter. I would be very much obliged if you could pass it on to me, but without haste. I do not understand what Y.L. means by the letter that I wrote to obtain the missionaries' adhesion, etc, etc. I have written no letter of this kind. Perhaps Your Grace is referring to a draft that I had thrown on paper of what could become, it seems to me, the basis of an agreement between all the missionaries consenting to it, I would make a point of sending it to you once Y.L. expresses the desire.

It seems that all the missions, except two, will only be receiving 4 to 5 hundred francs of supplement. I am led to hope that mine would be one of these two, and that I would have two thousand francs, but that is still very little for us who are without any resource here.

Here I am once more engaged in doing compositions and translations. I was again obliged to employ Mr Métral elsewhere. This is ruinous for my poor seminary. The villages of the surroundings absolutely needed a careful vissarané; I sent him out together with Mr Ravel ; then he will pass into what constitutes the district of Coimbatore with Mr Cornevin. It appears that Mr Pacreau is still sulking. I have seen Mr Pajean whom I was very pleased with. I hope that the Lord will arrange things to his advantage and to ours.

I have received a letter from His Grace of Chyrra who spoke to me at some length of the affairs of Bombay. It seems that H.G. fears that the Irish bishops may have a hand in all of this.

I commend myself to your good prayers and beg you to believe me, for life,

Your very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 2 May 1849)

Sent_0389

Sent_0389 - à sa mère - le 1er juin 1849 -/2

Sent 0389 - to his mother - 1 June 1849 /2

Sent_0389 - à sa mère - le 1er juin 1849 -/2

Sent 0389 Original, AMA 2F1, p 143-144

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 248

(to his mother)

Some news and much affection for his mother. Monotonous life; buildings; administration; at what point he is with his little seminary; his missionaries, his journey to Pondicherry; cholera has become quite common with us. The political questions in France have financial consequences on us.

Index : seminary of Carumattampatty, my missionaries, finances, attachment (family)

__________

Coimbatore, 1 June 1849

My dear Mamma,

It is a very long while since I addressed a letter to you directly. I think that this will not astonish you and even less distress you. I know that what I write is common to the whole family, just as what arrives here by the pen of one or other member of the family is the expression of you all. That is why I ordinarily address myself to my beloved father, who is the one who as a rule undertakes the common interpretation, but without in any way forgetting my beloved mother and without diminishing the love and respect that I owe her.

By now my life is so monotonous that I would not be able to give you many news. Here we are carrying out a work of patience and knife-grinding that would not be in any way interesting abroad. Here a small building, there a small administration, etc., etc. At the moment, I am on the point of completing the building of a small seminary which I started a year and a half ago. I have a few amiable pupils but light as a canary's feather, and still very young. One of them has been promoted to the order of reader, three to that of porter, three others are merely tonsured, and finally one is still lay, and that is the whole of my personnel as regards the native clergy.

However, since they are very smart and are beginning to sing well, our big pontifical masses are not bad at all. This year, we held the whole Easter office, starting on Wednesday evening with the Tenebrae service up to the second vespers of holy Easter Day, very solemnly. The Church was never empty, and many Christians had come in from 9 or 10 leagues away for the big ceremonies.

My European priests are also more and more numerous. Unfortunately, two have left me for one reason or another, while a third died a few months after his arrival. At present I am left with eight priests. One of them is from the neighbourhood of Toulouse, from a well known and very respectable family. This is Mr de Gélis of whom I think I have spoken to you. He is an excellent young man whom I love with all my heart, for he is filled with the spirit of his calling .

As you know, some time ago I went on a journey to Pondicherry. I returned in an unbreathable stifling heat. One of our men died in the space of a few hours of cholera. And that is all that was remarkable about our return; as you see it was not very merry. Despite the fact that cholera is something now become so common here that we end up by no longer paying much attention to it, it is however at times accompanied by certain terrifying circumstances. Thus, when you see a man who appears to be perfectly well and who, a few hours after having served you, is in his grave (for here burial takes place immediately after death), one cannot help giving an involuntary shudder.

Thus it was that one of my young missionaries was put to a rude test of learning just recently. He had gone to see a missionary of the apostolic vicariate of Pondicherry in a village where a feast was being celebrated with due pomp. Close on two thousand Christians had gathered there, when the cholera swooped down on them like a bird of prey, and carried off several hundreds in the space of a few days. Several persons died on the spot, others on the road as they fled in terror, and others on arriving back in their homes with the germ of this terrible illness.

I will spare you the political part that finds its place for some time now in all letters. Quite apart from the sadness we feel at seeing such evil in the places so dear to us, we are very much affected by the repercussions of public penury in the reduction of the alms which maintain us; to the point that we do not know clearly what we will do if this lasts. Our work is in God's hands.

Remember me, please, to the friends, acquaintances, and above to all the various members of the family, and believe that the sentiments of filial love that I have for you, very dear mother, far from diminishing in time, only grow from day to day. I pray the Lord to shower his most precious blessings on you and you to believe me, of all your children,

the most respectful and the most submissive.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 1 June 1849)

Sent_0390

Sent_0390 - à son père - le 6 juin 1849 -/1

Sent 0390 - to his father - 6 June 1849 /1

Sent_0390 - à son père - le 6 juin 1849 -/1

Sent 0390 Original, AMA 2F1, p 134-135

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 248

(to his father)

My life is so monotonous that I don't know what to tell you. Letters today arrive more quickly then previously. Thank you for the political part of your letters.

Index : politics, correspondence

__________

Carumattampatty, 6 June 1849

My very dear father,

Since my letter to my mother has still not left, I take advantage of this circumstance to write a few lines in answer to your good letter of 17 April that I received yesterday. It seemed to me that I had written to you more often and at greater length than I did last year. Please accept my mea culpa, and I hereby resolve not to incur this guilt any more. That goes for the number, but not the length of the letters, on which I can promise nothing, for the life I live now is so monotonous and here the day, the months and the years are so similar to one another that it is always the same thing.

It is not astonishing that you received my letter in forty-two days. The news arriving in India from Europe now takes one month and a few days, and vice versa. The boat arriving at Madras every first or second of the month brings us the news from London of the 25th, from Paris of the 26th, and of several days later from Marseilles. A few days afterwards another steamer arrives at Bombay bringing the news of the other fortnight.

Thank you for the political part of your letter ; although I receive a French newspaper and an English one which inform us of everything, nonetheless one likes to appreciate events through judicious persons who are outside the journalists' set.

And I end up by asking you to believe me for life, the most respectful of your sons.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 6 June 1849)

Sent_0391

Sent_0391 - à ses missionnaires - le 13 juin 1849 -/3

Sent 0391 - to his missisonaries - 13 June 1849 /3

Sent_0391 - à ses missionnaires - le 13 juin 1849 -/3

Sent 0391 copy , AMA 2F6, pp 250-253

(circular to his missionaries)

Circular to accompany the new list of powers that he is sending them. Reminder of the changes in the degree of certain offices, of the offices proper to them. Then, quoting a circular from Mgr Bonnand, he asks them to make a report each year of the administration of their district on the basis of 15 questions which they should answer.

Index : Rome (authority), ecclesiastical administration, liturgy

__________

Carumattampatty, 13 June 1849

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Since My Lord of Drusipare considered it useful to have the list of powers reprinted after introducing a few changes, I have had printed absolutely similar ones for the pro-vicariate of Coimbatore, desiring to walk as far as possible in perfect harmony with this venerable pontiff who is our common father.

This is what H.L. says in the circular that he has sent out to his missionaries notifying them of this new list : "I have maturely examined before God the changes that should be made in this list for the greatest good of the administration, in the present state of things and I have made them... Your former list is accordingly revoked on receipt of the new one that I am sending you together with this circular. Take care to conform to the contents of the new one and be so good also as to send me back your earlier one on the first occasion that you have of writing to me".

These provisions, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, are the same for you, and I would ask you to conform to them on receipt of this circular and of the new proxy of powers accompanying it.

I take advantage of this circumstance to remind you of the changes made in the degree of certain offices, as well as the offices that are particular to us and which may not be included in the ordo :

1) 2 January, Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius are of double rite since 1845.

2) The third Sunday after Easter, we hold the office of patronage of Saint Joseph (duplex secundae classis).

3) 10 May, the feast of Saint Antoninus is double (letter of Mr Langlois of 22 May 1848).

4) The Friday after the octave of the Holy Sacrament, we hold the office of the very Sacred Heart of Jesus.

5) 21 June, Saint Louis of Gonzaga, double.

6) The vigil of Saint Peter : vigil for the Europeans.

7) 2 August, Saint Alphonse of Liguori, double.

8) 20 August, the office of Saint Bernard is that of a doctor, not pontiff. We should say the antiphon o doctor, and the prayer Deus qui populo tuo.

9) The first Sunday of September, we can celebrate the office of the Sacred Heart of Mary, of double rite major.

10) Outside of Lent, the advent and vigils, we can hold once a week, on the days not prevented by an office of 9 lessons, the offices of the Holy Sacrament, of the Immaculate Conception and of Saint Francis Xavier.

Various fasts of the year have been replaced for the missionaries of the vicariate of Pondicherry by fasts of the Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of Advent. Since several missionaries still complain about these fasts, My Lord of Drusipare obtained in 1841 that we would only fast as we fasted in France. Thus we still have to fast on the vigil of All Saints.

Some missionaries are at times led to think that we are only bound, as the natives of the country, to nine fasts in the year. This would be erroneous. For, in 1788, Mgr of Dolichat, having requested the S.C. to kindly reduce the feasts, fasts and abstinences, it gave a decree approved by Pius VI where, after agreeing with the faithful on a reduction of fasts, it is said: Missionarii vero europeani et Creoli ibidem commorantes omnia jejunia servare teneantur ab Ecclesia praescripta. ()

My Lord of Pondicherry ends his circular letter as follows

"One thing, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, which appears to me very advantageous for the good from various viewpoints, would be a brief and well coordinated report on the administration of your district. This report should be six-monthly or at least annual. It should present each particular administration and the administration as a whole. Thus, it should mention:

"1) The name of a village and its distance from the main town, saying whether there is a church and a presbytery in the place, what is the size of the church and of the presbytery, in what condition one and the other are, and what means are available for their upkeep.

"2) If the land or the site of the church and of the presbytery are spacious and if they are enclosed by a wall.

"3) If there are some maniams () belonging to the church, in what state they are, what kind of collections they produce and how much they bring in annually.

"4) If feasts are celebrated there with pomp and procession.

"5) What day of the month the visit started and what day it ended.

6) How long it is since the Christian community was last visited.

"7) How many families and persons there are in the Christian community.

"8) What castes they belong to and what their trades are.

"9) What is the dominant character of the village.

"10) How many persons confessed and how many did not attend.

"11) What were their reasons for not coming.

"12) How many first communions and how many Easter or annual communions.

"13) How many adult baptised there are, and if there is hope of baptising others on the next visit.

"14) If Sundays are observed and pratinés (

) said morning and evening.

"15) If the neophytes show affection to the missionary and if they take care of him or not during his visit.

"The information indicated under 1), 2) 3) and 4) may only be given every 4 or 5 years. For the other points, they should be annual.

"By this exact and regular report, you will yourselves get a better idea of your administration ; you will see more clearly the true state of your mission ; you will put your superior in a position to judge of the true state of things and to back up, so to speak, your works by following you everywhere and by grasping the importance of your works ; you will put the council in a position to grasp the needs of your mission. Moreover these annual summaries being arranged in the archives of the vicariate, will become monuments for the time to come. Accordingly I have every reason to believe that you will eagerly welcome my desire and my request and that your zeal for everything liable to contribute to the good will lead us to employ joyfully and above all wisely the means that I have just proposed to you."

You will readily note, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, that the content of this article is contained in our draft regulations. I am only drawing your attention to this in the thought that your zeal will thereby be all the more excited to carry out this duty when you note that My Lord of Drusipare has appreciated its advantage and usefulness. You know that it is at the beginning of January that I wish to receive this report at the same time as the account of your administration, of the registers of baptisms, etc.

I pray the Lord to shower his most abundant blessings on your persons and on your ministry and you to believe me,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 13 June 1849)

Sent_0392

Sent_0392 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 juin 1849 -/2

Sent 0392 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 June 1849 /2

Sent_0392 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 juin 1849 -/2

Sent 0392 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 227-232

Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 48

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 249-250

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Fairly long letter in which he explains in detail everything that preceded Mr Barot's departure from Coimbatore and how he used charity and patience with him. All of this in order to dissipate criticisms, for he adds: I hope that, if the demon of rash judgments inspires anyone, charity will impel them to learn the foregoing or to suppose it before condemning me.

Index : regulations of the MEP, Barot affair, charity, patience, renunciation of the MEP

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 June 1849 (

)

My Lord,

I thank Y.L. very much for your letter of 5 June and for the copy it contained. So a storm is brewing! Well, I will wait patiently for the rumbles or at least the flashes to arrive at my door. It seems to me that Y.L. had nothing better to reply to Mr Richon. If I was obliged to come there, it would not be difficult for me to show that neither I, nor the Gentlemen of Paris, have acted against anything in the regulations. But in order for Your Lordship to be able to make use of them if need be, I am quite willing to share the following considerations with you. Mr Barot has not been dismissed; he has still not committed any fault deserving his exclusion or at least I did not assert any such. I told him this to his face.

All we did was to offer him a passage at once if he wished to retire. Mr B. had more than once expressed this desire. Once even he was on the point of committing a rash action, without my being able to assure him a passage then. He left, he had almost left, for he had already handed back to me, without any request on my part, both his three months' salary and other objects. I managed to stop him, telling him that I would arrange things in such a way that later on he could leave without a scene. At the time I was very unsatisfied with him and would have liked to be in a position to offer him a passage forthwith.

However, he persisted in saying that he couldn't administer the Indians. Nonetheless, just recently, he seemed a little more reasonable, and I hoped not to need to use the precaution that I had taken in asking for a passage for him to Paris in case he should persevere in his eccentric conduct and that he would be willing to leave the Society. On my arrival here, I asked him to come, in order to agree with him on the building of a presbytery in the place which should be the centre of the district of Darabouram. It is then that he repeated to me that he would absolutely not consent to be put in charge of a district, neither that of Darabouram nor any other.

I tried to make him understand that what he was saying was in contradiction with the wish to be a missionary. I urged him to reflect pertinently on that, giving him several days to change his mind. But afterwards as before, it was the same language. I forgot to say that I had even promised him to take into consideration this repugnance for exercising the holy ministry as soon as I could entrust him with something else, but that for the moment I could only give him a pangou, and that besides, if in fact I should entrust him with something else, he would have to be prepared to return to a pangou if that was what he was told to do.

When I then saw that he persisted stubbornly in what he had said, I told him that without doubt then, he wanted me to understand that he no longer wished to be a missionary, and if that was so, I did not want to retain him by force and that I would offer him a passage for France if he gave me in writing his renunciation to any rights whatsoever over the Society of Foreign Missions.

However, I indicated to him that, if he did this, it was a folly. I urged him strongly not to arrive at that point. Quite apart from the fact that he would have to render account to God of having presumably resisted his vocation, I pointed out to him the wrong that he would be doing us, who have almost no missionary who knew Tamoul, while he possesses it well, lacking priests, etc., etc. I told him that he would be going away precisely at the time when he could begin to render real services to the mission, having spent the first years in which a young missionary can practically not hope to do more than probe the ground, study, grope his way, etc.

Finally I told him that he was doing the greatest wrong to himself. I predicted all that would be awaiting him in the way of hardships and vexations in France and, in addition that, knowing his character, I felt sure that it would not be long before he would be regretting what he was leaving, etc., etc. etc. I suggested he should examine carefully the whole question before God and take his time in answering me. However, I asked in particular Mr Métral to use any influence he might have over him to urge him not to make a rash decision; and I know that this dear confrere has not failed to do so.

A few days afterwards, he came to tell me that he had decided to leave. I did not wish to receive this answer as final and since I was about to leave for Coimbatore, I told him to stay with Mr Métral at Carumattampatty for as long as he desired in order to reflect carefully. A few days after my arrival at Coimbatore, I received his renunciation in duplicate, but unsigned, that he handed over sealed to Mr de Gélis on leaving.

I hope that, if the demon of rash judgments impels some, charity will impel them to want to inform themselves of the foregoing or to suppose it before condemning me.

Since I really do not have time to make the copy that Y.L. requests and since all of these Gentlemen are very busy, I will send it to you in my next missive.

It seems to me that your circular is very simple ; I only fear that (I?) may be regarded as having wished to throw dust in their eyes by saying that these letters contain as many numbers as the others. For my part, I have sent the new sheets with my circular which is practically a reproduction of yours. I will have the honour of sending you a copy of it.

One thing even sadder than the foregoing, is that my seminary is not going so well ; this is a fundamental evil, just as the contrary would be a fundamental good. God's will!

Among the things I regret in the new proxy of powers, is that Y.L. has not left a small margin of discretion.

Mr Métral has just completed the vissarané in detail of the district of Carumattampatty. This district appears to be going very well. This good confrere will now be passing on to that of Coimbatore. Meanwhile, I am taking the classes.

Pray for me...

(here, several words are missing) ...

... humble and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 15 June 1849)

Sent_0393

Sent_0393 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 28 juin 1849 -/1

Sent 0393 - to Mgr Bonnand - 28 June 1849 2/1

Sent_0393 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 28 juin 1849 -/1

Sent 0393 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 255-256

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 253

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, biship of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He sends him his circular, the draft agreement between certain missionaries and the plan of the future church of Coimbatore that he has already sent to Mr Laoiënan. Some words on the journeys of Mr Pacreau with which he does not really agree.

Index : construction (church of Coimbatore), bishop's authority.

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 June 1849

My Lord,

Doing duty as mestry, at the same time as schoolmaster, I have not had time until now to keep the promise I made to Y.L. to send you copy of my circular, as well as the draft agreement between certain missionaries. I send you these two documents enclosed herewith.

I hope that the works of the seminary will be completed in a month or a month and a half. Then it will be the turn of the church of Coimbatore, to which we are going to sacrifice Mr Dubois's legacy. There I would like to have a church which is not big, but pretty. In the last few days I have sent the idea of a plan to Mr Laouënan, thinking that, through the relations that are easy for him with the Europeans, he could render me certain services that I have asked him in this regard. If Y.L. sees this plan, I would be grateful if you would give me your opinion, as well as that of the other confreres.

I am anxious to know how Mr Barot will end up. It appears that Mr Pacreau has a running devotion. He returned to the charge and asked me in grace for permission to go and make a retreat with the Jesuits. I felt I could not oppose this, and gave him permission. But when the time came to leave, he writes to me that in case the person to whom he wishes to address himself is not at Trichinopoly, he will push on almost as far as Negapatam (and I believe that it is precisely one of those from Negapatam), and that, once at Negapatam, he will be quite close to Pondicherry where he will go and pay a visit to his former (...?...). I felt I could not...

... (here, one and a half lines have been destroyed) ...

at Trichinopoly where he will find several Jesuits. I do not know what he will do.

I beg Y.L. not to forget me in your good prayers and to have me always as your

Very devoted and very respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 28 June 1849)

Sent_0394

Sent_0394 - à M. Bonjean - le 5 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent 0394 - to Mr Bonjean - 5 July 1849 /2

Sent_0394 - à M. Bonjean - le 5 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent 0394 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 254-255

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

Answers to the fifteen precise questions of canon law posed by Mr Bonjean on receipt of the new list of powers sent out to the missionaries.

Index : canon law

__________

Carumattampatty, 5 July 1849 ()

"I hasten to reply as soon as possible to your letter of 29 June. As a general answer to certain points in your letter, I must say that the drafting of this sheet has been touched up after my departure from Pondicherry, and since I had not seen this new version before it was printed, there are a few points (not very important ones) that I regret a little. But I prefer to have it such and in conformity with Pondicherry than with some divergences. Having said this, I answer:

ad 1um : The missionaries are generally sufficiently close to the centre to ask for permission to bless linen, ornaments, etc. In particular cases, on journeys, it is easy for them to provide themselves with quite a large number of linens (for at the limit two of each kind would suffice) in order not to find themselves without any. Those who, for particular reasons, believe they might need this power generally speaking should ask for it.

ad 2um : The missionary should not give any blessing of a chapel, etc., without particular permission. For an urgent case, he could say mass there before the blessing as he says it in private homes.

ad 3um : According to the opinion of the theologians (see Bourier, treaty of indulgences, chap. II, part 3), these words primo conversis ab haerese have been used deliberately.

ad 4um : The proxy of powers does not restrict any of the theological conditions in order for a sin to be reserved. Since abortion is a sin different from homicide, in theological terms, it is not reserved. The words publicis and scandalosis are quite clear by themselves and it should not be forgotten that : odia sunt restringenda.

ad 5um : The jus petendi etc. that is given to the bridegroom is the one he lost contrahendo affinitatem cum suo comparte sive carnalem sive spiritualem. In this country many are often not liable to this penalty due to ignorance (see Liguori, Lb n° 10721 seq., et praxis confessarii n° 86). I cannot see that any particular formula is required.

ad 6um : Having the power to absolve from all censures in the internal forum, the quantum possum et tu indiges is sufficient, however with the formal intention (it is safer) of absolving from such censure, as when in the external forum, before giving a dispensation and issuing the note to the parties, according to what I wish to indicate here in a circular. Do not forget thereafter to send me these same notes that you can ask should be handed back before the marriage or at least the names of the dispensed parties with those of their relatives, their domicile and the degree for which they have been dispensed, etc., etc. See the circular (I am sending you a note that could serve to indicate the form).

ad 7um : The same as for a marriage not contracted. So that it is necessary to separate the parties if they themselves know of the impediment. In the internal forum, use can be made of the formula indicated in the praxis confessarii of Liguori n° 88. But there is nothing to be added in the internal forum when the dispensation is given publicly in the external forum.

ad 8um : The necnon contains something special, for you can have the power of dispensing at lst degree and not at second mixed with first.

ad 9um : In this case, we behave as far as possible with regard to the bishop as we should behave elsewhere with regard to the Holy Penitentiary. For the second part of the question, see the praxis confessarii n° 80 et seq.

ad 10um : For affinity and for consanguinity.

ad 11um : Personally, I believe that it is necessary to examine the cases in particular and that there is sponsalia as soon as the conditions indicated by the theologians for this contract are present, which occur only rarely because of the slight relationship that the bride and bridegroom ordinarily have between them before the marriage, unless certain public ceremonies such as the distribution of betel to the caste or to the relatives has already taken place. Certain experienced missionaries think that if this distribution of betel, or what might replace it in certain parts, does not take place, it cannot be considered that there have been any real nuptials. We do not have the power of dispensing in matrimonio rato et non consummato.

ad 12um : Negative.

ad 13um : This case is almost never practised except when the marriage follows and then the marriage (is) legitimate. If the case were otherwise, it would have to be recorded in a public deed, at least in the deeds of the Church, in order to serve as external proof if needed, and declared to the legitimated person.

ad 14um : Negative. But we should clearly distinguish the dispensation from the interpretation of the law. Any confessor or any superior may judge that such a person is not in such a case bound to fast. But for the dispensation, the bishop should be consulted.

ad 15um : The missionarius districtus is the person whose proxy of powers bears the name of his district. The missionary having in his capacity of missionary the personal contents of articles 23 and 24, can use them everywhere (which would be different for a priest who is not a missionary), sed non aliis concedendi. Like you, I think that there is an error in article 27 and that it should read 14 instead of 11 ; however, I will have to write to My Lord of Drusipare on this point.

It would have been desirable that Mr Pacreau, on leaving his pangou, had left things so that no-one else would have needed his powers during his absence, or else for him to have requested these powers to be granted to someone else. I think that this is merely an oversight, thus I authorise you by this letter to make use of the powers tanquam sacerdos districtus until Mr Pacreau is back again. But I urge you at the same time to use the powers mentioned in article 27 as sparingly as possible."

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 5 July 1849)

Sent_0395

Sent_0395 - à M. Métral - le 5 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0395 - to Mr Métral - 5 July 1849 /1

Sent_0395 - à M. Métral - le 5 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0395 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 257-258

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 256

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

Mgr Bonnand is doing his best to see that Mr Barot returns to Coimbatore. Give me your opinion on the three questions that I am asking you regarding his possible return and communicate this letter to Mr de Gélis alone.

Index : counsel (take)

__________

Carumattampatty, 5 July 1849

My very dear Mr Métral,

I have received a letter from My Lord of Drusipare in which I see that Mr Barot does not want to go back to France, and that My Lord of Drusipare will work for his return to Coimbatore, which Mr Barot agrees to. Kindly let me know what you think before God on the three following questions:

1) Would it be desirable or not for Mr Barot to come back ?

2) Should we hold firm against his coming back, or merely express the desire ?

3) Would it be much less regrettable for him to remain at Pondicherry, instead of returning here, in the case that H.L. would have him ?

I am sending you a copy of the latest letter that My Lord of Drusipare has written to Mr Barot. Kindly communicate this letter to Mr de Gélis only and ask him to let me have his opinion also on the three questions proposed. To reply to these three questions, please pay regard to:

1) the interests of Coimbatore,

2) those of our missions in India in general

3) those of the whole congregation of Foreign Missions

Kindly believe me to be, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

N.B. Since I have not kept the first draft of this letter in its entirety, there may be some variations, however the subject matter is exact, and almost word for word.

(Carumattampatty, 5 July 1849)

Sent_0396

Sent_0396 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 juillet 1849 -/3

Sent 0396 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 July 1849 /3

Sent_0396 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 juillet 1849 -/3

Sent 0396 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 263-268

Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 49

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 255-259

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He returns at length on the story of Mr Barot and explains that he himself as well as Messrs Métral and de Gélis do not agree to his returning to Coimbatore. He gives all the reasons for this, but adds that an intercession by Mgr Bonnand in favour of Mr Barot's return to Coimbatore would be for him a moral order that he will not attempt to refuse. A few words then on Mr Pacreau's journey accepted ad duritiam cordis and some explanations on the draft agreement to adhere to renunciation of the viaticum.

Index : Barot affair, moral influence, viaticum

__________

Carumattampatty, 10 July 1849 (

)

My Lord,

Your Lordship will perhaps consider that I have taken a long time to answer your letter of 24 June. But, besides the fact that I was pleased to take a little time to reflect, I wanted to have the opinion of Messrs Métral and de Gélis, the only two confreres whom I was able to consult fruitfully on such a subject. These Gentlemen being absent, I wrote them a little letter, of which I have the honour of sending you a copy, with your letter of 23 June to Mr Barot. I am sending you in extenso the answer from these two dear confreres of whom the wisdom of one is known and of which the other is one of those calm, reflective spirits, in whom prudence takes the place of years of experience.

As for me, My Lord, I must say that I was utterly astonished on reading your letter to Mr Barot, especially since your earlier letters both to Mr Barot and to Mr Richon were, in my opinion, perfectly suited to the circumstances. I have only been able to explain this last letter by thinking that Y.L. had this time listened more to the arguments of the heart than to those of cold but useful logic.

Not only do I think that it would be a great misfortune if Mr Barot were now to come back here, but also if he should stay on at Pondicherry, although that appears to me less great. You can be sure, My Lord, that in the same way that Mr Barot did not wait (as I had predicted to him) to put foot on board ship to repent of having done what he had done, in the same way it will not be three years before he repents of having missed the opportunity of returning to France. He will be what he has been, for he has always been like that. The misfortune is that they did not realise what he was like in Paris, except for Mr Dubois who wrote to me one day: "I am sorry for you having to share with him. Such an Original should never have been sent on mission."

The second misfortune is that he was not sent back to France before the end of his two years' probation. Let us not make a third by introducing him once more into our congregation that he has left. Let us not forget besides, My Lord, as you yourself have recognised, that one of the fundamental misfortunes of our missions in India lies in the so unfortunately contagious character of certain missionaries. Mr Barot is one of these. If, after having done for them what we should, divine Providence permits that they withdraw, let us silence our hearts and let us bless heaven. Let us not forget that one missionary who does not have the spirit of his calling (and Mr Barot is evidently one of these) does more harm than several good missionaries can do good. Have we not to groan at the influence that they have on the spirit of the newcomers so that, instead of gaining when their number increases, we sometimes lose ?

Here I have a terrible example : Mr Bonjean would, in all probability, be an excellent missionary without Mr Barot and another ; yet I have to fear that he is not so and that he will continue to give me more sorrow than consolation. There is still great hope, but it is a fortune for him that Mr B. is no longer in Coimbatore. In my opinion, the best thing that Mr B. could do now is to go back to France without delay and try not to repent of being there once he has arrived. At the very most, we could favour his ideas if he wanted and could find a place in Madras or in Madurai or elsewhere in India, providing it is not in these parts.

So you see by the foregoing, My Lord, with how much sorrow I would see Y.L. acting as intermediary to allow him to return to Coimbatore and in the Society. Besides, could we reintegrate him purely and simply in the Society? For, I suppose (something that should precede every other step to be taken) that he will sign the renunciation that he has written with his hand, without which everything would leave it to be supposed that he was mocking me, and it would no longer be mere thoughtlessness.

I beg Y.L. to continue or rather to resume the line of conduct that you had adopted initially with regard to Mr B. Your Lordship sees, besides, sufficiently that my position with regard to you is such that an intercession on your part would be a moral order for me. I would try not to refuse you. That is why I am so desirous that Y.L. knows perfectly what I think on this subject, so that if, despite these reasons, you still believed it your duty to work for Mr Barot's return, you would take on yourself all the consequences of this unfortunate affair.

I thank Y.L. very much for the care you have taken of my reputation, by making my letter known to those to whom that might be necessary, although, to tell the truth, I am not very interested in appearing innocent in the eyes of everyone, providing I am so before God who alone is our true judge. For the rest, Mr B. could have avoided occasioning you this pain, for he knew everything, as well as I did, which does not say much in his favour.

Y.L. must have received another letter from me in which I told you that I had not authorised Mr Pacreau to make such a long journey for a retreat. This journey sorrows me as much and more than it does Y.L. But the fact is that, having already set out for Trichinopoly, he returned to the charge, insisting on this permission to go to Negapatam and to pass on to Pondicherry. I felt it better not to refuse him again without irritating him and doing more harm than by letting him go. So that I permitted it ad duritiam cordis, while strongly expressing the desire that he was back at Ootacamund for the feast of that place.

Not knowing why Y.L. had not left any discretion regarding the new proxy of powers, I first of all sent it out as it was, however I remarked to those to whom this could have been necessary, above all to Mr Pacreau, that if they considered it useful for them to have other powers, they had only to ask me for them and that I would have been pleased to grant them insofar as it depended on me. Accordingly, the letter that Y.L. has received has no real foundation, if it was an indirect reproach that was intended for me.

My last letter contained the rough copy of the agreement for adhering to renunciation of the viaticum. I forgot to say to Y.L. that, providing nothing essential has been changed (for if Y.L. thought it necessary to make any essential changes, we would need to be acquainted with them), you may count on my signature as soon as Y.L. proposes it. I believe it is too great a good to do to our missions for me not to sign it, even if there were only Y.L. and two other missionaries who should sign. But in addition I am certain that here we would immediately have the signature of Messrs Métral, de Gélis and Ravel, perhaps also, without my daring to affirm it, that of a few others. This would already be quite a good beginning, if even you were to have four or five from your vicariate.

It seems to me that it would be necessary to add to it an article in which it would be pointed out that, by this agreement, the missionaries do not forego the ownership and the free use of whatever they might receive from their homes. For the contrary would expose the missionaries who are in that position no longer to have what might be sent out to them, which would go to the detriment of the mission, for, in general, in one way or another, they use their revenues for it.

If Mr Pacreau passes by Pondicherry, as it would appear probable, I would be obliged if you would entrust him with four Christs that I would ask you to have made for me, or to ask the good Mr Lehodey to do so to avoid you this trouble. These are for the dormitories, study, etc. Consequently they would need to be fairly large, without the cross being supported by a foot. I would like them not to cost more than three rupees each.

I commend myself to your good prayers, and ask you to believe me, in the union of your holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted and respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I would be very pleased to know whether Mr Laouënan has some hope of rendering me the services that I asked of him.

(Carumattampatty, 10 July 1849)

Sent_0397

Sent_0397 - à M. Libois - le 12 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent 0397 - to Mr Libois - 12 July 1849 /2

Sent_0397 - à M. Libois - le 12 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent 0397 copy, AMA 2F6, p 260

(to Mr Libois)

(bursar of the MEP in Hong-Kong)

A rather disillusioned letter, in which he says that in Coimbatore there is nothing liable to arouse interest : the Christians are few and drag along rather than walk ; the work of the native clergy is difficult despite some exceptions ; the missionaries become discouraged at seeing so few fruits. We need patience, forbearance and mortification.

Index : religion in India, mortification

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1849 ()

I should have replied long ago to your good letter of 12 November 1848. After having made my mea culpa and admitted to a little laziness, I would say to you that I write as little as possible, being in a position which, by nature and position, is not very interesting for others, and besides having no general news to give them that they cannot easily acquire from other sources.

The sullen country of India offers nothing in response to the ardour of zeal. The quality that this virtue should assume above all here is patience, forbearance and continual mortification of the heart, of the spirit and of all the faculties of the soul. Suffice it to tell you that neither on the part of the Christians, and even less on the part of the pagans, do we have those considerable consolations that may be forthcoming elsewhere, albeit amid persecution. The former drag along in the way of truth rather than walk in it. They are Christians because they were born such, for the same reason that the pagans are pagan, without either of them mutually seeking chicanery. Here, people do not change their religion because they do not change caste, and religion is an integral part of caste, at least as regards the influence that it exercises on these eminently caste-conscious spirits.

Without this, we would very soon no longer have any Christians, for the Christian religion adds only contempt in the eyes of these poor peoples ; and the Christians are so few in number compared to the mass of the pagans, besides which they fear them so much that instead of winning new children for the Church, they would themselves be swallowed up in paganism through support of the social proprieties.

The cause of the native clergy here offers the most astonishing difficulties. The Christians do not want them, because they desire above all to marry off their children. If we manage to catch some young man, he becomes discouraged ordinarily when the age of the passions arrives and his parents speak to him of marriage. Add to that our way of living so contrary to the usages of the country which means that it is very difficult to envisage that the Indian priests could conform even remotely to our European habits. However there are always some exceptions to these rules, but these are rare, so that various missionaries themselves become discouraged at the sight of so little fruit after such hard work, and this discouragement is a fresh cause of failure to be added to the others.

So that as you can see, very dear confrere, here we have above all to cultivate the virtues that grow, as Saint Francis of Sales said, at the foot of the cross and not those that are exposed in full daylight at the summit of the sacred wood. But they are both equally valid, and that great saint, such a good judge in this matter, even prefers the former. Thus I am telling you all of this, not to complain, but to answer the desire you have expressed of knowing my mission, for which I request a part of your prayers and that you will know better in this way than by means of dry nomenclature or some sterile statistics.

I hope that, you who are in a position to know the different missions, will do me the favour of writing from time to time to communicate what is most interesting about them. Finally, do we have any news of Mr de Labrunière? At what point is your future council? etc, etc. At the moment I have eight European missionaries, without counting Mr Barot who, it appears, is going to leave the congregation and return to France. No priests from the country yet, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1849)

Sent_0398

Sent_0398 - à Mgr d'Acanthe - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0398 - to Mgr of Acanthe - 12 July 1849 /1

Sent_0398 - à Mgr d'Acanthe - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0398 copy, AMA 2F6, p 261

(to Mgr Pierre Retord, bishop of Acanthe)

(apostolic vicar of Western Tonkin)

I have nothing special to tell you : here, it is always the status quo. Please give us details of the persecution. Here we need patience and mortification of the heart.

Index : mortification

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1849 ()

I should have replied to your good letter of 5 November 1848 a long time ago. After making my mea culpa and admitting to a little laziness, I will tell you that I write as little as possible, being in a position which, by its nature and position, is of no great interest for others, since furthermore I have no general news to give them, and since Y.L. can much more easily inform yourself of them from some other source.

But this is far from being the case for you, My Lord. The Lord has placed you in a post which interests everyone to the highest degree. Accordingly I hope of your charity that, when you can do so without danger, you will be so good as to give us details of the persecution and then undoubtedly of the blessings with which the Lord will see that it is followed.

I have no persecution, no remarkable success, but always the status quo. We do not have the hope, like Y.L., of practising the heroic virtues that make martyrs. May we at least be faithful in the cultivation of those that grow in patience and mortification of the spirit and of the heart, which we have ample opportunity of exercising every day and which have also made the crown of many a saint.

I beg you to give us somewhere a share in the merits of your sufferings and to believe me, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1849)

Sent_0399

Sent_0399 - à Mgr Lefebvre - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0399 - to Mgr Lefebvre - 12 July 1849 -/1

Sent_0399 - à Mgr Lefebvre - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0399 copy, AMA 2F6, p 261

(to Mgr Dominique Lefebvre, bishop of Isauropolis)

(apostolic vicar of Western Cochin China)

I have nothing special to say to you. Tell us about your mission. Here we need patience and mortification of the heart.

Index : mortification

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1849 (

)

I should have replied to your good letter of..... a long time ago. After making my mea culpa and admitting to a little laziness, I must say to you that I write as little as possible, since I am in a position which, by its nature and position, is of little interest to others, since besides I have no general news to give them and in the case of Y.L., you can inform yourself of the general news from some other source.

I hope that in your charity you will be good enough to give us from time to time the details of what the Lord does in your parts. I have no hope, like Y.L., of winning a martyr's crown, nor more importantly the hope of seeing our efforts crowned with brilliant successes. We have to resolve on working every day a sterile field with the assurance of an insignificant harvest. But our consolation lies in the assurance that God will not reward his elect according to whether they have gathered more or less, but according to whether they have worked more or less.

Nonetheless, in order to persevere in this state it requires such a dose of patience, of mortification of the spirit and the heart that these virtues are at times on the point of escaping us. This is why I beg you to request our confirmation in your fervent prayers and to be good enough to give us some share in the sufferings that you will have the fortune of enduring for Jesus Christ. It is in this communion of prayers and good works, and in the union of your holy sacrifices, that I ask you to believe me. etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1849)

Sent_0400

Sent_0400 - à Mgr de Mallos - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0400 - to Mgr of Mallos - 12 July 1849 /1

Sent_0400 - à Mgr de Mallos - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0400 copy, AMA 2F6, p 261

(to Mgr Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, bishop of Mallos)

(apostolic vicar of Siam)

I have nothing special to tell you. Talk to me about your mission: all your successes interest us. Here, we need patience and mortification of the heart.

Index : mortification

__________

Coimbatore, 12 July 1849 ()

I should have replied to your good letter of..... a long time ago. After having made my mea culpa and admitting to a little laziness, I will say that I write as little as possible, since I am in a position which, by its nature and position, is of little interest for others, since besides I have no general news to give them, and that Y.G. can inform yourself much better on them from some other source.

But this is not the case for you, My Lord, for however gradually your work progresses, however small in your eyes are the successes that the Lord grants you, they are still much more considerable than ours. Accordingly, may your charity not deprive us of the satisfaction of being edified by reading the details of it that you may be kind enough to give us.

I doubt whether one could say that our Christians are, like yours, very devout : in general they are Christians because they were born such, without taking too much trouble to propagate their faith, just as the pagans are pagan because their fathers were that, without thereby picking any quarrel with their Christian neighbours, because here everyone remains what he or she is. For usage is the sovereign law of India. Thus no discussion as in your parts on the authenticity or non-authenticity of what are known as the revealed books, no philosophic distinction on the substance and the form, etc, etc.

All of which removes the hope that you have of one day seeing the light of truth emerging from the shock of controversy. For the rest of our lives we will in all probability just have to sustain a persevering fight against the demon who does his best to discourage us at the sight of so little fruit after so many efforts. Our work is above all a work of patience, of mortification of the spirit and of the heart. With the eyes of faith, it is worth as much as any other, but we have need of the aid of grace, and I beg you to request it for us, and to believe me in the union or your holy sacrifices, etc. etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1849)

Sent_0401

Sent_0401 - à Mgr de Samos - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent_0401 - à Mgr de Samos - le 12 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0401 - to the Bishop of Samos - 12 July 1849 /1

Sent 0401 copy, AMA 2F6, p 262

(to Mgr Augustin Forcade, bishop of Samos)

(apostolic vicar of Japan)

I have nothing special to tell you. I make no criticism of your journey to Europe. You have followed a wise course.

Index: wishes

-Coimbatore, 12 July 1849()

I should have answered a long time ago your interesting and very kind letter of 21 October 1848. Although I was already more or less acquainted with what it contains regarding your journey in Europe, I nonetheless read with great pleasure the details that Y.L. gives once more of it: but it was as news and friendly communication that I took pleasure in reading them and not in any way to be a judge of your conduct, persuaded that Y.L. has examined before God what you had to do in these difficult circumstances and that, much better than me, you had seen what the line of wisdom was.

Far from blaming you today for not having succeeded, I will say, for your consolation, that you have that in common with many other saints, and your reward will be no less great in heaven. What can I add to that? Except, may the Lord bless your efforts in the generous undertakings of another kind that you have embraced, and above all may he deign at last one day to open up to you the doors of your veritable mission.

We have celebrated masses for Mr Adnet. I have nothing that is liable to interest you and you already know as well and better than I do the news from Europe. Accordingly it only remains for me to commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me, in the union of your holy sacrifices, etc. etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 July 1849)

Sent_0402

Sent_0402 - à Mgr de Verrolles - le 13 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0402 - to Mgr Verrolles - 13 July 1849 /1

Sent 0402 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 262-263

(to Mgr Emmanuel Verrolles, bishop of Colombia)

(apostolic vicar of Manchuria)

I no longer write any letters except those required by charity or business. People cannot now say that there is an understanding between Mgr Luquet and myself. A meeting of the bishops of the MEP should be held every 10 or 15 years. If you take the initiative, I will follow you.

Index: meeting of MEP bishops, correspondence, understanding (with Mgr Luquet)

Coimbatore, 13 July 1849()

It is a long time now since I had the pleasure of receiving your excellent letter of 26 October 1848. I should without doubt have answered it long before now. Excuse me first of all for my laziness that I admit, and then I must tell you that I write as little as possible, since I have had cause to deplore so often the uselessness and at times the danger of correspondence that is interpreted, commented on, which God knows how it is judged if it contains any ideas, and which is useless if it contains none, that I have resolved to remain as silent as possible in my hole, in my desert, in my woods, only reserving myself the correspondence that charity commands or personal business requires.

As for Mgr Luquet, I will admit to you that I was very close to him and that I believed that there was a great deal of good in his ideas ; but I am far from having approved everything that he has done and written. However for a long time now he has not written to me. I do not know if this is because I ventured to make some rather strong observations, it is true, to him, but which may have hurt him, as also they may not be quite as right as they seemed to me. However that may be, now no-one can say that there is any further liaison between H.L. of Hésébon and myself. However, I cannot help thinking still that, in certain circumstances, he has not been treated with sufficient circumspection and that we have broken an instrument which divine providence seemed about to use for the good of our missions.

I firmly believe, like Y.L., that if we could meet up from time to time, every ten or fifteen years for example, not only would we understand one another very well, but we could deal with a whole crowd of things, either that were not foreseen by our predecessors, or that changes in the times and circumstances have brought about. These meetings appear indispensable to me if we are not soon to see our dear and well beloved congregation weaken completely.

I have often thought of that, but thus far I have said nothing to anyone, for it is not for me, one of the youngest bishops in our body, to take the initiative. Besides, I do not agree with Y.L., that that would be easy. All that I can say to you is that if Y.L. or someone else takes the initiative on this point, you may count on my opinion regarding the advisability and on my contribution, insofar as it depends on me, for its performance.

While waiting for the Lord to ensure the development of this idea, if it is for his glory, I commend myself to your good prayers, and ask you to believe me, in the union of your holy sacrifices, etc, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 13 July 1849)

Sent_0403

Sent_0403 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 15 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent_0403 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 15 juillet 1849 -/3

Sent 0403 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 15 July 1849 /3

Sent 0403 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 50

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 265

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the allocation, even if it is feeble You may enter Mr Pajean's name in the registers of the association. He goes on to discuss the newly arrived missionaries, giving a rapid appreciation of each of them. Then he returns to the Barot affair which he describes at length. Every 4 or 5 years could they not have a concise account of all the members of the congregation? The building of the seminary of Carumattampatty is nearing completion. We have managed this thanks to the largess of Mr de Gélis. We are going to begin on the church of Coimbatore thanks to Mr Dubois's bequest and with the aid of Providence. If Mr Barot does not come back to us, send us one or two new missionaries.

Index: allocation, my missionaries, Barot affair, seminary of Carumattampatty, request (for personnel), building

Carumattampatty, 15 July 1849

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I have answered several of your letters, especially that of 16 November 1848 and that of 17 March of this year. I have also received the small allocation of this year, for which, modest as it is, I thank you very much, for you have done what you could and nothing more than that can be expected. If, however, the funds of Propagation of the Faith should dry up, I hope that your zeal would not allow any opportunity to pass for providing in some other way for the existence of our missions. Providence, which is rich in means, will undoubtedly see some arise and you will take care to remain alert, attempting at any time to seize them in passing, for vigilance on this point is one of the virtues which should be and is proper to you.

I think that you have received the death certificate of Mr Vanthier. I sent it to you after having it countersigned by the Governor of Pondicherry.

As regards Mr Pajean, I have to report that he would seem to have profited, as I hoped, from the considerable lesson that was given him. The medicine was difficult to swallow, but finally once taken, it has produced good effects, and I think that, any time now, you may enter him on the registers of the members of our congregation. I still think that there will always be something to be desired in him; but on the other hand he has some remarkable qualities and we must hope that, with God's grace, they will be turned to the good. At this moment he is on his way to Bangalore, where he intends to study Canara which he needs for the administration of part of his district.

I still hope that Mr Ravel will make an excellent missionary. As for Mr de Gélis, he is an accomplished confrere whom you may enter without any fear as soon as the two years are up. Mr Bruyère, though of a different character, has so far given me nothing but consolations. You can enter him without fear. I would not say quite as much regarding Mr Bonjean. Nonetheless, I do not think that there are sufficient reasons to delay him, seeing the established usage of being so easy on this point. He was unfortunate enough to find himself frequenting confreres whose spirit was not of the most edifying and, since he was, and still is, little more than a child, he assumed a nuance of behaviour which could cause us some trouble. I still do not know Mr Cornevin very well. I believe that he will do well providing he does not allow himself to become discouraged at the sight of the knife-grinder's trade that we have to exercise in this country.

And now I have to speak to you at length of Mr Barot, whose Originality that he pushed to the limit has involved us in a business of which I still do not see the outcome. After some time, he seemed to have put some water into his wine, and I was even quite happy with his manner of acting. Seeing that, I had resolved not to have recourse, at least yet, to a renunciation by him of all rights on our congregation. But when I came back from Pondicherry, having called him in to decide together on some affairs of his district, he returned to his former ideas. In order not to be repetitive, I am leaving the details that you can see in a letter to My Lord of Drusipare, of which I am sending you a copy.

At this point, I offered him a passage on condition, etc., informing him clearly that I was not excluding him from the congregation, but that it was he who was voluntarily excluding himself, that I even desired that he should not do so, providing he gave up his eccentric ideas, and asked him to take his time to reflect on what he was doing.

Shortly after this, he leaves for Pondicherry sending me, without any word of explanation, his renunciation of the Society of Foreign Missions, in duplicate, quite in order, except that... it was not signed ! Mr de Gélis, to whom he had handed them over in a sealed envelope, was persuaded, and I too, that it was through distraction that he had omitted to sign them. However, by the first post he found on his way, he sent me four lines (literally) telling me that he had sent in his renunciation, that he was leaving, but that he hoped not to leave India. Then, without informing anyone, he took the road for Trichinopoly.

I immediately informed My Lord of Drusipare, as well as the bursar of Pondicherry, whom I had asked to have a passage for Mr Barot placed on our account ; and I sent the two copies of the renunciation to H.L., so that they did not give any money to Mr Barot until he had signed. Meanwhile, what was Mr Barot doing ? I do not know if he tried to get himself fixed up with the Jesuits, I only know that there was some question that he might be engaged as chaplain of a rich Malabar and tutor of his children ; but finally he ended up by falling at Karikal after having seen several missionaries of Pondicherry to whom he said I do not know what. Then he wrote to My Lord of Drusipare who first of all answered him very suitably, in my opinion, with great charity, but making it clear to him that there was no other course open to him at this point than to leave.

Please God that My Lord of Drusipare had persevered in this line of behaviour ! But it would seem that he then received some complaints from those missionaries who are always protesting, whatever one does, such as the Dépommier, the Fricaud, etc. and some from the new France such as the Tiran and others. So that a few days ago H.L. wrote an extremely friendly letter to Mr Barot urging him very strongly not to leave India, and offering to act as intermediary with a view to his return to Coimbatore. You could have knocked me down on reading this letter, to which you will see the answer I gave after having taken counsel with Messrs Métral and de Gélis. And this is how things are today, 15 July. How will it all end? I have no idea. I will write and tell you later.

I hope that we will soon receive the letters in common. I have often wanted to ask you if you could not, at least every four or five years, add a table giving us the names of all of our confreres, the places they come from, the missions where they are working, their ages, etc., notions which we often need, and without which we have some difficulty for our correspondence. Especially since that would be a pleasant reminder of those whom we know.

I hope that the building of our seminary at Carumattampatty will be completed in one month. This is a very pretty house, that I believe to be solid, which would be so certainly if the wooden parts were in teak. But it proved impossible to get hold of any, both because of the difficulties created by the government, and because of the exorbitant price that we would have had to pay to overcome these difficulties. Unfortunately, there is no other wood capable of replacing it satisfactorily in this country.

I am beginning to get a clearer idea about the cost of building: Quite apart from what the Christians have given, which might amount to about one thousand francs, I think that we will have paid about five to six thousand francs. It would have been impossible for us to undertake this expense in the course of the last two years with the small supplements that we have had and the expenses occasioned by the new missionaries, without the largess of Mr de Gélis who handed over to us everything received from his home.

After that, we are going to begin a church at Coimbatore. It is essential for us to have a fine church there. It is not necessary for it to be very big, but it must be very pretty. I have drawn up a plan that I have sent to Pondicherry so that it can be seen, examined, corrected, perfected, etc, etc. We are going to consecrate Mr Dubois's legacy to this. In this way, the legacy will serve for a fundamental work for the mission, at the same time as we will pray for the soul of this confrere, of precious memory, for as long as the walls stand.

But, if this church is to be in the least decent, this legacy will be far from sufficing. I think that it could cost at least 30 thousand francs. And for this church, we cannot expect anything at all from the Christians. With Mr Dubois's legacy, we will have the money to get started; then I count on Providence, through your aid. If, with about twenty thousand francs, we could complete the building, that would take us to three years: first year: Mr Dubois's legacy; second and third years: five or six thousand francs each year that you will procure for us, I hope. Then, for the finishing touches inside, we will see when the time comes and will do what we can in the circumstances. I hope to begin to lay the foundation after the rains, that is to say in three or four months' time.

I end this letter by saying that if Mr Barot does not return, as I trust he won't, I would need one or two new missionaries. However, if a larger number of missionaries were an obstacle to the allocation of a reasonable supplement, I would prefer to do without new subjects rather than without the supplement. For finally, we can continue to advance for some time in the number that we are, but we would be obliged to stop, and thus to retreat, if we did not have quite a reasonable supplement. Finally, if we should have neither more nor less supplement, I would beg you to complete, as soon as this is possible, the number of missionaries who should naturally form the personnel of this mission in the state in which it finds itself. As I indicated to you earlier, we should be twelve, eleven missionaries and myself.

It only remains for me to commend myself to your good prayers asking you to believe me in Our Lord,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 15 July 1849)

Sent_0404

Sent_0404 - à M. Albrand - le 16 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent_0404 - à M. Albrand - le 16 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0404 - to Mr Albrand - 16 July 1849 /1

Sent 0404 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 2

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 265

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Questions regarding the congregation in France. We are without news. It seems that in France the spirit of independence is spreading among the young clergy. May the Lord preserve us from this misfortune!

Index: News, independence of mind

Carumattampatty, 16 July 1849

My very dear Mr Albrand,

How long ago is it since you last gave some sign of life ! Could you have completely forgotten the poor bishop of Coimbatore? If your numerous occupations prevent you from writing to us, at least remember us in your good prayers.

How many aspirants have you ? Do the sad affairs of Europe force you to diminish their number? What are your fears, and what your hopes? The good Mr Tesson writes to me now and then, but always so laconically that he does not go into many details that interest us particularly because they touch closely on the interests of our very dear congregation. The respectable Mr Langlois, who was the person whose correspondence entered into these details, can undoubtedly write very little now, in view of his considerable age, so that we are completely deprived of them; and it appears that it is the same thing at Pondicherry.

One thing that perturbs me greatly and that I seem to note in the general course of events, in France, is that the Republican spirit, that is to say of independence, seems to be gaining ground among the young clergy. Do they not see the trap set for them in pushing them into that abyss ? For it is clear that the demagogues of our century do all that they can in that direction. May the Lord deign to preserve France from this latest misfortune, and above all may he deign to preserve our little congregation which would crumble into dust once that spirit found its way into it.

I commend myself to your good prayers, and ask you to believe me, in the union of your holy sacrifices,

Very dear confrere,

Completely yours in Our Lord .

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 16 July 1849)

Sent_0405

Sent_0405 - à M. Legrégeois - le 16 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent_0405 - à M. Legrégeois - le 16 juillet 1849 -/1

Sent 0405 - to Mr Legrégeois - 16 July 1849 /1

Sent 0405 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 17

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 265-266

(to Mr Pierre Legrégeois)

(director at the Seminary of Paris)

This is the first letter I have received from you. We have no great plans at the moment; we have to cultivate patience. I get on well with Mr Tesson, but he needs to put more order in his correspondence, his accounts and his dispatches.

Index: patience, order

Carumattampatty, 16 July 1849

Sir and very dear confrere,

About a fortnight ago I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of 24 May. I am pleased to see that Mr Tesson's absence has given me the opportunity of receiving a letter from you, for apart from official letters, I believe this is the first that you do me the honour of writing to me. I hope very much that it will not be the last and that from time to time you will be so good as to communicate to me your thoughts for the success of our work in common.

I would very much like to encourage you in this useful correspondence by giving you great good news. Unfortunately, we are not here in the theatre of great things, or rather the great things (for everything is great in God's work) have to be done so slowly that there is practically no space except for patience. But is this not "what produces the perfect work ?" This is what I would ask you to inculcate into the minds of the young aspirants for our missions in India. That they learn from afar to lay down the impetuosity of zeal in order to clothe themselves in the zeal of patience.

I was not aware of Mr Tesson's journey and the reason for his presence at Montpellier. I have understood from certain expressions in your letter that it has to do with some hymn books. May the Lord bless his works. There are those who blame him very much for trying to deal with a whole crowd of things and for neglecting the missions. But I do not have the courage to blame him since he is working for the good of the Church, all of whose parts are extremely dear to me. On the contrary, I praise him greatly. Only, I would like to see him put a little more order into his accounts, his correspondence, and his dispatches, so that there is no shadow of blame possible regarding such a zealous and respectable confrere, and one whom I love with all my heart. I am saying this to you, since it will be easier for you than for me to pass on this little charitable message.

I commend myself to your good prayers and have the honour of being,

Sir and very dear confrere,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 16 July 1849)

Sent_0406

Sent_0406 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent_0406 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent 0406 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 July 1849 /2

Sent 0406 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 269-272

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 263-264

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The Barot affair again. If he stays in Pondicherry, it is a great misfortune and a serious blow against my authority. And then others will follow the same path. If I was the only person involved, he would already have left.

Index: Barot affair, authority

Carumattampatty, 19 July 1849

My Lord,

I will not be able until tomorrow to send Messrs Métral and de Gélis Y.L.'s letter of 9 July, with the copy of the letter from Mr Barot. I think that these documents will sadden them as they saddened me too. I cannot explain to myself how Y.L. could have seen fit to go so far without knowing what we would think here of Mr B.'s return! I will inform you later of the counsel that these two dear confreres give me, if need be, and after I have received from Y.L. an answer to my letter of the 10th, for I hope that this answer will put an end to our fears.

But I do not wish to wait until then to say to Y.L. that, while I regard it as a less great misfortune that Mr B. should stay on at Pondicherry, I still regard it as a very great misfortune. If Y.L. receives Mr B., you are striking a terrible blow at authority in general and at mine in particular. You are destroying in large measure the founded hope that I entertain of finally having here a personnel that proceeds resolutely towards the goal of its vocation.

In order to do the doubtful, the very doubtful good, of Mr B., you are going to do us great harm which will have above all its effect on some or other of our members. Thus, shortly after you will have received him, I think that you may likewise expect to receive Mr Pacreau, and then perhaps Mr Bonjean, and then perhaps I don't know who else, whereas Mr B.'s departure will keep them on their guard. If it does not serve to heal those who have been ill for a long time already, it will heal those in whom the fever is not deeply rooted, such as Mr Bonjean, and it will prevent the ill being passed on to others who thus far have given me only consolations, but who need to know that they will find in us everything that charity may require without weakness. And I do not fear to presume that these same effects may be produced in several of Y.L.'s missionaries.

Y.L. tells me that this business is mine alone. But, My Lord, if it is mine alone, it will be very simple, it will revert to its Original simplicity.

I hope that Y.L. will not be angry at what I am saying : it is exclusively for the good of my mission, and I believe also for that of yours.

In case Mr B. should not wish to sign the two notes that I have sent you, kindly send them back to me as they are, but only in case Mr B.'s refusal should be formal.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 19 July 1849)

Sent_0407

Sent_0407 à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent_0407 à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 juillet 1849 -/2

Sent 0407 to Mgr Bonnand - 27 July 1849 /2

Sent 0407 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 273-276 bis

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 266-268

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Still the Barot affair. Neither Mr Métral nor Mr de Gélis are in favour of taking him back. Fortunately you have not promised to take him on if we refuse him. Send me back his two signed renunciations, for we suppose that this is merely an oversight on his part. Otherwise, there would be a case for his exclusion. If he resigns, we can give him a good reference as a priest. It's better to have a good missionary speaking Tamoul badly than a bad missionary who speaks Tamoul well.

Index: Barot affair, language, counsel (taking)

Carumattampatty, 27 July 1849(

)

My Lord,

I hasten to reply to your letter of the 16th.

I very much hope, My Lord, that it will not be for my benefit that Y.L. will ever have to explain more explicitly the sense of what you thought fit to do and write. Believe me, I have never doubted the excellence of your intentions, or the purity of your reasons. I only feared that, by excess of goodness, you had allowed yourself to promise to Mr B. that you would receive him if we would not take him back, which would have seemed unfortunate to me. Your previous letter made us fear this even more than the first, and it is to this hypothesis that the second answer of Messrs Métral and de Gélis refers.

Mr Métral's may be summarised as follows : "Every good considered, I believe that the unfortunate consequences which might ensue from Mr B.'s failure to depart would be greater if he stayed on at Pondicherry than if he returned here. But what shall we do with him? It may happen that, in a short time, we will have to dismiss him again. However, in the case that My Lord of Drusipare had gone so far that he could not go back on his word, it would be better to receive him."

Mr de Gélis does not dare to say on what side the greater harm would lie, however he sees very great harm on both sides. He cannot suppose that Y.L. has gone ahead so far that you cannot easily come back on your word, and he persists in thinking that the best service that we can do even to Mr B. is to advise him to leave.

Happily all these hypotheses are false, and since Y.L. has promised nothing, the matter is much easier.

Thus, remaining in the firm persuasion that Mr B. should not be received again, we consider him as no longer belonging to our Society. He left it after mature reflection the day when he sent me his renunciation, for we do not wish to do him the offence of supposing that he left it unsigned on purpose. Now, if he should declare that he did not sign it on purpose, and that he deceived us on such a grave matter, that is something quite different, and we would have to decide in that case what to do ; perhaps we could consider whether it would not be a case for exclusion. But, I do not wish to suppose such a possibility. But, finally, if Mr B. was tempted to have recourse to it, I believe that it would be wise advice to give him not to try it.

I repeat, the best thing that Mr B. could do now is to leave as early as possible. He can still withdraw honourably, for we can give him a good testimonial as a priest. One may be disgusted with the ministry in India to the point of abandoning the Society to which one belongs, and yet not have any grave faults to reproach oneself with, and this is still the stance that Mr B. can take outside of here. But it is quite another thing when one has been excluded from this Society.

I would be delighted to render some service to Mr B. apart from that of having him back once more, because I am still persuaded that it is neither for the good of my mission which should take precedence over that of persons, or that of our Society, or even that of Mr B. If he should find some sort of employment in India (which I would not advise him to do), I would certify that there is nothing to be said on his moral and priestly conduct. But he would be well advised to make up his mind quickly, for he merely stands to lose by waiting so long; and if he should decide not to leave for France, but to find some other job here, he should realise that he can no longer count on us offering him a passage.

I beg Y.L. to believe that, in all of this, I am only considering what my conscience lays down. I would like to be able to use another language, for I need missionaries, and missionaries who know Tamoul. But reason tells us and experience proves that a knowledge of languages is only the first of the accessory qualities of a missionary. Without the essential qualities, it is useless. So that someone who knows Tamoul very well may gather very little fruit, not to speak of even worse ; while on the contrary someone who only knows it very indifferently may harvest abundantly.

Finally, I commend myself as always to your good prayers and ask you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I waited until today before answering Y.L., in the hope of letters from Messrs Métral and de Gélis to whom I had sent, for their information, your letter of the 16th. Since these letters did not arrive, I was about to send to the post of Avanashy, when they came. Now, these two Gentlemen seeing that Y.G. is not committed with regard to Mr B., are more than ever of the opinion that we should inform Mr B. that there is no hope of coming back here. Accordingly there is nothing I have to change in my letter.

(Carumattampatty, 27 July 1849 in the evening)

Sent_0408

Sent_0408 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 septembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0408 - to Mgr Bonnand - 5 September 1849 /1

Sent 0408 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 277-279

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 269

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am recovering from a violent illness. Why no letters from you for the last two months? Mr Pacreau is decided on leaving the congregation and setting sail for France.

Index: correspondence, renunciation of the MEP, Pacreau affair

Carumattampatty, 5 September 1849()

My Lord,

I am just recovering from an illness which has not been long, but violent. I almost came to the point of hoping that I would be set free from the sufferings of this world. But the symptoms of cholera were replaced by those of a dysentery which has run its course, or at least I think so. Today I felt brave enough to get up, go to mass, resume my office, while I am taking advantage of my remaining strength to write you these few lines.

I feel very sad, My Lord, at the fact that Your Lordship has not written to me for over two months now. No answer to my letter of 27 July!... Is Your Lordship angry at the way in which I expressed myself, etc.? But it seems to me that Y.L. would have had reason to be so if I had not told you my whole way of thinking.

At the beginning of my illness I received a letter from Mr Pacreau, dated from Oloundourpet, in which he informed me that he had absolutely decided to leave not only Coimbatore, but the Congregation of Foreign Missions. That he was entitled to a passage to Europe, for more than two years ago, he says, he asked Y.L. to go back there. He let me know that he would not pass by here, asking me to answer him at Avanashy, sending some coolies to collect what he brought for the mission, his intention being to make use of this same cart for his return to Pondicherry, and to embark some time in October.

However he did pass by here ; I scarcely had time to speak to him, all I could do was to express to him my great grief, urging him to reflect further, He left saying that he would write to me again. I beg Y.L. to help me with your counsels in this fresh dilemma.

It's almost more than the weakness of my head can bear. Accordingly I take my leave of you, asking you to remember me in your holy sacrifices.

Your Lordship's

Very humble and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 5 September 1849)

Sent_0409

Sent_0409 - to Mr Pacreau - 8 September 1849 -/2

Sent_0409 - à M. Pacreau - le 8 septembre 1849 -/3

Sent 0409 - to Mr Pacreau - 8 September 1849 /2

Sent 0409 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 124-125

copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, vol. 59, pages 8-9

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 269-270

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pacreau)

(apostolic missionary)

Your last letter contains a number of erroneous suppositions. An authorisation to leave for France is not granted so quickly! And then your last letters do not evince any desire to leave, on the contrary. Do not allow yourself be the victim of the demon's tactic. If you wish, I will count as from now the two years required before allowing you to leave. But instead why not go to our neighbours, Mgr Bonnand or Mgr Charbonnaux?

Index: renunciation of the MEP, regulations of the MEP, charity, advice, Pacreau affair.

Carumattampatty, 8 September 1849()

My dear Mr Pacreau,

I would like to have the strength to write you a long letter. But it is only today that I have been able to say holy mass, on coming out from which I received your very painful letter of the 5th. What can I say to you in answer to everything it contains? Refute all it contains in the way of erroneous suspicions? But they are so evident that it would be necessary that the enemy of all good had received the power of throwing a veil over truth, to impel you into a false way. Accordingly I can only protest with my whole soul against what you suppose of me, and pray the Lord to give you some faith in my words.

You then go on to ask me to authorise you to leave immediately for France. But when you come to reflect, you would be the first to condemn me if I consented so fast. Besides, I cannot do that. You allege the regulations, but the regulations suppose a serious request to withdraw and persevering for two years; it is not by conveying a whim, a vague desire, by expressing in passing the result of some temptation, or passing discouragement, etc. Now that is all that I have seen so far in your case.

Moreover, when I granted you, as a grace, the assurance of not changing your post unless it became absolutely necessary to do so, which you made me regard quite rightly as indispensable for carrying through the works that you had so happily undertaken, you undoubtedly were not thinking seriously of leaving us; when only a few months ago you requested that two missionaries be posted permanently in the Nilghiris, because you did not want to leave the Christian community alone a single day, and that furthermore you wanted to undertake the evangelisation of the mountain dwellers ; when you wrote to me only a few days ago that you were going to devote yourself wholeheartedly to this task and that, in order to prepare yourself better, you asked for my permission to go and do a retreat with the Jesuits, you were not seriously thinking of leaving us immediately on your return from that retreat.

Note therefore, very dear Mr Pacreau, the tactic of the demon who wants and does not want and above does not want the good. He sees with contempt the good that you have done at Ootacamund and he foresees the even greater good that you can do by snatching souls that he has possessed for centuries and to avoid this, what does he do? He inspires in you thoughts and judgments based exclusively on error. Would you be so weak as to allow yourself to be caught in that snare ?

And if, for your misfortune, you should persevere in the project that occupies you at this moment, I could only count as from this moment the two years you allege. For, note well that the passage, granted to the missionary who has the misfortune to withdraw in this way, is paid by the Society (in case the missionary should not have the means to meet such expenses himself) and not by the vicariate. If thus I had the imprudence to advance you a passage in this way, I would run the risk of not being approved at Paris and not being reimbursed. Now, you would not want to risk doing such a wrong to the mission of Coimbatore so deprived of everything and which has so many and such pressing needs.

However, unless the good God should do you the grace of desisting from this disastrous thought, I will write to Paris about it; you could write to them yourself, and if the council of the Seminary of Foreign Missions agrees to giving you a passage earlier, I do not say that I consent to it with pleasure, on the contrary it will be with great regret, but finally I will so consent.

And lastly if, despite the interest I take in you, you continue to imagine the contrary, why still leave the Society ? Ask My Lord of Drusipare or My Lord of Jassen for a change and I will consent to a exchange of personnel. If even Their Lordships could not give me another missionary in your place, which would bother me greatly, I would consent to allow you to go to them rather than see you leaving the Society. I am writing this last paragraph with great chagrin, may you see in it a sign of personal interest taking the place of my own interest.

So, do not be astonished if I do not send you the necessary for your journey from here to Pondicherry, nor the certificate that you request, that would be in some way contributing to your departure which I cannot in any way consent to at the moment.

Finally, my dear Mr Pacreau, I commend myself to your good prayers, begging you to believe me

Completely yours in the broken hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 8 September 1849)

Sent_0410

Sent_0410 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 14 septembre 1849 -/3

Sent_0410 - to Mgr Bonnand - 14 September 1849 -/3

Sent 0410 - to Mgr Bonnand - 14 September 1849 /3

Sent 0410 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 271-273

copy, AMEP vol 1011, n° 59

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I continue to feel an extreme reluctance to take back Mr Barot. Hereafter four questions to submit to your council. After their answer, I will see in conscience what I have to do. He then explains at length how he interprets the article of the regulations concerning the way of leaving the congregation: two years' notice, obtaining the opinion of his confreres or not, etc. What do you think about my way of seeing things?

Index: Barot affair, renunciation of the MEP, advice (taking)

Coimbatore, 14 September 1849()

My Lord,

I have received your good letter of the 5th with copy of a letter from Mr Barot to Y.L. Today, I received a letter from Mr B., the first that he has written to me since his departure in which he asks me in very appropriate terms to take him back. Apart from this last letter that Mr Métral still has not seen, I have shared all the rest with this dear confrere and with Mr de Gélis.

These Gentlemen are still very reluctant, as I too am, to take back Mr B. There is every reason to fear that some time in the future, he will cause us fresh troubles ; if these occur, they will be worse than the first ones, and would we not have to reproach ourselves, with regard to the Society of Foreign Missions, for having introduced a member who has left it, when we feel persuaded that he should never have entered it ? Besides, can we do so?

Since here I have very few confreres whom I can consult profitably on such delicate matters, would Y.L. do me the service of submitting the following questions to your private council ? Under the seal of secrecy of the council, they should be told everything that I have written to you regarding Mr B. Unfortunately, I have nothing to retract, only you can judge better than I of the degree of probability that his contrition gives to a sincere change.

Accordingly I would ask you to submit to your private council the following questions :

1) Given the character, the antecedents etc. of Mr Barot, can it be hoped that his return is sincere and persevering ?

2) Would it not be doing our Society a bad service to receive Mr B. once more ?

3) Can we simply re-integrate Mr B. in his rights to the goods of the Society ?

4) For that purpose, would it not be necessary for him to undergo a new noviciate, during which he would be considered as an aspirant, reserving ourselves the right to dismiss him without any form of process for two years, if he did not show the signs of a sincere change of heart?

Once I have the opinion of your council which includes several prudent and experienced missionaries, I will see before God what I have to do. By giving me the minutes of this council meeting, I would ask you, if there should be division, to specify who thinks in favour, and who against.

And now we come to Mr Pacreau. I believe I told you in a short letter that he wrote to me from Oloundourpet that he was resolved to leave not only Coimbatore, but also the congregation. He did not seem intentioned to pass through Carumattampatty, however he came here Saturday evening, a day when I was very ill. He spent Sunday here and, from my sickbed, I urged him strongly not to form ideas that were not at all etc., etc., and to come back and see me as soon as I was recovered, saying that then we could speak at length and he would see that the enemy of good alone could suggest such thoughts to him; he said almost nothing in reply; he left on Monday morning and, no sooner had he arrived in the mountain, than he wrote to me to say that his resolution was irrevocable, that he was leaving with the same handcart, that he was entitled to a passage because more than two years ago he had asked Y.L. if he could leave, that consequently I should send to him on such and such a day at Avanashy the wherewithall for him to make his journey as far as Pondicherry and write to you so that you could advance him a passage, that he counted to make at the end of September. To this letter, I answered with the one copy of which I have the honour of sending you.

Thus far, I have not received any news. This morning only I received a letter from Mr Bonjean who informs me that Mr Pacreau has left. Accordingly he has left without answering me, and he has left the mission without being in any way authorised to do so. What will he do? I have no idea. It is not necessary to tell Y.L. that, as things now stand, nothing should be given him on our account, except three rupees 6 annas that he spent for us for the errand of the christs, etc.

It seems to me, My Lord, that Your Lordship yourself seems to doubt whether I may not have exceeded the rules of the regulations in Mr Barot's case and you urge me to be on my guard as regards Mr Pacreau. I had not received your letter when I wrote the enclosed one to Mr Pacreau. I hereby request you instantly to tell me whether you think that there was anything irregular in it. But it seems to me that a very false idea on article 2 of chapter III of the regulations has slipped in, caused because Y.L. felt it your duty to yield in the face of the complaints of certain missionaries regarding Mr Laugier. This is how I understand this article. I would like you to say if you think differently.

When a missionary requests to leave the Society in such a way that he is entitled to be provided for by the Seminary of Foreign Missions or to receive a pension, the apostolic vicar must make known to all the missionaries the request and reasons of the postulant. If by a majority of votes the reasons are considered good, it must grant the return, etc., if the reasons are found insufficient, it cannot grant such return ; only, if despite this the postulant continues to request a passage for two years, and he himself does not have the means to pay the cost of his journey, the apostolic vicar must advance him a passage which will be reimbursed to him by the body, while taking the necessary precautions to ensure that this missionary, once back in France, has no right to a pension.

But if it is a missionary who has left the congregation without asking to be provided for in France, does he have to consult the missionaries ? And why? Is that just, is that prudent? May it not happen, and should it not happen that we urge a missionary who behaves badly to take this line rather than arriving at an exclusion which always causes more scandal ! And in that case, is it even in the interest of the missionaries for what may at times be shameful reasons, or even completely secret reasons, for it to be made public?

If a missionary asks to withdraw (once more without a pension) why should he still have to consult the missionaries, what can they say, since the postulant merely requests to withdraw, without giving the reasons that would ensure him a pension which in fact he foregoes by an act whereby he leaves the Society ? Do we owe him a passage? I don't think so, but I believe that according to the spirit of the regulations he could be granted one if he persists in asking for it for two years.

Are we obliged to wait these two years ? In no case can the missionary claim it before these two years, but there are a whole series of cases in which the apostolic vicar can and should grant it to him earlier. For example, in the case of a scandal still secret but which threatens to become public. And even quite simply in the case in which the apostolic vicar, realising clearly that there is no hope of winning back this unfortunate confrere, fears that with this fixed idea of withdrawing he will do more harm that good in the mission during those two years.

Only, in this case, the apostolic vicar must be prudent, for if he immediately granted a passage without grave reasons, he would run the risk of not seeing himself approved at Paris and not being reimbursed for the passage that he may have advanced. But by proceeding gradually, and above all by making Paris aware of the reasons that have induced him not to wait until the end of these two years, I cannot see why he could not, and indeed he should not, in certain cases anticipate the expiry of these two years.

In all these cases, it seems to me contradictory and dangerous to consult all the missionaries, who besides cannot say anything, except in the case when the postulant explains his reasons for being entitled to a pension. It seems to me that the apostolic vicar may and should content himself with consulting his private council.

Just as I have had the honour of saying to you in person, I am far from being content with the regulations of the congregation of Foreign Missions. I believe that they contain certain things and pass over others, to the great misfortune of our Society. But I do not claim to have either the right or the power to depart from them and I have no intention of doing so by one iota. If each of us thought he could deviate from them in even the slightest article, that would be adding to the harm instead of remedying it. Accordingly would you instantly tell me what Y.L. thinks about what I am now writing ; it is solely for my enlightenment and guidance that I am making this request.

I was forgetting to say to Y.L. that, in case your council did not consider it appropriate to receive Mr B., I would be very interested in knowing what they think about authorising him to go to the Jesuits...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 14 September 1849)

Sent_0411

Sent_0411 - à M. Barrot - le 16 septembre 1849 -/2

Sent_0411 - à M. Barrot - le 16 septembre 1849 -/2

Sent 0411 - to Mr Barot - 16 September 1849 /2

Sent 0411 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 274-275

copy, AMEP vol 1011, n° 59 pages 4-5

(to M. Jean-Baptiste Barot)

(apostolic missionary)

Can I accept you once more in Coimbatore? I continue to consider your renunciation as valid although unsigned. Besides, I don't think I would be doing you a good service. Pray; I will do what, before God, I believe to be most useful for the good and for you.

Index: Barot affair, renunciation of the MEP.

Coimbatore, 16 September 1849()

My dear Mr Barot,

It was only yesterday that I received your letter dated 9 August (perhaps you made a mistake with the date ?). This letter seems to suppose that you had written me another one, which I have not received.

I was in fact eager to hear directly from you ; for I have never ceased to take an interest in your destiny. They were no vain words that I used in assuring you of this when you left us. But can I do what you wish for you? Can I just simply take you back as a missionary in Coimbatore? Here are two questions, one of law and the other of advisability when considering even your own interest alone.

That of law arises from the fact that you have left the congregation, for I have never done you the wrong of believing that you voluntarily omitted to sign your renunciation. I never wished to suppose that you had done me the injury of sending me a vain act and that you had thus made the enormous fault of leaving the mission without authorisation. However, allow me to say that it would have given me great pleasure to see you invalidate this act as soon as you became aware of your distraction. That would have been a good sign in your favour. But finally, not ceasing to consider this act as valid, can I just simply take back a missionary who has left the body of Foreign Missions ?

The other question arises from the fact that I doubt if by receiving you, it would be doing you a real service. You have not forgotten, my dear Mr Barot that, when you left, I prophetised that you would repent of what you were doing before putting foot on board ship. Was I mistaken? Now, I do not wish to prophetise, but I cannot conceal from you that I have the fear that in a few years you will repent of having repented, that you will regret not having taken advantage of the opportunity you had to return to France. Now if it should be so, you understand that it would have been better not to have hazarded fresh troubles.

Accordingly I urge you to reflect deeply on the whole question, if you should feel even the slightest reluctance to enter frankly into the path which every missionary must take, do not hesitate to leave for France. If you feel that really the good God is today giving you the courage which you lacked, then write to me once more. I do not promise you anything, above all because of the first question, for which I need to be enlightened and on the subject of which I have written to My Lord of Drusipare. But I can tell you that I will do everything for you that before God I believe is useful for the good and for you.

In the meantime, I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1849)

Sent_0412

Sent_0412 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 septembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0412 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 septembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0412 - to Mgr Bonnand - 16 September 1849 /1

Sent 0412 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, p 289

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 275

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Simply to make up for an oversight. He encloses the copy of one of his letters to Mr Pacreau.

Index: oversight

Coimbatore, 16 September 1849

My Lord,

These few words are simply to make up for a distraction. In the packet that I sent you yesterday, I forgot to include the copy of a letter to Mr Pacreau which I mentioned to you. I am sending it today.

Would you kindly also ask Lehodey if, in addition to the christs that I asked him to have made for me, he would add another one costing 5 rupees.

Your Lordship's

Very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1849)

Sent_0413

Sent_0413 - à son père - les 19 et 29 septembre 1849 -/2

Sent_0413 - à son père - les 19 et 29 septembre 1849 -/3

Sent 0413 - to his father - 19 and 29 September 1849 /2

Sent 0413 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 136-137

(to his father)

Monotony of existence. Here, every day is the same as the others and there are no seasons, the trees are always green, the fields always bearing crops, our ministry without encouragements and without much success. Through l'Univers, I follow the news, but I like the commentaries that you make for me. He explains what to do in order to pay less postage. The letters that we send cost as much as those we receive. It is now nearly three years that I have been a bishop. I will answer Bathilde later. Regards to everyone.

Index: monotony, news, attachment (family)

Coimbatore, 19 and 29 September 1849

My very dear father,

I received yesterday 18 September your excellent letter of 1 August, and to show you that I appreciate the sweet reproaches you make me, I am beginning to answer it today for fear that, as often happens, I am prevented from writing by the time the steamer leaves, and postpone it until the next month, and then sometimes to the month after that even, which almost angers you.

When you do not receive my news as often as you would like, ascribe it, please, either to my occupations, or to the monotony of our existence which means that, since everything remains eternally in the same state around us, I have merely to repeat in a letter what has already been said in a previous missive. For here one could truly answer every question asked as our peasants of Lauragais do: à l'acoustumado. You others say (and you can well say it above all in the last two years) that the days follow one another, but are always different. Well, that is not so here.

Here, the days follow one another and are all the same. At only 11 degrees from the line, every day the sun rises at about 6 and sets also at around 6, and the difference between days is so slight as to be practically imperceptible. No spring, summer, autumn or winter, but always the same temperature, with slight variations, which change nothing in the general appearance of the country. The trees are always covered with leaves, the wind always blows from the same direction for six months and the fields are always covered with harvests providing there is water to water them with. Add to that the monotony of our ministry, which continues to drag on without any big impediments, without encouragements and without much success, and you will understand that there is not a great deal to say.

Apart from some little English newspapers, I regularly read l'Univers that they are kind enough to send me every month. Thus I ordinarily know in advance the news that you give me, which does not prevent me from reading with pleasure your appreciation of the events which follow one another. God alone knows how all it all will end, but when all is said and done, it will probably be as it always has been, the fight of good against evil, a fight which, in different forms and with different nuances, will last until the end of time.

Here is a little idea for economising, see what you think it's worth. Now that your letters only cost you four sols for any part of France, instead of writing to me directly, could you not write to me through Paris? I do not know what a letter costs you in postage to Alexandria, but from this side it ordinarily costs us three or four francs. Now, from Paris, almost each month a packet of letters arrives for the mission; and in this packet, your letters would scarcely increase the price and ordinarily they would get here almost as quickly.

You should have received many letters from me arriving in this way through Paris, which I do in order to put only one packet in the post instead of two, since the letters that we send cost us as much as those that we receive. In these times, little savings are not to be despised. In this way, you could even give me the pleasure of writing to me more often. But you should continue to write, as you do, on very fine paper.

29 September

In these last few days, my letter has become dirty ; however, I do not intend to start it all over again, for I am going to close the packet this morning and leave this evening for Carumattampatty where tomorrow morning I will be giving confirmation to the children taking their first communion and celebrating, for eight days starting from tomorrow, the feast of the Rosary which will also be the third anniversary of my consecration as bishop. Already three years, how time flies. May we employ it usefully in order to ensure ourselves a happy eternity !

Please tell Bathilde that I received with great pleasure the little note that she had enclosed with your last letter. I will answer her on the next occasion, but I don't have time today. I was also very pleased to receive a short letter from the young Roudière. It took me some time to work out who he was; but the context led me to discover that it must be the son of our neighbour the carpenter at Castelnaudary. It appears that this young man is destined for the ecclesiastic career and that he is animated by good sentiments. Kindly tell him that it is with the utmost joy that I send my blessing to him and his family.

A thousand friendly greetings to my excellent mother, to Henri, and to my sisters, and kind regards to those who ask for my news and you, my very dear father, believe in the profound love

of your respectful child.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 19 and 29 September 1849)

Sent_0414

Sent_0414 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 25 septembre 1849 -/2

Sent_0414 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 25 septembre 1849 -/2

Sent 0414 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 25 September 1849 /2

Envie 0414 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 58

copy, AMA 2F6, pp 275-277

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

He sends a copy of his letter to Mgr Bonnand on the MEP regulations (see letter 0410). What do you think of them? Then he tells in some detail the Pacreau affair and how he has left Coimbatore, it would appear for good. Send me two missionaries, but men in whom virtue takes the place of any other merit.

Index: Pacreau affair, MEP regulations, apostolic virtues

Coimbatore, 25 September 1849()

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

By the various documents of which I am sending you copies, you will see the present state of the troubles with which the Lord continues to visit us.

I still have not received an answer from My Lord of Drusipare to my last letter. I would be very much obliged if you would let me know your way of thinking on the doubts that I raised to H.L. and on the way of understanding the article of the regulations in question.

For a long time now Mr Pacreau has not been satisfactory. In the beginning, he seemed to have rejected the ideas that had led him to commit several rash actions in Pondicherry, and he did me several services, however it was not long before he reverted to his former character. From then on, he took everything in the wrong way and for over a year now he no longer wrote to me or else only wrote to cause me grief. However I tried not to irritate him, and granted him what he asked as far as that was possible.

Some time ago he asked me for permission to go and do a retreat with the Jesuits to prepare himself, he said, for the evangelisation of the mountain dwellers of the Nilghiris. I presumed no good of this running devotion, when it would have been so easy for him to do his retreat here. However I granted his request, without making any reflection, knowing very well that he would take badly not only a refusal, but even a simple opinion.

However when the time came to leave, he told me that the Jesuit with whom he desired to make his retreat would perhaps not be at Trichinopoly, that in that case he thought he would go and find him at Negapatam, and that once there, he would be close enough to Pondicherry to go and visit some old friends, and that he would come back from there. My immediate reaction was that I must refuse him. I told him that there were plenty of Jesuits at Trichinopoly, that his salvation could not depend on one man and that I could not consent to this immense journey, while I had two districts without missionaries, etc, etc.

But he wrote again from somewhere on his way, insisting and asserting very doubtful reasons. I feared irritating him by a fresh refusal, and let him go, only urging him to be back for the feast of Ootacamund, which he failed to observe. However he made his retreat at Trichinopoly. Despite this, he still continued on his journey, passing by Negapatam, Karikal, Gondelour and other places, seeing a crowd of missionaries from Pondicherry. And unfortunately I have good reason to believe that all of these visits will not have been for the greater glory of Our Lord.

Finally he arrived at Pondicherry where it appears that he made his complaints to My Lord of Drusipare who, I think, did not give him much satisfaction, then he came back. But on the way back, he wrote to me two days out from Pondicherry that he had reflected very seriously and that he had decided to leave not only Coimbatore, but also the congregation, that he wanted to be a missionary, but in a congregation where he would find confreres and friends and he sent me enclosed with the letter his proxy of powers. He further informed me that he was going to Ootacamund to collect his effects and would be leaving immediately.

I do not know if he knew that I was ill, but finally he passed by Carumattampatty, although it would seem that that was not his Original plan, where he found me lying on my sickbed, incapable of doing more than utter a few words. I spoke to him as gently as I could, but he did not seem to pay much attention to my words. A few days later, I received a letter to which I replied as you will see from the copy enclosed. Since then, not a word from Mr Pacreau who has left despite everything, I think, for Pondicherry.

I was quite seriously ill, however the Lord did not want me yet. May his will be done and not our own. At present it is Mr Cornevin who is seriously ill; I do not know what the outcome of his illness will be, but it appears he is suffering from smallpox.

My Lord of Drusipare tells me that he has received some books for me through the missionaries who have just arrived. I hoped that they were bringing me the objects requested at the end of 1848. Will Mr Tesson find some other occasion to avoid paying the cost of carriage?

If Mr Barot does not return, I will have urgent need of two new missionaries ; even if he should return, two new ones would be very useful to me. But however great the need, please delay rather than sending me people with a lively imagination, with ambitious plans, etc; what we need here are essentially patient men, in whom virtue takes the place of every other merit. If they had time in front of them, and even for the duration of the crossing, the best thing that they could do is to study English.

And I end up by commending myself to your good prayers and asking you to believe me,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I think I have made a mistake. I don't think that it is through the new missionaries that they have received some objects at Pondicherry. So perhaps they will bring me the objects requested in December.

(Coimbatore, 25 September 1849)

Sent_0415

Sent_0415 - à M. Langlois - fin septembre 1849 -/2

Sent_0415 - à M. Langlois - fin septembre 1849 -/3

Sent 0415 - to Mr Langlois - end of September 1849 /2

Sent 0415 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 277-279

(to Mr Charles Langlois)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the advice you give me; I will do my utmost to bear it in mind. The newly arrived missionaries lack the essential apostolic virtues. It is true that there are not a large number of vocations, but has sufficient care been taken regarding the choice of candidates? Moreover, the Republican ideas which some of them have in their heads are not conducive to fostering the apostolic spirit. Extreme prudence is required when admitting new candidates.

Index: advice, apostolic virtues, recruitment, prudence

Coimbatore, end of September 1849

Although it is not so long ago that I had the pleasure of writing to you, I do not want to put off expressing the pleasure caused by your good letter of 8 June.

I cannot say how much I thank you for the wise opinions you give me in the form of general consideration. I receive them with all the gratitude of a son informed by the best of fathers, and although the faults of which you speak to me are precisely those on which I have most often examined my conscience, and that I try the most to avoid, it is very true, without doubt, that much remains for me to do still, for I cannot be judge in my own case, and other people see my faults more clearly than me.

What can I tell you now about the state of our missions in India ? No, the picture is not a fine one. Now, the main cause of the evil is very simple: it is that we do not possess the apostolic virtues. I say this with bitter sorrow, but I feel I have to say it, if things continue in this way, if the missionaries sent out are not better formed in the essential virtues of the missionary than many young people who have arrived in the last six or seven years, our Society is inclining seriously to its ruin. I do not know what is happening in the other missions, but since I do not think that the new missionaries sent out there have been put to other tests than ours, I would be very astonished if there were not much to be desired in their case also.

The number of our missionaries was so small that it became necessary to depart from the former practice of only admitting priests to our Society and only sending them out after a certain time of exercise of the priestly functions in France. But to the misfortune of lacking workers, what greater misfortune are we not exposed to introducing in the missions, if we are not extremely prudent, taking care not to send out workers who are unsuited the missions!

Now, need I say it again ? According to the testimony of these new missionaries, the tests required of their vocation were marked by an excessive moderation. It is true that they may not know those that the directors keep secret; nonetheless, I fear that there is some truth in this testimony. May the good God do us the grace of no longer proceeding in this disastrous way. It would be better to have two or three missions less and leave them to other congregations, than to deliver them up to doubtful vocations. On this point the directors have a terrible responsibility and I admit that their task is no easy one. Thus, I pray the Lord to guide them well.

The events of the times merely make the question more and more difficult, for national ideas are necessarily inculcated into a nation's clergy and, whatever the fraction of this clergy, it will be more or less imbued in them. Thus, the French, English, Italian or other missionaries will always maintain something of the customs of the French, English and Italian clergy, and this clergy something of the French, English or Italian character, etc.

Now, let us admit it, republican ideas are not really conducive to fostering foster the apostolic spirit. And who is to know that they have not already taken hold in the clergy? Not of course in what they have of excessive, but sufficient, if this lasts, for its character to be greatly changed. I would go even further and would not fear to suggest that certain very unfortunate ideas for our cause, produced by the extravagances of our age, are fermenting in the heads of more than one missionary.

And I will end where I started, for it seems to me that this is the conclusion of all of these reflections, that we must more than ever before redouble prudence regarding the admission of new missionaries, only receive young people who, in the absence of those who, by abandoning an established position, a certain future, present advantages etc ., give strong reasons for believing that they have really parted company with themselves and foregone everything in order to follow Jesus Christ. Now, they alone are entitled to aspire to become his disciples in the sublime but crucifying cause of the apostolate.

May the Lord give us these workers; may he bless your efforts to form them, for I don't doubt that you personally do everything that depends on you ; may he recompense with success all your collaborators, in whom I would certainly not say that they are in any way lacking in zeal, but for whom we may perhaps be permitted to desire a little more prudence at least in the future.

It is in expressing these wishes, and in commending them to your good prayers, that I ask you, very respectable confrere, to believe me your completely devoted servant and son.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, end of September 1849)

Sent_0416

Sent_0416 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent_0416 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent 0416 - to Mgr Bonnand - 4 October 1849 /1

Sent 0416 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 291-293

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 279

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The circumstances of Mr Cornevin's rapid death.

Index: death

Carumattampatty, 4 October 1849

My Lord,

These few words are to give you the sad news of Mr Cornevin's death.

This dear confrere has just succumbed to the smallpox that he caught a few days ago. When I came here on Saturday to give confirmation to the children of the first communion, and to spend the octave of the Holy Rosary, the doctor told me that the illness was following its course and that there was no danger. I left Mr de Gélis besides the sick man, requesting him to send me an urgent message if there were any danger.

The day before yesterday I learnt that the sick man, without being in greater danger, was however very agitated. I sent Mr Ravel, more in order to relieve Mr de Gélis who had been day and night by the patient's side, than to relieve Mr Cornevin who could not have been tended with greater attention and charity than until then.

Since I received no urgent message yesterday, I had some hope of improvement ; however this morning at half past seven the gardener arrived with a letter informing us of his death. He died almost without these two Gentlemen realising it. For yesterday still, the doctor had said that there was no danger. However, at midnight, Mr Ravel, struck by the pallor and by the redoubled weakness of the patient, went to fetch Mr de Gélis who had gone to get a little rest. When they got back to the sick man's bedside, he was dead.

I have sent off Mr Métral this instant to preside over the burial. How God is putting us to the test! May his will be done. Amen.

Pray to him for us.

I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 4 October 1849)

Sent_0417

Sent_0417 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 4 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent_0417 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 4 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent 0417 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 4 October 1849 /1

Sent 0417 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 52

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 279

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

The circumstances of Mr Cornevin's rapid death. A paragraph on the learning of the language.

Index: death, language

Carumattampatty, 4 October 1849

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

The Lord continues to put us to the test in every possible way. His hand strikes us with redoubled blows! May his will and not ours be done!

I wrote to you on the 25th that Mr Cornevin had just caught the smallpox which caused me some concern. Today, I have to inform you of his death. I left him on Saturday to come here to give confirmation to the children of the first communion and to spend the octave of the Holy Rosary. The doctor told me that there was no danger. I left Mr de Gélis to look after him. The day before yesterday, having heard that he was more agitated, I sent Mr Ravel back to him, above all in order to relieve Mr de Gélis who had been day and night at the patient's bedside. I had given the order to send an urgent message if any danger arose. This morning, at 7 o'clock a messenger arrived with a letter telling us of his death. He died almost without the two confreres attending him realising it.

Yesterday still, the doctor said that the illness was following its course and that there was no danger. However at midnight, Mr Ravel, struck by the pallor and the extreme weakness of the patient, went to fetch Mr de Gélis who had gone to take a little rest. When they came back to the sick man's bedside he was no longer in this world ! I have just sent Mr Métral to Coimbatore to preside over the last duties to be rendered to this dear confrere.

It is not a year yet that Mr Cornevin has been with us. He showed an extreme facility in learning languages, which made me hope that he would be of great use for the mission. He was studying Tamoul diligently and was already capable not only of administering to the Christians, but even of preaching fairly passably. During the two months he spent with me in Pondicherry, I had given him an English master, and he understood that language well enough to converse with the English themselves. The good God has snatched him away from us at a time when we had the most need of him. Let us adore, trembling, his impenetrable decrees.

Now, I am in extreme need of two new missionaries.

I commend myself to your good prayers, asking you to believe me,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 4 October 1849)

Sent_0418

Sent_0418 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 October 1849 -/2

Sent_0418 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 octobre 1849 -/2

Sent 0418 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 October 1849 /2

Sent 0418 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 295-298

partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 279-281

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

End of the Barot affair. He can return to Coimbatore whenever he wants to, but I would never have believed possible what is happening. In any case and whatever it costs me, I will always do what my conscience dictates. Some words on Mr Pacreau who has left Coimbatore without permission.

Index: Barot affair, Pacreau affair, conscience

Coimbatore, 10 October 1849

My Lord,

I have the honour of sending you a copy of a passage from a letter from Mr Langlois. Since Mr Triboulot died a long time before I came here, the death certificate should be somewhere in the Pondicherry registers.

I also enclose the death certificate of Mr Cornevin. Would you kindly send it to Paris accompanied with the necessary authentications, and put the price of postage to our account.

According to a letter that I have received from the Gentlemen of Paris, it is no longer certain, as a result of what was written to them from Pondicherry, that they would reimburse me for a passage advanced by me for Mr Barot. Accordingly, My Lord, please will you not advance him anything on our account, if he now wishes to leave for France. Moreover, seeing what they have written from Paris, and the account Y.L. has sent me of your private council, Mr Barot may return as soon as he chooses.

Fifteen or twenty days ago, hoping for my part that Mr B.'s change of heart was sincere and that his coming back would be the outcome of humility and contrition, I would have seen him again with pleasure. I wrote to him on 16 September a letter which must have led him to think so. Today, things are quite otherwise, since he invokes, or others invoke for him a right that I do not choose to contest.

I would never have thought what is happening possible. On whatever side the wrong is, there is certainly much more involuntary then formal harm, but the consequences are no less dangerous for all that.

I will say no more about a subject that troubles me quite exceedingly. It only remains for me to weigh carefully before God what I should do, in order not to contribute to an imminent evil for our beloved congregation and, thereafter, to the harm that will in all probability ensue to the Church.

This question, so simple in the beginning which there were three very natural ways of solving, ends up by revealing to me the inclinations that I foresaw from a long time ago already, but that I did not believe so advanced. Should it cost me my life, and even the honour that is dearer to me than life itself, I will try, with God's grace, to be faithful to my conscience which is dearer to me than my honour. Whatever it costs, I will do what it dictates to me.

A few words on Mr Pacreau. And I hope these are really the last. Y.L. must be acquainted with a letter that he wrote me on 29 September from Congueripaleam. It seems to me that after all I have done for Mr P., whom I did my best to please as far as I could, such a letter cannot receive an answer. Besides, Mr P. having left the mission on purpose against my consent, it seems to me that I have nothing to do with him so long as he is outside of my jurisdiction without my authorisation.

Mr Barot still has not answered my letter of 16 September. If he asks to stay on at Pondicherry, Y.L. should not fear to receive him without my consent. Whatever the misfortunes that strike me, and those that threaten me, I am obliged to consent to it.

I beg Y.L. to commend my affliction to the Lord, and to believe that it in no way diminishes any part of the esteem or affection that I vow to you. May the Lord of all justice take account of it for some better time, for he knows well that it is only for his greater glory that I have done all that I have done. Even today, apart perhaps for a few words that escaped me in the improvisation of some letters, my conscience would reproach me for having done otherwise. If I am mistaken otherwise, it was certainly not intentional.

Accordingly I commend myself to your good prayers, asking you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I would ask Y.L. only to send us the notebooks of the Annals and other objects come for Coimbatore if there is an occasion, or when Mr Lehodey is good enough to send us the things that I asked him to obtain for us.

(Coimbatore, 10 October 1849)

Sent_0419

Sent_0419 - à M. Lehodey - le 13 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent_0419 - à M. Lehodey - le 13 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent 0419 - to Mr Lehodey - 13 October 1849 /1

Sent 0419 partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, p 281

(to Mr Julien Lehodey)

(apostolic missionary)

Do not advance anything to Mr Barot if he should want to return to France. But he can come back to us and is calling for justice!

Index: Barot affair

Coimbatore, 13 October 1849

Will he see that nothing is advanced to Mr Barot if now he should wish to return to France. Mr Barot may return as soon as he wishes.

It is a long time ago now since I wrote to Mr Barot as gentle a letter as possible, before being able to foresee the extraordinary reply of the council of Pondicherry. He has not replied to me. It is true that I led him to expect that he would have to count on compassion. He must not have found that sufficient, since he demands justice. Perhaps that is why he has not answered me.

Illness of Mr de Gélis. Errands.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 13 October 1849)

Sent_0420

Sent_0420 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 October 1849 -/2

Sent_0420 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 octobre 1849 -/3

Sent 0420 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 October 1849 /2

Sent 0420 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 301-304

copy, AMA 2F6, pp 282-283

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

An imprudent letter from Mr Barran to Mr Pajean, communicated by the latter to several missionaries in India, is causing trouble among them. Mgr Bonnand is going to write to Mr Barran to ask him to do his utmost to repair the harm done by that letter; he has Mgr de Brésillac's agreement to this. Mr Barot is demanding a justice that I cannot grant him. If he wants to obtain forgiveness and trust, he must deserve them. If you should decide to give some money to Mr Pacreau, I will pay you back.

Index: prudence, Barot affair, Pacreau affair

Coimbatore, 22 October 1849()

My Lord,

I have just received your letter of 1 October and hasten to reply very briefly.

I was already acquainted with Mr Barran's letter. Mr Pajean "for the good of our mission, and in an extreme desire of union between father and children" took care to send the relative copies, authenticated by Mr Jarrige, to me, to Mr Métral and to Mr Bonjean, perhaps also to others, but I do not know that yet. This poor and wretched Mr Pajean (for I believe him very unfortunate to have let himself go as he has done) accompanied this copy with a letter in which he insults me in the most serious way. The same insults, perhaps even stronger ones, are reproduced in his letter to Mr Métral. So this is a first-fruit of this letter from Mr Barran ; at least it may be attributed in part to him.

This letter from Mr Barran had shocked me less in itself than it shocked Y.L. For it contradicts much less our plan than Mr Jarrige and Mr Barran himself think. For the latter, it must be as in many other things: undoubtedly he knows only very imperfectly both our work and the reasons which have led the majority of the commission and of the council to propend for this or the other determination.

However, this cannot excuse, it seems to me, the imprudence he has had in writing such a letter, which besides, by allowing more to be suspected than he actually says, favours all interpretations and is destined to become a fresh apple of discord. It seems to me that the five consequences that you draw from it are right, and that they will come about. Accordingly I would merely like to join Y.L. in conveying to Mr Barran the pain this letter has caused us, asking him to repair the harm as far as possible.

As regards the manner, it seems to me that this should be as gentle as possible, for there is no doubt that that Mr Barran had good intentions, and he will not refuse to do all that is in his power to avoid in part (for he will not avoid them completely) the fresh misfortunes liable to be born of this imprudence.

Since Mr Barot has still not answered the letter of 16 September, I have not written to him directly that he could come. I ask Y.L. to let him know this, since it is through Y.L. that the steps to bring him back were taken. For it is certainly not on the request that he made to me that I accept to receive him. My answer to this request supposed that he would write back to me immediately to tell me that he repented of the past and that he was prepared to do in future all that depended on him. Immediately, I was to reply to him (as it had been decided with my two counsellors) that I would joyfully open up to him the arms of compassion, and he would be assured that the past was forgotten, providing he did not renew the grounds of our forgotten sorrows.

But he has not deigned to write this little word, and he claims a justice that we cannot recognise to him. Let him come back, since we do not wish to challenge that right, but he has lost the right to pardon and to trust. It is not that I refuse to grant him this pardon and this trust, but he has made them impossible for the moment. I am even forced to fear that, imbued with very different ideas from those of justice and wisdom (and that invincibly, perhaps because of everything that he has been told, which merely has the effect of redoubling the danger), he may well join the past to the future to create a very great harm in the mission, to such a point that, more than ever, I would be delighted for him not to return. It is up to him to regain our trust and to deserve our pardon by excellent behaviour, but it will take time.

I find in your letter an article crossed out on Mr Pacreau something about money. I do not believe that any is due to him counting from the day that he left my mission. However I am quite agreeable, if you consider it advisable, or useful for the general good, to giving him something on our account, I have nothing against it. It goes without saying that Y.L. knows our financial difficulties and that you will limit it to what is strictly necessary.

I commend myself fully to your holy sacrifices and ask you to believe me, at the feet of Jesus crucified,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 22 October 1849)

Sent_0421

Sent_0421 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 22 octobre 1849 -/2

Sent_0421 - aux directeurs de Paris - le 22 octobre 1849 -/2

Sent 0421 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 22 October 1849 /2

Sent 0421 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 55

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 292-294()

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Your last letter astonished me greatly. You should inform yourselves well before writing. Mr Barot is returning to Coimbatore demanding the justice owed to him! Mr Pacreau is about to set sail for Bourbon. Mr Pajean is falling back into his bad old ways now that he knows that he is entered on the registers of the MEP. If only I had known! I am not even going to answer his letter. How can the missions keep going under these conditions?

Index: prudence, Barot affair, Pacreau affair, spirit of the missionaries

Coimbatore, 22 October 1849

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I cannot tell you the astonishment that your letter of 21 August caused me. I can only explain it by thinking that, astonished at the complaints of some confreres of Pondicherry, you hastened to answer, without having had the time to become thoroughly acquainted with the whole question. You have acted for the good; but contrary to your intention, I very much fear that no good will ensue. If you do not stop the consequences in some way, it seems to me that they can be absolutely disastrous for the future of our congregation.

I hoped that at the end contrition for the past and the resolution to proceed hereafter on the path that every missionary should follow would open up once more to Mr Barot the doors of Coimbatore. I insinuated this to him in a letter which he has not even answered. If he comes back now, as seems very likely, with the conviction that everything he has done, has been well done, I tremble for the future of Coimbatore. However that may be, it is not up to me to insist any more. That would have the appearance of stubbornness and perhaps of tyranny! Accordingly I communicated to him that, since he claimed not compassion but justice, I did not intend to deny it to him, and that he could return when he liked.

Despite the letter that I wrote to Mr Pacreau at the time when he announced his departure to me, of which I have sent you copy, he has continued on his way to Pondicherry where, without doubt, he hoped to find sympathy. It appears that My Lord of Drusipare received him more than coldly and that, not hoping to obtain a passage for France, he is about to embark at his own expense for Bourbon.

I am sending you an extract from a letter from Mr Pajean. It is only natural that, since the missionaries can do so much without being stopped, the snowball grows. I would like to ask you how you think it is possible to conduct a mission when the missionaries have come to the point of writing such things with impunity! Kindly tell me how I should behave with regard to Mr Pajean.

At the same time as Mr Pajean was writing to me with such urbanity, he also wrote to Mr Métral a letter in which I was even more insulted than in mine, while in the meantime he was working on Mr Bonjean to load it on to me. I hope that these two excellent confreres will not fall into the snare, I am even very sure of this as far as the venerable Mr Métral is concerned.

It was only a few days ago that I gave you a good report on Mr Pajean, asking you to receive him definitively. I can only repent of having written to you so soon. Unfortunately it is done. Besides perhaps he had waited to be definitively received to resume his violence. I was wrong in thinking in good faith that the past was past. But since he comes back to it, I have to recall that he said to me "that I should try to realise that we are were living in times of a republic." Which means that I must take care not get involved the least in the world. Likewise you should hear how he treats "those blacks". I had forgotten, very sincerely forgotten all of that and many things more, but I am obliged to remember it in order to give you a clearer idea of the man and to ask you what I should do.

I will not take the trouble to refute his letter. It seems to me that a person who employs such terms, in writing to a bishop, does not deserve to be refuted. I will merely say that the only thing that he claims that we have against him is one of the things for which he has never been reproached.

Oh ! Gentlemen, how my heart aches ! If that were all, the evil would not be so great ; it would even be a good, for the heart of our divine Saviour and that of his divine Mother ached far more. But can the missions be sustained in this way?

Pray for me, I beg you, and believe me, in the union of Jesus on the cross,

Your very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. My Lord of Drusipare has just written to me that Mr Pacreau has embarked on a French brig setting sail for Bourbon, and that Mr Barot is on his way back to us. The latter has not written me one single word.

(Coimbatore, 22 October 1849)

Sent_0422

Sent_0422 - à M. Pouplin - le 23 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent_0422 - à M. Pouplin - le 23 octobre 1849 -/1

Sent 0422 - to Mr Pouplin - 23 October 1849 /1

Sent 0422 partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, p 284

(to Mr Henri Pouplin)

(apostolic missionary)

I inform him on the Barot, Pacreau and Pajean affairs. How I should practice mortification of the heart!

Index: mortification

Coimbatore, 23 October 1849

It is a long time since he last wrote to me. I inform him of the Barot, Pajean and Pacreau affairs, hoping that this letter may serve as a preservative for Mr Bonjean.

Oh, how often do I think of what I had occasion to say to you during the retreat on mortification of the heart. I bless the Lord to have prepared me in this way to put it into practice...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 23 October 1849)

Sent_0423

Sent_0423 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 23 October 1849 -/2

Sent_0423 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 23 octobre 1849 -/3

Sent 0423 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 23 October 1849 /2

Sent 0423 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 284-286

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

A quite confidential letter. Each in turn, Messrs Pajean, Bonjean and Pacreau have changed their attitude towards me after spending some days with you at Bangalore. I willingly forgive those confreres who have suggested these ideas to them; but the missions also will suffer considerably thereby. I had intended to go and see you with my seminarians during the Easter holidays of next year. But can I do this at the risk of letting our children hear accusations against me? Tell me what I should do. How my heart is broken! How can the work of the missions proceed in this way?

Index: calumny, mortification, spirit of the missionaries

Coimbatore, 23 October 1849

My Lord,

I have some very painful things to say to you ; this letter is quite confidential.

Mr Pajean had already pierced my heart with pins ; this time he has thrust in a lance. May the Lord forgive him, for he knows not what he does.

Hardly had he left Bangalore than he wrote me an outrageous letter. At the same time, he wrote another one to Mr Métral where it was even worse, and he did some other actions designed to stir up other confreres against me.

Accordingly do I have to repent of having permitted him to go to Bangalore. Ah, I am quite sure that it is not in his conversations with Y.L. that he has sucked in the venom that he is spreading today. But can I forget that it was on his return from Bangalore that the unfortunate Mr Pacreau (who until then had given me nothing but consolations) became so disinclined against me that everything I was able to do thereafter to please him (and I sought by every possible means to do just that) merely served to maintain his prejudices and to push him into the abyss?

Can I forget that it was coming away from Bangalore that Mr Bonjean deviated from that path of perfection where I had such powerful reasons to hope that he would remain unshakeable ? With the grace of God, he has reverted to the right way, but will not the means that Mr Pajean is employing directly to turn him away from it produce their effect? Unfortunately, Mr Pajean uses Y.L.'s authority to indispose the hearts of my missionaries and he publishes the fact that you "feel great affection for him". Eh ! good God! I also felt great affection for him before he exposed us to a conflagration in the mission.

Moreover, thinking that he had sincerely returned to suitable sentiments, I had really forgotten the past, and I felt great affection for him at the time when he left us to go and visit Y.L. Of course, I am the first to recognise the superiority of Y.L. over my very humble person, but I am very sure that Y.L. can only be angry that your qualities are placed in antithesis with the offence poured on your confrere.

Thus as I have said, My Lord, I am very sure that Y.L. is perfectly innocent with regard to me. But it is nonetheless true that I have implacable enemies in your mission. May the Lord forgive them as I forgive them; but how can the Holy Spirit forgive them the ravages made in their souls by their rash judgments and their backbiting? Not only in the souls of the missionaries that they lose, but also in the souls of those who fall into hell as a result of the evil conduct or abandon of those who should sustain and edify them.

Perhaps, My Lord, I would have abstained from speaking to you of this fresh ground for crucifixion without a practical need. But the fact is that it was my intention to go and see you this year after Easter, during the holidays of the seminary. I had already said a word to Mr Métral whom I would have brought with his pupils, and who was overjoyed at the prospect. It seemed to us that, beside the pleasure of seeing you, and the need for it even that I personally feel, we could hope for some edification for our young clerics in the dealings that they would have with your collaborators and your pupils.

But really, how would we be received by confreres who have been pursuing me for so long ? and if they received me well outwardly, how could I not be in apprehension that they would let fall in the ears of these poor children some of those mortal words which have recently caused Mr Pajean to fly off the handle? And have they not already murmured some of these to your pupils, who would repeat them to ours for the misfortune of both seminaries?

From another point of view, having already more or less promised this journey, having put it forward as a powerful ground for good behaviour and diligence, by the pure and holy joy that I have made them conceive of it in advance, to withdraw this promise, above all after the noise that Mr Pajean will not fail to spread very probably on his arrival, would it not be allowing them to suspect that there is some misunderstanding between Y.L. and me ? Which would be an evident error, at least as far as I am concerned, and dangerous. Such is my embarrassment. Tell me what I should do.

Oh, My Lord, how my heart is broken ! If this were the only evil, it would be of small account, or rather it would be a good, for the broken hearts of Jesus and of his divine Mother were even more so! But can the cause of the missions proceed if there are always fresh fuels ready to be thrown on the almost extinguished fire and mouths to blow on the flames? [...]

I have received an excellent letter from Mr Chevalier. Would Y.L. deign to thank him for it. I will not answer him, because my resolution not to write to anyone any more, except if obliged to do so, is becoming ever more unshakeable. [...]

Mr Pajean expresses the desire and the hope to go and work in your vicariate. Has he said anything to Y.L. and has Y.L. given him any encouragement. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 23 October 1849)

Sent_0424

Sent_0424 - au Père Lazare - le 25 octobre 1849 -/3

Sent_0424 - to Father Lazare - 25 October 1849 -/3

Sent 0424 - to Father Lazare - 25 October 1849 /3

Sent 0424 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 286-289

(to Father Lazare, Indian priest)

Long letter of spiritual direction to an Indian priest of Pondicherry who feels himself impelled to found a religious order. Mgr de Brésillac urges prudence; advice on the discernment of spirits, difficulties of recruitment and of subsistence; presence or not of Europeans among them; choice of a place to start off from. And first of all the agreement of the bishop of the place must be obtained.

Index: spiritual direction, discernment, advice

Carumattampatty, 25 October 1849()

Just as the various letters that you have written me, my very dear (Father) Lazare, your last missive gave me the greatest of pleasure. I would like to be able to give you a practical counsel which would guide you for always, that would be a real service to you. Knowing you now as I know you, and since you express such confidence in me, I would say to you anywhere but here: let us examine before God in a long retreat the pros and the cons of the ideas that torment you, and in the end I will draw you a line of conduct that you will follow invariably, without bothering to do anything else than respond to your vocation and gradually overcome in peace the obstacles which will necessarily come to impede it.

Anywhere else, I say, I could use this language with you, because it would not mean going outside the limits of the direction and if it were necessary to take a resolution out of the ordinary way, we would have for our guidance without danger theology and canon law. But, in this country, where for the misfortune of us all (in my opinion) we are in a state outside of common law, it is impossible for me to help you except by sharing with you certain ideas, from which you will profit when the time comes, if it is the Lord that has inspired me.

And first of all, I urge you strongly not to regard as useless the good thoughts inspired in you by the Holy Spirit, even if they should never arrive at the result you desire. Even if they only served to keep you in the holy disposition of following Jesus Christ as closely as possible, they would produce in your soul precious fruits, and is it not perhaps for that alone that the Lord gratifies you accordingly.

Beware above all of the slightest disinclination, of the slightest impatience, against the persons or things opposed to the carrying out of your plans ; besides not advancing anything, that would only have the effect of spoiling God's work, and would expose you to anticipating the moments of providence, which would then be your work and no longer that of God. There are many saints, dear friend, who have not seen any of their desires achieved. All that God wanted from them was desires. We will see them one day crowned with as much glory as if they had succeeded, and with a greater glory than if they had succeeded by over-hastiness.

In the present state of the Church of India, it would always be dangerous, and most often even culpable not to undertake anything, without the full consent of the bishop of the place. You should take that as a practical certainty in your personal conduct. This does not prevent your renewing from time to time your request, developing afresh the reasons for it and the possibility of carrying it out, providing you never depart from the respect owed to your bishop.

But whenever he refuses you or he does not grant you something except on conditions that may seem impracticable to you, you may be sure that this means, in the language of the Holy Spirit : the time has not yet come. Then remain in peace, without abandoning your good desires, while awaiting some fresh circumstance which will open up to you a way otherwise perhaps never to be opened.

As for your plan itself, as you know I told you that it seemed to me to contain some good things, but that I also felt that it needed to undergo considerable changes in order to be practicable and offer chances of its lasting. I feel I can say no more than that to you today; moreover, it appears to me more difficult every day for you to arrive all at once at a religious order. The enormous difficulties in its way are:

1) that there are not enough Christians in the country, and above all Christians imbued with the spirit of the gospel.

2) You will accordingly be obliged to try and recruit among the ecclesiastics who are themselves very few in number, which implies two major difficulties. The first is that there are not many of them having this vocation, and the second is that even those that have a vocation are obliged to tease permission out of their bishop, who will often be obliged to refuse it because he will lack priests for the ordinary ministry. Then you would be obliged to claim the usage of the law that the religious orders have to receive subjects without the bishop's consent. But as I have said, we are living here in a state outside of the common law, which would make this right questionable and its exercise dangerous.

3) I cannot see how this order could provide for its sustenance. To undertake this new career, with only the hope of receiving aid from Europe, would not be wise, in my opinion. Far too many have already abused too much of this hope, and it should not be envisaged any more. Thus it would be necessary to count on a foundation, and where is such to be found? Or else rely completely for everything on the alms of the faithful. For it is a principle of Saint Teresa that convents must either be sufficiently endowed, or else have nothing at all. This alternative was very true for Spain, an eminently Catholic country, where the convents which possessed nothing were sure of being assisted by public alms; but here, can we count on it?

I do not say no, for the Indians are eminently charitable ; besides, it is God who opens the hand of him who gives to the man who has stripped himself of all out of love ; finally I believe that the pagans themselves would give alms to true Christian and Indian Saniassis who would content themselves with the nourishment of most Indians. However, before committing oneself to establishing an order on this foundation of perfect poverty, I would like the experience of certain individuals to have proved that it is possible, and that it is in God's plans, here as elsewhere.

I don't remember in what sense I remarked to My Lord of Drusipare that your planned Society should be entirely composed of Tamoulers ! I know that Mr Langlois, who is a respectable authority, said that our missionaries could not enter it and remain members of our congregation. This fact seems quite true to me ; however I would guard against giving it as my final opinion, for there are strong reasons to doubt of this. However that may be, I cannot see why you would regard as impossible a purely Indian establishment. At the most it would appear to be very desirable for it to be under the direction of a European missionary who would sustain it with his energy, as you say, and who would direct it towards its possible state of perfection, without necessarily having to be a member of it.

Do the women religious of Pondicherry not support themselves although there are no European women religious among them ? It is true that these convents leave much to be desired. But the opinion of the most informed and prudent missionaries that I interrogated on this fact is that it is not that religious life is impossible for these nuns, but that the rules laid down for them are not suited to the Indian strength and character, and that the foundations are not sufficiently assured independently of pecuniary aid received from Europe.

And I will end up by this last consideration that it seems to me very difficult to think of creating all of a sudden an Indian religious order, and yet I believe that your desires come from God and that he wants to see them fulfilled. Thus it seems to me that the alternative is that you should stop first of all at the hermit's life rather than religious life proper. A hermit's life begins and ends with him, without there being any harm done if it is not perpetuated. If other persons come to join themselves to him, and want to live under the same rule as he has imposed on himself, he receives them and a community gradually forms, if it is possible and useful to the Church. Finally, the practice of this life teaches those following it what could be possible and useful later in establishing constitutive rules of a religious order that would be born quite naturally from there, if the germ exists in India, without exposing it to producing only a monstrous and scandalous abortive child perhaps on account of excessive haste in putting it into the world.

And now I come to the desire you feel to seek out a more favourable place for your purposes than the vicariate of Pondicherry. In reply I can only repeat what I said earlier, that seeing the state of common law in which we are living, you could not seriously think of it except with the full consent of My Lord of Drusipare who certainly would not refuse you it (for the common good takes precedence over the individual good), if H.L. believed that your hope was founded. Besides, you could, it seems to me, have some illusion on this point. For the Indians (at least those on this side of the mountains) are more or less the same everywhere. I say more or less, for the town of Pondicherry is an exception. But the vicariate of Pondicherry is very large and what you would have difficulty in finding in the vicinity of Pondichery, could it not be practicable in some other point?

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 25 October 1849)

Sent_0425

Sent_0425 - à M. Tesson - le 25 octobre 1849 -/3

Sent_0425 - to Mr Tesson - 25 October 1849 -/3

Sent 0425 - to Mr Tesson - 25 October 1849 /3

Sent 0425 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 57

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 294-296

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

I am writing to you with tears in my eyes. The MEP are in urgent need of a reform. It is indispensable. I will not enter into the reasons for this. I am persuaded that I represent an obstacle to this reform. Accordingly it seems to me that I must withdraw. How can this be done without scandal? Alone in the mountains of India? In a monastery in France? I have no fear of the sufferings entailed. Notify the other directors of this letter and let me know what are their feelings about it.

Index: De Brésillac renunciation, reform of the MEP

Coimbatore, 25 October 1849

My very dear Mr Tesson,

I am writing to you with my heart filled with bitterness and my eyes bathed in tears. May our divine Master crucified take account of this for eternal life!

I will not return on all the misfortunes which have descended on us and of which I cannot foresee the end. You have a more or less exact idea of them and a long letter would not suffice to give you a more exact one.

Thus I will not touch on any of the numerous reasons which confirm me in the convictions I am about to enumerate, which are the fruit of long and profound meditations.

The causes of all these misfortunes are in my eyes very evident, the remedy does not seem to me difficult to find, but the application appears to me impossible, given our constitution.

We have need of a reform, it is indispensable.

Our Society, as it is, is lacking on three or four fundamental points which must necessarily lead it to its ruin and, meanwhile make it a field of continual more or less dangerous discussions.

At least in India, it is incapable of being sufficiently developed, not only to attain its goal more or less speedily, but even to make the good fully possible, while awaiting such attainment.

Is a reform possible ? I believe so. It appears to me very difficult, but possible. If I were convinced of the contrary, it would only remain for me to formulate wishes that the Lord should send out other workers into this desolate portion of his heritage. For we would be guilty of holding more to our own individual good than to the general good of the holy Church.

Can I contribute to this reform ? Can I at least as regards in particular the missions in India, and more particularly still that of Coimbatore? Not only do I believe I cannot do so, but I am persuaded that I am obstacle to any such reform.

Thus for the love of our very dear congregation itself, which I love more than my life, which I would like to create if it did not already exist and I had sufficient authority for such a fine work, with just a few modifications, it seems to me, I say, that for the love of our congregation itself, I must withdraw.

This last word makes my heart shudder. For the Lord knows that it is a sacrifice that will cost me much more than what he already ordered me to do by leaving my country and my family. But should we retreat in the face of any sacrifice?

Meanwhile, how can I withdraw without producing any scandal, without doing harm to our beloved congregation in some other way? This is my dilemma.

I have thought of withdrawing alone into one of the mountains of India, there to live a solitary life for the rest of my days. But everything considered, it seems to me that that would do more harm than good.

Return to France ? But the position of a bishop is so difficult and so dangerous. Nevertheless, it seems to me that that would be possible, by closing myself up in a monastery. There perhaps also I could be of some use to the holy Church, our mother, while passing, in peace and without scandal for anyone, the days of mourning that the Lord reserves for me still in this valley of tears.

Kindly tell me with certainty if I would be received by the Benedictines or the Dominicans.

And to prove that it is neither self-esteem nor disgust at the fatigues which lead me to take this step, I am prepared to accompany it with edifying circumstances as far as I can. Whether the Lord deigns to inspire them in me, or you yourselves suggest them to me, or the Holy See dictates them to me when it is acquainted with my desire.

For it is important for people to know that it is not the horror of sufferings which lead me to this thought. It seems to me that God is doing me the grace of loving them, of surfeiting myself on them with delight, making of them my sweetest daily bread, even the pangs of the heart which have been for a long time now the most numerous and which are so clearly superior to the others. They batter my body, but not my soul.

No, I fear neither death, nor dangers, nor fatigues. I would like to make them useful still to the Church by means of the Foreign Missions. But since all my efforts are paralysed and since I myself may become a cause of destruction by paralysing those of others, by the prejudices conceived on my account, tell me, what can I do better than withdraw?

I am writing this letter to you as much as a friend as a director of the Foreign Missions. You may communicate it to the other dear confreres of Paris, and tell me, please, what you think about it. I hope that they will see, in the various sentiments I express in it, that it breaks my heart to cause pain to anyone. Of this pain at least which is based on some evil, for the pain arising only from a difficult determination to take is not one of those that we should repulse. I desire that, if I leave the Foreign Missions, it is with the conviction, if not of everyone, at least of the wisest of them, that this is exclusively for the good.

I am sending you the letter I am writing to the S.C., asking you to kindly pass it on to Rome. Before you send it off, kindly communicate it to the other directors. If it contains anything that you may consider as gravely regrettable, kindly hold it back until you have informed me. For I am prepared to make any changes that my conscience permits me to do.

A Dieu. Oh how I need you to pray for me! I hope that you will not fail to do so, at least implicitly, for a single day.

Your very affectionate confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I hope that you will not keep me waiting for your reply to this letter.

(Coimbatore, 25 October 1849)

Sent_0426

Sent_0426 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 25 October 1849 -/4

Sent_0426 - à la Propagande - le 25 octobre 1849 -/4

Sent 0426 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 25 October 1849 /4

Sent 0426 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 291-292

copy, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 56

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

At the present time I am convinced that I must leave Coimbatore because of the constant opposition of certain workers and because my conscience is troubled at participating in certain forbidden things that I am incapable of reforming. My departure will be useful for the Church of India. Allow me to withdraw. I would willingly enter into a monastery in France. Give me your opinion and your instructions.

Index: De Brésillac resignation, Indian usages, opposition

Coimbatore, 25 October 1849()

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Cum essem in domo patris mei, humana felicitate gaudens et futurae quasi certus honorabilis nec non commodae vitae, interiorem arbitratus sum audire vocem qua haec omnia relinquere jussus sum ut arctius Jesum Christum sequerer in ministerii missionum. Gratia Dei benevolens et laetus profectus sum. Cujus rei non me paenitet, cum et voluntatem Dei me adimplevisse spero, et toto corde quod in me est perfeci pro missionibus.

Attamen et nunc aliud sacrificium a me postulari arbitror, quod et difficilius et multo gravius mihi est quam reliquisse domum paternam. Conscientia mea hoc incitor relinquire quod solum mihi remanet, hoc quod enixe cordi meo tenet, hanc quam elegi haereditatem meam, Missionem nempe Coimbatorensem et Congregationem Missionum ad Exteros.

Quas me impellunt rationes ad tale et tam luctuose propositum fuse non explicabo. Nimis enim durum esset cordi meo! Hoc solum dolenter dicam: Remanere nequeo, 1° propter constantem oppositionem a nonnullis operariis apostolicis tam provicariatus mei quam aliquorum circumstantium vicariatuum apostolicorum. 2° quia repugnat conscientia mea participationi quorumdam quae fiunt in nostris missionibus quorumdamque aliorum quae impediuntur. Ad quae vero reformanda etiam in mea juridictione idoneus non sum. Quantuscumque sit dolor meus, mihi incumbere credo obligationen relinquendi missionem meam et humiliter ab Eminentia Vestra permissionem peto.

In executione vero talis consilii, hoc unum me dolenter sollicitat: cogitare nempe quod retro veniens Episcopus Missionarius in Gallia et onus erga Ecclesiam et aliquoties erga infirmos scandalum est. Faciat vero Deus me numquam scandalum fore fratribus meis, cum ad unam salvandam animam paratus sum et orbem terrarum percurrere! Scit Deus meus et Judex meus unicum desiderium meum servitium esse Sanctae Matris Eccleciae cui me totum dedi a juventute mea, cui me totum esse volo usque ad mortem. Si propter eas tantum quae mihi adveniunt difficultates, contradictiones, doloresque Missionem relinquerem me damnarem ego primus, et culpa minime vacare dicerem. Quinimo gratia Dei non recuso laborem et dolorem in unione laborum et dolorum Domini Jesu. Sed inutilis, forsitan nocens Missionibus est praesentia mea, utilis esse potest absentia. Pro bono animae meae, ipsarumque missionum peto ut mihi liceat eas relinquere.

In inquisitione vero sum eorum quae facere possum ut discessus meus sine scandalo sit, ad salutem meam necnon ad aliorum utilitatem et ad aedificationem Ecclesiae. Pro quibus obtinendis etiam quae magis ardua sunt paratus sum amplecti. Quid ergo faciam? In primis nihil melius esse spero quam meipsum committere Sanctae Congregationis arbitrio, quae si jubere voluerit, quidquid sit, gratia Dei aggrediar.

Si tamen de cogitationibus meis aliquid exprimere liceat, meam esse mentem dicam, intrare in religionem vel Dominicanorum vel Benedictorum in Gallia. Galliam vero peterem adimplendo peregrinationem Sanctorum locorum, pertransiens Indiam, Persiam et Turquiam, Jerusalem visitans ut inde Roman aggrediar, si vobis non displicuerit. Nam de mea actione in Missionibus Vobis rationem reddere valde desidero. E Roma denique (si Deus ad se non me vocaverit antea) Lutetiam peterem ad dictam Religionem ingrediendam.

Quam peregrinationem a Coimbatore ad Lutetiam et animae meae perutilem et non inutilem sanctae Matri Ecclesiae esse posse spero, praesertim si Eminentia Vestra et aliqua consilia et quasdam instructiones mihi dare dignaverit; eamque, si Vobis bonum esse videretur, et pedibus iter faciendo et eleemosynam petendo aggrederer. Aliquibus tantum indigerem facultatibus quas a Sacra Congregatione peterem statim ac de permissione et relinquendi Coimbatorensem missionem et dictam peregrinationem adimplendi certior factus fuero.

In omni humilitate et cum debita reverentia,

Eminentiae Vestrae,

Servus humillimus et obsequentissimus.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Episcopus Prusiensis

(Coimbatore, 25 October 1849)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

Coimbatore, 25 October 1849

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord,

When I was in my father's house, enjoying human happiness and assured of a honourable and fairly comfortable future life, I thought I heard an inner voice that ordered me to leave everything to follow Jesus Christ more closely in the ministry of the missions. Thanks to God, I left devoted and happy. I do no repent of that, for I hope also to have carried out God's will, and I have done wholeheartedly for the missions all that lay in my power.

However today once more, I think that another sacrifice is required of me which is more difficult and much more grave for me than to leave the family home. By my conscience, I am impelled to leave what alone remains to me, what my heart is bent on with tenacity, this heritage that I have chosen, that is to say the mission of Coimbatore, and the congregation of the Foreign Missions.

I will not explain at length the causes which impel me to such a painful goal. For it would be too grievous to my heart. I will merely say with sorrow: I cannot remain: 1) because of the constant opposition of certain apostolic workers, both of my pro-vicariate and of certain neighbouring ones; 2) because my conscience refuses to participate in certain things that are done in our missions and of certain other things which are not allowed and that I am incapable of reforming, even in my jurisdiction. However great my sorrow, I believe that I have the obligation to leave my mission and I humbly request Your Eminence's permission to do so.

In carrying out such a project, one thing stirs me with pain, namely to think that a missionary bishop coming back to France is at one and the same time a burden on the Church and sometimes a scandal for the feeble. May God ensure that I am never a scandal for my brothers, for to save one single soul, I am ready to cover if need be the whole earth. God, who is my judge, knows well that my desire is to serve the holy Church to which I have given the whole of myself since my youth, to which I wish to belong completely until the time of my death. If I left the mission only because of the difficulties, contradictions and sorrows that have been my lot, I would first and foremost be damning myself and I would say that I am not completely innocent. Further, with God's grace, I do not refuse the work and sufferings in union with the works and sufferings of our Lord Jesus. But my presence is useless, perhaps harmful for the missions, I feel sure that my absence will be useful to it. For the good of my soul and of the missions themselves, I request permission to leave them.

However, I am searching for things that I could do in order for my departure to take place without scandal, for my salvation, for the usefulness of others and also for the edification of the Church. To achieve these goals, I am prepared to assume even the hardest undertakings. What shall I do then? First, I hope that there is nothing better than to entrust myself to the judgment of the Sacred Congregation; if it wishes to order something, whatever that may be, I will do it with God's grace.

However, if I can express some part of my thought, I will say that my plan is to return to religion in the order of the Dominicans or of the Benedictines in France. I will go back to France making a pilgrimage to the holy places, and passing through India, Persia and Turkey, visiting Jerusalem whence I will proceed to Rome, if that does not displease you. For I strongly desire to give you account of my action in the missions. From Rome at last (if God has not called me to him earlier), I will return to Paris to enter into the said religion.

I hope that this pilgrimage from Coimbatore to Paris may be useful to my soul and not useless to holy Mother Church, above all if Your Eminence deigns to give me some opinions and certain instructions ; and I will make this pilgrimage, if you are agreeable, walking on foot, and begging for alms. I would only need certain permissions that I would request of the Sacred Congregation as soon as I had been informed of its permission both to leave the mission of Coimbatore and to accomplish the pilgrimage that I have just been speaking of.

I am, very humbly and with all the respect that is due to you,

Your Eminence's

very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 25 October 1849)

Sent_0427

Sent_0427 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 30 October 1849 -/2

Sent_0427 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 30 octobre 1849 -/2

Sent 0427 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 30 October ctobre 1849 /2

Sent 0427 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 289-290

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

He has shown the quite confidential letter to Mr Chevalier (0423). Press the strictest secrecy on him. You are not sufficiently clear in your statements; the tone of your letter does not completely reassure me on my fears. Besides, I hope that in a short while my person will no longer be an encumbrance to you.

Index: confidence

Coimbatore, 30 October 1849

Today I received your letter of the 27th. It astonished and disturbed me.

What astonished and disturbed me above all, is that Y.L. shared with the well loved Mr Chevalier my completely confidential letter. I had taken care to put these two words at the top of my letter to prevent, by inattention, it happening that Y.L. would read the first passages without knowing what it contained. I hope that Y.L. will have imposed the most rigorous secrecy on Mr Chevalier. If we cannot write to each another confidentially, where will we end up?

Allow me to say, My Lord, that the tone of your letter did not completely reassure me on my fears. Y.L. would have dissipated them much more completely if you had assured me that the missionaries of Bangalore never allow themselves either to make bitter criticisms, or painful allusions, or covert blames, or any of those words that trouble minds and sow division; finally if in the past that had happened from time to time, Y.L. would see that it did not occur again.

If Y.L. had added to this consoling balm the charitable advice of the causes that, independently from those and even in their absence, have produced the evil, believe me it would have been received, as it will still and always if Y.L. deigns to do so, with the utmost gratitude.

It seems to me that in this way we could give proof of truly fraternal sentiments and our confidences would not fall into the ears of any third party.

By this same fact that my letter was quite confidential, Y.L. may well think that it will not go to Paris. I would feel hesitant about communicating it even to Mr Métral who however is my closest confidant; for there are certain things that should not be communicated to anyone. No-one will know it through me, and it seems to me that I am entitled to require that no-one knows it elsewhere, happy if confidentially Y.L. can dissipate all my apprehensions. Besides, I hope that in a short time you will be rid of my person. That will be a blessing for everyone, may it also be a blessing for the mission.

Since Y.L. has shared my first letter to Mr Chevalier, you could also do the same with regard to this one ; but apart from that dear confrere, this is still strictly confidential.

I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant and confrere.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. I am unsealing my letter to withdraw the words implacable enemies contained in the first (and which could not lead to anything, if Y.L. alone had read my letter), and replace them with adversaries. One can be such at times in conscience.

(Coimbatore, 30 October 1849)

Sent_0428

Sent_0428 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le (6) novembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0428 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le (6) novembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0428 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - (6) November 1849 /1

Sent 0428 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 296-297

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

You have once more shown my latest confidential letter to others. Thus, let all these persons know that I withdraw from these letters everything that may offend charity. Maintain your benevolence towards me.

Index: confidence, charity, benevolence

Coimbatore, (6 ?) November 1849

My Lord,

I have received your letter of the 3rd, in which I have the further sorrow of learning that my letter of 23 October to Y.L. has been made known to other persons than yourself. I admit that in this letter there are some expressions forced from me by sorrow which are inappropriate, above all if taken literally and above all if given the extension that Y.L. sees fit to give them which was far from my spirit. However, I would not wish it to be possible that those becoming acquainted with this letter should believe that I was intentionally lacking in charity. Accordingly:

1) I withdraw absolutely all the thoughts and all the terms in it which are uncharitable.

2) If I have offended Y.L. (contrary to my very formal intention) I very humbly beg your pardon.

3) If anyone reading this letter which was for you alone finds himself offended, I beg his pardon.

4) To those who do not read this letter and who may be offended by it, I beg their pardon through the kind offices of Y.L. and of those who do read it.

5) I hereby ask you to make this note known to all those who either directly or indirectly may become acquainted with this letter.

I hope that the misunderstanding produced by this letter of the 13th () will not prevent Y.L. from continuing in the benevolence you evinced to me at Pondicherry and that I believed founded on a mutual esteem. I am however obliged to admit today that I do not deserve this esteem. Accordingly the benevolence that Y.L. expressed towards me was gratuitous. I do not request more, My Lord, I am the first to recognise that you are just in acting thus, however, I hope of your charity this gratuitous benevolence so long as I am permitted to call myself, Y.L.'s very humble and very devoted confrere.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 6? November 1849)

Sent_0429

Sent_0429 - to Mgsr Bonnand - 8 November 1849 -/2

Sent_0429 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 novembre 1849 -/2

Sent 0429 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 November 1849 /2

Sent 0429 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 2153-2156

copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 59

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 297-298

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for your latest letters. Mgr Charbonnaux had shared with you my latest quite confidential letters. I have written apologising, I will say no more. I think that Mr Barot is on his way to Coimbatore. By what you tell me, I see that Mr Barran agrees with us.

Index: confidence, Barot affair, humility

Coimbatore, 8 November 1849

My Lord,

I had the pleasure of receiving in succession your note of 20th, your letter of 23rd and that of 2 November. I am infinitely grateful to you for the things that you let me know in them, etc.

So My Lord of Jassen has let you know a letter that I wrote to him some time ago and in which, I admit, there are expressions which, taken literally, are inappropriate. These expressions were snatched from me in my sorrow and I did not think besides that they could have any negative consequences, seeing that I was acting with Mgr of Jassen in full confidence and that this letter was strictly confidential. It even began by these words so that H.L. did not expose himself to making it known.

This does not excuse me without doubt, for I should have thought that, even confidentially, there are expressions that should be avoided, above all when they are capable of receiving much more meaning that they actually had in my mind, above all when they are written. However, I do not understand how My Lord of Jassen saw fit to treat me as he did, nor even to believe that H.L. had sufficient reasons. Besides, when I saw how he took it, I wrote to him to make up as far as possible for my fault. I don't doubt that he will make my reparation known to those to whom he made my sin known.

I will say no more on that point, for it hurts my heart too much : I did not know and I still do not know at all "what these Gentlemen (those of Bangalore I think)" did on the occasion of Mr Pacreau's departure. If it were useful for me to know this, I would ask Y.L. to kindly inform me on this point.

The only letter that Mr Barot has written to me is that of 19 August of which I spoke to you earlier. I answered him with a letter in which I allowed him to hope that he could return, However, naturally it required an answer from him. He has not written a word. I know that he has written to certain confreres that he was coming back, but not to me. I think that he is on his way back here, but I know nothing more.

Thank you for having let me know what Mr Langlois has written. It seems to me that that venerable confrere's ideas are those which have dominated in our work. It seems to me that what we proposed, overall, is merely the practical application of those ideas, in conformity with the circumstances, the places, and among other things, the knowledge that the native priests of Pondicherry have of the instruction of the S.C.

I feel obliged to mention to Y.L. that, in everything that I wrote to My Lord of Jassen, I made no reference either to Mr Barran or to Mr Jarrige, nor made any reflection on these letters. In one of his, he appears to allude to this, but without naming anybody.

I have the honour of being, in the broken hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant,

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 8 November 1849)

Sent_0430

Sent_0430 - à M. Laouënan - le 8 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0430 - à M. Laouënan - le 8 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0430 - to Mr Laouënan - 8 November 1849 /1

Sent 0430 partial copy + Brésillac summary

en AMA 2F6, p 298

(to Mr François Laouënan)

(apostolic missionary)

Send me the plans as soon as possible. Thank you for your kind words.

Index: building, encouragements

Coimbatore, 8 November 1849

I ask him to send me the first plans as soon as possible.

I cannot leave unanswered the kind words with which you end your letter. In a time where it pleases the Lord to try me by the most poignant sorrows, they have been a balm to my shattered heart. May the Lord duly reward you! But I believe that we should go no further. It would appear to me imprudent to produce outside of wishes whose fulfilment would present too great difficulties. Although quite internal, they nonetheless have their price, I assure you, and I am extremely grateful to you in any case.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 8 November 1849)

Sent_0431

Sent_0431 - à Mgr Pallegoix - le 18 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0431 - à Mgr Pallegoix - le 18 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0431 - to Mgr Pallegoix - 18 November 1849 /1

Sent 0431 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 299

(to Mgr Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, bishop of Mallos)

(apostolic vicar of Siam)

I have just received a copy of the letter to the directors from eight of your missionaries who have left Siam. Without attempting to pass judgment on who is right or wrong, I sympathise with you in your sorrow.

Index: compassion, Siam affair

Coimbatore, 18 November 1849

My Lord,

A few days ago I received a letter as painful as it was extraordinary, signed by eight of your missionaries and dated from Singapore. It is the copy of the one which these Gentlemen have written to the directors of Paris on the causes and the mode of their departure. Y.L. must be aware of this act. I do not need to tell you, My Lord, how strongly this affected me. But before judging anything in advance, I look forward to Y.L.'s version of events.

Thus, I have no intention of dealing with the question today, but merely of consoling Y.L., assuring you of the sympathy I feel in your great sorrow. Even if Y.L. were mistaken, it is nonetheless certain to me that you did what, in such a critical moment, you considered it your duty to do in the Lord. Thus the final results must break your bishop's heart. I would like to soften its sorrow by reiterating the assurance of the echoes it has in mine. It is also to be hoped that these Gentlemen have only listened to the voice of their conscience; and, in that case, since no-one is wrong before God, things will undoubtedly be settled without any further scandal than that of the fact that could not be avoided. If they were too hasty, Y.L. will inform us accordingly and I hope that each one will recognise the truth wherever it may lie, seeking to close the wound without irritating it.

I beg the Lord to deign to settle it all for his greatest glory, and while awaiting further details, ask you to believe me, in the union of our sorrows and of your prayers, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 18 November 1849)

Sent_0432

Sent_0432 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0432 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 novembre 1849 -/1

sSent 0432 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 November 1849 /1

Sent 0432 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 313-314

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 299

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He asks if he has any further information on the matter of the eight missionaries of Siam. Mr Barot has returned and seems to admit his faults. Fears for Mr Pajean.

Index: Siam affair, Barot affair

Coimbatore, 18 November 1849

My Lord,

Two letters have been delivered to me to pass on to Pondicherry. I do not want to send them off without a few words for Y.L.

You should have received copy of the letter that eight missionaries from Siam wrote to the directors in Paris, sending them out at the same time to all the bishops in the body. This letter is dated from Singapore. I think that before prejudicing anything, we should await the details that Mgr Pallegoix will give us hereafter. If Y.L. should receive any, would you kindly communicate them to me.

Mr Barot arrived a few days ago. He appears to realise that the embarrassment he found himself in was exclusively of his own making; he seems very content; and is due to leave shortly for his mission of Darabouram.

I am still wracked by anxiety regarding Mr Pajean who is on the point of committing another rash act.

I have received no news from Paris by the steamer. Having nothing else to tell you, I commend myself as always to your good prayers and ask you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. There is some talk here of the new archbishop of Goa as if one has in fact arrived. If he has arrived, do you know how he is behaving? I would be very much obliged to you to let me know, as also to tell me any news on the state of the schism.

(Coimbatore, 18 November 1849)

Sent_0433

Sent_0433 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 November 1849 -/2

Sent_0433 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 novembre 1849 -/3

Sent 0433 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 November 1849 /2

Sent 0433 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 315-320

copy, AMA 2F6, pp 300-301

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic bishop of Pondicherry)

What pleasure your last letter gave me! Your ideas on the native clergy are those we should all have. If we continue in this way, within a reasonable period of time we will have a sufficient native clergy to have pastors. As from then, we can truly be missionaries. A few words on certain missionaries: Bonjean, Pajean, Barot and Pacreau.

Index: native clergy, Barot affair, my missionaries

Coimbatore, 19 November 1849()

My Lord,

Although I had the honour of writing you a short note yesterday, I feel the need to express to you today even the immense pleasure that your letter of the 14th, which I have just received, as well as the enclosed copy, caused me. Apart from a few rather too severe words regarding Mr Barran, not only did it appear to me to be just, fair and appropriate, but it also seems to me that the sentiments it contains regarding the native clergy and the instruction of the S.C. are those which all of us should embrace.

I am happy to see that Y.L. does not fall back in the face of the consequences of our work and that you recognise their possibility. I am happy to read in this identically the same opinion I had once I had gained some acquaintance with the country and the line to be taken with the ecclesiastic pupils of our parts, that is to say since the end of my first year in India, an opinion that all that has happened since then merely confirms and corroborates.

I feel morally certain that, if deplorable impediments had not come to shatter seven or eight times, in the space of six years, the first successes obtained, forcing us to begin all over again with elements to some extent dispersed, we would have, not in fifteen years (if that could happen so soon, we would be doubly guilty of having waited thus far to regularise the future of this clergy), but in a suitable time, a clergy sufficient to care for the existing Christians, to attend them at death, to nourish them with the holy word, etc., in a word to ensure the functions of the pastor, leaving us those of the missionary.

Fortunately the Lord did not permit the tempest to sweep everything away. Fortunately, in being the first to open up this way, Y.L. and myself (allow me to attribute to myself some small part of the merit), by procuring the tonsure of three or four reliable young men, shortly after their entry into the seminary, have saved the stem which will sprout again, which is already sprouting and which will continue to grow despite the obstacles, hopefully, if we stand firm to support the principles which are no other than those of justice, of prudence and of abnegation of our own prejudices, drawing as close as possible to common law, distrusting the particular exceptions of France, suffering only those that are indispensable to the Indian nature.

But here I am developing a thesis, when I only picked up my pen to say in a few short words the pleasure your letter caused me. I will stop.

I will ask you for permission to show your letter to my missionaries. I will not do this before knowing if you are agreeable. It seems to me that it could do some good to Mr Bonjean, and perhaps to Mr Pajean who is at this moment in the mountain and who continues to occasion me great fears. Unfortunately, he once more passed by Mysore on his way back. I am expecting that he will ask me for permission to go over to the mission of Bangalore. If he asks this, I will not refuse his request.

Mr Barot left this morning for Carumattampatty, whence he will make his way to his mission of Darabouram. He seems very content. I gave him one hundred rupees towards building himself a house, so as to follow absolutely the same line as before his departure, since it had been decided in council that we would help him to build a house, etc., etc, so that he sees clearly that the sad episode, in which he was the main actor, depends entirely on him, since we are acting just as we would have acted previously, etc. Providing the good God gives him perseverance in the sentiments that he expresses at this moment, I hope that the evil will change to good as far as he is concerned.

I have the honour of being

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Y.L. has not answered one of my questions in my letter of the 8th. Is there then any danger in my knowing what these gentlemen did on the occasion of Mr Pacreau's departure?

(Coimbatore, 19 November 1849)

Sent_0434

Sent_0434 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0434 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0434 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 November 1849 /1

Sent 0434 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 321-323

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 301

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Best wishes for his saint's day. Condolences for Mr Tiran.

Voeux de bonne fête. Condoléances pour M. Tiran.

Index: friendship

Coimbatore, 23 November 1849

My Lord,

Last year, I had the pleasure to conveying to you personally the sentiments inspired in me by the anniversary of your feastday. My Lord, be so good as to remember what I said to you on that occasion. Far from diminishing, these sentiments have only grown, if that were possible, and it is by renewing this assurance to you, and asking you to accept them once more, that I ask you to believe me, in the union of your good prayers and of your holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I have just received your note of the 18th announcing the death of Mr Tiran. I was expecting every day to receive this sad news, for Mr Barot had told me that this dear confrere's condition left no room for hope. I bless the Lord with you for the happy inclinations preceding the last days of this young missionary, and which make me share your hope, while leaving me to share in your regret.

(Coimbatore, 23 November 1849)

Sent_0435

Sent_0435 - to the Collector - 26 November 1849 -1/1

Sent_0435 - au Collecteur - le 26 novembre 1849 -/2

Sent 0435 - to the Collector - 26 November 1849 /1

Sent 0435 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 301-302

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

The neighbours of our property in Coimbatore have trespassed on our land. What can we do in order to recover it all, for I wish to build?

Index: civil authorities, property

Coimbatore, 26 November 1849

Sir,

I am desirous of bringing to you notice that I pay for the land on which my bungalow is situated rent proportionate to 2, 17, 60. But I am almost certain that the owners of the gardens adjacent have gradually encroached upon my premises. Besides they carry water through it for purposes of irrigation. I said nothing to them because up to now it was a matter of little importance to me; but being desirous now of making other buildings, I find that I shall require the whole of my ground which indeed is but a small place. I made proposals to them for the purchase of their gardens offering to pay somewhat more than their real value, but they decline. It is then necessary that I should exactly know my rights in order that I may build here without injustice to the parties or to myself.

I therefore request you will be pleased to point out to me what I should do in the matter, and if you can kindly assist me in getting back for me what is exactly my own or try to induce the owners to sell me their gardens in whole or in parts, I shall feel highly obliged.

1 have the honour to be,

Sir,

your most obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, le 26 novembre 1849)

Sent_0436

Sent_0436 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 8 décembre 1849 -/3

Sent_0436 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 8 décembre 1849 -/3

Sent 0436 - to Propagation of the Faith - 8 December 1849 /3

Sent 0436 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 71 pp.2-3

(to the Council of Propagation of the Faith)

Two tables containing information on the pro-vicariate of Coimbatore: population, different buildings, state of religion, resources and expenditures foreseen.

Index: statistics, religion in India

Coimbatore, 8 December 1849

Tables enclosed with a letter dated 8 December 1849,

to be sent to Propagation of the Faith

Table no. 1

Mgr de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse, Pro-vicariate of Coimbatore. For the year 1850

Date of the information provided:

8 December 1849

Population:

Population very uncertain this year, because of the hardship which has forced a large number of Christians to move elsewhere

Catholics

Heretics

Infidels.

Annual conversions:

50 approximately.

Easter communions

Unknown.

Clergy:

Missionaries:7. I hope that there are one or two more on the way out who will arrive at the beginning of the year 1850.

Native priests: 0

Churches built:

Churches: three or four in a very poor state. If we are not to see them collapse, we are obliged to make the necessary repairs which our slight resources have not yet allowed us to do.

Chapels: about 50 in even worse state than the churches. But repairs on them are not so urgent.

Secondary schools, seminaries, hospitals etc.

One seminary for which we have just built a house. A few small schools.

Table no. 2

State of receipts and expenditures presumed for the year 1850

Resources of the vicariate, etc

There are only a few insignificant alms and some small fees that are not sufficient to keep up the chapels, etc., for which they are all employed: 0 franc.

Expenses

1) Expenses of the bishop, of his clergy and other persons attached to the mission, evaluated for the year at 6,000 francs.

2) Expenses for passages of missionaries coming from Europe, evaluated for the year at 00 franc.

3) Expenses for the establishments already founded, evaluated for the year at 2,200 francs.

4) Expenses for establishments to be founded, evaluated for the year at 5,000 francs.

5) Personal expenses for the mission evaluated for the year at 1,000 francs.

We would need far more than what is indicated under nos. 3 and 4. But without that sum, it will be very difficult to maintain ourselves decently.

Drawn up at Coimbatore on 8 December 1849.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

Sent_0437

Sent_0437 - à M. Métral - le 10 décembre 1849 -/1

Sent_0437 - à M. Métral - le 10 décembre 1849 -/1

Sent 0437 - to Mr Métral - 10 December 1849 /1

Sent 0437 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 303

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

I am sending you a letter from the directors which shows their agreement with us on our attitude in the Barot affair. Everything must be known before a judgment can be reached. As for Mr Pajean, I am signifying my displeasure by the laconicism of my answers.

Index: Barot affair, spirit of the missionaries

Coimbatore, 10 December 1849

I am sending you an official letter from the Gentlemen of Paris, in which you will see that they have considered our behaviour to have been what it was. I do not doubt but that they will do the same for that concerning Mr Pacreau and that we will adopt regarding Mr Pajean, for by acting by God's grace, only according to the requirements of duty, they may be astonished for a moment, but when all the facts are known, they cannot help but end up by doing us justice.

Mr P., in his letter, tells me nothing ; it is in a rather offhand tone, but that is all. If this poor confrere's errors were limited to that, it would be of little import, but... I will not tell you what you could write to him, I prefer to remain completely neutral on this point. As for me, I am content still with the deepest silence on the question and do not wish to convey to him my deep disapproval except by the laconicism of my answers...

I am also sending you a letter from Mr Albrand which will interest you : I have received two more from Messrs Legrégeois and Tesson, quite full of benevolence.

A Dieu.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 10 December 1849)

Sent_0438

Sent_0438 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 décembre 1849 -/3

Sent_0438 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 December 1849 -/3

Sent 0438 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 December 1849 /3

Sent 0438 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 325-328

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 304

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am sharing with you news I have just received from various directors in Paris. Reflections on a work by Mr Albrand on the congregation. What they say about the Barot affair. This is how I am behaving at present with Mr Pajean. A question regarding the Holy Father's encyclical on the Immaculate Conception of which only unauthenticated copies are available. An invitation to come and spend a month at Coimbatore before Lent.

Index: news, Barot affair, Immaculate Conception (dogma), spirit of the missionaries

Coimbatore, 18 December 1849()

My Lord,

Since my last missive to Y.L., I have had the pleasure of receiving your two good letters of 27 November and of 11 December. I am infinitely grateful for everything that you say in them. Now for the principal things that I know, which may be of some interest to Your Lordship.

I have received a large packet from the Gentlemen of Paris. I had complained that, since Mr Langlois can no longer write so often or at such length, we were without any details, and reduced more often than not to a letter of accounts (more or less exact) from Mr Tesson, and to the laconic style of the official letters. It appears that, this time, they have felt the reproach. Messrs Legrégeois, Tesson and Albrand have all made an effort to write.

The first of these, however, scarcely says anything except some friendly words ; the second speaks to me mainly about his gradual of Saint Gregory ; while the letter of the third gentleman is a proper little book in which he makes an analysis (fairly useless for us) of the political events of the year. Then, he goes on to speak of a serious illness of Mr Langlois who has managed to get over it once more, while the sessions of the provincial council of Paris (which he attended, as you must have seen in the papers, as theologian) completed his recovery. He is so happy at having seen for once in his life a provincial council that it added ten years to his life !

The number of aspirants is reduced to an average of twenty, for lack of more funds. Mr Albrand starts off from there, and from the fears he has on the work of Propagation of the Faith, to enter into some considerations on the state of our Society and on its not very economical procedures which are, to my mind, of the utmost wisdom. Very often, I have thought of what he says, and I would have concluded absolutely like him, but not like the Gentlemen of your parts who shoot with red-hot shot on the being of whom you speak; and many others also, I think, who seem not to have been made for penetrating into the substance of a question, and sounding out its difficulties.

With the best will in the world, they keep too close to the surface, or else they fly away into the realms of idealism. However, nothing less than the existence of our Society by a given time depends on this, just as the existence of our vicariates in India depends on the work that we were elaborating last year together.

I don't say that this work is perfect, that there is not a great deal of reflection still required; there is certainly need to add to the existing text or in other places to cut it down; but finally, it is something like that, and I cannot understand how well intentioned missionaries can assume the position of adversaries. May the good God deign to enlighten them; and to us who answer in the first place for our missions, may the Lord deign to give the means and the strength not to stop in the face of unreasonable opposition.

This correspondence was accompanied by an official letter on the subject of the B. affair. I had sent them copies of the letters that I addressed to you on 15 June and on 10 July. "Your conduct, they answer me, regarding this confrere, has been what it should have been. We regret not having known it earlier, or we would have answered quite differently from what we did to... My Lord of Drusipare." It appears that they sent you this letter (of which they have sent me a copy) on the complaints of several missionaries from Pondicherry. In my opinion, it is very unfortunate that they acted so hastily. The blow is struck against authority, when Providence had provided us with a formal opportunity for striking a vigorous blow in its favour.

So now Mr M. is well away !

I still have not seen Mr Pajean again. From the mountain, he proceeded to Codively, without passing through here, or through Carumattampatty. He wrote a few more virulent letters to Mr Métral, in which he alluded to several things that happened last year at Pondicherry. Between you and me, they must have told him a whole lot of stories at Bangalore. I really do not know what benefit Mr Jarrige and My Lord of Jassen can find in blaming things of this nature in which they themselves took part. This consideration is for you alone.

So far, my tactic with regard to Mr Pajean is to say nothing to him. I have not acknowledged receipt either of his famous letter, or of a sort of retractation that he sent me from the mountain, and that I find insufficient. If he writes to me for anything else, I shall answer him very briefly (...?). Then let us see what happens.

His Grace of Chyrra sent me an answer through My Lord of Mangalore, with whom he is on his way to Bombay, as a result of the affairs of that vicariate with which I am not well acquainted. H.G. asks me to tell you that he has received your letters as well...

(here half a line is missing from the Original)

...he doesn't have time to answer.

I had asked him, if he thought that we should reply to the Holy Father's Encyclical. My Lord of Mangalore answers as follows: "We have already answered the Holy Father's Encyclical as both we and our clergy and our flocks are bound to do tanquam ex fide." But it seems to me that, in order to do so, we should have received this Encyclical in a more authentic form. Has Y.L. received any such?

Thank you for the lithographed copy that you were kind enough to send me via Mr Métral. We already know this piece through the papers, but none of all this is authentic.

My paper is running out. However I wanted to say another thing to you. Does a little recreational outing not appeal to Y.L. ? Why not come and pay us a visit? Between now and Lent for example, when the weather is neither hot nor cold and you are not too busy. It seems to me that we would still have a good number of things to discuss, and perhaps it would not be altogether time wasted, besides the legitimate profit of the extreme pleasure that you would be affording all of us.

Let's see then : in ten days, you are here ; ten more days for going = 20 ; one month with us, and you will be back home by the beginning of Lent. Saint Francis of Sales arranged to pay a visit once a year to the bishop of Belley. The best of the bargain was undoubtedly for the latter. So be our Francis of Sales, and believe me, we will receive you with the same respect, veneration and also charity as he who was so happy to have him for his close friend.

I do not know if it is your angel who gives away his secret, but I count on a favourable reply to this suggestion.

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I did not know that Mgr of Verrolles was still at Rome. Quid est hoc ! Not a word for over a year of Mgr Luquet, neither from Paris nor from him.

(Coimbatore, 18 December 1849)

Sent_0439

Sent_0439 - to his father - 21 December 1849 -/2

Sent_0439 - à son père - le 21 décembre 1849 -/2

Sent 0439 - to his father - 21 December 1849 /2

Sent 0439 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 138-139

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 304

(to his father)

Letter wishing him a happy New Year, as well as the other members of the family. What I do with my time. I am leaving to spend the Christmas festivities at Carumattampatty. There, I have built a seminary and I am going to put my house in order there. I am also planning to build a church in Coimbatore, but apart from a bequest of 10,000 francs, I count on Providence. Death of Mr Cornevin.

Index: attachment (family), wishes, building

Coimbatore, 21 December 1849

My very dear father,

And now the half-century is about to end ; the year 1849 goes away in shreds with the cohort of woes and absurdities that these last few years have invented. Please God that these disappear with it. Most likely that will not be the case. But happily outside of this external agitation, there is at the bottom of the heart of every man of goodwill a centre of peace, a wellbeing produced by a pure conscience, and this good cannot be snatched from us by all that is vehement in the world.

I am sure that in the midst of children who cherish you and whose conduct honours you, in company with our respectable and beloved mother, and in the continual practice of good works, you have not ceased for an instant to enjoy that inner happiness despite the rigours of fortune and the inseparable contradictions of our nature. Accordingly it only remains for me to wish for you its continuation for the year now about to begin, and which will be with you when these lines reach you. These wishes, I am sure, will not fail to be granted. And if the Lord adds the accomplishment of some other more material ones, we will bless him for it; if he refuses, we will bless him still; for in his infinite wisdom, he knows better than we do what is good for us, and the day will come when we will see that he often heard us when we thought that he had not deigned to listen to our prayer.

Kindly transmit these wishes to my excellent mother, to my good brother, to my beloved sisters, and to all the members of the family, to our friends and neighbours, etc.

Since my last letter, nothing that could interest you has taken place around me. Forced by circumstances to lead a very inactive life, I live withdrawn from the world in my dwelling of Coimbatore, engaged in study during all my free time once I have dealt with my correspondence. Only, since here there are very few Christians, and no church as yet, I am going to spend the principal feastdays at Carumattampatty, for which I will be leaving this evening so as to be there for Christmas Day and the festivities following it.

I believe I told you that we have built a seminary there in the last two years. Now, I am going to have the old house repaired to serve me as my personal lodging. In this way, when I go there, I will have the advantage of being right beside my dear pupils, without living absolutely with them, which would be a drawback. Moreover, I am preparing the elements for building a church here. We have great need of one. Here we need to have a decent church, not big, but which has the proper form of a church and which will inspire respect. Unfortunately Madame la République has meant that Propagation of the Faith has been unable to equal her previous receipts. What will happen in the future even? We have no idea really.

Whatever happens, I hope that the good God will inspire some way for pious souls to maintain our missions. Last year I received from a venerable priest who is rich and devoted to the mission, a legacy of ten thousand francs for the mission of Coimbatore. It is with this that we are going to begin the church as soon as we have a suitable piece of land. But we will need twenty or thirty thousand francs more to build something passable. How will we manage? I leave it to divine Providence to procure them for us.

As you see, I am introducing you to our interior.

I do not know if I have told you that I had the further sorrow of losing a young collaborator, Mr Cornevin, who had arrived only some months earlier. He was carried away by smallpox, despite being attended by the English doctor. After his death, I feared for the excellent Mr de Gélis who caught his illness looking after him. Fortunately the latter, having been vaccinated, suffered a very mild version, and he has fully recovered his health. As for me, I am very well, and that is all I can tell you about my person.

A Dieu. Very dear father, renewing my New Year's wishes for you yourself and all of you, I embrace you tenderly and ask you to believe me without reserve, in the charity of Our Lord,

Your completely devoted and very respectful son.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Kindly pass the enclosed on to young Roudière, son of your neighbour the carpenter at Castelnaudary.

Coimbatore, 21 December 1849

Sent_0440

Sent_0440 - to Mr Godelle - 8 January 1850 -/2

Sent_0440 - à M. Godelle - le 8 janvier 1850 -/3

Sent 0440 - to Mr Godelle - 8 January 1850 /2

Sent 0440 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 305-308

(to Mr Joseph Godelle)

(apostolic missionary)

He answers a question by Mr Godelle regarding the advisability of having a major seminary proper at Pondicherry. All merits considered, it seems that it would not be desirable, at least for the moment, and he shows all the drawbacks and difficulties which would arise from it. But of course this is merely a personal opinion.

Index: seminary (major)

Carumattampatty, 8 January 1850

I have delayed considerably, my dear Mr Godelle, in answering your good letter of 19 December. The fact that I find the task difficult. However much I searched, turned and re-turned the question, I cannot find a favourable answer to your wishes.

In fact let us take all the favourable hypotheses possible : the seminary prospers on a continuous basis; a way is found to provide the priests' living quite apart from aid received from Europe ; a successful form of administration is created which means that these priests feel no embarrassment of each other, but help one another in God's work; when they grow old, sick or infirm, they do not gather at Pondicherry ; those failing in virtue will be punished without too much scandal for the people and without burdening the mission ; finally some of them will be found whose zeal, learning and piety will surpass what could be expected of the common mass and they could be employed successfully on works, outside of the holy ministry to the Christians, such as the printing press, the education of youth and even the missions to the Gentiles. I even admit that, for such persons, the mission could make certain expenditures if its means permit it these works which are essentially those of the missions.

With this suppositum of perfection, how many priests could you have in the apostolic vicariate of Pondicherry, with the number of existing Christians and the dispersion of the Christian communities ? about forty. Among them, four or five will always be sick in spirit or body, which means that we can count on 45, say 50. Now, to maintain a personnel of 50 priests of the country, inured to the climate, better fed, better kept than most of their fellow countrymen, who will consequently live longer, we would scarcely need one new priest a year. Accordingly your major seminary would be reduced to an average of 4 to 5 pupils, an average, remark, that is to say that certain years they would be 10 or 12, and other years none at all. So that, even if it were true that there was a great advantage in having a major seminary, it seems to me quite impossible that we could afford to have one in Pondicherry.

But this advantage even appears to me to be exceedingly questionable. You quote the example of France, but that example is based on a confusion of words that the affairs of Europe have created in France since the concordat. The impious way followed by the University forced the bishops to make of their minor seminaries simple secondary schools open to all vocations, where the faith of some at least of the youth of France was preserved from the shipwreck. It has merely kept the name of seminary, while even the ecclesiastic habit has been put on one side; the law of the government has been violated on this point, while at the same time dispensing with all the prescriptions of the holy Council of Trent. The fact is that these establishments were no more than secondary schools. Happy confusion of words which permitted the bishops of France to keep certain secondary schools pure and religious, when without that all the young men would have been forced to go and drink the polluted water of the state grammar schools.

But let us others make no mistake about it. Only the major seminaries are seminaries in France. And if, besides, the bishops could guarantee the education of youth, I do not doubt but that they would hasten to form real seminaries, both for the young clerics of 14 to 15 and for the others, according to the rules that we cannot appreciate too much of chapter 18, session 23 de religione of the Holy Council. Grammar would be taught there at the same time as the Holy Scriptures, theology and the holy canons; the large number of pupils would sometimes make it necessary to create advantageous divisions, but these different branches would only form in some sort one seminary of which that of the episcopal Church would be the head.

As for us, if we were so happy as ever to have need of 300 young clerics, I think that we should as far as possible base ourselves on that form. But its very impossibility should make us discard it; all the more since we can only hope to have a very limited number of clerics as from now for a quite contingent future, we would divide our resources to the more or less forthcoming detriment of both establishments.

Quite apart from the much greater expenses entailed for maintaining five or six clerics separate from the others than if they remained combined, you would need two missionaries more, devoted to the native clergy, who are not disgusted to take the class of whole years for the benefit of two or three persons, etc., etc, and, moreover, it is very much to be feared that these young clerics might be extremely embarrassed morally at finding themselves continually facing two or three fellow disciples and one or two directors, and that this might considerably harm their souls. To fully realise the danger of this position, we should not judge by the inclinations of the clerics that you have now to hand and of the missionaries who may perhaps be encountered at this moment, available and prepared to undertake this work, mortifying by its nature, but we should consider the ordinary character of both.

After considering all of this, I feel persuaded that, if you should divide the seminary at this moment, it will not be ten years before you find some of the drawbacks that I have just pointed out, and that you will combine them once more. Now, these changes are always bad, and every effort should be made to avoid them when they have been foreseen. And, my dear Mr Godelle, note that I am counting everything for the best ; you can bet that something will go wrong and that my fears come true even earlier.

So you will ask me, should we remain as we are then? No. A great evil exists : and that is the union of a completely lay secondary school with the seminary. Here is the separation that should be made. This is no easy task at Pondicherry at the present time above all and with the unfortunate layout of the new building. But is it impossible? : no, at least in time, especially since, if supervision is well established, there could be communication for grammar classes. But the Holy Scriptures, theology, etc., spiritual exercises, meals and recreations should be completely distinct, and the seminary should follow, as far as possible, the rules laid down by the Council of Trent.

So that, dear confrere, is my view of the question. You understand of course that this is a quite personal opinion; and I have nothing to do with the seminary of Pondicherry and do not doubt that the Holy Spirit will enlighten those in charge of it, and above all the venerable bishop on whom it depends and who is so strongly animated with zeal for its prosperity. You asked for my opinion, and I am giving it to you as a friend, just as I would give it to you in conversation. Make of it whatever use you please and believe me, in the union of your prayers and in the participation of the merits of your work, completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 8 January 1850)

Sent_0441

Sent_0441 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 janvier 1850 -/1

Sent_0441 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 janvier 1850 -/1

Sent 0441 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 January 1850 /1

Sent 0441 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 329-332

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 308

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Best wishes for the New Year. Reminder of his invitation to come to Coimbatore.

Index: wishes, visit

Carumattampatty, 8 January 1850

My Lord,

The legal time is passing to wish you a Happy New Year. Hoping each day to receive from Y.L. a favourable answer to the last article of my previous letter, I let the first few days of January pass, but I cannot let another week go by. Accordingly kindly accept my best wishes that I would ask you to interpret as broadly as possible.

I still hope that Y.L. will find no difficulties in coming to pay us a little visit ; or rather that Y.L. will be able to get rid of any small difficulties that may arise (for this happens on almost any occasion).

In that hope, and asking you to kindly convey my best wishes for the new year to all of our dear confreres of Pondicherry, I ask you to believe me, in the union of our holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 8 January 1850)

Sent_0442

Sent_0442 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 11 janvier 1850 -/2

Sent_0442 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 11 janvier 1850 -/1

Sent 0442 - circular to the missionaries - 11 January 1850 /1

Sent 0442 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 309-310

(circular to his missionaries)

In order to conform to a French directive, he asks them to obtain from France two extracts from their birth certificates, one of which is for the director of the mission. Do you agree to Mgr Luquet being our bursar in Rome?

Index: civil authorities, office in Rome

Carumattampatty, 11 January 1850

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I have just received a letter from Mr Langlois dated 6 August 1849, which informs me of a letter addressed to him by the Director of Archives and Chanceries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which it is requested that each French missionary takes care to procure two exemplified copies of his birth certificate, duly legalised by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and that he is obliged, on arriving at his destination, to lodge one in the hands of the director of the mission where he is to reside. This measure is in the interest of the missionary's family in case of death.

In their next common letter, the Directors in the Seminary of Paris will let us know in detail what has to be done to regularise these death certificates which, on occasion as a result of not being drawn up in the forms prescribed by the civil code, may imply serious drawbacks in the family's affairs. But as, in any case, it would be advisable for you to take your measures in order to procure this duplicate legalised copy, I decided not to wait for the arrival of the future common letter to let you know of this first formality to be complied with.

Another letter from Mr Langlois, dated 22 November 1849, contains the following passage : "We know the vote of all our missions on the choice of Mgr Luquet for deputy of our missions in Rome, except for yours and that of Mysore. We would ask Y.L. to let us know the feeling of Y.L. and your missionaries on this point."

Accordingly I would ask all those of my missionaries who have spent two full years in India to let me know as soon as possible in writing whether or not they are in favour of Mgr Luquet as general bursar of our missions in Rome.

Commending myself to your prayers and holy sacrifices, I would ask you to believe me, Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 11 January 1850)

Sent_0443

Sent_0443 - to Mgr Bonnand - 29 January 1850 -/2

Sent_0443 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 29 janvier 1850 -/3

Sent 0443 - to Mgr Bonnand - 29 January 1850 /2

Sent 0443 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 333-336

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 311

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thanks you for your latest news. Here trouble is smouldering, it would not take much for a calabam to break out. Explanation of the works he is now undertaking at Carumattampatty: building of tavarams outside the precincts of the church proper and consolidation of the house. I have to be there, for there are problems of execution and the pagans are opposed to it. When everything is finished, after Easter, come and see us.

Index: building, visit, Indian usages

Coimbatore, 29 Janaury 1850

My Lord,

I am taking advantage of two days' holiday that I have come here to take, to catch up with my correspondence neglected for the last month when I have been doing duty as mestri at Carumattampatty.

I am very grateful to you for all the kind things that Y.L. says to me your letter of the 16th. However I hope that the determination you have to write to me at greater length will not be lost, and that you will repay me for the wrong done me by your visits of the 16th, at a time where you have more leisure.

I thank you also for the copy of the letter from the S.C. and I respond to your kindness by sending you, for my part, copy of the one I have received in the same form and undoubtedly at the same time as that to Y.L. The last sentence will perhaps be unintelligible to you. If you are really interested in understanding it, next time I will send you a copy of the last paragraph of my letter to the S.C.

I would not be astonished if the demon should create some troubles and embarrassments in our people here. As you know, the Christians of these parts every now and then yield to the pleasure of calabams () They have been quiet for four to five years now, which must seem very long to them. Thus, I notice by various signs that it would require a mere trifle to stir them up.

An imprudence that Mr Ravel committed in the town of Palghat was close to becoming for us and the seminary the beginning of a second edition of what happened at Pondicherry. I trust I have hushed the affair up, but do not flatter myself with having succeeded. For it is only recent still, and we will have to wait a little longer to see whether things will remain where they are.

As I said, for the last month I have been converted into a mestri, for in fact at Carumattampatty we are undertaking a repair which should be very fine, however it breaks a mamoul (); which is enough, I think, for it to bring as much pain as pleasure to the Christian community, and besides it provides the occasion for the priests of the coast (a class which is not extinct) to sulk because we are changing what others had done.

In fact, I would never have dared to propose such a change myself because of the mamoul, but the maniacarer were the first to request it, and that still is what will save us, for the majority is obliged to say : it is not we who proposed this thing. I made only one mistake, and that is to grant it too quickly. Foreseeing all the force of the mamoul, I should have pretended not to want it.

And this is what it consists of: as you know, the church is surrounded by tavaram. I proposed to use this year's revenues from the church to repair them, seeing that they are falling down and that the water comes in on all sides. The maniacarer were very pleased at that. But, they said to me, "if you are going to make such a big expenditure, could we not transport all of these tavaram

elsewhere, for during the feasts, there is such a din inside the church that it is almost unbearable. It is even indecent, because of the filth littering the courtyard, without counting that, from the altar and almost anywhere in the church you can see half-naked women cooking rice."

All of this was too good not to agree to it. Accordingly we took all the ground to the north going as far as the houses, and there we are erecting immense closed tavaram, with a door outside of the courtyard of the church and another one leading into the courtyard, at the end of which we are sinking a well. The church will be cleared and surrounded by walls. On one side, the wall will hold up the tavaram, while on the other will be the seminary and the courtyard of the house separated by railings; at the far end there will still be two galleries. I believe that the whole thing will be very good and much more convenient for everyone, however we will have to make people forget the former tavaram.

For their part, the pagans have tried to oppose our taking the ground north of the church ; finally the matter is not without certain difficulties of execution, and since Mr Métral already has his hands full what with the seminary and the Christian community, and besides he is not very practical on building matters, I am obliged to be there. Finally, while I am at it, I am going to repair the old house that is on the point of collapse. I would not be surprised if it should fall still when we try to repair it, for you should see how it is built !

But once all of this is done, that is to say, after Easter, Y.L. has no excuse for not coming to see us : "Impossible even to think of it for the moment". And I say: very well, although I am tempted to have some doubts on this impossible which is no longer French, but between now and Easter, make it possible and you will make many people happy.

Last month, I only received one letter from Mr Langlois who tells me that they know the outcome of the vote of all the missions, except for ours and that of Mysore, regarding Mgr Luquet as bursar in Rome. I informed the missionaries accordingly. Here Mgr Luquet will not get the majority.

I commend myself to your (... ?...)

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 29 January 1850)

Sent_0444

Sent_0444 - à M. Bonjean - le 6 février 1850 -/3

Sent_0444 - to Mr Bonjean - 6 Feb ruary 1850 -/3

Sent 0444 - to Mr Bonjean - 6 February 1850 /3

Sent 0444 partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 312-316

(to M. Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

Fairly long letter regarding certain usages that are permitted, forbidden or tolerated, and how the bull should be interpreted: those who beat the drum during burials, those who attend pagan burials, those who pay over money on the occasion of burials... See that Joachim does not write to Rome. The imprudence of Mr Ravel at Palghat; the enlargement of the church of Ootacamund: wait, fix a scale of fees: prudence.

Index: Indian usages, building

Carumattampatty, 6 February 1850

I send him a packet come for him from Pondicherry.

Some comments now on your letter of 29 January and certain points in your report.

You say that the bull is formal for those who beat the drum at pagan burials. But that is not right. As regards ecclesiastical penalties, the words should be taken as they are and never extended. Now the bull only speaks of the musicians playing in the pagodas and for superstitious solemnities. Now it cannot be said that the honours rendered to the dead through music, which is the usage of the country, are superstitious. That superstitions are mingled with the ceremony, is something else, but if it is possible not to participate in these superstitions by rendering somehow certain honours to the dead, that might not be condemnable. In any case, the musicians may be guilty, but they are not in the category of those on whom the penalties of the bull fall. It is in this sense that Mgr of Drusipare has decided the question, in Mr Métral's report, for other places where this abuse exists.

For those attending burials, the same distinction should be made, indeed, it is easier for them than for the musicians not to participate in the superstitions, while rendering certain funerary honours to their dead neighbours or friends. There are places where it is observed in this way. That the Christians of Ootacamund do not make this distinction, that they are guilty, may be true, that is what we should examine carefully and without haste, because it often happens, in these sorts of things, that one examination is contradicted by a second ; but we should not judge a priori that there is superstition in Gentile practices because it happens that someone attends certain funeral ceremonies.

As for the decree, I do not know how you can draw a prior conclusion. In fact it is supposed that one contributes with one's money to all of the various ceremonies, among which it is certain that some are superstitious, and that no-one protests against participation in such Gentile practices. From this decree which condemns something that is obviously condemnable, how can one conclude that the person who perhaps participates only in one part is equally guilty? And note finally that this decree was applied for places where things take place in a quite different way from here.

That there is danger in all of such participations is clear, that your Christians are perhaps thereby very guilty is possible, but I urge you strongly not to decide the question so quickly but to examine it carefully, above all before committing, as a result of all of this, acts that are always dangerous such as quashing a natamacaren. ()

It could be that you have given dangerous advice to Joachim by suggesting that he should write to Rome. For it is very probable that at Rome they will not answer him. Now his pride will be flattered by writing and, not receiving any answer, he will draw a conclusion in favour at least of the doubt on the pretensions of the schismatics. I advise you strongly to profit from another occasion, to ask him as if by chance: "Well, have you written to Rome?... do so then... besides, it is very probable that you won't get any answer: 1) because the question is sufficiently clear and they do not often answer questions to which it is quite easy to find the solution elsewhere; 2) because at Rome, answers are usually only given to bishops or their representatives. If you were set on getting a reply, you would have to pass your letter through a Catholic bishop." That or something similar which, without giving the appearance of making you change your advice, would avoid its danger.

On this occasion, I do not know if I have made you acquainted with the result of the steps I took for what you asked me about the arrival of a new archbishop in Goa.

I tell him that we have heard no talk of this even in Goa.

In the Nilghiris, it is difficult not to accept certain things from the topas, but there are prudential steps to be taken and it is indispensable to do this. As regards the outcasts, one should not, in the Nilghiris any more than elsewhere, receive cooked dishes such as sorrou (), stewed meats, etc. One may accept bread, even cakes, always with prudence and without ostentation. This is the practice that your predecessors followed and if there were some exceptions, this is outside of obedience; certain of these were very nearly disastrous, as happened in the case of Mr Laugier.

At this moment, if there is a difference to be observed compared with the behaviour of those who preceded you, it is that we should be more prudent than ever, because since we are now more numerous, the Christians have their eyes on us much more and, from what they see done by one or the other separately, they add them up to accuse en bloc the samis when the occasion arises. This is how the affair which nearly gave us a great deal of trouble happened by an imprudence of Mr Ravel at Palghat.

Detail of this affair, praise of Mr Ravel on that occasion.

If you think that, by making known in the Service that our bungalow is for sale, this is a way of finding buyers, kindly try it, providing that it does not involve us in any expense.

The Bursar should have answered you, or will do so soon under the heading of finances.

And I return to what I was saying to you the other day on the subject of your report. It seems to me that you are covering many things contemporaneously. I do not wish to place any limits on your zeal, but do not forget that zeal should be according to science. He who attempts too much, concludes nothing; and I demand that you devote to your health the care that should commonly be taken in these parts where the climate is so treacherous.

For reasons that it would be too long to write, we cannot consent to your enlarging your church of Ootacamund. This does not apply to the wing for the tamoulers that on the contrary it is very desirable to see aligned with that of the Europeans, but to the body of the church which should stay as it is for at least several years more, without consequently fearing that the repairs undertaken for its preservation, and even for its inner embellishment, are money wasted.

As for the measures that should be taken to ensure that taxes will never be demanded on the land, if you think you have a good chance of succeeding, I authorise you to proceed.

Finally, as regards approval of the various fees of which you send me a list, before signing it, several years' experience are required to prove that the thing is possible, that the rate is really in relation to the possibilities of the Christians, that there are no major difficulties implied in its execution, etc, etc. In any case, we must guard against saying that exhumations could take place after two years. That would be revolting. The poorest person must lie quiet in his tomb until he is reduced to dust.

I am sending you the bishop's Lenten letter.

I dispense him from fasting because of his health, providing he will offer once and for all, in compensation, Lenten works.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 6 February 1850)

Sent_0445

Sent_0445 - à sa mère - le 15 février 1850 -/3

Sent_0445 - to his mother - 15 February 1850 -/3

Sent 0445 - to his mother - 15 February 1850 /3

Sent 0445 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 146-148

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 316

(to his mother)

Long letter revealing his deep love for his mother. He has lost two missionaries; how the feast of Epiphany was spent. He attended a comedy on the last judgment which lasted the whole night. How, without incurring too vast expense, he managed to feed over 700 persons for the feast. Some comments on the unfortunate situation in France. Strictly speaking, he needs nothing, but he would not refuse if something were sent to him.

Index: attachment (family), Indian usages, feast of Epiphany

Carumattampatty, 15 February 1850(

)

My very dear mother,

I wanted to write to you last month, to let you know as soon as I could how much pleasure your letter of 16 November gave me. I know how difficult you find it to write; thus I do not need you to take the trouble to do so, to remain assured of your love for a son who, for his part, loves you more than words can tell. However, those few lines written in your hand gave me an additional pleasure. May the good God reward you.

I wanted to write to you, I say, last month ; but for the last two months I have been converted into a master mason, which means that my every moment is taken up, or interrupted, which is worse. This year I had the misfortune of losing two missionaries, one whom death carried off almost as soon as he had arrived, and the other who became disgusted with the missions. This means that we are reduced to eight from the eleven we should be and that I am myself obliged to supervise the material work on several buildings that we are erecting at Carumattampatty. This doesn't really amuse me, but we are not missionaries in order to be amused, are we? And I feel sure that you will scarcely regret me and you will be right; so let us go on to something else.

You want me to describe the little details of my life, well, I will tell you how the feast of Epiphany was spent. We started it off the day before by attending the comedy. This word may astonish you, but the comedy in itself is not too bad. It is not bad so long as it is not abused, as for many other things besides. Unfortunately, this is one of the things that lend themselves most to abuse, and that is why it has become almost generally an evil.

Now the Indians are always eager for comedies, and since these are performed out of doors, it is very difficult to prevent the Indians from attending those played by the pagans, most of which are of deplorable immorality, and not without danger for the faith, since they almost always put their divinities on to the stage. To avoid this drawback and to benefit from these popular plays in favour of the faith, the Jesuits of former times had the idea of presenting Christian comedies, in which people fight while laughing at the absurdities of paganism or the evil passions. There are several of these comedies that are very well done to which the pagans as well as the Christians throng. It is not rare that pagans are converted as a result of these performances.

Unfortunately, the practice has degenerated. Wherever the Europeans have brought progress, it is no longer possible for ecclesiastics to attend these performances that they even find themselves obliged to forbid because of the abuses, the changes and the impure interludes mixed with them. Here where we are fortunate enough to be less civilised than at Pondicherry, for example, at Madras and other big cities, we can still permit the comedies, indeed even attend them. Accordingly, we attended the tani tirvei, that is to say, the particular judgment.

There is a bad Christian, happy in a worldly way and who boasts of his happiness, who despises all the good advice that the elders of the village, his godfather, and his godmother give him in turn. But then it happens that, in his debauchery, he catches a shameful disease that brings him to the grave. The devil comes to snatch hold of his prey, but his good angel opposes him. The former asserts his rights describing all his bad behaviour and, calling to his aid a crowd of other demons, who carry him off. But the good angel obtains the miracle of his resurrection. Once restored to life, he comes back on the scene and, since he had gone to the gates of hell, he is now sincerely converted, makes honourable amends, renders glory to God who has just granted him such an immense favour and urges those present not to follow the example that he had given them first of all and which led him to catch a glimpse of hell.

If you do not have the key to Indian literature, you will be surprised not to find there what we call unity of action. But the Indians don't care for that. Their comedies are of indefinite length. Where things are treated grandly, they are divided into several acts which are played at an interval of several days between one and the other, with each of them lasting a whole night. This one was played in a single act, so that we were all set to spend a sleepless night; it ended at 5 in the morning. So much for the comedy.

The feast of Epiphany is quite famous among our Christians. It is the custom that, on that day, a big meal is consumed in all families. Whence it follows that the poor also have plenty to eat, for in all meals served on a feastday of caste, or marriage, etc. there is always a part set aside for the poor. This reason led me to postpone until the following Thursday a meal that I had decided to give for all the poor of the district. Giving food to everyone or to a certain number of poor people is very much to the taste of the Indians; it is even very honourable, to such a point that sometimes pride gets the better of the merit of charity.

Thus I announced that on Thursday I would give a meal for all the poor of the district. When I had this announced, it was greeted by an almost general smile, that means: take care! Then the people of the house made their comment on this smile: in all probability, they said to me, you will have all the Christians of the neighbourhood; and you must know that, in view of the customs of the country, it would be a very great shame on Y.L. if there was not enough for everyone to eat his fill. And in fact, all our Christians being in general very unfortunate, they had the realisation that they were poor compared to me.

To this, it should be added that here, there is no shame attached to poverty. On the contrary, a poor man who is legally authorised to beg is honoured. Finally, providing he is of equal caste, the richest cannot refuse, in ceremonies and other occasions, to sit beside him, to serve him even, for here it is the master of the house, when he is of sufficiently high caste, who serves his guests, and if he is of low caste or without caste (like your son), he has them served by domestic servants of nobler caste than their master.

So that it was necessary to take our precautions. These consisted in buying a very large quantity of rice so as not to find ourselves short of it. In fact, on Wednesday evening the vanguard of my guests arrived. To these, my meal served for three days for, on Wednesday they were quite content not to eat, since they were going to eat well on Thursday; on Thursday, having eaten a full stomach (here they talk about eating a full stomach, half a stomach, a third of a stomach, etc. according to what extent their appetite is satisfied), they will undoubtedly not need to eat on Friday.

From Thursday morning already, the courtyard of the church filled up; on long trenches filled with wood that a light breeze fanned into flame, were placed a long row of huge pots where the first provision of rice was cooking ; three sheep were grazing close to the house, while awaiting their turn to be put into the pot. At midday the poor beasts were still eating; at 5 o'clock they were eaten. For at 5 o'clock everything was ready. Seven hundred guests waited with the utmost patience, squatting on their heels, until it was all cooked, and trunks of banana-trees had been cut up to serve as plates, etc. As for spoons and forks, you may guess that the Indians know only those used by Adam.

Thus at five o'clock I was asked to send a priest to bless the crowd and the meal. That done, one and all swallowed their full stomach of food and then left... I bet now that you will be curious to know how much all of that cost me; well, this is the menu of expenses: rice, 10 rupees, or 25 francs, three sheep at 2 rupees, marrows, aubergines and other vegetables, pepper, salt, 3 rupees, wood, 2 rupees = 17 rupees, that is to say 42 francs 50.

So that's in greater detail than I thought to describe such an uninteresting thing, but I know that you love to be told all about such little events of the family as it were. What can I tell you now on the subject of your good letter. I had some inkling that the unfortunate affairs happening one after the other in France had had the effect of increasing your financial embarrassment. But what can you do about it? Since it is God's will, let us receive from his hand all that he is pleased to send us. I know that a mother suffers much more than anyone else from this state of affairs; she suffers for herself, but much more still for her children; thus her merit will be very great in heaven if she suffers with patience and resignation.

When you have done everything you can, when you have helped those around you with your wise advice, leave the rest in God's hands. But do not worry about me. I know that, if you could, you would pass on some part of the goods that the Lord gives you, and I would not refuse it, for in my position I must not refuse; but I am far from being in need personally, and for me personally to be in pressing need, our mission would have to have perished. Thus, so long as you see that the mission of Coimbatore exists, you can count on the fact that I have enough food and clothing, and providing I have that, should I not be content with Saint Paul ?

Finally, dearest Mamma, I pray God to give you peace of the heart, joy in the family, which I have no doubt that he will do, by inspiring my brother and my sisters with sentiments worthy of you and worthy of my respectable father. If they walk in the path of virtue, God will not abandon them; they may be more or less rich, but they will have as much as is necessary and they will find in themselves a hidden wealth which will not fail them.

A Dieu. I have come to the end of my paper. Offer my respects to my worthy father, pass on my friendly greetings to Henri and to my sisters, and believe me more than ever, dearest Mamma,

Your very respectful child.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 15 February 1850)

Sent_0446

Sent_0446 - à son frère Henri - le 16 février 1850 -/1

Sent_0446 - à son frère Henri - le 16 février 1850 -/1

Sent 0446 - to his brother Henri - 16 February 1850 /1

Sent 0446 Original, AMA 2F1, p 145

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 320

(to his brother Henri)

To ask him to send Mr Tesson two copies of his birth certificate.

Index: administrative formalities

Carumattampatty, 16 February 1850

My very dear Henri,

I am writing you these few lines to entrust you will a little errand. To avoid certain drawbacks which sometimes occur in family affairs on the death of missionaries, on account of not being able to present a death certificate which has fulfilled all the formalities required by the French bureaucracy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has just asked that each missionary should procure for himself two exemplified copies of his birth certificate, duly legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc.

Accordingly I wonder whether you could get hold of these two copies for me from the municipality of Castelnaudary, and send them to Mr Tesson, director in the Seminary of Foreign Missions, Rue du Bac 1220, in Paris. This dear confrere will see that the other conditions are met.

I am writing a rather long letter to my mother, that she will undoubtedly share with you all ; thus, I will not add anything else except the assurance that I don't need to renew of the sincere affection of

Your very devoted brother. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 16 February 1850)

Sent_0447

Sent_0447 - to Mr Tesson - 25 February 1850 -/6

Sent_0447 - à M. Tesson - le 25 février 1850 -/6

Sent 0447 - to Mr Tesson - 25 February 1850 /1

Sent 0447 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 321-329

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Long letter in answer to three directors following his letter saying that he wished to withdraw. No, it is not a temptation of the demon. Yes, I love the work of the missions more than ever; I am without any great inner peace. No, I am not discouraged. He then explains the reasons why it is difficult to do good, in particular the absence of authority: the superiors in Paris are too far away, even the episcopal status no longer implies authority. Our bishops do not have the opportunity of meeting up together. A great error in our organisation : we depend entirely on funding from Europe. If the source dries up, our missions disappear. What should be changed in our regulations (which envisages perfect men), in our constitution (which is too general), and in our congregation (which only permits an isolated good). In undertaking this work, I am an obstacle for those who could work on it fruitfully. Whatever I say and do, I am taken for a second Luquet. In addition, my conscience is not tranquil on our way of behaving regarding the Indian usages and I do not want to remain in doubt. Now, how can Rome be persuaded to reconsider the decisions taken earlier? Accordingly it only remains for me to withdraw. My withdrawal will be more eloquent than a long report.

Index: resignation from Coimbatore, regulations, reform of the MEP, authority of Rome, Indian usages

Coimbatore, 25 February 1850()

My dear Mr Tesson,

I am very grateful to you, and I say this very sincerely, I assure you, for the charity that you evince to me in your letter of 24 December. I thank you with all my heart, as well as the venerable Mr Langlois, and Mr Legrégeois whom I do not have the honour of knowing in person, but whom I recognise as a confrere filled with wisdom and zeal for our cause.

In order not to repeat the same thing several times over, now I am going to answer the letters of all three of you : First of all, do not be surprised if you have not convinced me, if I believe even that you have not fully understood me ; and allow me to explain what I mean a little. I know how difficult it is to deal with such subjects by letter, but what can be done when it is morally impossible for us to understand one another otherwise ?

No, I do not think that the resolution I am considering is a temptation of the demon. Without doubt, I may delude myself on this point, but finally it is true that my desire according to flesh would dictate something quite different; naturally I would desire that you were right and I wrong. Disgust has not taken over my soul; I love as much and more than ever the work of the missions. If I have troubles, the Lord has not left me and is still not leaving me without some consolation.

Finally, the Lord is gratifying me with an inner peace such that it seems to me that I am personally quite indifferent to the result of the steps that I am only taking to accomplish a duty. I have not spoken of this to anyone here, and I am carrying out my present duties with as much pleasure as if none of this existed. But I am ashamed to speak to you of me and I am only giving you this insight into my inner self because it seems to me that this deserves some consideration in the judgment that you are giving of a temptation. Now if it is not a temptation, from whom would such a thought which is so strongly against my interests come?

I do not believe either that it is the result of the discouragement caused by the trials that the Lord has sent me. They may have served as impulsive causes, but not in any way determining ones. If they have any part in my resolution, it is not through their nature and not through the intensity of sorrow that they bring with them. And as for persons, those who have contributed most to this effect are not those of whom it seems that I could complain in some way, but those whom I esteem the most and even that I venerate.

When I saw that those of our confreres who really seek the good, who only desire the good and who are strong in bringing it about, had neither the means of agreeing, or even of reaching agreement, or of helping one another, that their works were continually contradicted, opposed, upset, etc., etc, that the superiors did not possess any power to hold back some, to support the others, etc. etc., I said to myself : what are we doing ? where are we going? There is no reason why the best of our missions is not overturned tomorrow.

Now this evil is not for the individual missions alone ; it exists essentially in the Society, and that is why, instead of fortifying ourselves as time goes on, instead of developing ourselves, instead of founding something stable, we do nothing but drag on without carrying any work through to the end. This is the necessary result of our dislocation and of certain errors that were born of a generous idea but that was impracticable in the form that our missions have been led, by circumstances, to take. These errors have been without remedy as a result of this dislocation . We are a body without a head, or if you will with several heads, which is worse, above all when these heads are thousands of leagues from one another, so that they cannot even see and talk to one another.

In vain it could be said, as certain persons believe, for it was written to me, that each vicariate may be considered as a separate bishopric and that unity may exist in it, when only the name has changed. This is a great error. Moreover, not having any vow of obedience, we find ourselves in a highly abnormal position. What should we say to confreres who claim that the obedience they owe to the apostolic vicar is merely one of propriety, since they have not made any vow to him, and it was not in his hands that they pronounced the promitto. I know very well what could be answered, but I also know that these reasons would only convince those who do not require any such explanation.

We should not delude ourselves either that the episcopal character suffices to impose it. One gets used to that as to anything else. In order for it alone to impose it constantly, it would need to be always exerted by not only pious men but very superior to their fellows from all points of view; and that is precisely what is rarely found among us, because of the large number of subjects who, in proportion to the number of missionaries, must be raised to the episcopate. Thus, I do not fear to affirm that, with us, the bishopric is little prized, indeed quite otherwise, and I have wondered more than once if in conscience we could permit this abuse.

But at least it would be necessary that, if the bishop's authority is almost nil, at least there should be an authority in the Society. Now, no-one is the superior of anyone else. In order to find an authority superior to the non-existent authority of the bishop, there would need to be the meeting of apostolic vicars, in other words, a practical impossibility. The seminary of Paris which alone would be capable, it seems to me, of possessing a superiority at least of administration, does not possess any such. It is no more than those heads of a body of which the others are at Pondicherry, at Bangkok, in Su-Chuen, etc. People complain of the Seminary of Paris, and I admit that at times it is very difficult to excuse it, but is that not because it is aware of its weakness and cannot go ahead without exposing itself? In that state, it must often let things go as they will, it has to say: after all, that is not my business.

With such a disorder in our constitution, we should no longer be surprised if disasters follow one another uninterruptedly, if they are all possible in germ. How can we reach agreement? How can we introduce the different and successive measures that the times demand ? How can we benefit from the favourable occasions which, once missed, do not arise again? How can we decline an imminent danger, before it has wreaked its ravages? The regulation which, if it was perfect, would however still remain a dead letter, how could it receive the life of an authentic interpretation? And who can tell all the evil resulting for our mission from all of these impossibilities, above all because of the impossibility of good that they imply ? Should we not ask ourselves if, in conscience, we can participate in the continuation of such a state of affairs?

As for the errors that I have indicated heretofore, I will only cite one, which suffices to explain many things to me: the usage of the viaticum and of the supplement. It has been said: we must prove to these people that it is souls that we have come to seek, and not their money; our ministry must be carried out gratis. That would be all very well if we only carry out missions as we pass through. But accidental missions have been confused with permanent missions. What has happened? The fact is that it proved impossible to put that into practice. Our ministry has not been free of charge. It has been somewhat less onerous in certain places, but in others, it has led missionaries to destroy the small sources of revenues of the Christian communities which should serve for the administration of the native clergy, for the building of churches, etc.

We would need a book in order to list all the negative consequences of something which appears so trivial and which will only be understood by those who have witnessed them or who may have reflected deeply on these matters. Meanwhile, it is inevitable that as we increase in number, we diminish in the means of doing good ; it is inevitable that instead of fortifying and ensuring the foundation of our work, we impoverish it more and more, and we will come, if we are not already there, to no longer exist except by the uncertainty of completely foreign subsidies, that is to say that the Society of Foreign Missions will no longer be founded. The former vicariates, instead of being solidly founded and of coming to the aid of the new ones, will be reduced, like the youngest, to perishing if the foreign aid should no longer be forthcoming for even two years.

And what could I not say on this distressing point which touches the intimate interest of our churches, that we cannot in conscience, it seems to me, leave floating and so uncertain ? Reflect seriously on all of this, my dear Mr Tesson, do not hasten to say that these are merely effects of the imagination, remembering that we will without doubt be required to answer for the good that we prevent, as well as that we do ourselves.

And now I am going to try and answer some of the objections raised against me.

You say it would be desirable for everyone to be perfect, but that is impossible. I admit this impossibility, thus I personally do not wish everyone to be perfect, for it does not seem wise to me to desire the impossible. What I would desire is that our regulations were made for the perfect and for the imperfect. Now, it is only for the perfect and for the extremely culpable who are excluded I still don't see very well how. For the imperfect, for those who constitute and will always constitute the main part of any society, there is no direction, nothing to nourish piety, nothing to raise courage, nothing to renew us in our vocation, no rewards for merit, no graduated punishments for shortcomings, no means of preventing excesses, of exciting zeal, of supporting weakness, in short, no intermediate means between the extremes.

You say : despite that, our constitution is the work of very respectable prelates. I don't deny it, but I believe that it is the work of prelates who were not able to reach agreement. The bases were laid from the beginning, before they had any practical knowledge of the missions. When it become necessary to revise them, they found themselves thousands of leagues away from one another. Each one must have said: what can be done? To get my idea accepted, it would take years, volumes of letters ; will I be understood, will I even be read with attention? etc., etc. Then they contented themselves with general clauses and submitted to a sort of rough copy of regulations, that these prelates underwent rather than made themselves.

You say : however our congregation has done a great deal of good and we hope that it will continue to do so. Let us be very careful here not to delude ourselves. This is a danger we are more exposed to as regards the Society to which we belong, than as far as we are concerned personally. We have had and we have confreres full of virtue, full of merit, they have faced martyrdom when it confronted them, they have done besides all they can to personally make the most of the talent that the Lord has given them; but have they found in the Society this extrinsic strength that societies communicate ordinarily to their members, this overall strength that quadruples the efforts of individual zeal? After having examined everything carefully, we find perhaps that apart from the Seminary of Paris, which does general good by providing the missions with subjects and pecuniary aid, there is only isolated good in our congregation.

You say : by touching the constitution of a society, we risk doing it more harm than good, and that is very true. However, when it is a question of saving a work which is disintegrating, we do not risk as much and we can hope for a happy result. I do not say that we are absolutely at that point, but (please God that I am mistaken!) I believe we are not so far away. Besides, I believe that there are ways of doing the thing prudently, gently, without passion and that is what certain of our confreres who deserve general trust should undertake together with you.

I say with you, for it is you, that is, the Seminary of Paris that I regard as having the capacity and the duty of saving our congregation. And yet, I would lie to my conscience if I did not say to you that there is much to be desired on everything regarding this precious Seminary. I will not go into more details at the moment; I will merely say that since things are as they are, the personnel of the Seminary might consist of very different subjects from what they should always be.

However, it happens at this time, by chance, or rather by a particular permission of God, that it finds itself as it would be if our regulations were well made on this point. Believe me, it will not always be thus if things remain as they are. Your successors will not be like you and if it were possible to have regrets in heaven, you will feel that of not having ensured yourselves worthy successors, unless you undertake a wise reform.

I feel persuaded that there is still enough life and above all virtue in our Society for this reform to come about, providing we do not delay too long. At other times and in other circumstances, I would have prayed the Lord to permit that the feeble means he has given me were employed in this work. But today, I consider myself not only as impotent to do anything in this sense, but even as an obstacle to those who could work at it with profit.

The main reason is the prejudice that has prevailed that I have adopted all the ideas of Mgr Luquet, that my work would merely be a renewal of the works of that prelate, etc, etc. Certainly, nothing is more false. If I approved certain things of Mgr Luquet, I have never approved the whole. Since I believed I could use the free language of friendship with him, I told him so from the time of the first serious imprudence that he committed, which singularly cooled him down towards me. Later, I did not approve of it at all and told him so. He stopped writing to me; for over a year now, I have had no word from him and for several years nothing to indicate the least trust in my words. But it makes no difference, I pass and I will continue to pass for a second him.

This prejudice is all the more dangerous since while taking care not to approve everything, I cannot prevent myself from approving still what I found approvable earlier, what you yourself and what the S.C. approved; thus, as soon as one of these things returned, people would conclude, as they do in these parts, that it is Mgr Luquet who is speaking and acting through me ; and from this sample that I would not deny, they would dress me in the whole piece.

Moreover, were someone else to do the best thing in the world, and I to approve it, my approval throws indignant discredit over him. This in fact happened last year to My Lord of Drusipare himself. Finally, this prejudice does not pursue me only in such or such a work, but it accompanies all of my actions. Whence I conclude not only my uselessness, but my danger and the usefulness for the society of my withdrawal.

To all of these reasons others may be joined touching my conscience even more directly, drawn from the state of religion in India, a state in which I can no longer participate by laying, as I have done thus far, my conscience in the conscience of my superiors. This state appears to me no different from that in which heretics and schismatics live. Many are in good faith (as I feel more convinced every day); they rest on their natural superiors, on the authority of the respectable persons surrounding them, who act in peace and live quietly. They live in a prejudice which will excuse many of them, but not all, not those who try to realise what their position is.

These must necessarily arrive at a doubt and, from this doubt, they must find a way out whatever it costs them in such a serious matter as the purity of the faith and union with the holy Church. It is not a question of faith, you will tell me. Yes, but it is a question of obedience to the head of the Church, of purity of the doctrine. Thus obey quite simply the decrees, the instructions of Rome, you will tell me further. Yes, but if I do that, I am condemning my predecessors, I am putting myself in opposition with the neighbouring vicariates and, without the slightest doubt, that will mean the complete ruin of my mission. Can I do so when in a simple doubt? I do not think so.

On another hand, I cannot remain in doubt. I cannot continue to elude the opinions, at times the orders of Rome. I have to be able to say to myself, to say to others that the line I follow is certainly legitimate. It is said: Rome has never been sufficiently enlightened on these matters. Very well, I believe even that, so long as we take only those measures that have been taken thus far, it is almost impossible for Rome to be really in a position to make decisions which only leave to be desired the submission of those eager for the Gospel. It seems to me that we could, and if we can, that we should be more indulgent than we are for these poor peoples. But finally first of all, whatever our own personal opinion may be, we must obey. Is the matter really concluded? Our tergiversation, our way of torturing the sense from words, etc., is inexcusable.

Is there any way of making Rome come back on the decisions that were carried positis ponendis ? That the S.C. then leaves us free to think it and that it leaves to our conscience the determination of cases of conscience while safeguarding the faith and morals, by the general declaration that the Church does not take on itself the approval of what, for the moment, we here, believe most probably true.

But how can we hope that Rome will come back on the past ? How can we hope above all that it will listen to my voice if I begged it myself, would not this voice be suspect for more than one reason? and finally is Mgr Luquet not there still, who had the imprudence to jump ahead in a single bound to the extreme of the opinion which is not mine and which is the easiest to sustain, at the same time as it is that which will totally destroy Christianity in India if it is adopted once and for all? Finally, I repeat, is the question considered to be without return? It only remains for us to submit and to let our Christian communities perish, if necessary, rather than to haggle with the submission that we owe to the supreme authority. Is it not so definitively? Clearly? This is the thought of those persons on whose conscience we have thus far placed ours, but I don't see how they can reconcile their conduct with Rome's orders.

On the one hand then, I cannot remain indefinitely in such a cruel doubt ; on another hand, if they are right and Rome permits that we do not pay strict attention to its words, I do not want to set fire to my mission by following a conscience which might be wrong ; finally, being enlightened by Rome itself is an impracticable means in our position. What is left to me therefore except to retire?

If Rome deigns to pay attention to it, my withdrawal will tell it more than a long report on the affairs of India, which would undoubtedly be contradicted by others, which would merely renew quarrels whereby we always lose. I only ask to be able to obey it frankly, without being obliged, for this, to put myself in contradiction with the other evangelical workers, with the risk of seeing the good done by our predecessors disappear. If it is necessary for me to provide that proof that these are the only sentiments inspiring me, I consent to go on mission, if it wishes, to the centre of Africa, or to the wastes of Siberia, or to whatever part of the world it wants, providing there is no contradiction in its orders and the practices of the other missionaries.

May this long letter not have bored you too much. May you read it, you and the other directors, with the attention that I crave of your charity and consider what is to be done for the greatest glory of God and the discharge of my conscience. I am quite prepared to follow your counsels, if they are based on solid reasons, for you will conceive that, in such questions, mere counsels, dictated by the interest felt mutually and even by the sincerest friendship would not suffice.

Before ending, I notice that I have forgotten to respond to one of the difficulties that you have raised. Your departure, you say, would be less unfortunate if there were in the mission of Coimbatore several senior and experienced confreres, one of whom could be made bishop. It is true that it would be difficult to find all the qualities desirable in the small number of confreres in Coimbatore; if however only experience, knowledge of this part of the country and a piety beyond all praise were required, Mr Métral embodies it all. But it seems to me that it is a great misfortune to feel obliged to choose bishops always from among the missionaries of the vicariate. If it should be too difficult and dangerous, seeing the way in which the missions are conducted, to take them indistinctly from Societies, at least people's hands should not be tied so much that we cannot choose them from among all the members of this same Society. By acting in this way, there would be no difficulty in replacing me. Without going even very far afield, more capable persons than me could be found.

I commend myself , etc. etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. You have not told me if my letter of 25 October to the S.C. has been sent on. If you have not sent it, tell me, please, what changes you would like to have made to it, so that I can make all those that my conscience permits me, after which I will send it via Alexandria.

I have just received the letter from the directors dated 21 January. Really, I can't understand it at all. I cannot explain such an answer except by supposing that my letters are too long for the directors to have time to read them carefully ! I hope by each steamer to receive news of the departure of the two missionaries announced to me a few months ago.

(Coimbatore, 25 February 1850)

Sent_0448

Sent_0448 - à M. Bonjean - le 9 mars 1850 -/2

Sent_0448 - à M. Bonjean - le 9 mars 1850 -/1

Sent 0448 - to Mr Bonjean - 9 March 1850 /1

Sent 0448 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 320-321

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

What should be understood by disciple: how we should act with them. It is necessary to wait before taking pariah children.

Index: local clergy, disciple

Carumattampatty, 9 March 1850

He should do his best to look after his health. I have received the objects he sent. Mr Lehodey will tell him how he can get hold of the Annals of Propagation of the Faith in English.

I praise you for the zeal you demonstrate to me for raising young disciples and preparing them from afar for the seminary. I regard this cooperation as almost indispensable and as an obligation for all missionaries, but it is an obligation that some of them do not seem to understand. It also has its difficulties in practice.

In order to do any real good from this point of view, it would be necessary to find yourself as many disciples as possible and not keep them for long. After several months, it is possible, in dealing with them, to discover if they show an aptitude for study, piety, etc., thus you can lead them quite naturally to desire the seminary and send them there; if not, they should be sent back to their homes, because by keeping them soumma(), you only make them into poor subjects who lose the habit of work, etc. Otherwise, the very name of disciple is a nonsense, he is a cook, a butler, in fact a domestic servant, and nothing else. It would be well to maintain in the title of disciple something more respectable and which made him realise that he is destined to become master.

Unfortunately, you are in a very difficult position because of the extreme reluctance that parents would have to let their sons go to the mountain. However this does not mean that you cannot do anything, and I will take advantage when the occasion arises of your offer and your inclinations. As regards outcast pupils for the clericature, I really cannot yet see the way of using them without much more harm that good for religion. If any such way exists, it is still hidden and, were it personally known to us, before using it, it would have to be recognised as true, good, advantageous and practical both at Pondicherry, and in the missions of the Jesuit Fathers. Without that, by acting differently from our neighbours on such a delicate point, we would be sure, even if we were right, to contribute to a ruin and not to an edification.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 9 March 1850)

Sent_0449

Sent_0449 - to Mgr Bonnand - 11 March 1850 -/2

Sent_0449 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 11 mars 1850 -/2

Sent 0449 - to Mgr Bonnand - 11 March 1850 /2

Sent 0449 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 337-340

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 329

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Do not hesitate to engage a secretary for current business. Questions concerning Messrs Roger, Méhay and Pacreau. How to ensure that the new Indians ordained do not depend financially on the Bursar's office. The solution you adopt will be decisive for the whole of India.

Index: secretary, local clergy, maintenance (of the local clergy)

Carumattampatty, 11 March 1850

My Lord,

Yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving at the same time your two letters of 27 February and of 5 March.

I can quite see that with the number of matters that occupy you and that you deal with yourself directly, you have little time left for correspondence with friends. But would Y.L. permit me to remind you of Jethro's counsel to Moses ?

Y.L. has too numerous a personnel and too multiple details of administration for it to be possible, or I might even venture to add for it to be advisable, for you to deal with them all yourself. With a vicar entrusted with the correspondence of everything of a business nature, you would accomplish more in a quarter of an hour than in an entire day of fatigue and strain. May Y.L. see in these words exclusively the advice of a sincere friend.

Mr Barot was here when he received the letter of which you spoke to me ; he let nothing transpire outwardly.

A few days ago I received a very painful letter from Mr Roger. He made no mention in it of the things or persons of Pondicherry, but since in a previous letter, Y.L. had told me that he allowed himself improper behaviour and inappropriate remarks, I did not answer him, and I am glad that I did not from what you tell me in your latest missive.

As for Mr Méhay, he has not given us any sign of life. I hope that Y.L. will preserve us from a visit from him and if by chance it should take place, would you tell me what you would wish my behaviour to be towards him.

I really have some fears for the poor Mr Pacreau ; has he not left us to go and perish in the waves ? May the good God preserve him from all evil!

I have not received anything by this steamer of note and, since my previous letter, nothing has happened here liable to be of interest to you : I continue the job of mestri.

And now the time has come when we are about to have new priests of the country. Before they come to depend once and for all on the vicariate, can we not hope that something may be settled to ensure that this charge does not fall on the bursar's office. This is a very grave question on which the whole future of our missions may depend and for the success of which it would be advisable to desire that we may benefit from the good inclinations of the first priests who must naturally come out of your seminary, and whom we should not presume need to be constantly renewed? This is an opportunity that I would beg you not to let slip, all the more because these inclinations even could change in them if they once tasted the sweetness of the sambalam. ()

If this misfortune which is all too probable should occur, we would be seriously stopped by the absolute impossibility of providing for such an expense for a large number of priests. This misfortune would be one for us also, for how could we leave our priests in ignorance, once we have any, of the way those of Pondicherry are treated? And the knowledge they have of them will make the introduction of any other system impossible.

I pray the Lord to give Y.L. the means of carrying out what in fact I know to be your desire and conviction.

Kindly pass on friendly greetings to poor Patraque, and the good Mr Pouplin.

I commend myself, as always, to your good prayers and ask you to believe me in Our Lord,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 11 March 1850)

Sent_0450

Sent_0450 - to the directors of the Seminary - 19 March 1850 -/2

Sent_0450 - aux directeurs du Séminaire - le 19 mars 1850 -/2

Sent 0450 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 19 March 1850 /2

Sent 0450 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 61

partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 316-318

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Thank you for your advice; I will always be grateful to receive it. If I resign, I will do everything I can to avoid scandal. Resignation: I see no other solutions to avoid participating in a state of things that revolts my conscience. But I will not be precipitous.

Index: advice, resignation from Coimbatore

Carumattampatty, 19 March 1850

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I acknowledge receipt of your letters of 22 October and of 20 December.

I hope that you will see fit to send out as soon as possible the two missionaries that you promised me. Kindly urge them strongly to learn English in the time ahead of them, and during their voyage at sea.

A letter from Mr Langlois, dated 22 November, informed me that you knew the wishes of all of our missions on the choice of Mgr Luquet for deputy of our missions in Rome, except for ours and that of Mysore. I made this passage known to my missionaries, asking them to send me their vote in writing. It ensues that Mgr Luquet has obtained only one vote in Coimbatore, all the others being against.

It is now two years that Mr de Gélis is with us. Whenever I have spoken to you of him, it has been in his praise. I have the consolation of merely having to confirm him today. From all points of view, Mr de Gélis is an accomplished confrere; he merely needs to acquire a little more facility with the Tamoul language, but he will overcome this difficulty by his constancy. It only remains to enter him on the registers of our congregation, he cannot fail to do us honour.

A few days ago I received the little booklet from Mgr of Mallos on the sad affair of Bangkok. I do not know if it has made the same impression on you as it made on me. The first was to prevent me sleeping for a whole night.

How could H.L. have had such an unfortunate improvisation printed? Apart from this, the dismissed missionaries, whose first letter was, in my opinion, very regrettable on several points, have sent another very brief letter but, to my mind, very inappropriate. Now, will Mgr answer again? And will they answer his reply? But what good can all of this do? Would it not have been better to hush the matter up from the outset, while respecting the intentions of both sides? Is this not what should be done as far as possible?

What does this dispute signify ? Is it something of principle liable to influence the future behaviour of apostolic workers, as are for example here the castes, the semi-civil, semi-religious ceremonies, etc? No, it is an isolated fact. On one hand and the other, they agree on the principles; only in the case in point, can or can one not do such and such a thing? One party thought you could, and the other not. Accordingly, let us leave them with their consciences. The fact is past and it is not one of those that are perpetuated. Let us say that both sides are right: the bishop, since his conscience said that he could, that he should not allow his mission to be ruined; while the missionaries, because their conscience told them that they could not, had to accept dismissal.

Lose no time in sending out new missionaries to Mgr of Mallos, and in giving another mission to the confreres driven out by the king. The fault, on whatever side it lay, was only material; let us avoid creating formal faults other than the documents which have already been written! Avoid taking this question either to Rome, or to the apostolic vicars otherwise than as an unfortunate fact, but not in order for judgment to be passed. There is nothing to be gained from such judgment, but only to be lost on either side. But what is most deplorable in all of this, is that such facts are possible. Do you think that, if such a dispute took place in a better regulated Society, it would have led : 1) to this result ; and 2) to this stir? O my God, who will allow us to see what we are lacking.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me

Your very devoted confrere in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 19 March 1850)

Sent_0451

Sent_0451 - to Mr Langlois - 20 March 1850 -/1

Sent_0451 - à M. Langlois - le 20 mars 1850 -/1

Sent 0451 - to Mr Langlois - 20 March 1850 /1

Sent 0451 partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 318-319

(to Mr Charles Langlois)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thank you for your advice: I will always be grateful to receive it. If I resign, I will do everything I can to avoid scandal. Resignation: I cannot see any other solutions to avoid participating in a state of things that is loathsome to my conscience. But I will not be precipitous.

Index: advice, resignation from Coimbatore

Carumattampatty, le 20 mars 1850

Receipt of his letters. I have notified the missionaries of what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires regarding their birth certificate.

As far as the other questions are concerned, in order not to write the same thing twice, kindly read what I have written both in my letters to the directors in general, and to Mr Tesson.

But, what I cannot leave to anyone else to convey, is the assurance of the pleasure your wise counsels have given me and the promise that I will receive all those which may be sent to me from you with lively gratitude. No, I will not despise any of your reasons and, if I am obliged to oppose others to them, I will not forget that, in the balance, yours have four times the weight of experience, of age, of disinterest and of pure love of truth. In doubt, I will make no scruple of laying my conscience in yours. But I cannot go any further than that and you yourself would not want me to exceed that limit.

Another assurance that I want to give you, is that I will do everything I can, together with you and with our dear confreres of Paris, to avoid any scandal. Is not the earth sufficiently big? If it should be scandalous to see me returning to France, even in a monastery, are there no other monasteries in the world? Is there not some desert, some waste where one could live, with more or less imperfection, the life of the Fathers of the desert ?

My only desire is not to take part in a state of things that goes against my conscience. How can I avoid this participation? By protesting in writing? But without doubt that would give rise to discussions which are after all not very appropriate for edifying; by confidential words to the Sacred Congregation? But I cannot hope to see them hearkened to and, despite the steamer, Rome is still too far away from us to be able to explain things easily by correspondence. This way implies more than one danger, for such confidences are almost public, and it is highly dangerous, in the present state of affairs, to speak of others and of oneself. So that I see only my withdrawal as possible.

Besides, I do not wish to precipitate anything and I hope that with God's grace, the aid of your prayers and of your counsels, this withdrawal, if it is the only means remaining to me, will take place without too much prejudice for anyone and that it may even have the effect of being for the good of the missions I hold dear above all the other goods to be done in this world below. I desire that you will not be hurt in any way by this letter and ask you to regard me as your child, for I esteem you like a father, and to have me, until the Lord disposes otherwise, for your completely devoted and very respectful confrere.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 20 March 1850)

Sent_0452

Sent_0452 - to Mr Legrégeois - 20 March 1850 -/2

Sent_0452 - à M. Legrégeois - le 20 mars 1850 -/2

Sent 0452 - to Mr Legrégeois - 20 March 1850 /2

Sent 0452 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 62

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 319-320

(to Mr Pierre Legrégeois)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

I cannot participate in a state of things that my conscience condemns. There is no alternative for me but resignation, providing it does not give rise to scandal.

Index: advice, resignation from Coimbatore

Carumattampatty, 20 March 1850

Sir and very dear confrere,

I had the pleasure of receiving in due course your letter of 19 October and, quite recently, your precious missive of 22 December. Not only do I allow you to tell me what you think, but I ask you to do so unreservedly and putting on one side compliments which add nothing to the value of a reason.

As you have seen in my letter to Mr Tesson, it is only the good itself of our very dear congregation that I seek, after that of the missions in general, at the same time as I find it difficult to participate in a state of things that my conscience disapproves. Against this state of things, my voice is not powerful enough to make itself heard; should it be sufficiently loud to draw at least attention, in the way things are intermeshed, other voices would oppose mine, and by shouting on two sides, it would merely produce a noise, not without result, but with the sad effect of merely confusing more and more the questions, to the detriment of God's work.

So that to withdraw appears to me the only practical means left to me. To do this without scandal for anyone, with profit for the work of the missions and even for our congregation, at least indirectly: that is the problem to be solved. It is to this solution that I call your insights and of all those that the zeal of the missions devours before all else.

Let us not say so quickly that it is impossible and that only evil can be expected from this. Let us meditate and see. Finally, if only evil should certainly take place thereby, I would be content to protest to the S.C. that I am only staying on to avoid an even greater scandal, but that I cannot approve the step we are taking and, that in no way, can my presence and participation be taken as a voluntary cooperation in what is being done. Besides, in order not to write the same thing several times over, I would ask you to take note of what I wrote to Mr Tesson.

Quite apart from the esteem I have for this dear confrere whom I have had the pleasure of knowing personally, he is the representative of our mission, which means that I have addressed him in this case, preferring not to address myself to the directors in general so that, if it happened that painful things had to be said, that would be less official. However, since Mr Tesson has been so kind as to communicate my letters to the other directors, I count on the fact that they will all wish to help me with their counsels and their prayers.

Would you kindly tell Mr Allbrand that I have read with great interest the long epistle he was kind enough to address to me. I wanted to write to him by this post, but I have not had time, it will be for another time. A Dieu, very dear Mr Legrégeois, pray for me and believe me, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Your very devoted confrere,

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 20 March 1850)

Sent_0453

Sent_0453 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 mars 1850 -/2

Sent_0453 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 mars 1850 -/1

Sent 0453 - to Mgr Bonnand - 21 March 1850 /1

Sent 0453 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 341-342.344

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 329

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

No news of Mr Méhay. I have no intention of answering Mr Roger. What's to be done to ensure that our Society finds a remedy for such scandals?

Index: regulations of the MEP

Carumattampatty, 21 March 1850

My Lord,

I think that my last letter crossed yours of the 14th that I received yesterday.

I was saying to you in that letter, that Mr Méhay had not given us any sign of life, and since then I had heard nothing regarding him.

I was also telling you that Mr Roger had written to me for the first time since I left Pondicherry and that, in view of what you had told me about his conduct, I felt it better not to answer him. I cannot tell you, My Lord, how I share the distress these poor confreres are causing you! If there is a sorrow above such a one, it is to see that, in our poor Society, the superiors have no means of immediately stifling such scandals. How can good ever be done in this way? If, when one mishap ends, another starts! it is truly very sad. Will there never, then, be a remedy to all of this?

And here we are almost come to the end of Lent. I commend myself to Y.L.'s meditations in the celebration of the holy mysteries which will shortly be occupying us. Since Easter time has opened up, our Christians are flocking in; I hope that the whole Christian community will confess in the space of the one and a half months that I established for them.

I have the honour of being, My Lord,

Your Grace's very humble and completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 21 March 1850)

Sent_0454

Sent_0454 - to Mr Albrand - 21 March 1850 -/2

Sent_0454 - à M. Albrand - le 21 mars 1850 -/3

Sent 0454 - to Mr Albrand - 21 March 1850 /2

Sent 0454 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 63

partial copy+ Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 329-330

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Religion is dragging in India. We are only making small gains of detail. The constitution of the MEP means that many troubles are arising for us. Doubt on the question of the Indian usages persists. Should we be adamant or find a middle way? If doubt should persist, I would prefer to withdraw. Give me a way of avoiding such a sacrifice.

Index: resignation from Coimbatore, MEP regulations, Indian usages, constitution of the MEP

Coimbatore, 21 March 1850()

My very dear Mr Albrand,

It is several months already since I received your letter of 30 September. It gave me great pleasure, I assure you, for it contains passages that I would like to see written in letters of gold. Let us hope that as the truths that you express become more and more evident, all good minds will join together to ensure that they do not remain sterile, in the face of abuses which grow daily and which will end up by stifling us, if we do not make haste to cut them out at the root.

I would like to be able to interest you, as you have interested me yourself, by giving you edifying details on my mission. Alas, we are condemned to drag on without gaining anything on one side, while losing day by day something on another. When I say without winning anything, I am talking of that gain which ensures more and more the establishment of religion in some region. We are winning some little things in detail. The sacraments are a little better attended by the faithful, the Christians are generally attended at death, some of them even receive the viaticum, which was unheard of thus far, etc., etc.

But not one pagan has been converted by conviction. If we give some adult baptisms, it is ordinarily to marry parties who have sinned together, etc., etc. It's a pity. Meanwhile, we are more or less always losing some Christians, those who remain diminish in consideration, to a large extent due to the manner of acting of the missionaries who show themselves, from day to day, more severe on the usages, the castes, etc. Where will we go with all that? I have no idea.

Please God that the sorrows of sterility were not aggravated by the family troubles ! But alas!! For some time now, things are going quite well where I am, calm has taken the place of the tempest ; but how long will that last ? it is impossible to say, since, the way we are constituted, everything is possible in the form of troubles from the evening to the morning after. But at Pondicherry, but at Bangkok! But..., but..., but... Oh, when will we come to an understanding to put an end to so many woes ?

You will undoubtedly read a long letter that I wrote to Mr Tesson in which I tell him that, as far as I am concerned, it goes against my conscience to participate in such a state of things, as well as in the ambiguous position in which we find ourselves in India regarding the ceremonies, the half-civil, half-religious usages, etc, etc. First of all, we should save our souls, and we follow a line that could quite well not lead to salvation... In such a business, doubt is not allowed.

If I was right in doing what I have done thus far, by laying down my conscience in that of the older missionaries, I have to be in a position to assure without fear, and to forbid any other missionary whomsoever to do otherwise, for by doing or by speaking in two ways, edification is nil and scandal is certain. If those who blame us are right, if really our behaviour is contrary to the Gospel, or only to the clearly defined will of Rome, even if all our Christians should apostatise, we should not tergiversate with the purity of the faith or of morals.

There are those who take a middle way and who say that, without going to stir up raise fresh disputes, we should merely continue to do as we are doing, that is to say, as the majority still does, suppose that our oaths to the bull of Benedict XIV and the instructions of the S.C. do not oblige us otherwise than they have been understood by those in whose footsteps we are following, and remain tranquil. This line is undoubtedly that of pure prudence, and what is more I think that those who speak in this way are in good faith and perhaps are right in all ways. Thus, I would not wish, on my own private authority, to do otherwise ! But since this reasoning does not destroy the doubt, I prefer to withdraw whatever it costs me, rather than persevere in that path.

Perhaps you will find, in your wisdom, the means of avoiding this terrible sacrifice for me by meeting the requirements of conscience, and your charity will not fail to suggest them to me if such exist.

A Dieu, my very dear Mr Albrand. Believe that, despite this cry of conscience, our congregation has not had a truer friend. I believe that it is the Lord who has led me, thus I try to follow the opinions of Saint Francis of Sales who said to his Daughters of the Visitation: "They will prefer all the other congregations (as to honour and esteem), yet they will prefer theirs also to any other (as to love)." This is what I will attempt to do as long as the Lord does not command me to abandon what I love most in this world. But if he orders that of me, I have to obey!

Pray for me who am, in the union of your prayers,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 21 March 1850)

Sent_0455

Sent_0455 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 April 1850 -/2

Sent_0455 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 avril 1850 -/3

Sent 0455 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 April 1850 /2

Sent 0455 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 345-348

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 330

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Our Christians seem never to tire of the ceremonies according to Roman ceremonial. As regards your prospective priests, I will speak to you in person: it would be too long for a letter. What is the position between Mgr of Chyrra and Mgr Fenelly?

Index: liturgy (of Rome), local clergy

Coimbatore, 8 April 1850

My Lord,

Your good letter of the 2nd found me at Coimbatore where I came to spend the week after Easter. After a fortnight of heat as great as at Pondicherry, we now have torrential rains, which, I am told, have caused more than a little damage to our works at Carumattampatty interrupted by the Easter festivities. Tomorrow I am going to see what the situation is there.

At Carumattampatty, we have had fine festivities. To tell you that the church was not big enough says little, for as you know it is not large. But there are moments when the people stretched to outside of the mandabam (), and one could say that the church has been filled ever since Wednesday evening until the blessing of the very holy Sacrament, after vespers on Sunday.

However, we have done nothing Indian style ; apart from the stations of the cross held solemnly on Good Friday at three in the afternoon, we have followed the ceremonial and celebrated all the offices integrally. There really must be an intrinsic virtue in the offices of the Church that attracts the people. The first year, I thought that the novelty alone was the cause of this concourse, but that later the Indians would not find anything interesting in our long ceremonies, if we did not intersperse them with some representations, etc, etc.

But finally, this is the fourth year, and the crowd has not diminished. What is most consoling is that, since they are not distracted by their floats, processions, etc., all this time is devoted to piety and almost everyone confesses. I really hope that it will last like this, but we still cannot be too sure of that.

So that there are lively fears on the destiny of the poor Mr Pacreau. May the good God at least have pity on his soul.

I would very much like to be able to suggest some good practical thoughts regarding your forthcoming future priests. I am as interested in that as Y.L. But I cannot say anything by letter except what I have already remarked several times. And as regards the details, as regards what could be done hic et nunc, we would have to converse and not write, for letters of detail are interminable and always leave much to be desired. I am still hoping that your good angel will soon bring us Your Lordship.

I have just received an issue of the Bombay Catholic Layman. I think it must have been addressed to me by My Lord of Verapoly to acquaint me with a letter from H.G. to Mgr Fennelly, in which My Lord of Chyrra refutes a passage of the Madras Catholic Expositor. This leads me to think that there is not a perfect understanding between the two Lordships. If you should know anything grave, you would do me a favour to keep me informed.

Is Mr Dupuis quite ill ? It is a century since I wrote to him on the subject of his printing press however, and still no answer. I learn with pleasure that Mr Pouplin is getting back to the job; that proves two things to me: that he is feeling better, and that he is taking one of the best remedies, in my opinion, to recover completely. Kindly convey my friendly greetings to him, as well as to all our dear confreres, to whom I wish a joyful Hallelujah.

And you, My Lord, please believe me in union of holy sacrifices,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Coimbatore, 8 April 1850)

Sent_0456

Sent_0456 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 July 1850 -/2

Sent_0456 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 juillet 1850 -/3

Sent 0456 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 July 1850 /2

Sent 0456 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 357-360

P.S., Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 379-380

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 333

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The vicariate of Coimbatore has just been established canonically. You should keep the Original of the bull of division. I am going to pay a visit to Verapoly. A PS concerning the powers granted by Rome to the apostolic vicars.

Index: visit, powers, vicariate of Coimbatore (erection)

Coimbatore, 3 July 1850()

My Lord,

Finally, I have just left Carumattampatty where building works have kept me longer than I thought so that I have arrived today only at Coimbatore.

I have just received the large packet that Y.L. has had the kindness to send me and which contains some good and some bad news. I was very sad to hear of the death of your good governor, but more still of the, shall we say, spiritual death of the confrere who has been excluded from the Congregation. This surprised me all the more since Y.L. had never mentioned to me that you had reason to complain of the conduct of Mr M. I hope that Y.L. will give me some details on this misfortune.

In any case now we have the three vicariates canonically erected. May the Lord turn all this to his glory. It is clear that it is at Pondicherry that the bull of division must rest and, since Y.L. has been good enough to send me a copy authenticated by your hand, it is not at all necessary to send me the Original. As regards the notoriety that Y.L. desires to give to these new arrangements of Rome, I can't see how that could do any harm, and perhaps it would be good for your parts, but for ours it really will not make the slightest difference.

I am on the point of going to pay a visit to My Lord of Chyrra. A long time ago I announced it to him, but the works at Carumattampatty have kept me longer than I expected, and the weather is not favourable, for it's probably raining on the other side, to judge by the cool wind arriving from across the mountains. But this is the time when I am freest ; then for the last six months I have lost my appetite ; I would like to see if a change of air will give me a little more strength. I expect to leave from here on Monday 8th of this month.

Since, despite my unworthiness, I am now definitively apostolic vicar, allow me to call myself, My Lord, but always with the respect which is due to him who created me bishop, and commending myself to your prayers,

Your Lordship's

Very devoted and respectful confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

Coimbatore, 3 July 1850

_______________

photo copy MEP, vol 1000 J, pp 379-380

P.S. My Lord,

Since Y.L. had notified me earlier of all your powers, I find that those that I have received from Rome are more limited. Do you think that I have lost those that Y.L. notified me of ? I really think it is advisable to point out this difference to the S.C. and ask for those that I may need and which are not contained in the proxies recently sent out; but meanwhile should I have any scruple in using them if the case should arise? And above all should I modify the powers of the missionaries as regards these powers, or leave things as they are until receiving a fresh answer from Rome. I would be very much obliged if Y.L. would let me know what you think about this.

I am going to take advantage of my departure for Verapoly to send Mr Métral the powers and title of Pro-vicar.

I have just received the letters from the steamer. Not a word from Mr Tesson. And yet he had promised his accounts for the steamer passing by Bombay. Some time ago he had led me to hope for (10,000 francs?) of supplement. Since then, no news.

\+ M.M.J. de M. B.

(Coimbatore, 3 July 1850?)

Sent_0457

Sent_0457 - Circulaire à ses missionnaires - le 5 juillet 1850 -/3

Sent_0457 - Circulaire à ses missionnaires - le 5 juillet 1850 -/3

Sent 0457 - Circular to his missionaries - 5 July 1850 /3

Sent 0457 copy, AMA 2F6, pp 334-336

(circular to his missionaries)

The vicariate of Coimbatore has just been established canonically: We must redouble our efforts for the conversion of the Gentiles, above all now that there are more of us. For the customary care of the Christians, a native clergy should be formed and posts set up where it can live without depending on outside aid; the missionaries would be responsible for the general administration or with preaching to the pagans. We will discuss this at the next council. The virtues we must first of all practice. Mr Métral is my pro-vicar.

Index: vicariate of Coimbatore (erection), local clergy, missionary (work of the), apostolic virtues

Coimbatore, 5 July 1850()

Gentlemen, etc. etc.,

As you know the Holy See, by its arrangements regarding the apostolic vicariates in India in 1845, had provisionally erected Coimbatore to a pro-vicariate, while reserving for a more suitable time to declare it an independent apostolic vicariate. That it what it has now done, as you will see by reading the brief that I have just received and of which the content is as follows Venerabili fratri etc. ()

Thus Coimbatore is erected to an apostolic vicariate. This new dignity, granted to the mission that falls to our share, imposes on us the obligation of redoubling our efforts to make it worthy of the level on which it has just been placed. Accordingly let us be inspired by a new courage, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, and let us redouble in zeal so that thanks to us by the day fixed by divine providence this dear mission will have become a fertile portion of the Lord's vineyard.

However I think it will be in vain for us to hope to see it ever flourishing, if we do not manage to increase the number of Christians by converting the Gentiles. Thus, I call your full attention to this point, commending you to study carefully what means would be capable of drawing the pagans to the faith. Each one of you should examine before God, in meditation and prayers, what would be the chances of success in an assault that we would deliver against the enemy. For if the faith teaches us that all salvation comes from God, and that he alone converts hearts, it also says that God is accustomed to make use of men as instruments of salvation for their fellow men. He has submitted the conversion of peoples to preaching. Fides ex auditu.

Now, for a long time, the preaching proper of the gospel has been obligatorily abandoned in these parts. The missionary had first and foremost to devote himself to the flock of Israel and since there were no other priests than him, all his zeal was absorbed by the care he devoted to the Christians. But even this zeal, however great it was, often proved insufficient for his flock, since it was physically impossible for one missionary, alone in an immense Christian community, to provide for the spiritual care of several thousands of Christians, dispersed at considerable distances from one another.

Thanks to God, this misfortune has considerably diminished in this mission : the districts are now multiplied enough and limited enough, so that in certain places the Christians can receive all the succour of religion and besides have everything they could hope for, in their position, from priests from outside of their country. For how could they expect that foreign priests would ever be sufficiently numerous to occupy all the little posts where a priest would be necessary so that every Christian was attended by him from birth until death?

No further improvement on this point is possible here except insofar as we are successful in forming a native clergy, to whom we may at a certain point entrust the care of the parishes, while the missionary would deal more specifically with the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles or with the overall administration of the Christians. Although this work will necessarily come up against great difficulties, I feel sure that, if we all contribute together with our joint efforts, we will be able to carry it through successfully. Not of course immediately in its perfection, but first of all imperfect so that thereafter it may be perfected, as all things, we can foresee the moment when we begin to carry it out.

For this two things are necessary : first of all priests if not perfect at least having relatively sufficient qualities ; and secondly, it is necessary to prepare the places where they can be placed and maintained by the Christians, quite apart from any outside help. Of these two, one is not as essential as the other, and I would call your full attention to each of them so that each of you, according to your position, does his best to prepare the various elements.

In this way within a given time the Christians should be generally cared for by their own priests and then we, apostolic missionaries, will be able more specially to devote ourselves to the propagation of the faith to the Gentiles.

But in this as in all things, we have to proceed slowly and progressively. Before every missionary is relieved of the lesser administration of the Christians, so as to have to deal exclusively with the general administration or the preaching to the pagans, years will pass, and this work too of preaching to the pagans should take place little by little and develop gradually once we have more time to devote to it and we know the ground better, as we grasp better the most effective ways of arriving at the hearts of these hardened and surly peoples.

That is why we should, as from this moment, begin seriously to deal quietly, without great efforts, but in prayer and in a thorough study of the character of the pagans, in reflection with the causes that make unfruitful the feeble attempts which we now and then hazard etc., etc., so that we are less hesitant when thte time comes to make this work one of the principal occupations of our ministry.

Thus, let us reflect seriously on all of this, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, so that we can consider it together at the next general council and take advantage of one another's ideas.

But what is certain in any case is that in the front line of any means we should always place the apostolic virtues, self-abnegation, a limitless patience, perseverance in the face of failure, the spirit of penance and of mortification, the love of humiliations, etc. These above all must be our companions on the highway of the cross. Thus let take care to renew ourselves continually in our vocation and let us never lose sight of these words spoken by Saint Bernard: ad quid venisti?

One of the surest ways of re-immersing ourselves in the spirit of our condition is assuredly the spiritual exercise of the retreat. I urge you strongly, very dear confreres, never to neglect to do one each year, either in common, if the Lord assures us the possibility of meeting up together, or individually, if the common retreat is impossible for us. I hope that it will be possible this year, and that it will take place after the feast of Carumattampatty, that is to say some time in October. I will let you know later the day and the place where it will be held. This retreat will be followed by a general council in which I do not foresee that there will be anything else to propose to your attention than the foregoing. If however any of you should consider it profitable to deal with some other question, would you kindly advise me of it in advance, so that we can judge of its advisability.

And I end this letter, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, by announcing to you that I have chosen Mr Métral as my pro-vicar. The virtues and the prudence of this worthy confrere, so experienced in everything concerning the administration of the Christians of this country, are so well known to you that I have no doubt that you will all rejoice in this choice. You will all make it a duty and a pleasure, not only to use to him all the consideration that his seniority deserves, but also the respect and obedience due to a superior.

I commend myself to your prayers and holy sacrifices, asking you to believe me, more than ever, etc. etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 5 July 1850)

Sent_0458

Sent_0458 - to his father - 29 July 1850 -/2

Sent_0458 - à son père - le 29 juillet 1850 -/1

Sent 0458 - to his father - 29 July 1850 /2

Sent 0458 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 151 et 151 bis

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 337

(to his father)

I am visiting Verapoly: I went to Cochin. How the English act towards the kingdoms (Cochin, Mysore, Travancore) which do not belong to the East India Company.

Index: civil authorities, English

Verapoly, 29 July 1850

My very dear father,

I think that once before I sent you a letter from here, three years ago, when I came to attend the consecration of the bishop of Quilon. This time, I am here purely by way of a recreation, having come to pay a visit to the good archbishop of this place, my neighbour beyond the mountains of the Ghats and my very good confrere.

I came to spend a month of winter here right in the middle of the summer of Coimbatore ; for I believe I told you, and besides geography teaches us, that the division of the season is not traced in our parts by a parallel circle, but by the meridian which follows the chain of the Ghats. Accordingly, I am here in winter, that is to say in the rain, the wind and the thunder, when only a few leagues away people are suffering from an extreme drought and an unbearable heat, waiting for winter until the months of November and December.

These last days I went to pay a visit to the town of Cochin, which I had not done on the occasion of my previous journey, for lack of time. Today it is a very small town belonging to the English, who allow the poor King of Cochin to believe that he is in fact king in the rest of his kingdom, only asking him for a few millions ("of rupees": crossed out) for having the honour of protecting him. They leave him free still to raise all sorts of taxes on the people, in order to pay his debt and to provide for all the expenses of the administration of the kingdom, on the single condition that he never goes out of his palace, or that he does not exceed such a limit, that he is always escorted in honour by an English guard, that he receives no visits, finally that he does nothing by himself, but everything through his Diwan, which Diwan is appointed by the English.

A resident, three or four employees, two or three hundred native troopers, commanded by two or three English officers, this is what suffices crafty England to hold a whole kingdom under this moral pressure and extract all the net revenue. The same goes for the kingdom of Travancore, the same for that of Mysore, and for everything you can find on the map of India traced as not belonging directly to the Company, but as being under its protection. Say now that England is not...clever.

But at this point England has taken all of my paper ; you are going perhaps to accuse it of another invasion. Excuse it however this time, for I have nothing to tell you if it not that the Holy See has just definitively raised Coimbatore to an apostolic vicariate.

Remember me please, to the good memory of everyone, and believe me, more and more, dear father,

Your very respectful and utterly devoted son.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Verapoly, near Cochin, 29 July 1850)

Sent_0459

Sent_0459 - to Mr Vian - 29 July 20:05:431850 -/2

Sent_0459 - à M. Vian - le 29 juillet 1850 -/3

Sent 0459 - to Mr Vian - 29 July 1850 /2

Sent 0459 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 149-150

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 337

(to Mr Victorin Vian)

(chaplain of the hospice of Draguignan, Var)

Thanks for your last letter. From here, I have nothing to tell you; the ground is infertile. Coimbatore has just been erected to an independent vicariate. I may have to go to Rome. Brief reflection on the clergy of Rome.

Index: religion in India, schism of Goa

Verapoly, 29 July 1850

Very dear friend,

You cannot imagine the pleasure your good letter caused me. I have to admit to you that I was accusing you of having completely forgotten me. However, that was not true, so that I should absolve your heart..., but I don't know how to excuse your laziness. I prefer to hold you guilty still, until you can prove the contrary to me and base your sincere return on authentic proofs, similar to the good epistle that the Spirit of Charity dictated to you immediately before Pentecost.

Now, you are waiting for me to tell you something of myself, of my mission etc., etc. Alas, I have few edifying things to tell you. We are working on soil barren by its very nature, and that the misfortunes of the times which preceded us and the secret judgments of God, which have permitted fatal antecedents to take root, make even more barren and sterile. However, we have certain veritable consolations, but they are of the kind that God alone knows, and which have nothing striking or truly edifying for the public. Thus they have the advantage of not exposing us to pride. May God be blessed in any case.

A few years ago the Holy See thought good to divide the apostolic vicariates then existing in India, and it was on that occasion that I was promoted to the episcopate and entrusted with the administration of Coimbatore with the title of Pro-vicar. Continuing its plan, the S.C. de Propaganda Fide subsequently erects these divisions into independent apostolic vicariates. Thus last month, I received the briefs elevating my mission to the rank of apostolic vicariate. Will all of this produce some good effects, and above all will it end up by deciding Portugal to give up its fatal pretension to the right of Patronage? Please God it will. Meanwhile, we have to combat not only the demon called Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, but the demon of schism that this so-called right of Patronage maintains, and all those that heresy has thrown upon these unfortunate parts with the children of Luther, etc., etc. The false brothers thus do us greater harm than the pagans.

You ask me if I will not make a journey to France. It is not the desire or time that are lacking. For now that a month and a half suffice to travel to France, I could easily in be back in six months and have spent three months in Europe. But what principally stops me is the consideration that such a journey cannot be indifferent; it must produce a good or an evil. A missionary must remain at his post, unless some grave and evident reason calls him elsewhere.

But if there were really a good to be done, nothing would be easier. It could be that I might be obliged to go in a little while to Rome, but I cannot be sure of it, nor yet foresee exactly when. With the grace of God, I will wait for him to manifest his will. But, if he wanted to use me to do some good in my homeland, I declare that His Will would be in line with my desire.

Poor France ! Who will be permitted to set it once more on the true path? But it still contains regenerating germs within it in order for God's mercy to raise it up once more in a thousand ways. Despite several imperfections which you mention to me, let us admit that the clergy of France, with the episcopate at its head, are admirable. So long as it continues thus, there will be great hope!

What you tell me about your good pupils has filled me with consolation; say a few kind words to them on my behalf. And if you have a small congregation similar to that of the minor seminary of Carcassonne, of which we are members, would you kindly request for me, and for my vicariate, a few special prayers. God will listen to the prayer of these young hearts, children of Mary, full of love and of purity.

A Dieu, very dear Vian, I commend myself thoroughly to your prayers and to your holy sacrifices, in the union of which I ask you to believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. A kind thought, please, to all the members of your family.

To avoid the expense of postage, you could address your letters to Paris, Rue du Bac 120.

(Verapoly, near Cochin, 29 July 1850)

Sent_0460

Sent_0460 - to the directors of the Seminary of Paris - 30 July 1850 -/2

Sent_0460 - aux directeurs - le 30 juillet 1850 -/3

Sent 0460 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 30 July 1850 /2

Sent 0460 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 64

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

I regret that you decided not to come to the aid of the bishop of Siam. How the regulations might have been interpreted. Coimbatore is now a vicariate. Make this known to Propagation of the Faith. A question regarding the encyclical on the Immaculate Conception. I have not received it.

Index: affair of Siam, Immaculate Conception (dogma)

Verapoly, 30 July 1850()

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I have to acknowledge receipt of your letters of 21 January and of 13 May. I will not come back on the Barot affair. This confrere is behaving well since his return. Providing the Lord grants him the grace of perseverance, he may be quite sure that he will not be reproached with his antecedents, however extraordinary they are. I can only regret, for our beloved Society, that such results are possible.

What I regret much more is that you have not seen fit to go to the help of the bishop of Siam. I leave on one side any judgment on the fact that deprived him of almost all his missionaries; it is a transient error and one that is not attached to any dangerous principle, wherever it may have taken place. Accordingly I admit that each one has followed his conscience and that no-one is guilty. But thus there is a bishop who is not guilty to whose aid no-one can come? It is impossible.

If there is nothing in the letter of the regulations authorising you to immediately give a direction to the confreres dismissed from Siam, and to send at least some new subjects, if not some missionaries from the neighbouring vicariates, to that bishop, this should be a part of the spirit of the Society. It seems to me that you could have sent the confreres driven from Siam to the neighbouring vicariates, and asked the apostolic vicars who had received them to send to Siam a few of their subjects in their place; and that the latter would not have been morally able to refuse; and besides deprive the missions which refused of the new missionaries whom they were expecting and that you would have sent to Siam until the number necessary to help out the poor bishop had been reached.

Now what will the poor bishop of Mallos do ? what will become of him? I have had no news from him. At least I would wish that all polemics with his missionaries should cease.

Is Mgr Verrolles still in Europe ? What is he doing there ? We see his name in the newspapers ; people ask us why he is at Rome ; it is hard not to know either what or how we should we should reply.

Last month, I received from the S.C. the briefs by which Coimbatore is definitively erected to an apostolic vicariate independent from that of Pondicherry. Kindly point that out to the Councils of Propagation of the Faith so that, in the table showing the distribution of the funds, it no longer appears as a mission of Pondicherry, but as a new apostolic vicariate.

I am writing you these lines from Verapoly, where I have come to spend a month with our excellent neighbour the archbishop of Chyrra.

I commend myself to your good prayers and holy sacrifices, in the union of which I ask you to believe me,

Very dear confreres,

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse

apostolic vicar

P.S. The Archbishop of Chyrra, apostolic vicar of Verapoly, has received a copy of the Encyclical regarding the Immaculate Conception. It was signed by the hand of Pius IX. How come that we have not received anything like it, or even similar ? Here, the three bishops have sent their answer as well as that of their clergy and the general opinion reigning among their members of the faithful.

(Verapoly, 30 July 1850)

Sent_0461

Sent_0461 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 août 1850 -/3

Sent_0461 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 août 1850 -/3

Sent 0461 - to Mgr Bonnand - 16 August 1850 /3

Sent 0461 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 361-365

Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 65

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 337-341

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

In answer to a letter in which Mgr Bonnand asks him to become his coadjutor at Pondicherry. For various reasons, I would feel great reluctance to go to Pondicherry, and then it is not expedient, for others are better suited than I am to the post; Mgr Luquet is still coadjutor of Pondicherry, and has never resigned; moreover, I cannot see here the usefulness of a coadjutor; one or two pro-vicars are sufficient. I am answering you after having prayed a great deal. But if Rome decides on this, I will not refuse.

Index: Brésillac at Pondicherry, Rome (authority)

Verapoly, 16 August 1850()

My Lord,

Y.L. will not mind that I have taken some time to reflect and to consult the Lord before answering the confidential letter that you had the goodness to write to me on 2 August.

First of all, I would like to say frankly, My Lord, that I am very embarrassed. If it was only a question, as previously, of persevering in the refusal of a combination exclusively based on your too great humility, I would not hesitate a moment. But today it is something else, and while on the one hand I feel the greatest reluctance to becoming a part of the administration of Pondicherry, on the other hand I do not want for anything in the world to grieve you, or to refuse you what is possible for me.

Moreover, as regards descending in some sort in rank by becoming co-adjutor after having been apostolic vicar, I assure you that I consent with all my heart. Likewise I would consent, for this time, to Y.L. presenting, for the election of a new bishop for Coimbatore, a subject from outside of my vicariate, above all since I cannot see in my missionaries anyone who combines, at this time, all the qualities of a bishop. (For saintliness is not sufficient. Mr Métral is a saint, but it seems to me that he lacks something for the episcopate. All the others are too young, and have not given proof of a merit beyond their age). Accordingly on that, Y.L. may act in complete liberty.

But could I consent, myself, to becoming co-adjutor of Pondicherry ? Could I overcome my reluctance? Could I form an awareness that it is advisable?

As for my reluctance, it is based on several points : the difficulty of dealing with confreres who will not give me their confidence ; the abnormal state of a twofold ecclesiastical jurisdiction for the town of Pondicherry ; and finally another, more serious still, which has to do with the state of veritable perplexity of conscience in which I find myself regarding our way of acting in India. I cannot form the practically sure awareness that we are on the right road. I cannot see either that we are following such a wrong path that we should absolutely leave it whatever the risk and peril.

In such a state, a simple priest can, for a more or less long time, lay down his conscience in that of his bishop, and heap on him the material faults that his administration may contain, but can a bishop do so ? This difficulty applies not only for Pondicherry, it also exists in Coimbatore, but to a lesser degree and with more hope of finding a solution in one way or another.

Let us now consider the advisability. I quite realise that here my judgment may easily be wrong, because the question is to some extent personal. But, while it is less probable, my opinion could however be true, and I would ask you kindly to take it into consideration. First of all, I believe that Y.L. is greatly deluded on my account and that you would find in others (for example in the worthy confrere that you would wish to present for Coimbatore) a co-adjutor more likely than I am to do good.

Furthermore, Mgr Luquet, while having said and perhaps written that he would never come back to India, has not, in actual fact, handed in his resignation. Now, it appears to me very imprudent to create another co-adjutor before holding his authentic resignation accepted by the Sacred Congregation. I am far from suspecting Mgr Luquet's intentions, but on occasion time changes people's convictions. Thus he may change his mind and later a complication of jurisdiction might do the utmost harm to the mission.

Finally, I still have not understood the usefulness of co-adjutors in our missions of India. I conceive of a co-adjutor in countries very distant from Rome, without easy communications etc., above all when persecution is raging. But here! In a quiet country! When on the death of a bishop, the Holy See can replace him within the space of three months!

And why two bishops in a place where there is not enough work for one ? I am speaking of episcopal work. For finally, as regard correspondence, buildings, distributions of alms, in a word for the greater part of the work of Pondicherry, there is no need of the episcopal character. No clergy which by its diverse titles may lead to a whole crowd of canon affairs, no factories, no ecclesiastic goods, no tribunal, no officialdom, nothing of what could occupy a bishop as a bishop. Not even the real visiting of the churches. These visits cannot for a long time still be anything but a sort of vissarané, much more priestly than episcopal. One of two pro-vicars, to whom, in certain cases, you could communicate the power of giving confirmation, for the places where Y.L. can only go with difficulty and rarely, in my opinion would yield much greater fruits than a co-adjutor bishop.

Finally, I would conceive however the usefulness of a co-adjutor bishop at Pondicherry in the case of an apostolic vicar weighed down by old age or infirmities which would make it impossible or very difficult to carry out the episcopal functions. But, thank God, Your Lordship is not in such a condition. Full of strength and of courage, what need do you have of anything other than a good pro-vicar? Or, say two, one ordinarily at hand within reach of your person, and the other to go out into the missions, and you will see that your administration will be singularly simplified, without being exposed to any of the complications that the presence of two bishops might imply.

To summarise very briefly : I firmly believe that no co-adjutor is necessary at Pondicherry. If it were true that one were necessary, Y.L. can find better than me. If it were true that I was proper to hold this post, my reluctance is very great; would not a less good co-adjutor, but without reluctance be preferable to a better one with reluctance?

I beg Y.G. to examine all of this before God ; and if you persist despite that in your plan, I promise to write to the S.C. myself in the sense that I have just written to Y.L. finally, if after that, the S.C. finds that my place is at Pondicherry, I will not refuse, providing we have the authentic act of resignation of Mgr Luquet.

And that, My Lord, is what I felt it my duty to answer you, after having implored the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and prayed to the Holy Virgin, whose glorious Assumption we were celebrating yesterday, to illumine me. I would be much obliged if you would let me

know if you have decided to persevere still in your project, or if you intend to abandon it. However that may be, I ask you, in any case, to continue to offer me your precious friendship and to believe me, in the holy hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse

apostolic vicar

P.S. I will be leaving on 28th of this month. I expect to be at Coimbatore by 3 September.

(Verapoly, 16 August 1850)

Sent_0462

Sent_0462 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 1 - 16 September 1850 -/4

Sent_0462 - à la Propagande, n° 1 - le 16 septembre 1850 -/4

Sent 0462 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 1 - 16 September 1850 /4

Envoi_0462 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 341-345

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter n° 1)

To request certain additions to the faculties granted to the apostolic vicar by the brief of erection of the vicariate of Coimbatore. There follows a list of articles concerning blessings, dispensations, etc

.

Index: canon law

Coimbatore, 16 September 1850

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Litteras sub forma Brevis recepi quibus Provicariatus Coimbatorensis definitive erigitur a S.S. in Vicariatu Apostolico. Deum precor ut hanc dignetur benedicere erectionem et S.C. de P.F. Praepositos, ut suis orationibus suaque benevolentia et auctoritate conatus nostros adjuvent, ne infructuosa remaneat haec vinae Domini pars quae mihi quamvis indigno commisa est.

Cum diversa et dissimilia sunt ea de quibus S.C. scribere debeo, alia aliis litteris committam, ne confundantur in epistola una, nihil aliud per hanc postulans nisi additiones quasdam facultatibus quae mihi nuper pervenerunt cum supradicto Breve erectionis.

Ratio generalis hujus petitionis est convenientia ut duo Missiones Pudicheriana scilicet et Coimbatorensis, quae vicinae sunt et ejusdem congregationis alumnis commissae, iisdem gaudeant facultatibus. Insuper, juxta S.C. mentem, R.R. D.D. Episcopus Drusiparensis jam mihi communicaverat suas omnes facultates, quarum nonnullae missionariis communicatae sunt, juxta normam praxis Pudicherianae. Hanc vero communicationem vigere putans usque ad revocationem, vel usque dum perimat cum tempore quo singulae facultates fuerunt a S.S. concessae, nihil mutandum judicavi vel in praxi mea vel in folio facultatum missionariorum, usque ad responsum S.C. ad has litteras.

Tamen, si non videtur sufficiens supradicta generalis ratio, ita ut melius sit S.C. judicio has solas mihi facultates concedere quae pro nunc valde utiles sunt, notabo articulos quorum concessio mihi videtur utilior.

Hae sunt ergo facultates quas jam mihi communicaverat R.R. D.D. Episcopus Drusiparensis et quae non inveniuntur in foliis mihi nuper transmissos.

1°Permittendi non solum sacerdotibus, sed et fidelibus (servatis servandis) lectionem librorum prohibitorum. (valde utilis).

2°Celebrandi missam, quoties aliqua necessitas aderit, ab hora secunda post mediam noctem.

3°Erigendi pium exercitium Viae Crucis, cum applicatione omnium indulgentiarum et privilegiorum quas Summi Pontifices praedictum exercitium peragentibus impertiti sunt.

4°Erigendi confraternitates Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo et Sanctissimi Rosarii ejusdem Beatae Mariae Virginis, cum applicatione omnium indulgentiarum et privilegiorum quas Summi Pontifices praedictis confraternitatibus impertiti sunt.

5°Benedicendi (absque numero determinato) Counas praecatorias, cruces et sacra numismata eisque applicandi indulgentias, nec non Divae Birgittae, nuncupatas.

6°Communicandi praedictas facultates presbyteris in dicto Vicariatu laborantibus.

7°Dispensandi ut pars acatholica cum catholica licite matrimonium contrahat sine limitatione casuum. (valde utilis)

8°Erigendi omnes confraternitates usque adhuc (datae sunt vero litterae die 28 Maii 1843) ab hac S.Sede approbatas, cum applicatione omnium indulgentiarum et privilegiorum quas Summi Pontifices praedictis confraternitatibus impertiti sunt; cum potestate hanc facultatem communicandi presbyteris. (Articulus ille utilis ut sicut et Art 3, 4, 5 et 6, sed non in tanta generalitate.)

Insuper, litteris 10 Maii 1846 ad R.R. D.D. Jassenssem() Episcopum, data est facultas mihi communicanda sine limitatione casuum et cum potestate eam delegandi ceteris missionariis: dispensandi cum catholicis super impedimento primi gradus affinitati ex copula illicita, sive per lineam collateralem sive rectam resultantis, dummodo nullum subsit dubium quod conjux possit esse proles ab altero contrahentium genita; nec non super impedimento primi cum secundo ac secundi tantum affinitatis gradus, ex copula illicita proveniente in matrimoniis ignoranter vel scienter quoque contractis, sicuti etiam in contrahendis ubi rationabilis et legitima causa concurrat in publicis et in utroque foro. Impositis etc. (utilis)

In foliis facultatum quae generaliter concedantur sacerdotibus horum missionum invenitur: Facultas absolvendi ab omnibus casibus S. Sedis reservatis etiam in bulla Caenae Domini et Omnium sollicitudinum. Dubito utrum bene fundata sit haec additio Omnium sollicitudinum. (Haec additio valde utilis)

Denique, in folia facultatum manuscripta quam nuper recepi, non invenitur potestas generalis communicandi praesbyteris omnes illas facultates, sed in particulari tantum quibusdam numeris. Haec potestas generalis valde necessaria esset quibusdam in circumstantiis et semper erga facultatem v.g. dispensandi in 2do gradu. Quinimo haec facultas dispensandi in 2do gradu generaliter datur missionariis Pudichery et secundum eam consuetudinem ego ipse communicavi quibusdam missionariis meis, cogitans aliquam fuisse in Pudichery vicariatu rationem sic agendi.

Sed recepta a S.C. folia, meum aperui dubium R.P.D. Drusiparensi Episcopo qui nihil certi indicare mihi potuit. Tamen, praesumens non sine ratione hanc introduxisse praxim Vic Ap. Praedecessores nostros et hanc facultatem cum aliis mihi olim communicatam fuisse, putavi non esse inquietandos missionarios qui secundum antiquam consuetudinem continuant; et tamen S.C. moneo ut, si quod esset dubium de validitate talium dispensationum, mihi indicare et instructionem dare dignetur ad reparationem.

De caeteris tractans in sequentibus litteris me meamque missionem S.C. humiliter committo et E.V. prosequor ut habeat me tamquam

Servum humillimum et obsequiosissimum.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1850)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda, letter no. 1)

Coimbatore, 16 September 1850

Very Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

I have received the letter in the form of a brief in which the Provicariate of Coimbatore is definitively erected by the Holy See to an Apostolic Vicariate. I pray God to deign to bless this erection, as well as those in charge of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, so that their prayers, their benevolence and authority, help our efforts, ensuring that this part of the Lord's vineyard which has been entrusted to me despite my unworthiness, does not remain without fruits.

Since I have to write to the Sacred Congregation on various different matters, I will deal with the others in other letters, so that they are not all mixed up in a single letter, asking for nothing in this one but certain additions to the faculties I recently received in the brief on the erection of which I spoke heretofore.

The general reason for this request is the advisability for the two missions, namely those of Pondicherry and of Coimbatore, which are neighbouring and entrusted to members of the same congregation, to enjoy the same faculties. Furthermore, in accordance with the arrangements of the Sacred Congregation, His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare has already communicated all of his faculties to me, certain of which are communicated to the missionaries, according to the custom followed at Pondicherry. Given that this communication is in force until its revocation or until it disappears, when the time comes for particular faculties to be granted by the Sacred Congregation, I have concluded that there is nothing to be changed either in my practice, or in the list of powers of the missionaries, until an answer to this letter is received from the Sacred Congregation.

However, if the aforesaid reason does not appear sufficient, so that it is better in the judgment of the Sacred Congregation for me to be granted only the faculties that are very useful for now, I will indicate the articles the granting of which appears most useful to me.

These are the faculties which His Excellency My Lord of Drusipare had already communicated to me, and which are not included in the lists transmitted to me recently.

1) to permit not only the priests, but also the faithful (things to be observed having to be observed) the reading of forbidden books (very useful) ;

2 ) to celebrate mass, whenever any need should arise, as from the second hour after midnight ;

3) to institute the pious exercise of the way of the cross, with the application of all the indulgences and of all the privileges that the Sovereign Pontiffs have granted to those carrying out the aforesaid exercise ;

4) to set up confraternities of the blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and of the very Holy Rosary of the same Blessed Virgin, with the application of all the indulgences and of all the privileges that the Sovereign Pontiffs have granted to the aforesaid confraternities ;

5) to bless (without an established figure) the prayer rosaries, the crosses and sacred medals, and to apply to them the indulgences attached to them, including that of Saint Bridget ;

6) to communicate the aforesaid faculties to the priests working in the vicariate in question ;

7) to dispense that the non-Catholic party may licitly marry with the Catholic party, without limitation of cases (very useful) ;

8) to erect all the confraternities approved until now (the letter is dated 28 May 1843) by the Holy See, with the application off all the indulgences and of all the privileges that the Sovereign Pontiffs have attached to the aforesaid confraternities, with the power of communicating this faculty to the priests. (This article is useful, as also articles 3, 4, 5 and 6, however not so universally).

Moreover, in the letter dated 10 May 1846 His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Jassen (), has been given the faculty that he had to communicate to me, without limitation of cases and with the power of delegating to other missionaries, of dispensing for Catholics with the impediment of first degree affinity resulting from an illicit liaison either in the collateral line, or in the direct line, providing there is no doubt that the spouse may be a descendant engendered by the other contracting party, and also with the impediment of the first with the second and of the second degree only of affinity originating from an illicit liaison in marriage contracted in ignorance and also in knowledge, as well as in those who should contract marriage when a reasonable and legitimate cause is found in public and in one and the other forum. Impositis etc. (useful)

In the lists of faculties that are generally granted to the priests of these missions, we find the faculty of absolving all the cases reserved to the Holy See, even in the bull Caenae Domini and Omnium sollicitudinum. I wonder if this addition Omnium sollicitudinum is well founded (This addition is very useful).

Finally, in the handwritten sheet of faculties that I received recently, I did not find the general power of communicating to the priests all of these faculties, but in particular only a certain number of them. This general power would be very necessary in certain circumstances, and always for the faculty for example of dispensing at second degree. And even, this faculty of dispensing at the second degree is generally given to the missionaries of Pondicherry and according to this custom, I myself have communicated it to certain of my missionaries, thinking that a certain reason for acting in this way had been found in the vicariate of Pondicherry.

But after receiving the sheet from the Sacred Congregation, I shared my doubt with His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Drusipare who was unable to indicate anything certain to me. However, judging that the Apostolic Vicars who preceded us did not introduce this practice without reason and that this faculty had been communicated to me earlier with the others, I felt that it was not necessary to worry the missionaries who continue according to this former habit. Meanwhile, I urge the Sacred Congregation, if any doubt should exist on the validity of such dispensations, to deign to indicate it to me and to give me an instruction to set the matter right.

Since I will be dealing with the other things in the following letters, I humbly place myself and my mission in the hands of the Sacred Congregation, and honour Your Eminence for regarding me as your humblest and most respectful servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1850)

Sent_0463

Sent_0463 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 2 - 16 September 1850 -/6

Sent_0463 - à la Propagande, n° 2 - le 16 septembre 1850 -/6

Sent 0463 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 2 - 16 September 1850 /1

Sent 0463 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 345-350

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

A year ago, I addressed a letter to you regarding my resignation : it was not passed on to you. There are personal reasons, but also reasons arising from the rites in force here and which put my conscience in difficulties. Here, brief reminder of the efforts made by Rome in this field and of what happens today in India. In conclusion, kindly allow me to leave India. I am ready to be sent anywhere, in order to gain peace of the soul. While awaiting your reply, I continue my work here as I have done from the outset.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, Indian usages, reform of the MEP, Rome (authority)

Coimbatore, 16 September 1850

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Die 25 octobris 1849, litteras ad S.C. scribebam quas, propter gravitatem materiae, ad Moderatores Seminarii Missionum ad Exteros misi, cum facultate eas retinendi si, coram Deo, bonum esse judicarent suas mihi communicare benevolas observationes. Hi bene dilecti confratres et amici, praesertim venerabilis et numquam satis laudatus D. Langlois, a proposito meo me conantur repellere.

Absit a me ut, meo judicio proprio nimis confidens, aliorum observationes rationesque contemnam et, sub specie boni, aliquid faciam quod mea culpa verteretur in detrimentum missionum, quorum successus mea tota vita est et, post Deum et pro Deo, unicum meum gaudium. Tamen, cum crucietur anima mea, tacere non possum. Quid enim crudelius quam dubitare utrum ambulemus in via salutis vel aeternae perditionis?

Petebam ergo, in supra dicta epistola, permissionem relinquendi Societatem Missionum et intrandi religionem. Rationes erant duplices. Nonnulae personales respectae Congregationis Missionum ad Exteros quam supramodum diligo sed in qua meam presentiam et inutilem et forsitam noxiam esse timeo. Aliae locales propter ritus et consuetudines quae vigent apud christianos nostros et quae meam conscientiam in veram perplexitatem trahunt.

Relinquo quod personale est, cum supradicti dilecti confratres convenire nolent de inutilitate mea et minus de damno praesentiae meae in Congregatione nostra, et cum spem dent introducendi quasdam meliorationes quae mihi videntur necessariae ut Sancta Mater Ecclesia eos fructus percipiat quos ex missionibus nostris sperare debet. Sed conscientiae perplexitatem auferre non potuerunt.

Possumusne vero, etiam spe salvationis aliorum, aliquid operare mali vel in dubium ponere propriam nostram salutem? Absit. Atque, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, mihi videtur nostram agendi rationem in India saltem esse contra spiritum si non contra litteram Evangelii, filialem non esse obedientiam, ut non dicam perpetuam esse inobedientiam, Sanctae Sedis instructionibus, votis, jussionibusque, et forsitan interpretationem incompatibilem cum juramento quod praestavimus secundum jussionem Benedicti XIV in sua Bulla Omnium sollicitudinum.

Ex altera parte, errantne tam multi pii missionarii qui, ante nos sicut et nostro tempore, non obstantibus eorum juramento et religione erga Sanctam Sedem, permitti posse credunt quod invenimus in usu quando intravimus Indiam? Si vero eorum interpretatio, tam legis Divinae quam Ecclesiasticae, vera est (quod mihi videtur probabile speculative sed incompatibile cum instructionibus Sanctae Sedis et cum obedientia quam illi debemus) quomodo possum certam in ruinam adducere missionem meam, obediendo simpliciter secundum desiderium meum?

Dicent autem, sicut mihi scripserant, dilecti moderatores Seminarii: Exponendum est dubium S.C. cujus sententia lex erit denique omnibus sequenda. Sed, Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, rememorate quot et quanta sunt quae de miserrimis Rituum difficultatibus tractant. Num centum emanaverant bullae, decreta, instructiones, etc? Num uniformitas actionis unquam ex his nata est? Num et hodie, in quaestionem saltem speculativam, redire audimus ea quae fundamentum fuerunt decreti Illustrissimi cardinalis de Tournon? Nova discutio eritne lucidior? Eritne possibilis absque detrimento charitatis, absque renovatione discutionum quae forsitan disputationis nomen assumere possent? Et quid boni veniret de novis disputationibus?

Dicent quoque: Cur hodie clamat conscientia tua, quae huc usque tuta videbatur? Ad hoc respondeo: Ego ipse non elegi missionem meam. Toto corde devotus operi missionum, meipsum dedi Societati Missionum ad Exteros, non dubitans de pacifica et tutissima ratione agendi in missionibus. Sed quando Seminarii Moderatores mihi assignaverunt missionem Indianam, si cognovissem, sicut hodie cognosco, status missionis hujus respectu Rituum et Consuetudinum, si cognovissem diversitates opinionum quae operarios apostolicos dividunt, si cognovissem quomodo tractantur res ecclesiasticae in miserrimis regionibus istis, nunquam venissem. De talibus vero nec cogitans, gaudens profectus sum.

Sed heu! Statim ac has oras appuli, multa vidi et audivi quae inexplicabilia videbantur. Agendi ratio operariorum apostolicorum mihi apparebat nec secundum simplicem obedientiam, nec conformis puritati doctrinae evangelicae; tamen nec evidenter videbatur condemnanda. Insuper, si ex una parte videbam tolerata multa quae, primo intuitu, putebam intolerabilia, ex altera parte multa videbam damnata, vituperata, despecta quae toleranda, si non expresse probanda, essent, meo sensu, apud populos tam diversi genii a genio Europeanorum. A praejudiciis Europeanarum judicabam Europeos luctare contra praejudicia Indianorum.

Quid prudenter faciendum mihi erat in tam mixtis negotiis? Quid prudenter damnandum, quid prudenter probandum, praesertim a juveni missionario qui de suo judicio, plus quam de aliis omnibus, primo dubitare debet? Prudentius esse duxi nihil damnare, nihil probare sed conscientiam meam in dubio invincibili, saltem ad tempus, versantem deponere in conscientia praedecessorum et superiorum meorum, praesumens illos notitias habere et intelligentiam rerum quas experientia sola docere potest. Sed haec depositio conscientiae semper perseverare non potest. Novem sunt anni a tempore quo Indiam adveni et non video quomodo superiorum et antecessorum conscientia tute formata est. Praxis nostra mihi videtur fundata in dubio, ducta praejudicio et innixa interpretationibus temerariis.

Et hodie, quando, quamvis indignus, ad Episcopatum elevatus sum, quomodo remanere possum in dubio practico et exigere a missionariis meis observationes quas aliquoties illis repugnant, et quos ego ipse practice tutas asserere nequeo? Et tamen, sine perturbationibus missionis et probabilissima ruina missionis meae, hanc praxim non sequi et non exigere ab aliis nequeo. Quid eveniret si omnes vicariatus apostolici et omnes missionarii, exacte et absque titubatione, simpliciter et uniformiter, Romanae voluntatis ad unguem observarent decreta? Nemo potest dicere. Sed negari non potest quod ad ruinam verterentur insanabilem conatus individuorum et etiam unius Vicarii Apostolici in contradictione vicinorum.

In tali conditione, quid faciendum? Sperare non possum ut ipsa S.C. inveniat efficax medium pacificandi mentes quod usque nunc invenire non potuit. Unde humiliter praecor ut mihi liceat relinquere Indiam.

Si S.C. me conservare voluerit in missionibus, non recuso laborem. A frigoribus Syberiae ad ignes interiores Africae quo libuerit mittat me, obediens et gaudens pergam. Unum rogo: Mittar quo absque detrimento missionis, absque contradictione inter operarios, absque pacis et charitatis alteratione, simplex obedientia Sacrae Congregationis instructionibus sit possibilis. Denique, si vel inutilis vel perniciosa videatur mea praesentia in missionibus, detur mihi, quaeso, permissio finiendi vitam meam in pace, in piis exercitiis cujuscumque Religionis quam assignare mihi voluerit S.C.

Cum vero Omnipotens et Justus Judex instanti momento vocare potest me ad supremum judicium, sit haec epistola protestatio contra haec omnia quae facio, quae permitto, quorum observationem missionariis meis commendo et quae contra mentem et voluntatem Sanctae Sedis esse possunt. Nam (ne imprudentia peccem) usque dum S.C. de me aliter disponere voluerit, vel usque dum efficax invenerit medium inducendi uniformitatem actionis a Sancta Sede probatae inter omnes missionarios Indiae, perseverabo in praxi quam inveni vigentem et quae, usque nunc, (multis repugnantibus et gementibus) communior est inter missionarios Vicariatuum Madure et Pudichery.

Attamen, quidquid sit de futuro, operarius apostolicus laborandus est ac si de perpetuitate sui laboris certus esset. Sciat se moriturum esse cras et agat hodie sicut si deberet longam ducere vitam. Propterea, aliqua addam quae, in quacumque hypothesi, mihi videntur pro bono missionis et pro religionis firmitate in his regionibus. Haec in sequentibus litteris exponam orans Spiritum Sanctum ut S.C. inspirare dignetur modum certum adjuvandi tandem Ecclesias Indiae.

Eminentiae Vestrae, Servus Obsequiosissimus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. Quando loquor de India, semper mea mens est loquendi de India in parte orientale montium Gates, nam in occidente dictorum montium res aliter se habent et ibi Ecclesia Dei glorificatur. Sed vobis non latet haec loca a nostris omnino esse diversa, ita ut quod possibile est in uno facile quoque tanquam impossibile videtur in alio.

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1850)

TRANSLATIONOF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda, letter no. 2)

Coimbatore, 16 September 1850

Very Eminent and Very Reverend Lord,

On 25 October 1849, I wrote a letter to the Sacred Congregation that I sent to the directors in the Seminary of Foreign Missions, because of the gravity of the subject, with the faculty for them of holding it back if, before God, they considered it advisable to communicate any benevolent observations to me. These beloved confreres and friends, above all the venerable and never sufficiently praised Mr Langlois did their utmost to divert me from my plan.

Far be it from me, relying too much on my own judgment, to despise their observations and their reasons and, under the appearance of a good, to do something that might turn, by my fault, to the detriment of the missions whose success is my whole life and, after God and for God, my only joy. However, since my soul is crucified, I cannot remain silent. For what can be more cruel than to doubt if we are walking in the path of salvation or in that of eternal damnation?

In fact, in the aforesaid letter, I asked for permission to leave the Society of Missions and to enter into religion. The reasons are twofold. Some are personal regarding the congregation of the Foreign Missions that I love above all else, but in which I fear that my presence is useless and perhaps harmful. While others are local, because of the rites and habits in force with our Christians and which put my conscience in a veritable perplexity.

I leave what is personal, since the aforesaid well loved confreres will not agree on my uselessness and even less on the damage caused by my presence in our Congregation and because they give me the hope of introducing certain improvements which seem to me necessary in order for our Holy Mother Church to gather the fruits that she should expect from our missions. But these cannot make the perplexity of my conscience disappear.

In fact can we, even with the hope of saving some, do something wrong or put our own salvation in doubt ? No. And, Very Eminent and Very Reverend Lord, it seems to me that our way of acting in India is at least against the spirit, if not against the letter of the gospel, that it is not a filial obedience, not to say that it is a perpetual disobedience to the instructions, wishes and orders of the Holy See, and perhaps an interpretation incompatible with the oath that we have sworn, according to the directive of Benedict XIV in the bull Omnium sollicitidinum.

From another viewpoint, were the so numerous pious missionaries in error who, before us as also in our time, despite their oath and their attachment to the Holy See, believed that the things we found in usage, when we first came to India could be permitted? If truly their interpretation, both of divine and of ecclesiastic law is correct (which speculatively appears to me probable, but incompatible with the instructions of the Holy See and with the obedience we owe to it), how can I lead my mission to a certain ruin, by simply obeying according to my desire ?

But the dear directors of the Seminary tell me, as they have also written : you should lay your doubt before the Sacred Congregation whose decision will be a law that must finally be followed by all. But, Very Eminent and very Reverend Lord, do you remember how very many things there are which deal with the extremely deplorable difficulties of the Rites. Have there not been hundreds of bulls, decrees and instructions? Has uniformity of action ever emerged from these? Do we dare today, at least in a speculative search, to come back to what was the foundation of the decree of the very illustrious Cardinal de Tournon ? Would a fresh discussion be any clearer ? Would it be possible, without touching on charity, without renewing the discussions which might perhaps deserve the name of disputes ? And what good could come from any fresh disputes?

They likewise say : Why does your conscience call out today, whereas until now it appeared certain ? To that I answer: I did not choose my mission myself. Consecrated with all my heart to the cause of the missions, I put myself in the hands of the Society of the Foreign Missions, not doubting of the peaceable and very sure way of acting in the missions. But when the directors in the Seminary assigned me to the Indian mission, if I had known, as I do today, the state of that mission from the point of view of Rites and Customs, if I had known the diversities of opinions dividing the apostolic workers, if I had known how ecclesiastic matters are treated in these very poor regions, I would never have come. But, since I did not think of such things, I left joyfully.

But alas ! From the instant that I landed, I saw and I heard many things which seemed inexplicable to me. The way of acting of the evangelical workers did not seem to me in accordance with simple obedience, or in line with the purity of the evangelical doctrine. However, that did not appear as clearly to be condemned. Moreover, if on the one hand, I saw many things tolerated, that my first instinct would have indicated as intolerable, on another hand, I saw many condemned, censured and despised that should have been tolerated, if not explicitly approved, to my mind, in people having such a different mentality from the Europeans. I thought that the Europeans were fighting against the prejudices of the Indians on the basis of European prejudices.

What should I prudently have done in such very mixed affairs ? What prudently should have been condemned, and what prudently tolerated above all by a young missionary, who must first of all distrust his own judgment more than anything else? I considered that it was more prudent not to condemn anything, and not to approve anything, but to lay down my conscience in an invincible doubt, at least for a time, in the conscience of my predecessors and of my superiors, thinking that they possessed the knowledge and understanding of things, that only experience can teach. But this laying down of the conscience cannot continue indefinitely. It is now nine years since I arrived in India and I cannot see how the conscience of our superiors and predecessors was formed in any sure way. Our practice seems to be founded on doubt, guided by prejudice and based on false interpretations.

And today, when, unworthy as I am, I have been raised to the episcopate, how can I remain in practical doubt and require of my missionaries observations which at times repel them and that I myself cannot affirm to be practically certain ? And meanwhile, without perturbations of the mission and without the very probable ruin of my mission, I cannot follow this practice and not require it of others. What would happen if all the apostolic vicars and all the missionaries observed exactly and without hesitation, simply and uniformly, the decrees of the will of Rome with the greatest care? No-one can say. But it cannot be denied that the efforts of individuals and even of a single Apostolic Vicar in contradiction with his neighbours would incline towards irreparable ruin.

What should be done in such conditions ? I cannot hope that the Sacred Congregation itself will find an effective means of pacifying spirits, if until now it has found none such. For this reason, I humbly beg you to permit me to leave India.

If the Sacred Congregation should wish to keep me in the missions, I do not refuse the work. May it send me wherever it pleases, from the icy wastes of Siberia to the fiery interior of Africa, I will leave obedient and joyful. I request one single thing: that I be sent there where, without detriment to the mission, without contradiction between the workers, without alteration of peace and charity, simple obedience to the instructions of the Sacred Congregation is possible. Finally, if my presence in the missions appears either useless or harmful, that I may be granted, I ask, permission to end my days in peace, in the holy exercises of one or the other Religion that the Sacred Congregation should decide to assign to me.

But since the all-powerful and just Judge may call me even now to the supreme judgment, may this letter be a protest against all the things that I do, that I permit, that I order my missionaries to observe, and that may be against the spirit and will of the Holy See. For (out of fear of sinning by imprudence), until the Sacred Congregation decides to dispose in some other way of me, or until it finds an effective way of introducing the uniformity of an action approved by the Holy See among all the missionaries of India, I will continue in the practice that I found in force and which, until now (however many deplore it in disgust) is most common among the missionaries of the vicariates of Madurai and of Pondicherry.

Meanwhile, whatever the future may be, an apostolic worker must work as if he were certain of the perpetuity of his work. May he know that he may die tomorrow and act today as if he should live long years still. That is why I will add certain things that, in all of the various cases, appear to me for the good of the mission and for the solidity of religion in these regions. I will outline these things in the following letter, praying the Holy Spirit to deign to inspire in the Sacred Congregation a certain way of helping at last the Churches of India.

Your Eminence's most respectful Servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. When I speak of India, I always intend speaking of India to the east of the Ghats, for to the west of these mountains, things are different and there the Church of God is glorified. But, as you must know, those parts are completely different from ours, so that what is possible in one may just as easily appear impossible in the other.

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1850)

Sent_0464

Sent_0464 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 3 - 16 September 1850 -/8

Sent_0464 - à la Propagande, n° 3 - le 16 septembre 1850 -/8

Sent 0464 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 3 - 16 September 1850 /1

Envoi_0464 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 350-355

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 3)

Regarding the limits of his jurisdiction : he requests that two provinces of the vicariate of Trichinopoly (Madurai) be added to Coimbatore and that the Collégal, at present in Coimbatore, be given to Bangalore (Mysore). Thus, in Coimbatore we will have more Christians and greater hope of having a local clergy. He goes on to explain why Rome should appoint a visiting bishop to India to prepare a meeting of the bishops of that country : this council would then present any desirable reforms to Rome. Why have I never received the enclyclical on the Immaculate Conception ?

Index : religion in India, Immaculate Conception (dogma), native clergy, council of the bishops of India

Coimbatore, 16 September 1850

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Ante definitivam erectionem Vicariatus Apostolici Coimbatorensis, ab omni petitione super modificationem limitum abstinui, quia, quamvis perutilis et quasi necessaria videatur, tardare potuisset ratihabitationem divisionis Vicariatuum Pudicherensis, Maisourensis et Coimbatorensis, quae pro bono generali a pluribus optabatur. Hodie vero, cum causa haec finita est, desiderium meum S.C. timens proponam.

Timens, dico, quia videbor forsitan pro particulari meo commodo loqui, cum e contrario meum personale bonum esset remanere sicut sum, nam in statu praesenti liberor a multis paenis, contradictionibus et laboribus quae petitionis meae concessionem sequentur; timens quoque quia, propter infirmitatem inhaerentem humanae naturae, hi, quorum partem territorii petem, aliquid tanquam sibi pertinens se amittendos esse cogitantes, defendent forsitan jus suum, dubitando de intentionibus meis, cum periculo pacis charitatisque. Sed confidens in Deo, cujus gloria sola me impellit, et in sapientia S.C., quae in sua prudentia modum inveniet praeveniendi offensionem quorumcumque, libere petam quod evidenter mihi videtur petendum.

Peto ergo ut modificetur territorium Vicariatus Apostolici Coimbatore, ita ut ei subjiciantur provincia Tinavelly et parva provincia Dindiguel, et ut Provinciae Coimbatorensis pars vulgo dicta Collegal auferatur et jungatur Vicariatu Apostolico Maysorensi; ita ut limites sint sicut in carta inclusa, in qua lineis nigris provincias indicavi, lineis coeruleis Vicariatuum limites sicut nunc sunt, et lineis rubris divisiones modificandas ut desidero.

Rationes hujus modificationis sunt, respectu augmentationis Vicariatus Coimbatore: quia in meo Vicariatu non plures inveniuntur nunc christiani quam circiter 10 vel 12 millia. Insuper, numerus ille minuitur quotidie sine spe augmentationis, nisi a conversione Paganorum quae conversio impossibilis dici potest absque miraculo, praesertim in statu praesenti quaestionis rituum Malabaricorum. Quotidie vero minuntur christiani mei numero; propter eorum paupertatem cui remedium non videtur, cum multi sunt textores telarum quorum vis magis ac magis destruitur ab Europeanis et, cum secundum legem et consuetudinem eorum tribus, nihil aliud facere sciunt, aut miseria pereunt multi aut locum nativitatis fugiant ad urbes maritimes vel ad alias in quibus Europeani numeriores sunt.

Qui remanent vero christiani dispersi sunt in tota Provincia, ita ut nulla invenitur Ecclesia in qua sacerdos possit sustentari ab illis. Supponendo quod, adjuvans illos, aliquas decursu temporis stabilire possim Ecclesias cum suo sacerdote indigeno, ad plus septem vel octo erunt possibiles. Atqui, cum tali dispositione, quam difficile aliquid potest fieri respectu cleri indigenae, nullus ex S.C. Patribus non videbit.

Si quid tamen pro certo teneo est possibilitas formandi clerum in India. Octo sunt anni quibus in hoc opere laboro, sed semper in valde restricto circulo. Pudichery, actio mea detinebatur a praejudiciis praedecessorum, qui tanquam impossibile tenebant hoc opus, et a prudentia qua utendus eram in nova directione seminarii. Insuper cleros facere est quidem conditio sine qua non erectionis cleri sed non est sola essentialis.

Multae sunt aliae difficultates quas, Dei gratia, sufficienter indicavi et quarum solutionem sufficienter ostendi ut hodie praecipui missionarii Pudichery et possibilitatem et utilitatem indigenae cleri videant. R.R. D.D. Drusiparensis Episcopus praecipue nihil omittit ut desideratam finem obtineat. Attamen, ut simpliciter loquar, antiqua praejudicia si non destruent opus ibi inceptum et feliciter prosecutum, illius incremento longam moram facient.

Post meum adventum Coimbatore, incepi seminarium in quo aliquos congregavi alumnos cum maxima difficultate, quia numquam auditum est sacerdotes fuisse ex hac provincia. Res nova res in hac regione difficillima. Attamen decem vel duodecim obtinui pueros, quorum septem hodie sunt clerici, et nobis locum dant sperandi se futuros esse bonos sacerdotes. Sed si ecclesias vel potius christianitates non habeo, nisi pro septem vel octo sacerdotibus, quomodo perstare poterit seminarium? Et etiam, si aliquibus sacerdotibus indigenis uti possem ad praedicationem paganorum, quomodo alumnos possem invenire in tam parvo numero christianorum?

Si vero ad desiderium meum augeretur Vicariatus Coimbatorensis, 60.000 circiter contineret christanos et non solum spem sed quasi certitudinem haberem stabiliendi in eo clerum indigenum, in quantum compatibilis est clerus ille cum statu presenti missionis.

Sed ex Vicariatu Madure R.R. P.P. Jesuitae impedimentum inferentne tali modificationi? Hic timor. Sine tali metu, non dubitarem asserere quod amborum vicariatuum utilitas illam exigeret. Nam, hac divisione facta, remanerent Jesuitis in Provinciis Madure, Tanjaor, etc. plus quam 100.000 christiani in spatio quasi aequali; ita ut, etiam post divisionem, tripliciter et magis christianos haberent quam ego. Querentur ne propter impensas quas fecerunt? Sed, non obstante quod factae sunt pro bono Ecclesiae, quisquis sit qui talem vel talem missionem curet, praecipuas suas impensas, magnas domus, Ecclesias insignes, Collegia magnifica construxerunt in urbibus Trichinopoly et Negapatam quae illis remanerent.

Ratio cessionis Collegal Vicariatu Apostolico Maysourensi est quod ab altibus montibus separatur ab altera parte Coimbatore, unde populus ille, lingua diversa utens, difficile nobiscum communicat, cum e contra quotidianam communicationem habet cum Bangalore. Deinde duo vel tres solummodo ibi sunt parvi christianorum vici, pro quibus difficile est ut habeam unum missionarium qui, ob id unum, linguam eorum studeat, quae familiaris est omnibus missionariis Vicariatus Maysorensis. Non dubito quia R.R. P.P. Episcopus Jassensis pro grata habeat illius loci acceptationem, nam et rectae rationi et bono missionum consentaneam esse optime scit.

Spero ergo quod, absque cujuscumque poena et, si Deo placet, omnibus benigne consentientibus, huic duplici modificatione quae tam utilis mihi videtur, operam dare dignabimini.

Aliam de rebus generalibus religionis in India dicam occasione verborum quae continet epistola S.C. ad me tradita sub die 20 Octobris 1849. In ea legitur: "Ad rite autem instaurandam ubivis Catholicae fidei praxim et Ecclesiae disciplinam, ad quaestiones ea de re dirimandas, et regiminis uniformitatem promovendam, peropportunum sane foret, quod Jassensis(), aliique Antistites cogitant, nimirum, ut Indiarum Praesules in unum convenire, et collatis consiliis unanimiter, quae ad fidelium salutem et missionum incrementum in Domino magis expedire judicarent, Sanctae Sedis examini, et sanctione proponere studerent, id quod compositis plene, antea ut supra innuimus, gravibus negotiis, locum habere posse arbitramur".

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, propter rationes plurimas quas explanare longum esset, minime credere possum quod, in circumstantiis praesentibus, aliquid boni possit evenire de Congressu Episcoporum Indiae, nisi eorum concilium a longe et exacte praeparatum sit ab ipsa Sancta Sede. Si vero, de tali conventu Episcoporum bonum non exiret malum eveniret; hoc credite. Ad realem vero utilitatem hujus Concilii, deberet, meo sensu, S.C. eligere episcopum unum missionarium, in quo totam suam ponat confidentiam, qui plenus Spiritus Dei et amans supra modum Ecclesiae Romanae, vacuus sit a praejudiciis Congregationum, nationalitatis etc., oblitus an Gallus sit, Italus, Britanicus, Jesuita vel ex congregatione aliqua, nihil alius sciat nisi Jesum et Ecclesiam Jesu.

Tali Episcopo S.C. juberet ut omnes Vicarios Apostolicos Indiae visitat absque potestate quidquid reformandi vel mutandi in prima visitatione; sed cum facultate omnia videndi et interrogandi, etiam Episcopos, de omnibus quae verum statum Missionum eum docere possent. S.C. posset illi committere seriem quamdam interrogationum, quas faceret singulis Episcopis et praecipuis missionariis; cum obligatione conservandi eorum responsum de verbo ad verbum in quantum possibile. Deberet insuper visitator ille non solum inspicere loca praecipua sed nonnulla alia intra missiones, ut a se ipso omnia videat et agnoscat. Deinde peteret Romam submittendi causa S.C. et suum judicium et responsa scripta tam Episcoporum tam missionariorum, eorumque vota, desideria, spem, timores, etc. etc.

Tunc S.C., his omnibus visis et perpensis, instructionem faceret omnibus Episcopis Indiae de modo celebrandi concilium, de rebus tractandi etc. Denique peracte concilio, Sancta Sedes approbaret illud cum modificationibus utilibus visis, et Visitatorem denuo mitteret cum auctoritate necessaria ut, ad unguem, omnia et in omnibus locis vel uniformiter vel diformiter sed ad votum Concilii et approbationis Sanctae Sedis observarentur.

Cujus negotii executio ardua quidem videbitur; sed si difficilis nunquid spernenda? Ego vero non aliam video viam salutis pro Ecclesiae Indiae.

Denique his litteris finem faciam respectuose quaerendo cur non recepimus exemplar authenticum Encyclicae Summi Pontificis Pii IX de quaestione Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis; praesertim cum Summus Pontifex non solum Episcoporum sed Cleri et populi chritiani opinionem inquirit circa fidem hujus veritatis.

Non quaero utrum nos, Vicarii Apostolici in regionibus quae non habent Episcopum Ordinarium, qui si non ordinariam saltem quasi ordinariam juridictionem habemus, non deberemus in praxi confundi cum aliis Episcopis Catholicis. Forsitan non inutiliter tractaretur haec quaestio non solum pro honore Episcopatus sed et pro bono fundamentali locorum in quorum difficultas rerum vel aliae rationes impedient ne ordinarii episcopi instituantur. Sed quidquid sit de illa quaestione, in casu particulari, cur missionarii nostri, qui heroicis sacrificiis pars facti sunt praeciosissima cleri, non suam exprimerent opinionem sicut et coeteri sacerdotes mundi?

Denique R.R. D.D. Vicarius Apostolicus Verapoly exemplar recepit signatum manu propia Pii IX; ita ut ipse et Coadjutor suus nec non ProVicarius suus administratores missionum Mangalore et Quilon responsionem miserunt ad Summum Pontificem.

Defecta talis vel similis communicationis, judicavit R.R. D.D. Drusiparensis Episcopus nullum a nobis dari debere responsum.

Illius Praesulis opinionem secutus sum. Tamen, si per oblivionem tantum nobis transmissae non fuerunt hae litterae Pontificis, quaero utrum debeam vel non missionariorum meorum opinionem inquirere eamque ad Sanctam Sedem mittere simul cum mea.

Eminentiae Vestrae, Servus humillimus et obsequiosissimus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1850)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda, letter n° 3)

Coimbatore, 16 September 1850

Very Eminent and Very Reverend Lord,

Before the definitive erection of the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore, I refrained from making any request regarding a modification of limits, because, although I considered it very useful and almost necessary, it could await ratification of the division of the vicariates of Pondicherry, of Mysore and of Coimbatore which was desired by many for the general good. But today, since that question is settled, while hesitating, I wish to propose my desire to the Sacred Congregation.

I say while hesitating, because I may appear to be speaking of my own personal interest, when on the contrary my personal good would be to remain as I am for, in the present state of things, I am freer from the numerous difficulties, contradictions and tasks that will follow the granting of my request ; I also hesitate because, as a result of the infirmity inherent in human nature, those from whom I am going to ask for a part of the territory, thinking that they will lose something that belongs to them personally, will perhaps defend their right, while doubting as to my intentions, with a danger for peace and charity. But trusting in God whose glory alone impels me, and in the wisdom of the Sacred Congregation which in its prudence will find a way to avoid offending anyone whomsoever, I will freely request what clearly appears to me should be requested.

Accordingly I request that the territory of the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore be modified, in such a way that the province of Tinavelly and the little province of Dindiguel are added to it, and that the part of the province of Coimbatore commonly known as Collégal is removed from it and added to the apostolic vicariate of Mysore ; in such a way that the limits are as shown on the map that I am attaching, on which I have indicated the provinces by black lines, the limits of the vicariates as they are at present by blue lines and the divisions to be modified as I desire by red lines.

The reasons for this modification are as regards the enlargement of the vicariate of Coimbatore : because, in my vicariate, there are at present no more than around ten to twelve thousand Christians. Moreover, this number is diminishing by the day, without hope of an increase, except by conversion of the pagans, which conversion may be considered as impossible without a miracle, above all in the present state of the question of the Malabar rites. And today, our Christians are falling in number; because of their poverty for which we see no remedy, since many of them are weavers whose resources are being progressively destroyed by the Europeans, and since, according to the law and the customs of their castes, they know no other trade, either many of them die in extreme hardship, or else they flee from the places of their birth to the seaside or other towns in which the Europeans are more numerous.

And the Christians who stay behind are dispersed throughout the province in such a way that there is no church in which the priest could be maintained by them. Even supposing that by helping them I could in time establish a few churches with their native priest, at the most seven or eight will be possible. But with such an arrangement, none of the Fathers of the Sacred Congregation will fail to see how difficult it will be to do anything from the point of view of the native clergy.

However, if I deem something certain, it is precisely the possibility of forming a clergy in India. It is eight years now that I have been working for this cause, but always in a very restricted circle. At Pondicherry, my action was prevented by the prejudices of the predecessors who deemed this work impossible, and by the prudence which I was obliged to show in the new direction of the seminary. Moreover, to form clerics is in fact the indispensable condition for erecting a clergy, but is not the only essential one.

There are many other difficulties that, thanks to God, I have sufficiently indicated, and of which I have sufficiently showed the solution, in order for the principal missionaries of Pondicherry today to see both the possibility and the usefulness of a native clergy. His Excellency My Lord Bishop of Drusipare in particular omits nothing to achieve the desired end. But, to speak simply, the former prejudices, while they do not destroy the work undertaken and followed through successfully in this place, greatly slow down its development.

After my arrival in Coimbatore, I began a seminary in which I gathered together several pupils despite many difficulties, because people had never heard of priests coming out of this province. In this region, something new is something very difficult to accomplish. However I obtained ten or twelve children, of whom seven are today clerics and give us reason to hope that they will make good priests. But if I have no churches or rather Christian communities for more than seven or eight, how can the seminary go on? And even if I can employ several native priests for the preaching to the pagans, how could I find pupils from among such a small number of Christians?

However if the vicariate of Coimbatore is enlarged according to my desire, it would contain about 60,000 Christians and I would have not only the hope, but almost the certainty, of establishing a native clergy there, insofar as this clergy is compatible with the present state of the mission.

But will the Jesuit Reverend Fathers of the vicariate of Madurai try to prevent such a modification ? That is my fear. Without such a fear, I would not hesitate to state that the usefulness of the two vicariates would require this. For, once the division is made, the Jesuits would be left in the provinces of Madurai, of Tanjore etc., with over 100,000 Christians in more or less the same space; so that, even after the division, they would still have three times more Christians than me. Will they complain because of the expenses they have incurred? But, despite the fact that these have been done for the good of the Church, whoever it is that will have to deal with such and such a mission, they have undertaken their principal expenditures, they have built the fine residences, the handsome churches and the sumptuous schools in the towns of Trichinopoly and of Negapatam which will stay with them.

The reason for transferring the Collégal to the apostolic vicariate of Mysore is that it is separated by high mountains from the other part of Coimbatore where this people speaking another language has difficulty in communicating with us, whereas on the contrary they are in daily communication with Bangalore. Moreover, there are no more than two or three little villages of Christians there for whom it is difficult for me to assign a missionary who, for that reason alone, would have to study their language, which is familiar to all the missionaries of the vicariate of Mysore. I do not doubt but that His Excellency My Lord Bishop of Jassen will be more than willing to accept this place, for he knows very well that it is in accordance with straight reason and the good of the missions.

Accordingly I hope that, without distressing anyone at all, if it pleases God, and with everyone consenting in a friendly way, you will deign to consider this twofold modification which seems to me so useful.

I will say something now on things in general regarding religion in India, in response to the words contained in the letter I have received from the Sacred Congregation which is dated 20 October 1849. This letter reads as follows: "In order to establish according to the rule, practice of the Catholic faith in any place whatsoever and discipline of the Church, to prevent questions on this and to promote uniformity of conduct, it would be extremely advisable for My Lord of Jassen (), and the other bishops to assuredly do their utmost to bring together those in charge in India, and having reached agreement, in concord, on the things that they consider best, in the Lord, liable to foster the salvation of the faithful and the development of the missions, to propose them for the examination and approval of the Holy See ; which we think could take place, once the grave affairs have been fully arranged in advance, as we have allowed it to be understood heretofore."

Very Eminent and Very Reverend Lord, for several reasons that it would take too long to explain, I find it very difficult to believe that, in the present circumstances, anything good could come out of a meeting of the bishops of India, unless their meeting were prepared a long time in advance and carefully by the Holy See itself. And if, such a meeting of the bishops did not give rise to good, it would give rise to evil ; believe me. To my mind, in order for this meeting to be really useful, it would be necessary for the Sacred Congregation to choose a missionary bishop, in whom it would place its full trust, who filled with the Spirit of God and loving above all the Roman Church, was free from the prejudices of congregations, of nationality, etc., who would forget that he was French, Italian, English, Jesuit or from some other congregation, and would know nothing other than Jesus and the Church of Jesus.

The Sacred Congregation would order such a bishop to visit all the apostolic vicars of India, without the power of reforming anything or of changing anything on his first visit, but with the faculty of seeing everything and of interrogating, even the bishops, on the subject of everything they could learn on the true state of the missions. The Sacred Congregation would submit to him a certain series of questions that he would pose to each of the bishops and to the principal missionaries, with the obligation of keeping their answers word for word as far as possible. Moreover, this visitor should not only inspect the principal places, but also some others in the interior of the missions, so as to see everything and become acquainted with everything on his own.

Thereafter he would leave for Rome to submit to the cause of the Sacred Congregation both his own judgment and the written answers of the bishops and missionaries alike, their desires, their hopes, their fears, etc., etc.

After which, the Sacred Congregation, having seen and examined carefully all of this, would draw up an instruction for all the bishops of India, on the way of holding a council, on the subjects to be dealt with in it, etc. Finally, such a council having been held, the Holy See would approve it, making such modifications as it should consider useful, in order for everything to be observed perfectly and everywhere, either in a uniform manner or differently, but according to the desire of the council and the approval of the Holy See.

The carrying out of this matter might in fact appear very difficult ; but should we discard it because it is difficult? As far as I am concerned, I do not see any other means of salvation for the Church of India.

Lastly, I will end this letter by respectfully asking you why we have not received an authentic copy from the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX on the question of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; above all since the Sovereign Pontiff is seeking the opinion not only of the bishops, but also of the clergy and the Christian people on the faith of this truth.

I do not ask that we, apostolic vicars in regions without a regular bishop, who have if not the ordinary jurisdiction, at least the quasi-ordinary jurisdiction, be confused in practice with the other Catholic bishops. Perhaps this question would be dealt with profitably not only for the honour of the episcopate, but also for the fundamental good of the places in which the difficulty and other reasons prevent the institution of regular bishops. But however this question may be, in the case in point, why should our missionaries who, by their heroic sacrifices, have become a very precious part of the clergy, not express their opinion, like all the other priests in the world?

Finally, His Excellency My Lord the Apostolic Vicar of Verapoly has received a copy signed by the hand of Pius IX himself. So that he himself, his co-adjutor and also his pro-vicar and the administrators of the missions of Mangalore and of Quilon, have sent an answer to the Sovereign Pontiff. In the absence of such a communication or something similar, His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Drusipare considered that no answer should be given by us. I have followed that Prelate's opinion. However, if it is merely due to an oversight that this letter from the Sovereign Pontiff has not been transmitted to us, I ask whether I should or should not request the opinion of my missionaries and send it to the Holy See together with mine.

Your Eminence's very humble and very respectful servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 16 September 1850)

Sent_0465

Sent_0465 - aux directeurs - le 25 septembre 1850 -/2

Sent_0465 - aux directeurs - le 25 septembre 1850 -/1

Sent 0465 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 25 September 1850 /1

Sent 0465 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 68

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

He sends a copy of his letters to Propaganda 0463 and 0464; he also sends them copy of his letter to Mgr Bonnand 0461.

Index: sharing

Coimbatore, 25 September 1850

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I think that you are all acquainted with several letters that I addressed to Mr Tesson on the subject of some troubles of conscience. I have read with great attention, and examined before God, as far as possible, the opinions that both Mr Tesson himself and Mr Legrégeois and the respectable and very venerated Mr Langlois were kind enough to address to me. Nonetheless, I felt it my duty to write to the S.C. letter no. 2, of which I am sending you a copy, so that you are perfectly informed on this question.

To this copy, I add copy of letter no. 3 that I sent at the same time, so that you can back up the interests of our mission. I refrain from sending you no. 1 which merely contains a request for powers. I ask the S.C. to confirm me in the powers already communicated to me by My Lord of Drusipare and which are not contained in the sheets sent me directly from Rome, with the brief erecting Coimbatore to an apostolic vicariate.

Finally, I am sending you, but very (confiden)tially, copy of a letter that I wrote in the last few days to My Lord of Drusipare who has still not lost the hope of having me as his co-adjutor. I am sending it to you because it seems to me only right that you are acquainted with what I think on this point; but since My Lord of Drusipare's letter to which I am replying is strictly confidential, you will realise that you must keep this communication to yourselves, using it without fail for the good according to what you believe right before God, but without letting anyone know that I sent it to you.

I commend myself to the merits of your holy sacrifices, asking you to believe me,

Very dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. of the 28th: I am expecting in a few days' time Mr Perceval who has arrived at Pondicherry and who should be halfway here by now. I hope that he will be bringing our accounts for the year. It is now two years (that) our accounts are confused, last year by the errors they (contained), while this year because they have not come; this puts us in considerable difficulty.

(Coimbatore, 25 and 28 September 1850)

Sent_0466

Sent_0466 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 October 1850 -/2

Sent_0466 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 octobre 1850 -/3

Sent 0466 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 October 1850 /2

Sent 0466 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 367-370

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 356

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Mr Perceval has just arrived. The feast of the Rosary, the retreat, the council, everything has gone well. Send me a copy of the regulations of the mission of Pondicherry; we have decided to draw up our own here.

Index: news, regulations

Carumattampatty, 19 October 1850

My Lord,

For a long time now our correspondence has been interrupted, since I have nothing of note to tell you, while Y.L. has long been content to let me have every now and then very short notes instead of letters.

However I wanted to write to you on Mr Perceval's arrival. But this new confrere arrived at the height of our feast, which prevented me. Immediately afterwards, we had our annual retreat, followed by a council which lasted only one session. All of that went well and ended the day before yesterday.

Yesterday morning, five of these Gentlemen left for Coimbatore, where they had various things to buy, before going back to their pangou. I myself will be going to Coimbatore the day after tomorrow, Monday, where I will spend some time with Mr Perceval who will study the language with Mr Barot for master, then towards the month of December, I plan to pay a visit to Ootacamund where Mr Bonjean is doing much good. Quite apart from what he does for the Christians, I think that over the year he has baptised about a hundred pagans, or even more.

Never has the feast of Carumattampatty been so brilliant, except for the day of the consecration. Even that exception is only from one point of view, for undoubtedly we will never see the like of the gathering in this isolated spot of those who were present on that memorable day; but this time there was more pomp, more order in the ceremonies, more harmony in the singing, etc., etc. It was a small cathedral. Unfortunately, extreme poverty continues to weigh on our poor sheders and I very much fear that they will end up by leaving the place, and dispersing at least to a large extent, if I cannot find some means of coming to their aid.

I should write to Messrs Dupuis and Lehodey for various questions of books and regarding the burse, but since I still have not seen the crates that were sent to me either from Pondicherry or from Paris, having sent all of that to Coimbatore in order not to be cluttered up here during the retreat, it will wait until I am in Coimbatore. Only, Mr de Gélis, who went to accompany these crates and who opened that of the souroubam on the indications of damage, informed me that some of them were more or less mutilated.

There would be various other things that I would like to say to you, but truly I hate to entrust them to paper. When will Y.L. be coming to see us? I very much regret that you have let the year pass without giving us that consolation which would at least have, I believe, its useful side.

In our council, we decided that we would work during the year on final regulations for the vicariate of Coimbatore. I would very much like them to be as far as possible in harmony with those of Pondicherry.

I would be most obliged if you would pass me on a copy of those that were placed in our hands when we arrived from France, as well as those regarding especially the native clergy, with indication of the articles that you would like to see essentially modified, or totally changed or abolished.

I commend myself to your holy sacrifices, My Lord, and ask you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very respectful confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, 19 October 1850)

Sent_0467

Sent_0467 - to Mr Tesson - 25 October 1850 -/2

Sent_0467 - à M. Tesson - le 25 octobre 1850 -/2

Sent 0467 - to Mr Tesson - 25 October 1850 /2

Sent 0467 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 69

Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 356-357

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Some recriminations against the bursar for the missions in India: the accounts have not arrived; Mr Perceval was told not to learn English: I had said the opposite; the orders are only incompletely carried out. As regards the bell, we will leave it until later. Above all, do not go and join the Capuchins: our congregation still needs you for the reform that is necessary. For my part, I am awaiting Rome's decision in great peace of mind.

Index: questions regarding the bursar's office, reform of the MEP, resignation from Coimbatore

Coimbatore, 25 October 1850

My dear Mr Tesson,

Clearly some correspondence must have gone astray, for I have received neither your accounts, nor the letters in common, nor the birth certificate that they sent you long ago from my home, etc., etc. Then there are certain items of our accounts either forgotten, or duplicated, or irregular in some other way dating from three years ago, without our knowing still what we can count on... If these accounts have finally been put in order and if they have got lost, it is not your fault; sooner or later, we will receive a copy of them, but if it is due to some other cause, it is deplorable.

Luckily an error earned us the sheet that you add to your letter of 24 August and which has fixed for us what is due to Messrs de Gélis and Bonjean.

Mr Perceval arrived the first week in October. He is well and I hope will make a good missionary. But what was my astonishment, and I will say my sorrow, when I asked him if he knew English. "English, he answered me, but at Paris they told me it was useless for the mission of Coimbatore. I wanted to learn it at my own expense, but they wouldn't give me permission; on the boat at least I could easily have studied it, I had the time and a master, but after what they had told me in Paris, I would have feared to waste my time by taking it up"...

How do you explain this? When I wrote on purpose to Paris asking for all the missionaries bound for Coimbatore to study English ; and if it was not before, to give them at least a master once their destination was fixed, and recommend to them not to think of Tamoul during the crossing, but only of English... Really this proof unfortunately added to many others, is enough to make us think that, if our letters are read at Paris, at the very most they are granted the attention that is normally given to an article in the gazette!

As regards the errands, I won't speak of it, being content to acknowledge receipt of the crate brought me by Mr Perceval. There are certain objects that I requested years ago, and which perhaps are somewhat difficult to find, but which could certainly be obtained at Paris, while others that could be found in any ordinary shop are also missing. How can all of this be excused?

I am including here the note of the objects to send us against the next allocation. You will notice that there is still no question of the bell, although we really need one, since we still do not have any, except for a very small one at Ootacamund. But I think that it would cost close on 1,200 francs, or even more, to have a passable one made here, without counting any accidents. Now we have too much need of money to incur such an expense yet.

I wrote to Propagation of the Faith in the sense that you suggested, but if you do not back up my request, I fear that it will remain without effect. And if it granted me the thirty thousand francs that I have requested to build a church here, I hope that you would arrange things in such a way that our confreres of the other missions would see that this sum, over and above the ordinary allocation, was specially granted by the work of Propagation of the Faith, seeing that I have not a single passable church in my whole vicariate.

So much for the bursar. You will say that I am angry with him. Well, a little. But let's go on to the friend; with the latter, no anger, not even a spot of vexation.

You end up your letter, very dear friend, by saying : "I sometimes feel the desire to become a Capuchin". I hope that God will preserve you from succumbing to that temptation. If he permitted it, I would regard that as a sign that he wants to have nothing more to do with our congregation; and, in that case, may his holy will be done and not ours. But I am far from believing that the Lord no longer cares about the Society of Foreign Missions.

Our congregation has sinned and continues to sin by imprudence, by shortsightedness, by ignorance, a little by feebleness, but not by malice. Accordingly I hope that, instead of destroying it, he will inspire in men, truly devoted to the work that his Providence entrusted to us, the wisdom and prudence that have become practically necessary at present, to prevent us from advancing any further in the vexatious ways that we have opened up, and for us to return frankly and apostolically to that from which we almost innocently departed. On this condition, we still have a great deal of road to cover and of good to produce.

But this condition could not be met, if the Seminary of Paris does not make itself the soul of a prudent but real reform, by reaching agreement with those whom God has permitted to see the good and the bad without exaggeration, and a firm will to sacrifice everything to his glory. Your upright judgment, your goodwill and your other qualities make you necessary at Paris, so pray guard against failing in grace.

You may answer me : And you ! Well, as far as I am concerned, 1) I do not expect to be taken as a model; 2) I await with the utmost patience, and I can even say with a sort of personal indifference Rome's answer in reply to the letters with which you are acquainted. If the S.C. shelters me from my conscience, I do not desire to leave our Congregation except if I should be an obstacle to this so necessary reform, or else if my departure should speed up its execution. In a word, if I leave our congregation, I intend that this should be, on my part, the most useful act that I could do for it, even if it meant giving my life for it, and something more than my life; and 3) if I was, like you, in a position to bring things about in such a way as to make this reform possible and fruitful, it seems to me that, with the grace of God, I would make that the sole object of my zeal and of my perpetual meditations.

A Dieu. Pray for your

Very devoted confrere and friend.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. Take care to count (in our ?) allocation the three months of October, November and December of this year for Mr Perceval.

(Coimbatore, 25 October 1850)

Sent_0468

Sent_0468 - aux directeurs - le 26 octobre 1850 -/2

Sent_0468 - aux directeurs - le 26 octobre 1850 -/1

Sent 0468 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 26 October 1850 /1

Sent 0468 Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 70

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 357

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Mr Perceval has arrived; the feast of Carumattampatty went well. I would like two or three more missionaries. See that Propagation of the Faith is fully acquainted with our extreme poverty and our great needs.

Index: request for personnel, finances (request for), poverty

Coimbatore, 26 October 1850

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I believe I announced to you, in my last letter, the arrival of this year's allocation. This time, I have to notify you of the of Mr Perceval's arrival. This young confrere has arrived in good health, to attend our feast of Carumattampatty, the Holy Rosary. This feast is celebrated with a great deal of pomp. I had convened all the missionaries of Coimbatore for the annual retreat, which took place two days after the feast, and which lasted seven days. Now, Mr Perceval is busy studying Tamoul in which he will, I think, make rapid progress.

You will not forget, I hope, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, that the number of my missionaries should be 10 to 11. Thus I still lack two or three whom I hope to see arrive quite shortly.

Another thing that it is important for you never to lose sight of, is our poverty. I do not think you can have an exact idea of our position, and above all the members of the Councils of Propagation of the Faith cannot. Between my position and that of certain vicariates of India which receive as much as I do, and even far more, because they have no need of using it to keep a clergy which enjoys other revenues, there is an immense difference.

I know that it is almost impossible for these Gentlemen to follow the real proportion of the needs that they cannot know, even by means of the table that they ask us to present and which perhaps merely serves to lead them astray, but you, Gentlemen, you who are acquainted with the real state of our missions, do everything that you can please to enlighten them. Finally, there is perhaps no other mission, like ours, which has no other resource than Propagation of the Faith. How is it that you cannot find any other means of assisting our missions? If Propagation of the Faith falls, our missions must necessarily perish along with it!

Quite apart from the ordinary allocation, this year I am requesting from Propagation of the Faith an extraordinary aid to build a church. Kindly lose no time in making every effort to back up my request, and I end by commending myself to your good prayers.

Your very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 26 October 1850)

Sent_0469

Sent_0469 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 26 October 1850 -/2

Sent_0469 - à la Propagande - le 26 octobre 1850 -/3

Sent 0469 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 26 October 1850 /2

Sent 0469

Original, AMEP, vol 1011, n° 71

Table for the year 1850.

Index : statistics

Tables attached to the letter to the directors

of 26 October 1850,

and to be sent to Propagation of the Faith

Table no. 1

Monsignore de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse, Apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

Date of the information provided:

. 28 October 1850

Population:

. Catholics: 15,000.

. Heretics: 2,000.

. Infidels: one million or more.

Number of adult baptisms or annual conversions:

. 120

Number of Easter communions:

. 7,000

Clergy:

. Missionaries: the bishop and eight missionaries.

. Priests born in the country: Still no priests, but there are seven clerics in the seminary.

Churches or chapels built:

. Churches: 5 or 6 bear this name without deserving it.

. Chapels: 30 or 40.

Secondary schools, seminaries, hospitals and various establishments:

. 1 seminary

. 1 catechisate is under way ; here ordinarily 20 to 30 catechumens are catered for.

. 1 hospital has also been begun, but is not very far advanced, due to lack of funds.

. 4 or 5 small schools.

General observations

. These may be found in the letter I wrote to the two Councils of Propagation.

Table no. 2

State of receipts and expenditures presumed for the year

Resources

Resources of the apostolic vicariate consisting of revenues from properties or other, revenues from churches, secondary schools and diocesan associations, casual gifts, gifts and offerings, aid granted by the government of the country or others, or by associations other than those of Propagation of the Faith, evaluated all together at 0 francs. None

Expenditures

Expenses for the bishop and his clergy and other persons attached to the mission, estimated for the year at 8,670 francs..

  1. Expenses for the passages of missionaries coming from Europe, estimated for the year at 0 franc.
  2. Expenses for the establishments already founded, estimated for the year at 6,000 francs.
  3. Expenses for establishments to be founded, estimated for the year at 4,000 francs. This item does not cover the extraordinary aid requested in my letter for building a church at Coimbatore.
  4. Particular expenses for the mission, estimated for the year at 5,000 francs.
  5. \+ M.M.J de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

Coimbatore, 28 October 1850

Sent_0470

Sent_0470 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 28 octobre 1850 -/3

Sent_0470 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 28 October 1850 -/3

Sent 0470 - to Propagation of the Faith - 28 October 1850 /1

Sent 0470 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 358

(to the Councils of Propagation of the Faith)

(Lyons et Paris)

Coimbatore has become an independant vicariate. I have nothing special to tell you on what is happening here. If any progress is made, I will let you know. Then he refers to the work of his missionaries, the seminary, the buildings. For all of this, we have absolutely nothing but your subsidy. I propose creating revenues for my mission. Need of money in order to build a fine church.

Index : religion in India, finances (request for), poverty

Coimbatore, 28 October 1850

Gentlemen,

The purpose of this letter is to announce to you that the Holy See has definitively erected Coimbatore to an apostolic vicariate, and to ask you for special aid, outside of the ordinary allocation, which will give me the possibility of undertaking some work of urgent necessity, and in particular of building a church. For I still do not have a single church which deserves to bear this name in my whole vicariate.

I would like to be able to talk to you of more gracious purposes, giving you long and interesting details on the mission entrusted to me. But, as regards its geographic position, the nature of the soil, the climate and the inhabitants, together with their usages, their morals and their customs, India is so well known today, that I would fear to be wasting my time in useless repetitions.

And as regards our holy faith, how it was brought here, how it has been sustained until our days among a small number of faithful, how the first successes of the missionaries were paralysed and how for over a century now religion is merely marking time in these parts, all of that is known to you through the reports of the Jesuit Reverend Fathers and the missionaries of Pondicherry, to whose care the province of Coimbatore was earlier entrusted. Everything that has happened here is merely an appendix to what took place in the Kingdoms of Mysore, of Karnataka and of Madurai.

Meanwhile, the penury of evangelical workers and the immense difficulty of having priests from the country had reduced this great province to being administered by a single missionary, or sometimes two, who spent the whole of their time going from one place to another in the numerous but small Christian communities which are scattered over its whole surface. It is easy to conceive that, in such a state of things, it was impossible, despite all the zeal of these missionaries, for the Christians to be decently looked after. Each small village saw a priest no more than eight to ten days a year. Practically all of these poor people confessed, but they knew practically nothing of what Christian life is about. The instruction of the faithful, catechisms, the care of the sick, the attendance of the dying, all of this was impossible. As for the pagans, the missionaries, who had to attend first and foremost to the lost flock of Israel, had no time to dedicate to them.

In fact this was the situation of Coimbatore when in 1845 the Holy See detached it from the apostolic vicariate of Pondicherry, to make it a separate vicariate. However, in order not to precipitate things, Coimbatore only received at first the title of pro-vicariate, and I was sent, in an episcopal capacity, to organise this mission. It was only this year that I received the brief definitively separating Coimbatore from the mission of Pondicherry and making it an independent apostolic vicariate.

Will things go better in the future ? Will a separate vicariate produce much good? Only the future can tell. If the Lord blesses our efforts and if our successes are such as to edify or instruct our brothers in Europe, we will not fail to let you know them. But they will be limited for a long time still, I believe, to this good of detail which, while quite real, appeals little to the imagination and does not lend itself to interesting reports.

In this way I already have eight missionaries occupied in doing what previously, only a few years ago, was the work of a single one. Certainly, by that very fact a real good has been accomplished, but a good that God alone sees and knows. How many children for example now receive a real baptism instead of an abbreviated and invalid version, administered by an ignorant catechist or by an old woman more ignorant still ; how many sick persons above all have the happiness of being able to confess, to receive extreme unction, and at times the holy viaticum. Something almost unheard of earlier, and without which however there is reason to fear that the majority of so many other fatigues becomes useless.

In a short while more, I hope to have the consolation of seeing that all my Christians of goodwill (and here they are almost all that) will be assured of having a priest to help them at death. However, this would never be possible if I were always to use only European missionaries. For it would be absurd to try to multiply the missionaries in such a way that they could take over integrally the parish ministry for the natives. For that we would need to have as many as there are Christian villages, which would be impossible in most cases, and dangerous from many points of view. Accordingly it is necessary for native priests to be entrusted with the detailed administration, while remaining under the surveillance and direction of the missionaries as far as necessary. Now I have the hope to see this plan achieved in a few years' time.

From the time I first arrived, I have concentrated on forming a few children hoping to see them enter into the clericature. Despite our feeble resources, I felt that this was the first expenditure to be made. I have always kept from ten to fifteen, and I have built a seminary house for their education. At the present time, seven are already in minor Orders and I hope that, in a few years, we will see something without precedent: priests born in the Province of Coimbatore.

This expenditure for the seminary, a house that I have bought for the bishop, some repairs to the small churches and humble dwellings of the missionary in the districts to prevent them falling down, while awaiting the time when we can replace them with others: this is all that I have been able to do thus far. To make this possible, you cannot imagine besides how humble a way of life, in any case, and humiliating in comparison with the English all around us, we are obliged to adopt. This humiliation, I know, will be all the more meritorious in God's eyes as it is considerable on our part ; however at times it seems to us that it has repercussions on our holy religion.

For here, we have nothing whatsoever in the form of aid and nothing to be added to our alms. We of course urge our Christians to make some expenditures for their churches, and even for the priest, and they do more or less what they can. However, they are few in number and besides so poor that their utmost efforts barely suffice to maintain that part of worship celebrated in their villages. For this the missionary almost always has to help them.

The government grants us nothing, absolutely nothing. In most of the apostolic vicariates of India, there are at least some priests who, directly or indirectly, obtain some aid from the governments whether English or pagan, mainly as chaplains to Catholic soldiers. Here, there is none of all that. Besides, since Coimbatore is far from the places which were the centre of the former missions, it is natural for it not to have any form of foundation. So that no revenues are available, and everything remains to be done.

As a vicariate, we are only just starting ; so that we have nothing to complain of ; but we should not be under any illusion : if we want to ensure the existence of this mission and shelter it from any vexatious and unforeseen event, it will be necessary, as soon as possible, to work on creating some independent forms of revenue for it. That is what I propose doing, if God permits Propagation of the Faith to continue with its welcome aid, by putting aside a small sum each year, for the purpose of investing it either in land, or in a bank.

But none of this can start until we are appropriately set up, that we have built a few decent churches, some solid houses, etc. ; for as I have told you already, and here I return to my thesis from which I have wandered far, we have not a single church which can honestly be called by that name. The three or four principal ones are so unworthy and so unsubstantial, they they need to be completely rebuilt from the foundations upwards, and we are working in this way at the present time on what was considered the fourth one of them.

I realise of course that we cannot expect to do everything at once. Further, I agree that if, quite apart from what is strictly necessary for the life of the missionaries, we had each year 12 to 13 thousand francs of supplement, we might well desire more (for one always desires more in order to do more good), but we could not complain, at least for as long as our position remains what it is now, and little by little we would manage to carry out all that I have said. Only, for this one time we would require an extraordinary aid in order to build an appropriate church at Coimbatore, where the bishop should set up his habitual residence.

Luckily on the one hand, though very unluckily on another, there is no need here for a very large church ; for the Christian community is not very numerous. But we need to have a handsome and regular church, solidly and even elegantly built. The big pagan town where we are and above all the various Protestant churches which exist here and elsewhere in the vicariate make this an obligation ; to such a point that it would be better to remain without a church still and to continue to say mass in my house, as we have done for the last four years, than to build a church which fails to do us honour. Well, for such a church, we need at least forty thousand francs.

The venerable Mr Dubois, whose name and merits are known to you, on his death left us a legacy of 10,000 francs, which sum I have dedicated to this work, counting on you, Gentlemen, for the rest. But since public affairs in France were overturned immediately following the death of this respectable and worthy confrere, I did not dare at that time to make an appeal to your generosity. I realised that it would have been impossible for you to grant my wish, however much you wanted to help me.

But today when the Lord has restored to you some moments of peace and prosperity, and above all following the definitive erection of my apostolic vicariate, I cannot wait any longer. With the ten thousand francs left by Mr Dubois, I am going to start. Or rather: I have already started. I have bought a piece of land and work is proceeding on the foundations. God's Providence will not, I trust, allow these foundations to remain indefinitely idle. But this Providence, Gentlemen, is translated above all, for this purpose, by your blessed institution, from which I confidently await a special aid of thirty thousand francs for building a church in Coimbatore.

I commend our persons, our mission and our works to your prayers and those of all the associates to the providential Institution of Propagation of the Faith, asking you to believe me,

Gentlemen,

Your very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 28 October 1850)

Sent_0471

Sent_0471 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 November 1850 -/2

Sent_0471 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 novembre 1850 -/2

Sent 0471 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 November 1850 /2

Sent 0471 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 371-374

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Letter of news. My health is not brilliant; that of Mr Bonjean gives me cause for concern. Send me the regulations that you have at Pondicherry. Our confreres of Paris are quite silent. Is Mr Fricaud your new bursar?

Index: news, health

Coimbatore, 15 November 1850

My Lord,

For over a month now , I am spiked, and as a result am almost always nailed to my bed, almost unable to take a single step. Happily this illness is merely vexatious, without being dangerous, but it has prevented me from answering your good letter of 28 October earlier.

Mr Bonjean has been more seriously ill. He made me fear for him at a certain point; his fevers have resumed and I am quite afraid that will never leave him completely. I have sent Mr de Gélis to his aid. Now he is better, but without strength. This is a great shame since he cannot give rein to all the ardour of his zeal, for now that time seems to be giving him a little more prudence, he could do much, however it is impossible for me to think of putting him anywhere but on the mountain. This redoubling of fever () was evidently caused by the eight days of heat that he had to bear during the retreat. Besides, he is doing a great deal of good in the mountain ; quite apart from the fact that he has set up a regular parish here, I expect that the number of neophytes that he has baptised this year will be over a hundred.

I think I saw in Father Ravier's hand some sort of regulations given them by My Lord of Halicarnasse, but I may have been mistaken. In any case, I would be much obliged if you could send me as soon as possible copy of the regulations which are more or less in force, and above all those you spoke of to me, which you say, have considerably increased this year. Despite what is local in it and proper to Pondicherry, it will be most useful to us.

I do not know what these Gentlemen of Paris are doing. We have still not received our accounts for this year. Those of last year were defective; they recognised that they needed to be corrected, but we still have no new ones. This year we have not received the common letter on the missions, or any others... Has Y.L. received something of all that, or are we all lodged at the same inn?

In a letter that Mr Méhay wrote in the last few days to one of our confreres, there was an article : news, inter quas that Mr Fricaud was bursar at Pondicherry. In your last letter, Y.L. told me that he had refused. Did he later accept? Have you at last a bursar? I am extremely interested in that, since the hope of seeing you and speaking to you more or less frequently depends on the existence of a bursar.

I was to have left in a few days' time for the mountain, but I may stay on a bit nailed here, while perhaps Mr Bonjean's illness may lead him to desire that I delay my visit a little.

I have just received a letter from My Lord of Jassen who tells me that his eyes often give him trouble.

I commend myself to your holy sacrifices and ask you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 15 November 1850)

Sent_0472

Sent_0472 - to Msgr Bonnand - 27 December 1850 -/2

Sent_0472 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 décembre 1850 -/3

Sent 0472 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 December 1850 /2

Sent 0472 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 375-378

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have just begun work on the building of a house at Ootacamund. Mr Bonjean is working very well in this mission. At present, we are enough bishops in the south of India. The Catholic Expositor of Madras contains several articles which cause me grief. Is it directed by Mgr Fennelly? Receive my very best wishes for 1851.

Index: wishes, general news

Ootacamund, 27 December 1850

My Lord,

I have been waiting to write to you for a long time now. Lack of news is the principal cause of this delay from one day to another. Today, I had at least one little thing to tell you, and that is that I have just laid the foundation stone of a house at Ootacamund, whence I am writing these few words. This next year I plan to build the foundations and up to the level of the apartments. I will end it next year, if the good God sends us some funds.

I have come to spend the Christmas festivities here and to confirm Mr Bonjean's new Christians. A few days ago he baptised four more of them. This dear confrere is incredibly zealous and active. He preaches as he pleases in Tamoul and in English. Unfortunately his health is always very delicate. The Christian community here is now doing rather well, but it also has its troubles.

I am pleased at what Y.L. tells me about the mission of Vadouguerpetty. Please God that everything gets back to normal.

My Lord of Jassen has not said anything about your mutual arrangements on limits. Besides, H.L. always writes to me so little.

So Y.L. still intends to erect Burumal to an apostolic vicariate. It seems to me that there are quite enough of us bishops in the south of India. My opinion is even that, since things are as they are, all good considered, the apostolic vicars are rather too many than not enough.

I hope that, as soon as Y.L. can, you will not forget to send me a copy of the various regulations that I asked you for.

I have had the opportunity of reading here some issues of the Catholic Expositor of Madras. I found several articles there that caused me great sorrow. Since this newspaper passes for being under Mgr Fennelly's direction, it seems to me dangerous and extremely offensive. Perhaps Mgr Fennelly has nothing to do with it? I have no idea; but if it is believed that Mgr Fennelly has inspired its writing, it seems to me a great misfortune.

This letter, My Lord, will bring you my new year's wishes for the one about to begin which I hope will be extremely happy for you. May it contain for Y.L. only consolations and joy, that joy above all which alone is worthy of your virtues and which is the sole purpose of your ambition. This is what I ask for you, My Lord, on the day when the new year begins its course, and that I ask you to request for your very humble servant.

I would ask you, on the occasion of this turn of the year, to recall me in a quite special way to the minds of all our dear confreres of Pondicherry, and to ask them to accept my wishes and greetings.

In the union of holy sacrifices, kindly believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. I plan to stay here until the end of January.

(Ootacamund, 27 December 1850)

Sent_0473

Sent_0473 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 5 février 1851 -/2

Sent_0473 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 5 février 1851 -/1

Sent 0473 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 5 February 1851 /1

Sent 0473 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 393-394

Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 360-361

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Regarding a possible complaint to make to Mgr Bonnand calling for a fairer sharing of the funds between our three vicariates. My opinion is that he owed us nothing in justice.

Index: sharing

Coimbatore, 5 February 1851()

My Lord,

Yesterday I received Y.L.'s letter with its attachments for my information.

You ask me for my opinion. To the reasons listed by Mr Jarrige which appear to me as conclusive, I would merely add these words: My Lord of Drusipare who did not owe us anything in justice, was required by the proprieties to provide us with the means of setting ourselves up in vicariates devoid of everything and the erection of which he himself had urged on the S.C. The S.C. must even have based itself for that on H.L.'s wellknown wisdom.

Without doubt, this division could have been made more in proportion with the needs of the three missions, but finally, as to my mind we cannot invoke justice, since His Lordship could have given us less, just as he could also have given us more in good conscience, it seems to me that once the thing is done and accepted by both sides, there is no going back on it.

My Lord of Drusipare always has a right to great gratitude on our part, for in money matters, when we are not pushed by justice, there is great merit in fulfilling duties of pure propriety. I continue to hope that H.L. will not see fit to diminish the merit that he has won and the debt of gratitude that he has made us incur by a claim so late in the day.

As for the reason() that you mention which may have given rise to this claim, this is a past event, but if the situation were to arise again, I really think that as a good confrere, I would urge you not to require what you felt obliged to ask of him.

I have just received from Rome the letters regularising my powers, etc. Finally, I have received another letter from the S.C. about which I would very much like to speak to you personally, but not on paper...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 5 February 1851)

Sent_0474

Sent_0474 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 6 février 1851 -/1

Sent_0474 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 6 février 1851 -/1

Sent 0474 - to Mgr Bonnand - 6 February 1851 /1

Sent 0474 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 385-388

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 361

(Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have received the answer from Rome regarding my powers, but I do not know their duration. I have received the encyclical on the Immaculate Conception. I am glad at your choice of Mr Dupuis as your pro-vicar.

Index: canon law, powers, Immaculate Conception (dogma)

Coimbatore, 6 February 1851

My Lord,

If it is a long time since I last wrote to Y.L., this is because I really had nothing to tell you.

This steamer has brought me letters from Rome : one of which I would very much like to speak to you about, but not on paper ; and another one regularising my powers by making me participate in all of those that Y.L. had delegated to me before the erection of the apostolic vicariate.

But here a fresh difficulty arises, since this bull does not specify for how many years. Will the powers that it supposes end with the time for which you had delegated them to me ? Now, by virtue of this delegation, our powers were only until 1852. However, you told me some time after the consecration that your powers had been renewed ad decennium, but I don't remember if at that time Y.L. sent me a note to extend your delegation until then. I cannot find any such.

Finally, I have received a third letter which is the Holy Father's authentic Encyclical, signed by his hand, on the question and the answer to be given regarding the Immaculate Conception of the Very Holy Virgin.

At some time I received your good letter of 4 January. I thank you very much for its content. It is with great pleasure that it tells me that Y.L. had just appointed Mr Dupuis as your Pro-vicar. I am sure that this choice will have been to the liking of the majority, if not all, of our confreres and that it will be agreeable to the Lord.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and very devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 6 February 1851)

Sent_0475

Sent 0475 - Circular to his missionaries - 12 February 1851 /4

Sent_0475 - Circulaire - le 12 février 1851 -/4

Sent 0475 - Circular to his missionaries - 12 February 1851 / 4

Sent 0475 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 361-363

(circular to his missionaries)

I have just received the Pope's encyclical relative to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. He explains the reasons why he received it so late; then he tells them how to proceed to prepare the answer to be given to Rome : letter of the apostolic vicar of Coimbatore in 10 articles.

Index: Immaculate Conception (dogma)

Coimbatore, 12 February 1851

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

You all know, and you have perhaps read, either in the newspapers, or elsewhere, the pious letter that Our Very Holy Father Pope Pius IX addressed from Gaeta to all the bishops of the Catholic world, regarding the Immaculate Conception of the Very Holy Virgin Mary. May I remind you then that the Holy Father, after opening up his heart in the heart of this tender Mother, and after expressing the hope that, by her intercession in respect of her divine Son, she would come to the help of the Church then so agitated, asks the bishops if they think that the time has come to solemnly declare as an Article of Faith the more and more widespread and deeply felt belief of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God.

For this, the Holy Father commands the bishops to order public prayers and to inquire what is thought on this point by the clergy and the faithful, so as to transmit this opinion to him with theirs principally. Finally, His Holiness ends up by permitting the Bishops to authorise a new office of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin, without any need to refer in any other way to the Holy See.

You will perhaps be astonished, Gentlemen and very dear confreres, that this letter from the Holy Father, of some time ago now, was not received by us earlier. I myself was surprised; but since the position of apostolic vicar, administering places where there is no regular bishop, is an exception in the Church, which means that several points of Ecclesiastic Law do not appear clearly defined with regard to them, I did not know if it was because of this that the letter had not been sent to us. It was not for me to take the initiative with a view to clarification of this doubt, so long as I only had the title of pro-vicar; but, after having been appointed apostolic vicar, I took advantage of the first opportunity I had to write to Rome to ask why we had not received this document.

I insisted above all in the present case, "for, I said to the S.C., the Holy Father is requesting not only the opinion of the bishops, but also of the clergy and the people. Now should our missionaries who, through their heroic devotion, have become one of the most precious parts of the clergy, not have the consolation of giving their opinion on this question, as well as the other priests in the world?"

This is the reply received from the S.C. "Mirum [...] accidit percipere ad Amplitudinem Tuam [...] SSmi Dni Nostri litteras de Immaculata Virginis Conceptione non pervenisse, ita ut eas forte in itinere suspicemur deperditas. Hinc duplicata illico exemplaria tibi [...] mittere festinamus, quarum responsum ut primum [...] dare liceat Sanctitate Suae pergratum erit."

Thus we will be joining our prayers to that of all the Catholic Churches, in order for the Holy Spirit to deign to inspire in the common Father of the faithful what he should decide on such a serious question, for the greatest glory of God, as the Holy Father says in his letter, for the greatest praise of the Holy Virgin and for the greatest usefulness of the militant Church. To enter into the spirit of the Encyclical and to obey the Holy Father's orders, I have followed this letter with an ordinance on what you will have to do on this occasion.

I made known to you at the last general council etc.

Coimbatore, 12 February 1851

.../...

Archives of Coimbatore, vol 13, item 01

Quoted in "Histoire des Missions de l'Inde" de Launay, tome III, p 14

We, M.M.J. de Marion de Brésillac, bishop of Pruse and apostolic vicar of Coimbatore,

Seeing the Encyclical of the Holy Father Pius IX, dated from Gaeta on 2 Febuary 1849 ; seeing the text of the S.C. of Propaganda which transmits this letter to us expressing the Holy Father's desire that we send him our answer ; after having conferred with our dear confreres of our private Council ; we have ordered and order as follows :

Article no. 1:

Each missionary of a district will preach once on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Very Holy Virgin. He will say some words to the faithful on the letter that we have received on this subject and he will announce public prayers according to the Sovereign Pontiff's desire.

Article no. 2:

These public prayers will begin on the third Sunday of Lent and end on Passion Sunday.

Article no. 3:

After these prayers, each missionary of a district will take care to let us know with what zeal the people have attended the exercises laid down, thus providing us with the means of appreciating the sentiments of the faithful on this pious mystery.

Article no. 4:

Each missionary will also let us know following these prayers, what are his personal sentiments and desire.

Article no. 5:

Starting off from the third Sunday of Lent, and until Passion Sunday inclusive, the prayer "de Spiritu Sancto" will be added to the mass. Wherever it is possible, the blessing of the Very Holy Sacrament will be given on these two Sundays, after the mass where attendance by the people is most considerable. Before the blessing, the litanies to the Very Holy Virgin will be sung, adding the invocation "Regina sine labe concepta, ora pro nobis".

Article no. 6:

In those churches where it is not possible to give the blessing, the aforesaid litanies will be sung, or at least recited after the mass.

Article no. 7:

Quite apart from these prayers, each missionary of a district may establish for the Christians some other prayer or practice according to what he considers fit or within their scope.

Article no. 8:

Christians will be informed of the articles in this ordinance concerning them.

Article no. 9:

We urge every priest to offer once a fortnight the sacrifice of the mass according to the Sovereign Pontiff's desire, and the faithful to take once a fortnight holy communion in this intention.

Article no. 10:

The new Roman office of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin is authorised in this vicariate.

Issued at Coimbatore, on 12 February 1851.

\+ M.M.J. de M. de Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

By order of My Lord of Pruse:

L. de Gélis, apostolic missionary, secretary

Sent_0476

Sent_0476 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 février 1851 -/1

Sent_0476 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 février 1851 -/1

Sent 0476 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 February 1851 /1

Sent 0476 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 389-391

partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, p 363

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for the regulations that you have sent me. Nothing from Mgr Luquet for over two years. I am sending you the answer I gave to Mgr Charbonnaux (0473) regarding a complaint to be made to you. My Lord, forget all that.

Index: agreement, Immaculate Conception (dogma), regulations (of the mission)

Coimbatore, 19 February 1851

My Lord,

I few days ago I had the pleasure of receiving your good letter of the 6th with the regulations that Y.L. was kind enough to send me. I will send them back to you, My Lord, as soon as I have made copies.

But the draft regulations for Pondicherry suppose that there were other ones for the confreres of the interior. It is above all those that I need because, as a result of the similarity of position, they will be more useful to us than the first. Thus, I beg Y.L. to kindly share them with me as soon as you can.

I have not received anything from Rome regarding the Jubilee. In my last missive to Y.L., I notified you of everything that I had received. I think that you must have received a letter on the subject of the Immaculate Conception, for the S.C. tells me that it is sending you one, as well as to My Lord of Jassen.

I have received nothing from Mgr Luquet for over two years now.

This morning, I received your letter of 13th with the extracts it contains. My Lord of Jassen did in fact consult me on this question, and I answered him by the letter of which I enclose a copy for Y.L. I will add nothing to this letter, My Lord, except that I firmly hope that Y.L. will not insist on this claim. O My Lord, I beg you, lay all that aside.

I commend myself to your good prayers in the union of which I ask you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 19 February 1851)

Sent_0477

Sent_0477 - to My Lords of Chyrra and of Tana \- 19 February 1851 - /2

Sent_0477 - à MMgrs Chyrra et de Tanens - le 19 février 1851 -/1

Sent 0477 - à Messrs of Chyrra and of Tana - 19 February 1851 -/2

Envoi_0477 Brésillac copy , AMA 2F6, pp 363-364

(to His Grace Tiburce Martini, archbishop of Chyrra

(apostolic vicar of Verapoly)

(to His Lordship Philippe Fontanova, bishop of Tana)()

(apostolic vicar of Mangalore)

I agree with you on the regrettable effects of the newspaper the Expositor. I have avoided subscribing to it. The honour and interest of religion are seriously compromised in such publications.

Index: press

Coimbatore, 19 February 1851

My Lords,

I had the honour of receiving your common letter of 8th with the extract of a letter from Mgr Hartmann.

I can quite imagine the grief occasioned to this worthy prelate by the so regrettable articles of the Expositor of Madras, and I sympathise all the more with him since I believe, like you, My Lords, that the honour and the interests of religion are gravely compromised by such publications.

By chance I became acquainted with the articles that the Expositor contains on matters in Bombay. For, even before my promotion to the episcopate, having formed the opinion that this newspaper was far from rendering service to religion, I avoided subscribing to it. Thus, ordinarily I do not read it. But since the last three or four issues by chance fell into my hands, I could not prevent myself from groaning when reading the above-mentioned and some other articles.

However you will realise, Gentlemen, that being one of the youngest bishops in India, I can hardly take any other measure, to put an end to this scandal, than to support you who have taken the initiative of a protest that I believe to be just, useful and necessary.

Accordingly would you kindly convey my sentiments to Mgr Hartmann and rest assured that I am perfectly of your opinion on the regrettable effects of the newspaper the Expositor.

You can make of this letter whatever use you consider appropriate, except to include it in any newspaper. For it seems to me that it is not in such ways that bishops should deal with their business between themselves. The mania of journalism is too great a misfortune in our time, I believe, for us to avoid injecting it in our internal discussions.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me, in the intimate charity of Our Lord,

Your very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 19 February 1851)

Sent_0478

Sent_0478 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 mars 1851 -/1

Sent_0478 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 16 mars 1851 -/1

Sent 0478 - to Mgr Bonnand - 16 March 1851 /1

Envoi_0478 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 395-398

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Some words on the regulations of Pondicherry of which he requests a copy and on the encyclical on the Immaculate Conception. You have problems with the apostolic prefect of Pondicherry? Do everything possible to ensure that this ridiculous prefecture disappears.

Index: regulations (of the mission), Immaculate Conception (dogma), prefecture of Pondicherry

Carumattampatty, 16 March 1851()

My Lord,

Neither Mr Métral nor myself have the concise rules drawn up by My Lord of Halicarnasse for the missionaries of the interior. If Y.L. could send me a copy, I would be very much obliged.

I think that you have received those that you sent me for my information . Before leaving for Carumattapatty, I asked Mr de Gélis to see that they were posted.

On my request the S.C. sent me the Encyclical of Pius IX. It tells me that it is astonished that we did not receive it earlier, and that perhaps it got lost in the post. It adds that the Holy Father would be very pleased to have our answer. Thus, I will answer after the public prayers that I have ordered in accordance with the content of the Encyclical and which should begin next Sunday and end on Passion Sunday.

The few words contained in your letter of the 3rd tell me that Y.L. is once more in conflict with the apostolic prefect. Y.L. does not tell me on what subject. But whatever it may be, I am much more perturbed than astonished. I do not doubt that it will be very easy to overturn all that he may write to Rome against you. As regards the French government, that depends much more or less on the goodwill of certain persons, but if Y.L. can, I hope that you will not fail to do all that you can to get rid of that this ridiculous prefecture that is the necessary cause of mishaps and scandals.

Here there is nothing, absolutely nothing new; the heat is overpowering. We see no sign of rain.

I commend myself to your good prayers and holy sacrifices.

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, 16 March 1851)

Sent_0479

Sent_0479 - à Mgr Canoz - le 19 mars 1851 -/3

Sent_0479 - to Msgr Canoz - 19 March 1851 -/3

Sent 0479 - to Mgr Canoz - 19 March 1851 /3

Sent 0479 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 366-370

(to Mgr Alexis Canoz, sj, bishop of Tamas)

(apostolic vicar of Trichinopoly or Madurai)

(letter sent to Rome)

I would have liked to speak with you about two things before you left for Rome, but I was unable to do so. First of all the question of the limits between our two vicariates; the reasons why it would be advisable, in my opinion, for Tinnavely and Dindiguel to be annexed to Coimbatore. Consider this question before God. Then there is the question of the rites that we tolerate in this country and the practices adopted by the different apostolic workers. It will become necessary sooner or later to arrive at a common practice, starting off by enlightening Rome exactly on everything that is done here. It would be necessary above all for Rome to tell us precisely what we should do.

Index: jurisdiction (limits), Indian usages, Rome (authority)

(Carumattampatty?), 19 March 1851

My Lord,

Y.L. was so close to your departure, when you did me the honour of informing me that you were going to Rome, that it was impossible for me to write you a long letter. I could merely hastily wish you a good journey, in a short letter that you received, I hope, before embarking.

However, My Lord, there is such a great similarity between your mission and mine, that your journey could be equally useful to us both. Thus I regretted that we had not been able to talk together of their interests before your departure. There are above all, two points on which I would have wished to speak to you, or to write to you at length, and of which I do not wish to omit saying some words to you while you are at Rome, never doubting that the glory of God alone and the success of our poor missions are the only motive that will lead you either to back up, or to oppose my desires, and leaving to divine Providence the final care of all of my proceedings.

The first of these two things, My Lord, would be a modification of limits between Y.L.'s vicariate and mine. It seems to me unquestionable that when the latest ecclesiastic division of India was made, those entrusted with providing the necessary information to the Holy See were involuntarily induced into error on certain points. Perhaps they thought that there were more Christians in Coimbatore than there actually are. When I decided to make as exact a census as possible, I found that the whole vicariate, including the part of Palghat, contains little more than ten to twelve thousand Christians.

What is more, these Christians are all poor. A considerable part of them even is so plunged into extreme poverty that some perish as a result of their sufferings, or else disperse to try and find elsewhere to work according to their caste. To you who know India, My Lord, it is sufficient to say that my Christian communities contain a large number of scheder, and as you know no hope is to be seen that the destiny of this caste, in fact so worthy of interest, will ever improve.

Finally, Y.L. also knows all too well that there is almost nothing to be done with the pagans, whom the usages of our holy religion shock so powerfully in their civil life, even more than in their religious life. Thus, in order for an apostolic vicariate to be maintained in this country to some advantage, it is necessary (whatever its extent may be) for it to contain a fairly large number of already existing Christians.

Accordingly I ask Y.L. to kindly consider before God if it would not be advantageous, for the general good, for you to transfer a portion of your extremely large vicariate to the vicariate of Coimbatore which is too confined and above all too poor in Christians. It seems to me that you could without too much prejudice transfer to me the part of Tinnavely and that of Dindiguel. For you would still be left, in the Kingdoms of Madurai and of Tanjaour, in the town and neighbourhood of Trichinopoly, etc. with over one hundred thousand Christians. This transfer would pass over about fifty thousand to Coimbatore which, with the ten or twelve thousand that it already contains, could sustain itself though still be far from equalling yours.

But perhaps you might fear, My Lord, to harm in this way the interest of your Society ? Of course, I would not wish to harm it myself the least in the world, I would not want either My Lord, for you to see in this proceeding a rivalry of Societies. If the S.C. finds this modification reasonable and good, I do not doubt that it has the means of satisfying all interests. After all, the missions are not a property and our two Societies are sisters and not rivals, at least in my heart and in my appreciation. They work for the same cause and on the same field of our common Father; for one as for the other, there is nothing to be gained or lost except insofar as there is more or less good done. This is what I think and I feel persuaded that you too think like me.

However, I have heard it said that you have set up in the town of Dindiguel a noviciate which I believed to be at Trichinopoly. This circumstance will perhaps make you eager to maintain this place. But if that is the case, and you really find in that place advantages regarding the noviciate that you would not find elsewhere, it should be possible, it seems to me, to trace some quite natural limits and which would leave you that town. Accordingly I would ask you, My Lord, to let the S.C. know what you think of this modification, the usefulness of which I have illustrated to you according to my lights.

Another matter even more serious in my eyes, on which I would have liked to be able to talk to you, is the question of the usages and rites that we still tolerate in this unfortunate country. Are we really sure of our consciences or not? Thus far, despite all that I have heard said and despite my personal repugnance on certain points, I felt it was my duty to follow the usage of the older missionaries which has as yet not ceased to be that of the majority of Pondicherry and of Madurai. I told myself that, on such obscure questions, one may first of all lay one's conscience if in any doubt on that of the superiors and the older members, above all when the contrary practice may lead to the complete ruin of our Christian communities.

But can this laying down of the conscience last for ever ? Can it last above all now that, despite my unworthiness, I have been made apostolic vicar and that I have to answer to the doubts of others by deciding on their practice? Now, you must be aware, My Lord, of the extreme repugnance that certain missionaries feel on this subject and the ever more marked tendency that may be noted in them to depart from observances that our predecessors believed should bind and guide everyone, in order to spare the feebleness of these poor peoples.

And really, if the conduct that we had and that in general we still have more or less, that I have in particular myself by reflected conscience, is legitimate, should we not consider it a crime by those departing from it and who thus make more and more impossible any action on the pagans, at the same time as they discourage the Christians and turn them away from the practice and love of religion?

God forbid that I should desire to renew any such discussions as those which unfortunately took place a long while ago and the consequences of which were so disastrous. But would we then be so unfortunate as not to be able to enlighten our consciences, as not to be able to deal with the interests of our holy religion, whatever they be, in the peace of the Lord and for the sole purpose of his greater glory? Oh! I really hope that the time of disputes is over. If I request the S.C. to decide our conscience, I feel sure that, with God's grace I have no other thought or desire than to ensure my salvation and that of those for whom the Lord will ask me to account.

Accordingly I trust, My Lord, that I will find in you and in your Fathers, not adversaries but co-operators in this proceeding. I do not ask for the Holy See to condemn what you do, what we do and what all the missionaries in India should do if we are right in acting in this way. I merely request that the Holy See be exactly informed of all that we do, without palliatives, without reticence, and tell us if we may continue thus or not.

It should tell us if we should or should not require our missionaries to conform to the practice of the older missionaries, and not to expose the future of religion in this country by a different behaviour which, undoubtedly more perfect in itself, is still not practicable for these people so rooted in their national prejudices and so feeble in the faith. For if Rome bears out our practice, we will be tranquil and we will continue it joyfully: We could even then hope to see the end of the scandal of these divergences of opinion that, in any case, do so much harm. But if Rome tells us that our practice is not in accordance with God's Wisdom, that it is unworthy of our faith and of evangelical morality, cost what it may, we cannot lose our salvation for that of others.

So those, My Lord, are the two principal purposes that I would have been happy to have had the opportunity of discussing with you. This letter, although already long, cannot go into all the details, into which it would be necessary to enter, on questions which, by their nature, can only be treated at length, and in the discussion of which there would be much greater need of the word than of the pen.

I am however sending you these lines, My Lord, hoping that they will say enough for you to know the drift of what I am writing to the S.C., and for you to be able to use this opening for the good of our two missions which, before God, are as equally dear to me, and for the tranquillity of conscience, since the difficulties it is encountering here are common to us.

I commend myself to your prayers and holy sacrifices, asking you to believe me, in the union of the closest charity,

My Lord, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty? 19 March 1851)

Sent_0480

Sent_0480 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 24 March 1851 -/2

Sent_0480 - à la Propagande - le 24 mars 1851 -/3

Sent 0480 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 24 March 1851 /2

Sent 0480 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 365-366

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

To send the S.C. copy of the letter (0479) that he has sent Mgr Canoz in Rome. As far as the Collégal is concerned, Mgr Charbonnaux would agree to take it over, but if Mgr Canoz, for his part, should refuse the arrangement that I am proposing then it would be absolutely indispensable for me to keep the Collégal.

Index: jurisdiction (limits), resignation (from Coimbatore)

(Carumattampatty?), 24 March 1851

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Quando benevolam epistolam Sacrae Congregationis diei 21 Decembris recepi, D.D. Canoz Episcopus, Vicarius Apostolicus Madurensis, jam ad Urbem profectus erat; unde impossibile mihi fuit cum Amplitudine Sua conferre de modificationibus afferendis in limitatibus duorum Vicariatuum Madurensis scilicet et Coimbatorensis. De qua modificatione Eminentiae Vestrae locutus sum in mea epistola 16 Septembris anni nuper elapsi, nonnulla gravissima momenta in ea exponens quae a S.C. non parvi momenti judicata esse ex responsione sua gaudens intelligo.

Cum vero praesentia D.D. Canoz in urbe Roma opportuna occasio esse potest tractandi de tali re cum ipso Antistiti, ipsi epistolam scribo cujus exemplar hic annexum Eminentiae Vestrae mittendum judicavi, ut quae de his opinor S.C. perfecte cognoscere queat.

Quod vero distractionem a Vicariatu meo partis Collegal noncupatae ejusque ad Mysorensem Vicariatum adjunctionem scripsi ad D.D. Jassensem Episcopum. Cui temperamentum hoc, sicut et mihi, hujus regionis christianorum utilitati maxime congruere videtur. Ita ut se laetanter hujus administrationem accepturum esse mihi rescripsit die 7a Martii hujus anni, si S.C. eum ipsi committet. Tamen mihi videtur unum absque alio minime operandum esse; nam si Vicariatus Apostolicus Coimbatorensis, jam nimis exiguus et praesertim nimis degens Christianorum, minueretur in parte una absque augmentatione in altera, aggraverentur incommoda ennumerata in mea epistola diei 16 Septembris.

Ad alia, quae S.C. expostulabat a me in praedicta epistola 21 Decembris, statim ac erit possibile respondere non omittam. Sed, ne in rebus tanti momenti falsa vel incauta asserendi periculo me offeram, aliquo tempore indigeo. Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, unum tacuistis in benevola vostra responsione de abdicationis meae oblatione et desiderio non me immiscendi in tam difficilibus et tam periculosis rebus, quae, si non moveantur nec a S.C. explicentur, tuta esse non potest mea conscientia; quae vero, si tractentur, periculum est dissensionis et perturbationis quibus vel maxime repugnat mea mens, quae, quidquid sit et pro variis causis, nihil nisi infausta praevidet in India.

Interea, Deum Omnipotentem Misericordiosum deprecor ut omnia dirigere dignetur ad Majorem Suam gloriam.

Eminentiae Vestrae, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty? 24 March 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(Carumattampatty?), 24 March 1851

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord,

When I received the kind letter from the Sacred Congregation of 21 December, His Excellency Mgr Canoz, apostolic vicar of Madurai, had already left for Rome. That is why it was impossible for me to speak with His Lordship about the modifications affecting the limits of the two vicariates of Madurai and Coimbatore. In my letter of 16 September of last year, I spoke to Your Eminence of this modification, giving some of the most grave reasons which, I realise with joy, have been considered important by the Sacred Congregation.

But since the presence of Mgr Canoz in the city of Rome could provide a favourable occasion for dealing with such a matter with this prelate, I wrote him a letter of which I consider it my duty to send the enclosed copy to Your Eminence, so that the Sacred Congregation may know exactly what I think on this subject.

But as regards removing from my vicariate the part known as Collégal and adding it to the vicariate of Mysore, I have written about this to His Excellency My Lord of Jassen. This manner of proceeding seems to him, as it does to me, to correspond abundantly in to the interests of the Christians of that region. So that he replied to me on 7 March of this year that he would willingly accept this administration if the Sacred Congregation entrusted it to him. However, it seems to me that the one thing cannot absolutely be done without the other. For, if the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore, already too small and with too small a number of Christians, was diminished by some part of them without increasing the other, the drawbacks enumerated in my letter of 1 September would be increased.

For the other things that the Sacred Congregation asked me in its aforesaid letter of 21 December, I will make a point of answering as soon as possible. But, in order, in things of such great importance, not to expose myself to the danger of giving false or unsure information, I need a certain amount of time.

Very Eminent and Reverend Lord, you have however not referred at all in your amiable answer to the offer of my abdication and of my desire not to become involved in such difficult and dangerous things that, if they are not changed or clarified by the Sacred Congregation, my conscience cannot feel certain ; but which, if they are dealt with, implies the danger of dissension and perturbation, things to which my spirit is opposed in the utmost degree ; that, whatever transpires and for different reasons do not presage for India anything but vexatious consequences.

For this reason I pray the almighty and merciful God to deign to turn everything to his greatest glory.

Your Eminence's, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty?, 24 March 1851)

Sent_0481

Sent_0481 - à M. Pajean - le 25 mars 1851 -/2

Sent_0481 - à M. Pajean - le 25 mars 1851 -/1

Sent 0481 - to Mr Pajean - 25 March 1851 /1

Sent 0481 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 370-371

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

While visiting the Collégal he recently fell ill. Tell me frankly if you feel reluctance to living in the bursar's office and in a small community. If so, I will not appoint you to such a post.

Index: bursar's office, appointment, my missionaries

Carumattampatty, 25 (?) March 1851

My dear Mr Pajean,

I was looking forward to hearing from you. As soon as I heard of the cruel illness from which it pleased God to deliver you, I wrote to you via Mysore, asking Mr Jarrige to send you my letter. It appears that you have not given it the time to reach you. That is much better, providing you are not too fatigued. In this letter, I advised you to go and rest for a few days at Mysore, and then to come on piano.

What will you do at Codively without a church, during the fine days of Holy Week ? It seems to me that you could arrange things in such a way as to spend a fortnight here, and above all the great week. See if your works will allow you to do that; and in any case do not delay in coming to see us.[...]

Now, I will answer your P.S. You have not forgotten that after our last retreat, you were informed of the desire I had to have you at Coimbatore, I asked you to tell me frankly if you still felt reluctant to live in the bursar's office. For a missionary's life at Coimbatore and at Carumattampatty must essentially be a life of community. But, unless there is no possibility of doing otherwise, I would never wish a missionary to find himself in a post in which he didn't feel comfortable. I prefer him to do less good and that the good he does is done in peace. Thus, if you really dislike the thought of the bursar's office, tell me so frankly and I will search for something else for you.

However, it seems to me that you are making a monster of a trifle. Does life in the bursar's office prevent us from having everything that we need, according to our station and in proportion to our faculties? If a missionary needs certain things which are not necessary for everyone, and which accordingly are not in general provided for, would he be refused if once he made his need known? Finally, a bursar's life would not prevent you from having, for example, a certain sum to hand, both to meet any small desires that you would feel reluctant perhaps to express to the bursar, or to cover the expenditures of your vissaranés, etc. In a word, it is very easy, it seems to me, to arrange things in such a way that, while life remains essentially based on the community, you at the same time enjoy a certain freedom of action. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 25? March 1851)

Sent_0482

Sent_0482 - to Mr Tesson - 26 March 1851 -/2

Sent_0482 - à M. Tesson - le 26 mars 1851 -/1

Sent 0482 - to Mr Tesson - 26 March 1851 /2

Sent 0482 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 371-372

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Your letter of 24 October caused me great pain. When will I be getting some new missionaries? Here, the health of several of our men gives me cause for concern: Messrs Bonjean, Pajean, de Gélis, Ravel and Métral. The S.C. is in favour of the enlargement of Coimbatore. But will you send me some new missionaries?

Index: jurisdiction (limits), my missionaries, franchise

(Carumattampatty?), 26 March 1851

Very dear Mr Tesson,

Some time ago now I received your letter of 24 November. It would be difficult for me to tell you how it hurt me. It hurt me very much. If I did not tell you so, I would be betraying my frankness, but I hasten to add that I do not hold it against you, since, by the grace of God, I never hold it against those who hurt me in some way, whether they are right or wrong. In one or the other case, they are the instruments of God's infinite mercy towards me. Besides, I am persuaded that you wrote those lines in a state of disinclination that one may be sorry about and from which even the most virtuous man is not always free, and that you regret later. But I do not ask you to admit as much, my dear Mr Tesson, merely allow me to be of this persuasion.

Each month, I await the steamer with impatience, hoping that it will bring me news of the departure of some new confreres. But niente, niente. And yet the Gentlemen of the council wrote to me long ago saying that I would not be forgotten.

For a long time now, thanks to God, things are going well here. Each one of us works in peace for his part, with a zeal which is not without fruits, but if you like not very abundant fruits, because of the soil on which it is exercised. But the Lord of all justice will not require of us fruits impossible to expect, for so long as the circumstances in which we live do not change.

Unfortunately, I have reason to fear for the health of several of our dear confreres. Mr Bonjean has never fully recovered from his cruel fever which changed him so much. At this moment, he is once more seized with it, and I fear that at the end he may succumb either physically or morally. Mr Pajean has just been suffering from cholera in the Collégal. I hope that he is out of danger and that he will go to complete his recovery in Mysore which is the point closest to the mountains from where he is now. Mr de Gélis has not been seriously ill since arriving here, but his health is not very robust, and I would be afraid of exposing it exceedingly to hard work. Mr Ravel likewise enjoys mediocre health. Finally Mr Métral, the pillar of Coimbatore, is growing older daily. He works for four, so that my fear is to see him fall all of a sudden.

The S.C. has answered me very favourably regarding the extension of the vicariate of Coimbatore. You are aware of the letter that I wrote on this subject to the cardinal prefect. They would be prepared to grant me all that I request, if that can be done without misunderstanding. Besides, if there should be misunderstanding, I would be the first to beg the S.C. to wait for a more appropriate occasion. In conscience I considered it my duty to inform the S.C. that the Vicariate of Coimbatore cannot be maintained with benefit within its limits and that an extension is necessary. But peace in the Lord and concord are likewise a necessity. Moreover, if I were immediately granted a considerable extension, could I count on Paris sending me the workers who would then become necessary ?

I commend myself to etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty?, 26 March 1851)

Sent_0483

Sent_0483 - to Mgr Bonnand - 12 April 1851 -/2

Sent_0483 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 12 avril 1851 -/3

Sent 0483 - to Mgr Bonnand - 12 April 1851 /2

Envoi_0483 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 349-352

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am going to send my answer to Rome regarding the Immaculate Conception. If you like, I will send you a copy of my answer. He then raises two questions of canon law and makes a reflection on ordinations in Coimbatore.

Index: Immaculate Conception (dogma), canon law, ordinations

(Coimbatore ?), 12 (April 1851)(

)

My Lord,

I received only yesterday evening your letter of the 4th. We will hasten to celebrate the masses foreseen for the dear Mr Monge.

If Mr Malhaire and his companions made a rapid crossing, they might be here quite soon. I would be very much obliged if you could say to him further, before he lands, not to get rid, as so often happens, of any effects he may have in broadcloth, but to bring them all here, where we can make good use of all that.

I plan to send my answer to Rome next month. I will say a few words on the presumed opinion of the people who appear unable to understand what it is all about, but which is in favour because they have never heard anything else said; and that of the missionaries of whom I still do not have all the answers, but which I think will be strongly in favour. As regards my personal opinion, it is fairly complex, and it would be difficult for me to convey it to you without sending you copy of my letter to the Holy Father. I will do so if Y.L. is really interested, but only in that case, and for Y.L. alone, for I would not want this letter to be known by the public in the present circumstances.

Now I have to consult Y.L. on two cases.

1) Until when do we have the power of dispensing for mixed marriages ? The indult of 3 December 1843 granted Y.G. this faculty for six years. The indult of 1847, 1 January, in which all your powers are renewed, says : "tam ad idem tempus, tam eumdem casuum numerum." Do these powers finish with next year, or is there any other reason which makes them last like the others until 1857?

2) It seems to me that the usage at Pondicherry is to ordain without clerical title. On what is this practice based? It seems to me contrary to the holy canons, and I would not dare follow it without authorisation. Could we ordain sub titulo missionis? We see this authorisation granted to some apostolic vicariates, but for a given number of cases.

Thus far, not having had to give any holy ordinations, I have not had to deal in practice with this question, but now I will have to take my precautions. On Passion Saturday we had a minor ordination; small stuff as yet, but these little trees grow. Now we have 1 acolyte, 1 exorcist, 6 porters and 1 tonsured, with 8 clerics.

May I ask Y.L. to remember me in a quite particular way before the Lord during the holy mysteries that we are about to celebrate. We risk not having such brilliant feasts as last year, because of some petty quarrels among our matadors.

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore?, 12 April 1851?)

Sent_0484

Sent_0484 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 mai 1851 -/1

Sent_0484 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 mai 1851 -/1

Sent 0484 - to Msgr Bonnand - 5 May 1851 /1

Sent 0484 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 353-356

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding a sum that it is believed Coimbatore owes to Pondicherry. Pius IX's address on the schism and the jubilee; diminution of the monthly allocation.

Index: questions of the burse

Carumattampatty, 5 May 1851

My Lord,

I have delayed for some time answering your letter of 9 April which contained a copy of a letter to My Lord of Jassen dated 23 March. The only reason for this delay, My Lord, is that I fear I will cause you pain by saying to you that I am not at all convinced of our owing this sum to Pondicherry. It goes without saying that I would not wish to withhold something that belongs to whoever it may be, but if I said that I believe that in fact this sum is due to Pondicherry, I would not be speaking according to my conviction.

I think that Your Lordship will have received the speech of Pius IX on the affairs of Goa, as well as the brief which grants us a jubilee. I have just received a letter from Mr Tesson who tells me that Mr Pouplin has arrived looking the picture of health, although apparently he is not too well. It appears that we will have a smaller allocation than last year. We will find things difficult, each one asking for his part...

I trust that Y.L. will answer me soon regarding the two practical difficulties that I outlined to you in my last letter.

I commend to your good prayers, My Lord, and to those of our dear confreres of Pondicherry, the soul of a close relative of mine, of whose death I have just heard.

I ask you to believe me always, in union of holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, 5 May 1851)

Sent_0485

Sent_0485 - to his cousin Raymond - 6 May 1851 -/2

Sent_0485 - à son cousin Raymond - le 6 mai 1851 -/3

Sent 0485 - to his à cousin Raymond - 6 May 1851 /2

Sent 0485 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 372-374

(to his cousin, Raymond de Gaja)

Raymond's father was the brother of Mgr's mother. Condolences at his death. He received the sacraments at the end of his life. May this last lesson rest for his posterity! So now you are head of the family. See that it keeps the qualities that constituted its strength and honour thus far. You know my friendship for you. Affectionate regards to your family..

Index: death, attachment (family), friendship

Carumattampatty, 6 May 1851

It is superfluous, very dear friend, to express the profound sorrow that fills my soul at the thought of the loss that we have all just suffered. Only yesterday did I receive this sad news; I do not wish to let a single day pass without mingling my tears with yours. Oh yes, whatever my sorrow, I realise that yours is greater still, and I would like these lines to be some consolation for your heart, by expressing to you the share of sorrow that mine feels. Very dear cousin, let us nonetheless lift our eyes to heaven, in the sweet confidence that he for whom we are grieving is alive still.

Shall I tell you now ? How often did I fear that God would not grant my dear uncle the grace that we have the hope was given to him; how I feared that this man's life was quite useless for heaven, for want of an essential condition in order for the man's good works to be the works of salvation of a just man. How many times have I prayed to the Lord that before the supreme hour at least it would be granted for him to fulfil the duties that he himself recognised should be carried out and that a weakness, which often unfortunately is combined with the strength and courage of a great heart, prevented him from fulfilling.

God has granted my prayer. He did not wish that so many good works, such devotion, so much private virtue, reason and zeal for all that is good and true, he did not wish, I say, that all of this should remain useless and disappear with this man's life; he rewarded him in a manner worthy of his Mercy, permitting that your good father came back worthily, sincerely to him, with calm, and in full consciousness, so that we are now confident that he lives still and that he will live for ever.

Very dear friend, allow me now to express a wish ; since my position and character authorise me to do so. May his children, all his children, and all those who witnessed and were edified by his last inclinations, understand that this last lesson is the best of all that he has given them, that it revokes what the example of the past could implicitly contain to the contrary, and that they should not wait until the end, like him, for by so doing they would be abusing of the grace which has been given them, but which is not promised and on which we should not prudently count.

And, very dear friend, another wish. So you are now the head of my mother's side of the family. I am firmly convinced that, by your wisdom and your noble sentiments, you will succeed in maintaining in this family the bonds of sweet friendship, of good relations, of mutual help, of good understanding, etc., which thus far have constituted its honour and its strength. Good Hyppolyte, with whom you will undoubtedly share this letter and who is in my mind at this very moment, will without doubt understand that by staying close to you, he has everything to gain, and he will remain, whatever should happen, a good brother as he has been until now. Your respectable mother will find in her son a real solace throughout her widowhood, your other relatives a friend and a support. Yes, it will be thus, my wish is rather the expression of the confidence I feel in you.

As for you, very dear friend, you know how much I loved your father, what am I saying, how much I love him, for he is not dead ; you know how much I love my family. But, quite apart from the friendship I feel for all of you, you know that I have always had a particular affection for you. I gave you proof of this, on leaving, by entrusting you with my proxy, in case I should need to be represented for any business in France. Yes, we were very close from a tender age; something natural in our characters drew us close to each other. Well, let us maintain these bonds of nature that God too has formed, of friendship which ennobles them, let us raise them even to the grace which sanctifies them.

As for me, I will never forget you ; do not forget me in your turn. Let us love each other as we always have done, and give me from time to time some token of this friendship by letting me know in writing what of good or bad is happening to you in this life where the one is never without the other.

A Dieu ; relay to Hippolyte everything I have told you about my sorrow. I am writing a few words to your good mother. A kiss from me to your dear Fernand. And respectful friendly greetings to your wife with whom we played, I think, in our childhood at Lascourtines, but whom I would have difficulty in recognising, and believe me for life

Your good cousin

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 6 May 1851)

Sent_0486

Sent_0486 - à sa tante de Gaja - le 6 mai 1851 -/2

Sent_0486 - à sa tante de Gaja - le 6 mai 1851 -/1

Sent 0486 - to his aunt de Gaja - 6 May 1851 /1

Sent 0486 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 375

(to his aunt Rose Melchior de Gaja)()

Condolences on the death of her husband, Mgr's uncle. Thanks be to God, he received the grace of carrying out his duties as a Christian before his death

Index : death, attachment (family)

Carumattampatty, 6 May 1851

Very dear aunt,

Thus it has pleased the Lord to take to him the person who was your joy, your other self ! Your piety did not wait until that day to submit to his decrees, to offer him the sacrifice that he required of your faith. Thus, I do not doubt but that he himself softened the bitterness with which your heart was quite rightly filled. Oh no, he was not deaf to your voice, for the precious grace that my uncle had in fulfilling, in full consciousness and with great edification, his duties as a Christian I have no doubt, were largely due to your prayers.

Oh, how much less is our sorrow than it could have been, and how great and precious is the founded hope that we have of seeing once more some day him who has been taken from us for an instant ! Good aunt, this trust does not prevent our hearts from being broken. This sorrow is in the order of nature and even of grace, but one day, it will be changed to joy; while evil is of this world alone and for a day. May the share I have in your sorrow which it would be superfluous, impossible even, to express fully, soften the excess of your chagrin.

I am writing to Raymond, that childhood friend, that good cousin, whom I hope I shall always be able to call thus and who, with Hippolyte, I have no doubt, will be your greatest and most real solace .

And now I will leave you, my dear aunt, hoping that very soon you or Raymond will give me your news and asking you to let me share in the merits of your sorrows, by commending me to God in your prayers. He listens so willingly to afflicted souls. A Dieu.

Your respectful nephew.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 6 May 1851)

Sent_0487

Sent_0487 - à son père - le 6 mai 1851 -/2

Sent_0487 - à son père - le 6 mai 1851 -/1

Sent 0487 - to his father - 6 May 1851 /1

Sent 0487 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 152-153

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 376

(to his father)

Condolences at the death of his uncle de Gaja. He had a truly Christian end! Perhaps it is about this time that Félicie is due to be married?

l

Index: death, attachment (family)

Near Coimbatore, 6 May 1851

My very dear father,

Yesterday I received your letter of March with the good and the sad news that it contained.

I don't need to tell you how much I was affected by the death of my dear uncle de Gaja. He was always so good for us, he was such a good relative! Besides, I owed him more than another, since it was he who held me over the baptismal font. However, I admit, I had a great fear that he lacked the grace to recognise himself before God, as in fact he had the happiness of doing, in full consciousness, with all his will. How our sorrow is lessened by the confidence that his truly Christian end leaves us! For he knew religion, he loved it and he approved its holy practices; thus it will be with his whole heart that he fulfilled his duties and not merely as an acquittance.

I am only writing you these few lines because I don't want to miss the post for Bombay, by means of which I am writing to Raymond and to my poor aunt de Gaja. I am also writing to Félicie to congratulate her on her marriage which, perhaps, is taking place at this moment, for we are in the second week after Quasimodo, and I will join you tomorrow in our common joy by offering the holy sacrifice of the mass for the happiness of my dear sister and god-daughter, wearing the rochet that she embroidered for me. Today, I offer the holy sacrifice for my dear uncle who has just died.

I will await the news of the wedding to congratulate you in a more positive way, for there is always some contingent element in even the near future. A Dieu.

Your respectful son.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Near Coimbatore, 6 May 1851)

Sent_0488

Sent_0488 - to his sister Félicie - 7 May 1851 -/1

Sent_0488 - à sa soeur Félicie - le 7 mai 1851 -/1

Sent 0488 - to his sister Félicie - 7 May 1851 /1

Sent 0488 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 376-377

(to his sister Félicie)

I join in the joy at your marriage. I see that you are really well inclined. Some pious advice for her life from now onwards. Religion will answer all your desires; remain faithful to it.

Index: marriage, attachment (family), advice

Carumattampatty, 7 May 1851

My very dear Félicie,

I am stepping down from the altar after offering the holy sacrifice of the mass for you. Thus it is that before the Lord, my dear friend, I join in your happiness and share in your joy. There is no need for me to tell you how happy I was to receive your letter and the news it contained. It quite mitigated the sorrow I felt at the same time, on learning of the death of our dear uncle de Gaja.

But what gave me most pleasure in your letter is the moderation in your so real joy and the piety with which you consider the great act which is about to be accomplished for you. You have understood that it is above all by preparing your soul to receive worthily the sacrament of indissoluble union, that you should make yourself worthy of him who is about to be united with you. I don't doubt, since you assure me that he has truly religious sentiments, that he appreciates the full implications of such conduct and places it above many temporal and passing advantages.

Yes, you will ensure his happiness, I have no doubt. The good family education that you have received, the examples of your respectable mother that you will never forget, the religion that you have always practiced and which will lead you to the altar with a pure heart and an innocent soul, this is your finest dowry. It assures, to him who gives to you, through such advantages, certain pledges of a mutual happiness, the sweet joys of the family and the ineffable consolations of the union of hearts.

Now, my dear friend, a way of life very different from that you have led until now will be imposed on you. It will have its joys, as it will also have its tribulations and difficulties. These two things are inseparable in this world below. But if you remain invincibly faithful to God by the constant practice of all your duties, you will find in him both the rule to sanctify your happiness, and the strength to bear the trials, the consolations in adversity, and strength in difficult moments. Religion will meet all your needs, all your desires; thus remain faithful to it.

I will say no more to you, very dear friend, because I do not want to miss the post for Bombay which is about to leave, and by which I am writing to Raymond and my aunt de Gaja. You will undoubtedly give me your news after the marriage, as well as those of him who will have become your other half and whom I will love as a brother. However, I do not wish to end without reminding you of these words of young Tobias to his young wife: (Tobias, chap. VIII) [...] Follow the examples of these two holy persons, beloved brother and sister; if you do thus, beloved sister, you will deserve to become similar to the strong woman to whom the Sage refers : (Prov. XXXI) [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 7 May 1851)

Sent_0489

Sent_0489 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 10 May 1851 -/2

Sent_0489 \- à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 10 mai 1851 -/3

Sent 0489 \- to Mgr Charbonnaux - 10 May 1851 /2

Sent 0489 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 376-378

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

He explains his thought regarding the use to be made of the revenues from the churches by the missionaries and on the usage of the viaticum. But his ideas should not be made known to everyone.

Index: finances, viaticum, revenues (from the churches)

Carumattampatty, 10 (?) May 1851

[...] As for the subject of finances, I will reply to Pondicherry as briefly as possible that I am not at all convinced of owing it anything. But for the question that you ask me, I will abstain for several reasons from the thesis that Y.L. asks of me. Only, I will say that, in my opinion:

1) the missionaries have no right to complain ;

2) that it is necessary for them to contribute to certain general expenses, which are both for them personally and for the good of their respective missions ;

3) that this has always been recognised by our missionaries in this country, who knew very well (since it is repeated to them in each common letter) what was due to them and what they handed over ;

4) there is thus a tacit agreement of the new missionaries to follow the example of their predecessors, which prevents there being anything to be paid back. This might be modified in future, but in that case, I believe that the apostolic vicar would be entitled to claim more rather than less, if he counts painstakingly (since he is forced to do so) the expenses incurred for everybody;

5) the missionaries should concentrate on something else which is much more serious : that is that, if they are not outside of the letter, they are certainly, in my opinion, outside of the spirit of our regulations, outside of the spirit of our Society, by taking their viaticum and at the same time the revenues of the churches administered by them. In the spirit of our Society, our ministry should be absolutely free of charge. It is exclusively to make it such that this enormous exception to apostolic life has been established : the viaticum. These revenues of churches should be (as far as anything is due to the priest) the share of the native priests ; and if there are no native priests, since it is indispensable for the good of religion in general that these revenues be maintained, they should be at the disposal of the episcopal administration.

And the missionaries should take care not to say that they never use these revenues for themselves, but for the good of the Christian communities, that they build, etc. This may be true for each of them individually, but it is not so in principle. Besides I am quite prepared to believe that our missionaries use these revenues for the glory of God, I believe so sincerely of all those that I know without exception, but I am far from believing that it is for the greatest glory of God. For that, it would be necessary that everything done in a vicariate be directed in the same plan, to a goal to which everything contributed, and not according to the ideas of each and the inspiration of the moment. The bishop alone could do this.

Besides, the missionaries, by acting each on his own, were they a hundred times better than the apostolic vicar, that would not give them the right, which I cannot reconcile with the spirit that created our congregation, of taking the least of the revenues from their Christian communities, while receiving their viaticum.

I am persuaded, My Lord, that this practical error which has naturally slipped into these parts, at a time when there were very few missionaries, covering a vast land completely deprived of native priests, is one of the big misfortunes of our Society, one of those that prevent it from doing all the good possible in our missions. But I am also persuaded that very few missionaries are capable of understanding the truth on this point, because of the contrary prejudice that they found established on arriving; so that these reflections are for you alone, My Lord, or only for those to whom you believe they could be communicated ad aedificationem. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 10? May 1851)

Sent_0490

Sent_0490 - to the Holy Father - 13 May 1851 -/6

Sent_0490 - au Saint-Père - le 13 mai 1851 -/6

Sent 0490 - to the Holy Father - 13 May 1851 /1

Envoi_0490 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 379-383

(translation: following page)

(to the Holy Father Pius IX)

Answer on the subject of the Immaculate Conception. Very Holy Father, we (all those I have consulted in my vicariate) hold as a certain truth the mystery of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. It will be our duty and our joy to defend and to make it known. In the past, some forbade a contrary teaching, but if they had lived today, they would have affirmed it like us. However, such a definition should be based on the Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church. For the latter it will be difficult to prove that the Immaculate Conception of Mary has been believed always and everywhere. Accordingly I would prefer that this truth should remain as a truth to be believed piously, rather than as an article of faith. And, then, to refuse an admitted truth is rashness, but to refuse an article of faith, is heresy. However, if you define this truth as an article of faith, I will forthwith adhere to it.

Index: Immaculate Conception (dogma), Rome (authority)

Near Coimbatore, 13 May 1851()

Responsum Episcopi Prusensi, Vicarii Apostolici Coimbatorensis, ad Encyclicam Epistolam Sanctissimi Domini Nostri Pii Papae IX datam Gaietae die 2a Februarii anni 1849.

Beatissime Pater,

Cum non nisi jam ab aliquot mensibus, incepto praesenti anno, litterae Beatitudinis Vestrae, datae Gaietae die 2a Februarii 1849, ad me pervenerint, responsum meum, simul cum aliis Catholicis Episcopis universi Orbis, prius dare non mihi licuit. At vero nunc, peractis publicis praecibus quas in Vicariatu meo, ex jussione Sanctitatis Vestrae, praescripsi, absque mora responsum meum reverenter dabo.

Et primo, Beatissime Pater, testificari urgeor quanto perfusi sumus gaudio, legentes Epistolam Vestram, minime dubitantes magnam exinde orturam esse gloriam Divae Mariae quae Alma Mater nostra est, Consolatrixque nostra et firmissima, post Dominum Nostrum Jesum Christum, Spes nostra inter acerba pericula quibus infelicibus temporibus nostris obnoxii remanemus omnes.

Etenim, ad quamquamque partem verteritis ex afflatu Spiritus Sancti, juxta definitionem dogmaticam de Immaculata Conceptione Beatae Mariae Virginis, epistola Vestra, Beatissime Pater, adeo sollemne momentum est in favorem istius piae opinionis ut in perpetuum illam confirmaverit. Haud dubie deinceps ineffabilis haec praerogativa Matris Dei indubitanter vera habebitur, adversus quam nullum Catholicorum os loquens amplius audietur.

Evidens est egregios Doctores eximiosque Sanctos qui contrarium documentum quasi patrocinari videntur suas scripsisse sententias ex eo principio quod doctrinam a nobis professam non satis conformem existimaverint doctrinae Sanctae Sedis quae tunc temporis suam mentem non clare patefacerat. Ex contextu enim et praesertim ex serie operum suorum, demonstratur praeclaros illos Viros sicut nosmet autumaturos fuisse, si in nostra aetate vitam degissent.

Si vocem audivissent Pontificum qui, subsequenti tempore, omni quo potuerunt modo, faverunt doctrinae nostrae, si amantibus Mariae praeciosissimam Beatitudinis Vestrae legissent epistolam, si testes fuissent gaudio et pietate quibuscum a diuturno jam tempore in tota Ecclesia festum Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis celebratur, si tandem studiosissimam diligentiam ex omni parte ostensam in novo suscipiendo officio a Beatitudine Vestra approbato quod non De Conceptione Beatae Mariae Virginis tantum ut prius, sed Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis nuncupatur ipsis admirari datum fuisset, profecto firmiter ut et nos Purissimam Sanctissimamque Virginem absque peccato Conceptam fuisse existimassent, et nullum est dubium quin hanc piam veritatem exclusive in suis perennae memoriae scriptis consignassent.

Itaque, Beatissime Pater, Mysterium Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis ut certam minimeque dubiam veritatem tenemus; et hanc gloriosissimam dotem Matris nostrae dilectissimae, piaque exercitia huic annexa propugnare et apud fideles vulgare munus nostrum erit ac filiale gaudium.

Quae opinio, Beatissime Pater, non solum mea est, sed et Christianorum meorum in quantum, ignorantiae suae habita ratione, suam mentem ostendere possunt; sed et juvenis quasi e terra germinantis Cleri hujus Vicariatus qui aliunde cum contrariam opinionem proferri nunquam audierit dubium de hac re ut gravem Mariae injuriam haberet; haec opinio denique Missionariorum meorum est qui omnes ardenti zelo ferventer in gloriam Mariae et Immaculatam ejus Conceptionem credunt et ut opinio nostra usque ad articulum Fidei erigatur sollemne Sanctae Sedis judicium desiderant.

Quoad hanc vero definitionem, Beatissime Pater, omnia quae in intima mente mea volvuntur ante oculos Beatitudinis Vestrae cum filiali simplicitate explanare mihi liceat, quaeso, siquidem vituperationis dignum me existimarem si non pari sinceritate qua opinionem meam professus sum et timores meos non patefacerem. Quamvis ergo, ut iterum dicam, nihil insit in me dubii de Immaculata Conceptione Beatae Mariae Virginis, non possum quin timeam ex definitione istius doctrinae ut Articuli Fidei aliqua oriunda esse damna pro Ecclesia; non possum quin timeam ne talis definitio, salva reverentia debita numerosis et piissimis novis theologis qui eam urgent, quasi speciem quamdam novitatis prae se ferat et imminuat vim majestatemque Traditionis cujus firmitas posthac magis ac magis exoptabitur.

Procul dubio si Sancta Sedes Immaculatam Conceptionem Beatae Mariae Virginis articulum Fidei revelatae declarabit, eo ipso Traditionem (nam ut arbitror haec revelatio super Scripturam solum, quod periculosius adhuc mihi videretur, nunquam fulcietur) talem semper fuisse definiet; quod quidem sufficiens erit animo in fide firmo et constanti.

At vero quoad debiliores in fide, imbecillitati quorum semper indulgendum erit, probanda sunt momenta Traditionis hujus super quam innixa Ecclesia definitionem protulerit. Opus haud facile quidem. Non obstantibus piis conatibus et quasi industria recentiorum theologorum, nonne fatendum est demonstrationes eorum, si rogorose, non faciles esse conceptui plerumque fidelium. Porro magni referre mihi videtur Traditionem aliunde praeciosissiman, quae in procellis quibus adhuc jactabitur Mater Ecclesia, Anchora salutis erit, claram omniumque menti perspicuam inveniendam esse.

Forsitan, Beatissime Pater, timeo ubi non est timor; sed fateor, timeo caliginosum mendacium, quod magis ac magis humanam mentem obvoluturum videtur. Hujus auxilio fretus, princeps tenebrarum multos seducet nisi quasi scrupulosissime veneremur traditionem. Jactitent alii vanas scientias istius aevi mundumque de die in die progredi asserant. Ego vero genus humanum in haud vitabile caliginosum barathrum precipitem se dare, heu lugens prospicio. Portentosus abusus artis typographiae, Diarum venenum quod usque apud barbaras gentes sese insinuat, mentes corrumpit et a via recta sensim declinat.

Libertas scribendi, typis mandandi et ubique spargendi omnis generis libros bonos ac malos de quacumque se tractantes, quibus sacrum indigne profano miscetur, elata ferrea fronte errorem sustinentes nec non sub speciae sanae philosophiae vel theologiae pravam doctrinam arte connexis obnubilatam argutiis propagantes, ita ut sapientissimae leges Ecclesiae de hac materia efficaciter etiam in omnino Catholicis imperiis protegi nequeant; haec libertas, inquam, simul cum aliis pluribus causis, adeo magnam perturbationem intellectu hominum altatura mihi videntur ut, in posterum magis quam ante, forsan, Catholici, ratiociniis diffidentes sed documentis Sacrae Traditionis inhaerentes, illud tantum indubitanter verum, illud tantum certitudine Fidei certum agnoscere cogentur "quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est." (Vin. Lir)

Porro, ut ad incepta redeam, non obstante pia industria recentiorum theologorum eorumque diligentia scrutandi opera Patrum et quidquid directe vel indirecte, evidenter vel deductive opinionem nostram tuetur producendi, difficile remanet, meo sensu, probare semper et praesertim ubique Immaculatam Conceptionem Beatae Mariae Virginis creditam fuisse. Ex tali vero difficultate, nonne debiles in fide conjicientur in discrimen, dubitandi non solum de articulo illo definito, sed insuper de ipsa Traditione, quae hujus revelationis sacrarium fuit? Exinde, quaenam damna non timenda pro infirma fide, imbecillitati cujus indulgere nobis munus est?

Itaque, Beatissime Pater, veritatem de Immaculata Conceptione Mariae inter veritates quae pie creditae generaliter admittentur remanere anteponerem. Nulla enim deinceps exceptio numerabitur, nec sine fructu remanebit preciosa ac piam suavitatem redolens epistola Beatitudinis Vestrae. Haec enim, securim ad radicem usque infigendo, controversiae quondam infaustae sed nullo modo renovandae finem absolutum dederit. In posterum, nullus invenietur tam audax Catholicus qui renovare auderit et sustinere opinionem Sanctae Sedis menti fideliumque piae et communi autumationi apertissime oppositam. Si quis auderet infelix, merito temeritatis notam incurreret.

Quid autem! Pro vere Catholico num firmius quam talis nota aliud vinculum requiritur? Ille qui a tali nota non terreretur, sane timendum est ne et haeresis notam non formidaret. Et tunc praesentia novi cujusdam temerarii, minori damno esset Ecclesiae quam praesentia novi haeretici. Quamvis enim temerarius ille absolute loquendo factiosos quosdam sibi adunare possit, numquam ut haereticus ad novam sectam effingendam potens reperietur.

Hic est, Beatissime Pater, autumandi modus ultimi totius Christianitatis Episcoporum, humillimi filiorum Beatitudinis Vestrae. Si vero cogitatum meum integrum ante oculos Vestros proponendum arbitratus sum, simul testificor de omnimodo meo anticipato obsequio omnibus quae a Sanctitate Vestra judicabuntur et definientur. Nec minimum quidem dubium ingero Beatitudinem Vestram, si ad bonum Ecclesiae dogmaticam definitionem requiri judicaverit, ab ipso Spiritu Sancto afflari. Statimque, Dei auxiliante gratia, tanquam articulum Fidei firmiter credam quod nunc ut piam veritatem totis praecordiis profiteor.

Nihil nunc superest, Beatissime Pater, nisi ut pedes Beatitudinis Vestrae provolutus, eosque humili affectu amolectans, Paternam Apostolicamque Benedictionem vestram pro meipso, pro Missionariis cooperatoribus meis et pro Missione mihi quamvis indigne credita efflagitem. Deum Omnipotentem Misericordiosum deprecans ut Beatitudinem Vestram diu servare dignetur Suae Ecclesiae incolumem et felicem.

Sanctitatis Vestrae,

Humillimus et obsequiosissimus servus et filius.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Prope Coimbatore, 13 Maii 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to the Holy Father)

(Carumattampatty, 13 May 1851)

Answer of the Bishop of Pruse, Apostolic Vicar of Coimbatore, to the encyclical letter of the Very Holy Lord our Pope Pius IX, given at Gaeta on 2 February of the year 1849.

Very Holy Father,

Only a few months ago, at the beginning of this year, I received Your Beatitude's letter, given at Gaeta on 2 February 1849 : that is why it was impossible for me to give my answer earlier, at the same time as the other Catholic bishops of the universe. But now that the public prayers that I ordered in my vicariate have been completed, at Your Holiness's request, I am going to answer you with deference, without more ado.

First of all, very Holy Father, I cannot wait to convey to you how we were filled with an immense joy on reading your letter, not doubting for a moment that a great glory should ensue for the divine Mary, who is our venerable Mother, our comforter and our most solid hope after Our Lord Jesus Christ, amid the cruel dangers to which we are all subjected in our unfortunate times.

And in fact, on whatever side you turn, under the breath of the Holy Spirit, as regards the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, your letter, very Holy Father, is of such a solemn importance in favour of this pious opinion, that it will be confirmed for ever. In addition, it is certain that this ineffable prerogative of the Mother of God will be held as indubitably true, and against it no mouth of Christians will dare speak ever again.

It is evident that the illustrious doctors and eminent saints, who have as good as defended any contrary teaching, wrote their opinions starting off from the principle that they considered that the doctrine we profess was not sufficiently in conformity with the doctrine of the Holy See which, at that time, had not clearly evinced its opinion. In fact, from the context, and above all from the follow-up of their works, we see that these illustrious men would have affirmed as we do, if they had lived in our times.

If they had heard the voice of the Pontiffs who, thereafter and in every way they could, showed themselves favourable to our doctrine, if they had read Your Beatitude's very precious letter to the lovers of Mary, if they had been witnesses of the joy and the piety with which, for a long time now, the feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated in every Church, if finally they had had the opportunity of admiring the very studied choice, apparent on all sides, in the adoption of the new office approved by Your Beatitude, an office which is not called only, as it was before, Office of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, without any doubt firmly, exactly like us, they would have considered that the very pure and very holy Virgin had been conceived without sin, and there is no doubt that they would have recorded in their writings of eternal memory none other than this pious truth.

For this reason, very Holy Father, we hold as a certain and absolutely indubitable truth the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; and it will be our task and our joy finally to defend this very glorious quality of our beloved Mother, and the pious exercises attached to it, and to make it known among the faithful.

This opinion, very Holy Father, is not only mine, but also that of my Christians, insofar as, bearing in mind their ignorance, they can express their way of thinking ; but also of the young clergy of this vicariate, almost germinating from this earth, and besides, since it has never heard an opinion to the contrary proffered, it would hold any doubt regarding this thing for a grave insult to Mary ; it is finally the opinion of my missionaries who all burning with an ardent zeal for the glory of Mary, believe also in her immaculate conception and desire a decision from the Holy See in order for our opinion to be elevated solemnly to the rank of article of faith.

But as regards this definition, I ask you if it may be permitted to lay with filial simplicity, before Your Beatitude's eyes, all of the things turning in the innermost recesses of my mind, seeing that I would consider myself worthy of reproach if I did not thus evince my fears with a sincerity equal to that with which I have affirmed my opinion. Accordingly, although, as I will say again, I have no doubt whatsoever regarding the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I can only fear that, from the definition of this doctrine as an article of faith, certain prejudices for the Church may very well arise; I can only fear that such a definition, while safeguarding the respect due to the numerous and very pious theologians who push in this direction, may carry with it a sort of novelty and may diminish the force and majesty of the Tradition the solidity of which, after this, will be more and more desired.

Without doubt, if the Holy See should declare the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary an article of revealed faith, by that alone it will define that Tradition has always been such (for, as I think, this revelation will not be based exclusively on the Scriptures, which would appear to me to be even more dangerous) ; which in truth will be sufficient for a soul to be firm and constant in the faith.

But for those who are feebler in the faith, whose weakness will always need to be forgiven, it will be necessary to prove the passages of this Tradition on which the Church will base itself to make the definition. A very difficult task in truth. Despite the pious efforts and so to speak the zeal of the most recent theologians, should we not agree that their demonstrations, if carried out rigorously, are not easy for the concept of the majority of the faithful? However, it seems to me important to recall that the Tradition, in fact very precious which, in the storms into which our Mother the Church will still be flung, will be the Anchor of salvation, should appear clear and evident to the minds of all.

Perhaps, Holy Father, I fear where there is no need to fear ; but, I admit, I fear a sombre imposture which, more and more, seems destined to darken the human mind. Strong in this succour, the prince of darkness will seduce many, if we do not venerate tradition as scrupulously. Others boast aloud the vain sciences of this century and affirm that the world is advancing constantly. As for me, I gaze, alas groaning, at humankind in the act of flinging itself into an inevitable sombre abyss. The prodigious abuse of the art of the printing press, the poison of the newspapers which penetrate even into the abodes of the barbarians, are corrupting people's minds and turning them little by little away from the straight path.

The freedom of writing, of printing and circulating, spreading in all directions books of all kinds, good and bad, dealing with anything, where unworthily the sacred is mingled with the profane, sustaining error with a lofty impudence, and thus propagating, under the appearance of healthy philosophy and of healthy theology erroneous doctrine, veiled by closely intermingled subtleties, in such a way that the wisest laws of the Church on this subject cannot effectively be defended, even in the entirely Catholic powers ; this freedom, I say, with other numerous causes seems to be liable to introduce such great perturbation into men's understanding that, in the future more than before perhaps, Catholics, distrusting reasoning but attaching themselves to the documents of the sacred Tradition, will be led to believe as undoubtedly true, and certain with a certainty of faith only that "which is believed everywhere, always and by everyone". (Vin. Lir.)

On another hand, to return to the beginning, despite the pious application of the recent theologians and their care to examine the works of the Fathers of the Church and to bring to light everything which, directly or indirectly, with evidence or by deduction, defends our opinion, it remains difficult, to my mind, to prove that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been believed always and above all everywhere. And, from such a difficulty, will the feeble in the faith not be impelled to the separation, doubting not only of this definite article, but above all of the Tradition itself which was the sanctuary of this revelation? Thus, what prejudices should we not have to fear for the not so solid faith, towards whose feebleness it is our duty to be indulgent ?

That is why, very Holy Father, I would prefer to leave the truth of the Immaculate Conception of Mary among the truths which are generally received as if to be believed piously. In fact hereafter, there will be no exception, and Your Beatitude's letter, precious and unfolding a pious suavity, will not remain without fruit. In fact this, by plunging the axe down to the root, would have implied an absolute end to the unfortunate controversy of former times, but which we should not in any way begin again. In the future, no Christian will be found sufficiently audacious to dare to take up and sustain an opinion very openly opposed to the spirit of the Holy See and to the pious and common sentiment of the faithful. If any such dares, such an unfortunate person would rightly deserve to be accused of temerity.

But what ! Truly, for a Catholic, is any other bond more solid than this attribute required ? One might reasonably fear that he who would not be afraid of such an attribute will not be afraid either of the attribute of heretic. And then, the presence of any new hothead would be of slighter damage to the Church than the presence of a new heretic. In fact, although this hothead, absolutely speaking, might resemble certain factious persons, he will never be considered capable of forming a new sect like a heretic.

And that, very Holy Father, is the manner of belief of the least of the bishops of the whole of Christendom, of the smallest of Your Beatitude's sons. If in truth I considered it my duty to lay my whole thought before your eyes, at the same time I express in every way my anticipated assent to the things which may be judged and defined by Your Holiness. In truth, I cast absolutely no doubt on the fact that Your Beatitude, if you judge that the dogmatic definition is required for the good of the Church, is inspired by the Holy Spirit itself. And straightway, with the grace of God, I will believe firmly, as an article of faith, what now I profess as a pious truth with my whole heart.

And now, very Holy Father, prostrated at Your Beatitude's feet, kissing them with humility, it only remains for me to solicit your paternal and apostolic blessing for myself, for the missionaries my co-operators and for the mission entrusted to me, however unworthy I may be. Praying the almighty and merciful Lord to deign to preserve for long years still Your Beatitude safe and sound and happy for his Church.

Your Holiness's

Smallest and most respectful servant and son.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 13 May 1851)

Sent_0491

Sent_0491 - circular to his missionaries - 14 May 1851 -/2

Sent_0491 - circulaire à ses missionnaires - le 14 mai 1851 -/2

Sent 0491 - circular to his missionaries - 14 May 1851 /2

Sent 0491 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 378-379

(circular to his missionaries regarding the jubilee)

To give them the dates of the jubilee in the vicariate and the four conditions required to gain plenary indulgence.

Index: jubilee

Carumattampatty, 14 May 1851

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

By virtue of the powers communicated to us by the indult of the Holy See dated 23 June 1850, we designate for the whole of our vicariate, in order to earn the jubilee that the Holy Father grants us, the two weeks contained between the solemnity of Pentecost and the Sunday falling on 22 June.

You will not fail, Gentlemen and dear confreres, to urge the Christians who are under your direction, in every way that your zeal may suggest, to profit from this time of salvation and of mercy, to draw from the treasures of the Church which are open to us, and to take part in the common joy on these days of general reconciliation.

The day of Pentecost and the following Sunday, we will give the blessing of the very holy Sacrament, after the mass attended by most people. We will sing in the Salutation the hymn Veni Creator. The closing Sunday, we will do the same, but replacing the Veni Creator by the Te Deum. In those places where it is impossible to give the blessing of the very holy Sacrament, the missionary will replace this exercise by another practice, according to what appears most suitable to him.

These are the conditions required to earn plenary indulgence in the case of a jubilee :

l) Visit the churches three times. These visits should be made to different churches, if there are several which are not more than three nagigués away from the person's house. Any persons who would be obliged to do more than three nagigués to go elsewhere than to their nearest church, can pay all three visits to the same one. It is advised that on each of these visits, we recite five Paters and five Aves for the Holy Father.

2) Make alms in the measure desired. For this purpose, it would be advisable if, throughout the time of the jubilee, a trunk were placed in the main churches of the district. The proceeds of these trunks should be sent to Mr de Gélis; this will be used for the work of the catechumens.

3) Hear a mass one day other than Sunday.

4) Make confession and take holy communion. The sick, prisoners and other persons who are in the physical impossibility of going to church will replace these visits and the attendance of holy mass by saying the rosary four times.

And I end by transcribing the special powers that you are granted during this time of salvation : Per id vero tempus [...] incipi. Sermo est.

I commend myself to your prayers in the holy sacrifice, in union of which I ask you to believe me,

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 14 May 1851)

Sent_0492

Sent_0492 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 May 1851 -/2

Sent_0492 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 mai 1851 -/2

Sent 0492 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 May 1851 /2

Envoi_0492 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 399-402

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding an address of the Holy Father of which Mr Dupuis has just made the translation in Tamoul and of which Mgr de Brésillac would like to have about fifty copies. News of his missionaries.

Index: my missionaries, questions of the burse

Coimbatore, 18 May 1851()

My Lord,

Finding myself en passant back in Coimbatore, I have received your letter today, as well as the copy of your Pastoral. I had intended to publish here only the two letters of the archbishop of Palmyra and of the Holy Father to that prelate. I had given Mr Bonjean the task of doing the translation. The rest seemed to me fairly unintelligible for our buffaloes, and above all too long.

But, since this work is done, and the venerable Mr Dupuis has had the farsighted charity to help us out, I would reproach myself for not profiting from his praiseworthy intention. Accordingly I would ask him, through you, My Lord, to kindly send me as soon as possible fifty (50) copies of your pastoral, without changing anything in it except the proper names.

However, in the case of there being any variants in the letter of the cardinal prefect to Y.L. and to me, I am including here copy of the letter addressed to me. It seems to me also that in the reflections that follow (here a word in Tamoul), we should omit for this vicariate the word (here a word in Tamoul). For we have no place here where the decree of the Council of Trent (chap. 1, ss 24, of ref. mat.) is published. Finally, it should be countersigned L. de Gélis, apostolic missionary, and dated from Coimbatore.

Thank you for the resolution of the two cases that I had taken the liberty of proposing to you. It is in line with what I thought. Despite the powers that I have received directly from Rome, I still need to have recourse to yours, since, for a subsequent re-writing, I have been confirmed in all the powers that Y.L. had communicated to me. Consequently, those which are limited in time end as the same time as yours.

All'Illustrissimo e Reverendissimo Signore M. Melchiore de Marion de Brésillac, Vicario Apostolico di Coimbatore.

Illustrissime et Reverendissime Domine,(

)

Jubente Sanctissimo Domino Nostro Pio PP. IX, adjectam Sanctitatis Suae, quam nuper habuit in Consistorio Allocutionem ac typis edidit, Amplitudini Tuae mittimus, ut eam istis in regionibus vulgari ac notam ubivis poteris fieri satagas. Id porro maximi momenti esse senties ex iis quae memorata allocutio praefert, quaeque Deo juvante rei Catholicae in Missionibus istis felicius promovendae vel maxime profuturae confidimus.

Hinc Deum Omnipotentem ac Misericordiosum adprecamur, ut Amplitudinem Tuam diutissime servet ac sospitet.

Romae, ex aedibus Sanctae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, die 1 Martii, Amplitudini Tuae,

Uti Frater Studiosissimus.

(signed) J. Ph. Card. Fransoni, Praef.

R.P.D. Melchiori de Marion de Brésillac, Vicario Apostolico Coimbatore - Coimbatore.

(countersigned) Al Barnabò a secretis.

As a true copy

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar.

And now I leave you, Monsignore, for I only have a moment, intending to set off again for Carumattampatty from where Mr Métral is absent. He has gone to Palghat to take his holidays with the seminary. In any case I have nothing very interesting to tell you. Father Gury is here coming from Verapoly. He is going to spend a few days at Ootacamund. I am going to entrust Mr de Gélis with the seminary. Thus Mr Métral will have more time to dedicate to the Christians of Carumattampatty. I wanted Mr Pajean to come here; he would be the right man for this post, but he has made a thousand and one difficulties. So I am leaving him at Codively.

I am calling Mr Barot here, but he will not be quite up to it. Unfortunately, I cannot call anyone else without compromising the good that they are all doing in their pangous. Mr Perceval is going to Darabouram. Mr de Gélis, while in charge of the seminary, will continue to act as bursar.

So these, My Lord, are all the family news.

I commend myself to Y.L.'s good prayers, asking you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your very respectful and very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. I will not forget to commend your ordination to God. I commend to the Memento of your holy sacrifice the soul of a very dear relative whom I have just lost.

(Coimbatore, 18th)

Sent_0493

Sent_0493 - to Mr Leroux - end of May 1851/2

Sent_0493 - à M. Leroux - fin mai 1851/1

Sent 0493 - to Mr Leroux - end of May 1851/2

Sent 0493 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 383-385

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic vicar)

Mr Leroux has just sent him a long letter on usages tolerated and forbidden in India. Mgr de Brésillac explains to him why he has asked him such a question and in what sense and for what reasons he is preparing to write to the S.C. on this subject. Be discreet on all of this.

Index: Indian usages, Rome (authority), advice

Near Coimbatore, towards end May 1851

My dear Mr Leroux,

I have received the work() that you were good enough to communicate to me, and thank you for it.

I hope that the S.C. will in one way or another put our conscience at rest. I say our, because, although I only have to deal with my vicariate, the analogy existing between the usages that we tolerate here and those that are tolerated elsewhere is so great, that in all probability what will be said for one place will have the utmost force for other places.

I would have liked to have come to an understanding with all the missionaries of Pondicherry, before writing anything to the S.C., but I was afraid, by so doing, of letting people believe that I was interfering in what does not concern me, and of giving in an untimely manner a dangerous publicity to the matter. I only addressed you in order to learn what you think still, after over two years of reflection on the subjects you have studied in a particular way. I do not think that anyone could be angry at this, and in any case I would ask you not to speak of it.

My intention is not to ask the S.C. to condemn whatsoever, for I would be very annoyed if we were obliged to go thus far ; I would fear very much for the feeble faith of the Indians; but only to put my conscience at rest, for it is in doubt. So long as I was only an ordinary missionary, I thought I could, and even should, lay this doubt in the conscience of my superiors ; but today when I have to answer for what I do, and what I tolerate, and what I order to be done, I cannot remain in what is practically a doubtful conscience. This is what led me to say a word to the S.C. about the state of things here, after which it ordered me to write back giving more details. I will do so shortly.

I will tell it purely and simply everything that is done here, but warning it that to touch caste for example, or to make improvements which seem incompatible with the present state of our Christians, would be equivalent to setting fire to our missions and driving the majority of the Christians to apostasy. Besides, I beg it not to rely on my report alone, and if it considers, after what I have said, that it is urgent to make some reform, to address other more intelligent persons better versed than myself in these questions.

I felt bound to tell you all this, my dear Mr Leroux, to explain the request that I made to you. You will understand that the matter is so delicate that you should only use with the utmost reserve the communication I am making to you. Let us pray the Lord to clarify those who have the duty of leading us and that he will lead us all in the end to him. A Dieu.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Near Coimbatore, towards the end of May 1851)

Sent_0494

Sent_0494 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 June 1851 -/2

Sent_0494 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 juin 1851 -/3

Sent 0494 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 June 1851 /2

Sent 0494 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 381-384

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have received the brochures from Mr Dupuis. Mgr Luquet has resigned. I have asked the S.C. for the Collégal to be passed over to Mysore. I count on keeping Mr Méhay for three weeks. I have just sent him to Ootacamund where Mr Bonjean is sick. He has not made a bad impression on me.

Index: news, my missionaries

(Near Coimbatore?), 3 June 1851()

My Lord,

Some occupations more numerous than ordinarily have prevented me from answering your letter of 24 May until now. I thought that this delay was of no importance and that I had nothing to say to Y.L. on the subject of the question you put to me. For I have no doubt as to the clandestinity of marriages in my vicariate.

I have received the brochures that Mr Dupuis sent me. Kindly thank this very dear confrere on my behalf.

I have learned with regret that Mgr Luquet had handed in his resignation, although I always thought that he would end up by doing so. I think that, if it has not already been done, Y.L. will arrange for this resignation to be accepted by the S.C.

We are still caring for the potters of the Collégal. Only, I have asked Mgr Charbonnaux if he would mind if I asked the S.C. to arrange for this Christian community to pass over to his vicariate. H.L. answered that he wouldn't mind.

The jubilee is going to take place here and in the whole of my vicariate starting from the day of Pentecost. I beg Y.L. to think particularly of our spiritual needs during this time of mercy.

On Ascension day, without warning, Mr Méhay suddenly arrived. He stayed with us until yesterday when I heard of the terrible relapse of Mr Bonjean on the mountain, as well as the illness of the Reverend Father Gury who is also there. Seeing that Mr Méhay thought of staying some time longer in these parts, and finding myself in some difficulty, since the jubilee has started in each pangou and that it would be necessary

(... here 3 or 4 lines are illegible...)

should be lacking on one hand or the other if I displaced a missionary, I asked Mr Méhay to go to the relief of the sick ; he departed at once leaving a letter for Y.L.; I enclose it herewith.

Presuming on your benevolent consent, I gave him powers for the fifteen days of the jubilee and the eight day following it, in case he had some catalecarer. I hope that Y.G. will consent willingly to leaving him on the mountain for these three weeks. Between you and me, I must say that, without knowing on what terms he is at present with Y.L., I found him, in his words and in his manners, much more moderate and much more reasonable that I would have expected.

I commend to your good prayers the conversion of a whole family of pagans which appears to be well on the way and which could bring a whole village with it. These pagans are very distinguished and of good caste. Two years ago they were furious against us. If this conversion comes about, it will be one of those rare works in India and due to the virtue of grace alone. For nothing human draws them to us.

Mr Tesson does not announce a good supplement for us, and yet we would have real need of it. What's to be done? I do not even know the exact amount. This month's steamer still has not arrived here.

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Near Coimbatore?, 3 June 1851)

Sent_0495

Sent_0495 - à M. Vian - le 5 juin 1851 -/1

Sent_0495 - à M. Vian - le 5 juin 1851 -/1

Sent 0495 - to Mr Vian - 5 June 1851 /1

Sent 0495 Original, AMA 2F1, p 67

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 385

(to Mr Victorin Vian)

(chaplain of the hospice of Draguignan, Var)

I have nothing to tell you. I am only writing to you so as to receive a reply.

Index: friendship

Near Coimbatore, 5 June 1851

Very dear friend,

Allow me to write no more than a few words to you today. More than ordinarily numerous occupations have prevented me from replying until now to your kind missive of the day of Saint Francis of Sales, and I foresee that I could be prevented for a long time if I do not profit from this steamer to give you some sign of life.

The fact is that I don't have very much to say to you. The days, it is said in your parts, follow one another but each one is different. Here it is the contrary: the days follow one another and all are alike. Thus, it is almost out of selfishness that I am writing these lines to you, the principal reason being to recall myself to your good memory, to your good prayers above all, and to urge you to send me, in due course, your accustomed pious and interesting missive.

I will not forget at the holy altar the persons you commend to me.

So I will leave you there. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Near Coimbatore, 5 June 1851)

Sent_0496

Sent_0496 - to Mr Tesson - 5 June 1851 -/1

Sent_0496 - à M. Tesson - le 5 juin 1851 -/1

Sent 0496 - to Mr Tesson - 5 June 1851 /1

Sent 0496 photo copy, MEP, vol 1011, n° 73

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 385-38

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

A rather disillusioned letter. Send me mass fees. The Council of directors is very silent; as for me, I distrust what I could write to it, for all of this falls on me.

Index: allocation, reform of the MEP, finances

Near Coimbatore, 5 June 1851

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have waited until this month to write to you, hoping to receive the figure of our allocation. The steamer has just arrived. There was nothing for me but a letter from Mr Pouplin.

The 300 masses that you sent me in your letter of 24 March, and that I received last month, are to a large extent discharged. Would that you could send such often. It is almost impossible for my missionaries to live on their viaticum alone. If I have to give them a supplement out of the allocation supplement, how can we keep up a seminary, schools, catechists, undertake urgent building work, etc. etc.? Some fees from masses would help them very much.

Still no news from Mr Malhaire. Mr Bonjean has just suffered a serious relapse.

I have not received any letter from the Council of Directors since that of October of last year.

In that letter, they spoke of one thing in place of another. They leave us without general news of the missions.

They announce to us an instruction on the precautions to be taken on the death of missionaries, in order not to expose the affairs of the family, and that is all.

But a whole crowd of things are happening that would make it desirable, it seems to me, if not to consider the opinion of the apostolic vicars, at least to keep them informed ; but still nothing.

So that I really don't know how to go about writing to them. To tell them what I think...but ! I was caught out on that already... Not saying it in writing, is that doing my duty ?

You will be accusing me again of being in a despondent mood, my dear Mr Tesson : Well, I allow that, and I would like you to be right so that it is I alone who am at fault.

A Dieu.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices.

Your very affectionate confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Near Coimbatore, 5 June 1851)

Sent_0497

Sent_0497 - à M. Voisin - le 5 juin 1851 -/2

Sent_0497 - à M. Voisin - le 5 juin 1851 -/1

Sent 0497 - to Mr Voisin - 5 June 1851 /1

Sent 0497 Brésillac partial copy, AMA 2F6, pp 386-387

(to Mr Joseph Voisin)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

To calm my conscience as a bishop in India, I am going to send a long report to Rome on what is happening here. I really hope that after that Rome will take a decision that we will merely have to follow. I am not sending you a copy of it, for the Council of directors does not seem to take much interest in what is sent to it.

Index: resignation from Coimbatore, Indian usages. Rome (authority)

Near Coimbatore, 5 June 1851

[...] As for the resignation that I offered to the S.C., kindly rest assured that I only took this measure because I was forced by my conscience ; for with God's grace, I am not any more shaken on my vocation today than I ever have been. For the missions, I give my life with joy and I would give four of them it I had them. Thus I await with the utmost calm what it will please divine Providence to do with me, only occupying myself, with his grace, by carrying out my duties whatever they may be. These duties are triple: those of the missionary, those of the bishop and those of the bishop in India.

There are some from these last two aspects that I believed I could only fulfil by offering my resignation, without refusing to remain a missionary if the S.C. finds this good. The S.C. has not disdained my reasons. I have no idea what it will do basically with my person which interests me little if not at all, but I hope that it will shortly satisfy our conscience of a bishop of India. It ordered me to carry out work which I have just completed, and which I will be sending to it by the next steamer. This is in the form of a sincere and clear account of what happens here, preceded by the principal reasons which led the older missionaries and which still lead us to tolerate everything that is done.

I have the firm conviction that, after reading this work, and after obtaining broader information from other evangelical workers, as I beg it to do, it will declare in full knowledge of the facts, either that our practice is in conformity with the prudence commanded also by the Gospel, and then we will be tranquil; or else that it is incompatible with the purity of the faith, and then whatever it costs, we will act in such a way as not to expose our own salvation.

I would like to send a copy of this work to the Council of Directors. But shall I say what I think? It appears to have taken so little interest in all that I felt it my duty to write to it, that I regret the time and the postage involved. Do you know the legal proverb : Canonicus bonus homo, Capitulum...Well, I love each director greatly, but the Council of Directors. [...]

Pray for us.

Your very devoted confrere.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Near Coimbatore, 5 June 1851)

Sent_0498

Sent_0498 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 1 - 12 June 1851 -/2

Sent_0498 - à la Propagande, n° 1 - le 12 juin 1851 -/2

Sent 0498 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 1 - 12 June 1851 /2

Sent 0498 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 387-388

(translation: following page)

(to the Holy Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 1)

I am enclosing the narration of what goes on in India (letter 0499). Consider me dispensed from what you ask of me on the congregation of Foreign Missions and on the general administration of the missions.

Index: Indian usages, Rome (authority)

Near Coimbatore, 12 June 1851

Illustrissime ac Eminentissime Domine,

Juxta S.C. jussionem, huic annexam epistolam Eminentiae Vestrae mitto narrationem abusum, consuetudinum, etc., quae in istis Missionibus tolerantur et ex quibus quorumdam evangelicorum operariorum conscientia nonnumquam molestiam patitur.

Ne vero aliqua verba vel dicta a simplici et apprima veritate recederent, cum parum assuefactus sum latinae linguae scribendae, haec omnia gallice exarare, Sacrae Congregationis indulgentiae innixus, ausus sum.

Quoad desiderium ab ipsa S.C. mihi manifestatum, scilicet ut ea Vobis patefacerem quae, juxta mentem meam, desideranda sunt sive in generali Missionum Nostrorum administratione, sive in sodalitate Nostra Missionum ad Exteros, habite me, quaeso, excusatum. Adeo siquidem inest in me repugnantiae me in istius generis negotiis immiscendi, ut non nisi urgente conscientiae obligatione, vel expressa Sanctae Congregationis, (cui semper obtemperans ero) de his rebus ad scribendum unquam adduci possem.

Eminentiae Vestrae servus humillimus et obsequiosissimus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Prope Coimbatore, 12 June 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda, letter no. 1)

Coimbatore, 12 June 1851

Very Illustrious and Very Eminent Lord,

As requested of me by the Sacred Congregation, I am sending attached to this letter to Your Eminence, the narration of the abuses, the habits, etc., which are tolerated in these missions, and as a result of which the conscience of certain evangelical workers at times suffers pain.

But, in order for certain words not to depart greatly from the simple and quite Original truth, since I am not very much accustomed to write in Latin, I had have the audacity of writing all of these things in French, counting on the indulgence of the Sacred Congregation.

As for the desire evinced to me by this same Sacred Congregation, namely that I would let you know the things that, to my mind, leave to be desired either for the general administration of our missions, or for our congregation of Foreign Missions, hold me, I beg you, as dispensed. Seeing that I feel such reluctance to interfere in matters of this kind that I would never be persuaded to write on such things, were it not for a pressing obligation of my conscience or an explicit one of the Sacred Congregation (to which I will always be obedient).

Your Eminence's

Most humble and most respectful servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Near Coimbatore, 12 June 1851)

Sent_0499

Sent_0499 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 2 - 12 June 1851 -/20

Sent_0499 - to Propaganda of the Faith, n° 2 - 12 June 1851 -/20

Envoir 0499 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 2 - 12 June 18511/35

Envoi_0499 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F11, pp 209-250

photo copy, MEP, vol 1011, n° 74

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 388

-

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

Very long letter in which he reports what is done in India regarding tolerated and forbidden usages. This is what he says of this letter in his report of 24 June 1854: (At the order of the S.C.) ˝I considered it my duty to obey forthwith, taking only the necessary time in order not to hazard anything inexact at least in the facts. And as I thought that the reading of the facts in all their nakedness would grieve the hearts of the members of the S.C. [...?], I preceded this exposition with certain propositions that I believe to be true and which appear to me to contain basically the reasons that may be given for maintaining the present practice.˝ This letter (this report) consists of four parts: a number of preliminary propositions (39), the things that disgust us, the articles of Cardinal de Tournon's decree (16), some practices concerning the sacraments. The twelve notes added to this letter in the report of 1854 are given in the form of footnotes.

Index: Indian usages, Rome (authority)

Near Coimbatore, 12 June 1851(

)

Very Eminent Lord,

In its answer to my letter of 16 September 1850, the S.C. said :

"Gravissimi autem sunt momenti, quae in altera epistola nobis aperienda, ac patefacienda curasti, ita ut quemadmodum tui muneris esse ea de re S. Congregationem docere jure merito cogitaveris, ita Apostolicam Sedem non posse senties, quin sedulo, ac sine mora inquirat, et probe nosse satagat, quae istis in regionibus contra fidei morumve puritatem irrepserint, vel potius jamdudum dissimulata perdurent, ut agnita morbi, qui Christi gregem inficit, natura et qualitate, appositis medelis ei succurrere adnitetur. Hinc est quod ab Amplitudine tua exquirimus, onerata quoque conscientia, ut quae generice tantum in ea epistola innuis, in specie referas, accuratamque omnium abusuum consuetudinum etc. quae nonobstante Apostolicae Sedis damnatione in istis missionibus adhuc vigent, ac tolerantur narrationem exhibeas, quaeque sint praecise regiones, in quibus mala ista dissimulantur ediscas". (letter of 21 December 1850)()

Thus, despite the reluctance I feel in getting involved in such questions, I find myself forced, both by my conscience and by the obedience due to you, to outline to you what there still could be contrary to evangelical purity in the usages that we tolerate here.

To His Eminence the Cardinal Prefect of the S.C. of Propaganda

I admit that my reluctance is extreme because I cannot see any hope of remedying the evil without upset. Which make me truly desire that the S.C. should use for this examination and this reform, if it is necessary, more intelligent men than me and better suited for dealing with these delicate subjects without shocking minds, which will necessarily be very divided on various points. All the more since these questions concern not only my vicariate, but also directly those of Pondicherry, of Madurai and of Mysore, and indirectly that of Madras at least, and perhaps several others.

And first of all, I wish to clearly convey to the S.C. that I am not requesting the Holy See to pass new condemnations, either on the things that are done, or on the persons who believe they can do them. I only request that it be perfectly informed of everything that is happening here, and that it deigns to enlighten us by dissipating the doubts that various evangelical workers feel on the licitness of certain of these practices.

And if, after having gained this knowledge, the Holy See believes it has the duty of condemning something, while submitting in advance to its decisions, I would be the first to bemoan the fate of the poor and feeble Indians, whose faith would be in the greatest danger. Before arriving at any new condemnations, before prohibiting any of the usages that the former missionaries thought could be tolerated, despite all that has happened over time, I beg the S.C., through the entrails of Jesus Christ who desired the salvation of these people too, to exhaust all the resources that prudence can combine with the faith. ()

It is not my intention in this letter to outline the reasons that lead certain missionaries to excuse practices for which some of their confreres feel loathing, nor the reasons that the latter give for condemning what the former believe, if not perfect, at least tolerable. This work would be too difficult for me. I think even that it would be too difficult for a single man whoever he were. If the S.C. had need of this work, it would be necessary, in my opinion, for it to appoint a commission of several missionaries well versed in these sorts of questions, and taken from the different vicariates concerned by them, to entrust them with drawing up for it a conscientious and detailed report, in which the pros and cons were equally discussed on each point.()

Accordingly I will limit myself to outlining purely and simply the things which weigh on my conscience and also the conscience of certain confreres, so that the S.C. sees if we are wrong in not being tranquil, so long as the Holy See tells us absolutely that we can have no scruples in letting things go on as they are, and that our salvation is not exposed in this cooperation.

Only, to counterbalance the bad impression that this pure and simple account could make on the members of the S.C., I will take the liberty first of all of formulating certain propositions which appear to me certain, but which I give without proofs, for the reasons that I have just explained, and which prevent me from entering here into any discussion. Nonetheless, some of these propositions are liable to doubt. The only thing that appears to me certain, or at least probable in those, is the doubt that may be established.

1st proposition: Because of the enormous difference existing between the mentality of the Europeans and the mentality of the Indians, it is extremely difficult for us to judge healthily of the usages and customs of India.

2nd proposition: It often happens in India that a man, who may be prudent and wise, gives very different judgments on the same thing (

), according to whether he has lived for a longer or shorter time in the country, and above all according to whether he has lived in more or less close contact with the Indians. Ordinarily, the judgments he gives later unfavourable to Indian usages, are much less severe than the first and much more indulgent for these poor peoples.

3rd proposition: Many Europeans should be considered as newcomers in India, from the point of view of their appreciation of these usages, although they may have spent a number of years in the country. This happens, with a few exceptions, whenever they have not been obliged by their position to deal practically with these usages.

4th proposition: Is this indulgence of the older missionaries a strong proof that, when thoroughly acquainted with the usages of India, we find in them less real evil than at first appears? Without doubt this proves something, and above all it urges us to use a great deal of prudence before giving legality to the difficulties that the new missionaries oppose to their practice. However, we should not hide from ourselves the fact that man is made according to what he sees each day, and that habit blunts, to a large extent, the loathing we feel at the beginning, and which was perhaps very legitimate.

5th proposition: There is almost no missionary who, on arriving from Europe, is not indignant at the usages of India. This indignation perseveres in him, though diminishing with time, if he lives in a European style or if he habitually frequents Europeans. But when his ministry obliges him to live in a completely Indian atmosphere, this indignation is, most often, replaced by sentiments of commiseration for a childish people, and that he recognises as incapable of reasoning on anything to do with their usages. At times, he is himself forced to respect certain practices that he had at first despised, for he discovers the wisdom and the reason in various observances that he initially rated as mere childishness and absurdity.

6th proposition: We are much less touched with compassion for the lower castes when we see them close up instead of from afar ; when we note that they enjoy a relative happiness which is sometimes very great, and that they would not abandon for certain advantages that we regard as very precious ; when we see that the Indians are not ambitious for the status of others ; that the idea, and consequently the desire, to rise above their condition , by changing caste, never comes() into their minds ; and that they would never claim considerations other than those assured by the constitution of the society in which they live, if the Europeans did not suggest such thoughts to them.

7th proposition: I think that the social status of the Pariahs and other vile castes cannot be compared to the social status of veritable slaves, which however were tolerated for so long by the Church. It is true that the Pariahs are essentially more despised than the Roman slaves were, but they are certainly less unfortunate.

8th proposition: We should guard against thinking that the Pariahs, and those considered to be placed lower than the Pariahs are sheltered from caste susceptibilities, for food, for marriage, etc. And, moreover, they would give their lives for their caste, as would all the other Indians.

9th proposition: The feeble, fearful, trembling Indian will let himself be dominated, stripped, struck, humiliated etc. so long as they do not touch his caste and caste usages. But for caste, there are not one or two Indians who would face death, but all indistinctly.

10th proposition: In order for an Indian to die for his caste, there would be no need of being carried away or enthused ; he would bear it without any other cause leading him to heroism, exclusively out of tenacity for his caste.

11th proposition: Caste is in the Indian's blood.

12th proposition: I am firmly persuaded that religion will never be established in India, if we are obliged to begin by making the Indian give up his caste.

13th proposition: I do not think there is any power in the world capable of triumphing completely over caste, other than the Christian religion or a sword powerful enough to exterminate the Indian race and to replace it with another people. This second hypothesis is horrifying. But in order for the Christian religion to bring about this wonder, it would have to be already the religion of the majority, or at least a very considerable part of the population, and consequently for it to be introduced with the drawbacks and imperfections of caste.

14th proposition: It would be possible and even quite easy to bring the Indian Christians to perfect observance of the laws of the holy Gospel, providing they were in a numerical majority in the country's population. It would merely require a great deal of prudence, and a zeal more enlightened than violent to succeed in reforming the abuses little by little and without shock.

15th proposition: In the state the Christians of these missions are in at the present time, touching caste in any essential way or clashing with it front on, would mean bringing the mass to apostasy.

16th proposition: The question is sometimes asked of whether a single Christian exists in these missions of India, and whether Christians who observe caste have anything Christian about them other than baptism and the name ? I admit that I have great difficulty in allying caste with the gospel, and this is one of the principal points on which I am in need of Rome's teaching in order to be sure of my conscience. But I must recognise that these Christians, such as they are, with their imperfections and shortcomings, have many good qualities and that they are far superior to the pagans.

I am persuaded that, if in their practices there is anything condemnable, in many cases they will be excused before God, by their ignorance, their good faith and the moral impossibility they are in of stripping themselves of the prejudices of caste. When I see the way in which our Christians pray, with what confidence they address themselves to Jesus Christ, to the blessed Virgin Mary, with what submission they accept the trials of life, etc., above all when it is possible to preserve them from the contagious impiety of the Europeans, I cannot help thinking that many of them will be saved.

The day when I hear that caste is definitively judged to be incompatible with the Gospel, I would worship, I would submit, but shedding bitter tears over so many poor Christians that I would see on the abyss of apostasy, and tears of regret over so many poor pagans who would come to us, if we were allowed to be more indulgent, and for whom the gate of salvation would be irrevocably closed.

17th proposition: Despite what we still tolerate in the way of Indian usages, our Christians live in a state of profound humiliation in the eyes of their fellow countrymen, not because of the object of their faith, or of evangelical morals, so long as this does not oblige them to make acts considered to be incompatible with honesty as these poor people understand it, but because we are obliged not to allow them all the forms of social propriety in this country.

18th proposition: When we consider with great care the usages of India, in almost all, if not in all of them, we note two principles : one philosophical and civil, more or less founded on reason, more or less wise, but which, in that far-off time to which these usages date, must have passed for true in the opinion of enlightened men ; and the other religious which seems to have been superposed on it, to safeguard the philosophical or civil principle and attach the people indissolubly to it.

19th proposition: This religious principle is necessarily stained with superstition and idolatry, in such a profoundly pagan people.

20th proposition: Several of these religious usages have a close analogy with certain usages which seem to have been generally admitted among the peoples of the East, before the time of Moses, that Moses tolerated in part or consecrated in his Law, and which have been preserved until now in India.

21st proposition: In various usages of India, the superstitious or idolatrous principle is clear, but quite often, it is hidden, and passes almost unobserved. Looking at it close up, superstition is to be found in it almost everywhere.

22nd proposition: Since almost all the usages of India, even the most common everyday ones, are thus composed, it follows that, if we decide to examine everything, to peel everything and to purify everything from all superstition including material, we would have to forbid our Christians from doing almost everything like their fellows.

23rd proposition: It follows further that, if we abolish a usage as superstitious, we destroy at the same time the philosophical and civil part intertwined with it, and thus greatly upset the people.

24th proposition: We should beware of thinking that the Indian will be easily satisfied by replacing certain puerile, ridiculous and at times bad usages which may even be very prejudicial to him, by others that are reasonable and useful from all points of view. No, what the Indian loathes most is change. He is horrified at all innovation. He holds to his usages and to all of them more than his life.

25th proposition: Among these usages, there are many that the Europeans treat as childish and ridiculous. However, it happens fairly often that, everything considered, they are not as ridiculous as we think at first. Sometimes, it is true, they are not very reasonable, but we do not sufficiently consider that this shortcoming is found in more or less all peoples, and that the Europeans, despite the advanced degree of their civilisation, still observe many of this kind.

I would go further even : it seems to me that a people should always have a certain number of usages which in themselves are not very reasonable, providing they are indifferent. Woe to that people which groans under the yoke of a rigorous and inflexible logic. We are not very shocked by the usages which depart from strict reason in our countries ; while those of the Indian appear to us as all the more monstrous because their mentality is so different from ours.

26th proposition: God forbid that I should wish to excuse the idolatry of superstition (God save me from it !); but I wonder, at the sight of the sad spectacle offered to my eyes of the evangelisation of the peoples of Asia, if, while effectively protesting against all that is superstitious and idolatrous in the usages of a people, we could not tolerate most of these usages ? if in this way we would not forward more the work of God, leaving the gospel to perfect what, from the outset, would be tolerated as imperfect, until the spirit of the gospel had penetrated into the heart of society ?

The Church would not approve in any way this imperfection, only it would tolerate it for a certain time, thus allowing the truth to be introduced. Then once in the heart, the true religion would not delay in spreading little by little its sweet influence to the extremities of the members, and in regenerating the social body. It would be painful, I admit, to leave a tree of death in the Lord's vineyard. But, since it is impossible to uproot it, could we not plant some vine stocks around it, while working to preserve them as far as possible from its malignant influence, meanwhile striving in other ways to undermine it, to cut off its sap, so as to make it abort its fruits, while waiting for it to fall of ripe old age, or for some favourable occasion to arise to cut it down.

27th proposition: Yes, there lies the great difficulty, there lies the problem : to preserve religion from all participation in idolatry, and yet to tolerate the usages of the peoples. To allow the gospel to enter with these usages, in order for it to destroy them; and not to destroy these usages in order to allow the gospel to enter.

28th proposition: Make no mistake about it : the true cause for the gospel still not having taken root in the peoples of high Asia lies there : that we have not yet found the means of safeguarding the purity of the gospel, while leaving these civilised people their natural civilisation. Until such a way is found, we cannot hope for these peoples ever to become Christians. By dint of zeal, of works, of expenditures, we will come to have a few Christians, but veritable Churches, never!

The Church will be established in America, because the native peoples of America have disappeared, and a European population has taken their place. It will perhaps be established in the barbarian islands of Oceania, because the people, being uncivilised, must necessarily be replaced by a quite new people, both materially and morally. But, in peoples who are already civilised, such as the peoples of Asia, the Apostles of religion must permit the truth of heaven to be adopted, while letting people follow the social form which has prevailed in this portion of the earth. Without that, for long centuries to come we will see missionaries, filled with piety and with all the virtues, succeed one another indefinitely, without having laid the first stone of a Church, or, if they do manage to lay it, they will have the sorrow of seeing it almost immediately swept away by the torrent.

29st proposition : However, no more than I want to excuse idolatry, do I want to excuse what was done that was condemnable and that was condemned earlier. These just condemnations of the Holy See prove that the evangelical workers who tried to solve the problem still have not come up with the right solution.

30th proposition: Finally, without excusing, I repeat, what has been condemned, may one not wonder whether other means do not exist than those which have been taken, of leaving the Indians the freedom of following their usages, while preserving religion from any participation in idolatry ?

31st proposition: In the hypothesis that there would be no hope of safeguarding the purity of the faith by tolerating practices mingled with superstition, but that the Christians would only adopt while protesting effectively against the superstitious part that they contain ; if it is quite impossible to permit the gospel being introduced in a people among very imperfect usages, while awaiting the time when, having itself modified the popular morals, it may be observed in its full perfection, it would be important, it seems to me, for the Holy See to decide at once on all possible superstition, by cutting out the evil at the root, instead of condemning this or that practice in particular, gradually as evil is discovered in it.

32nd proposition: The reason for this is that we will never have finished so long as we try to particularise on this question. On the basis of an account very difficult to give exactly, certain articles will be condemned at a time, while others will be tolerated, providing they really do not contain anything superstitious. Whence, two perpetual sources of misunderstandings, of internal discussions and of different practices among the evangelical workers.

The first is that, some will say, only secundum exposita has been condemned. If then, it is clear that such a custom or ceremony does not contain what was believed to be the superstitious element in it, once the affair has been explained, if all the missionaries, for example, agree that they see in it nothing bad in itself, we can tolerate it; and Rome replied in this sense, it is said, on certain points. But this agreement of the missionaries has only taken place in a certain part of India and, even if it were really general, it will not last for very long. Since Indian usages are complicated, as I have pointed out heretofore, inevitably a few days afterwards, and at the latest by the next generation, this agreement will no longer exist.

Secondly, some will still find superstition present, while others will not in the cohort of usages that, without being condemned by name, are however not juridically approved.

Now from the different, and at times contradictory practices, which must ensue from this, a great scandal arises for the Indian. Besides he has not forgotten that in former times many things were tolerated which are today rigorously forbidden. Thus he is continually on the look-out, mistrusting us and fearing that we are intent on progressively worsening his position. He interprets negatively everything he sees, and all that he hears on this subject, etc.

Finally, sooner or later, some at least of the usages thus tolerated first of all, but not approved, will be recognised as truly superstitious ! Thus they should be condemned; and the Indian, who abhors all change, will be far more scandalised by a double and subsequent condemnation, than a single more radical one.

33rd proposition: It is said that on the publication of the decree by Cardinal de Tournon, over forty thousand Christians apostasised. I believe it is difficult to establish the exact number ; but I would not be at all astonished if it really amounted to that figure. Well, if the reform at that time had been more radical, the number of apostates would have been even larger without doubt, but a great number would however have remained faithful. Today, if we were obliged to apply new condemnations, I doubt that any Catholic Christians would remain.

34th proposition: Today the defection would be more general that it was then, 1) because the Christians less numerous perhaps, and very certainly more widely scattered than they were at that time, will have less courage ; 2) because, suffering since that terrible blow the contempt of their fellow countrymen, there are many of them who are not attached to religion at heart ; and 3) because, quite apart from paganism, where some would absolutely hate to end up, they would rush into the arms of the schisms and of heresy.

35th proposition: Protestantism establishes in principle that caste is contrary to the gospel. Nonetheless it would seem that, in practice, the ministers tolerate many things. However, it is because(

) they are more severe than us from this point of view that the efforts they make to corrupt our Christians are almost always unsuccessful, despite their power, their money and their perfidy. But we should be under no illusion that, as soon as we use the same language as them on caste, they would make vast inroads in our Christians.

36th proposition: Since the publication of Cardinal de Tournon's decree, it may be said that there have been no more conversions among the pagans. With just a few exceptions, the rare adult baptisms that we obtain come to us in an indirect and often not very honourable way. For example, a man who may have been rejected by his caste for some grave fault and who takes refuge in us ; or a wretch who has corrupted a Christian woman and who turns Christian in order to marry her, etc.

37th proposition: Meanwhile certain conversions could be mentioned the main reason for which appears truly supernatural. But this is a very rare occurrence, involving only a few isolated individuals, and which has no great effect on the population. Moreover, I am persuaded that the little gain that we achieve in this way on one hand is outbalanced by the losses we suffer on some other, either as regards the number of Christians reverting to paganism, or above all the number of Christian families that die out as a result of the great difficulty created for marriage, in castes which only count a small number of Christians. Without speaking of the losses occasioned to us by the schisms and Protestantism (

)

38th proposition: Meanwhile we find many pagans who are very little attached to their idols. It would seem that many of them would easily join us if they were not obliged, in order to do so, to abandon usages which for them are second nature.

39th proposal: They are attached to these usages above all, not because they are religious (since they are prepared to throw their idols in the fire and give up exclusively religious practices), but because these form an integral part of their social life.

And now let us go on to an account of what we find loathsome, begging the S.C. still to bear in mind the foregoing considerations, whether it considers that there it no reason for anyone to feel concern, or whether it thinks that it is urgent to bring some remedies to the evil.

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Not only do missionaries permit the Christians to keep their caste, its usages and the signs distinguishing it when these are not considered superstitious ; but they themselves submit to several of these observances. Now is caste not essentially contrary to the Gospel? In vain, in the eyes of many, some of them incline to view it merely as a distinction of levels. In fact almost all the imperfections that we are about to indicate are due to caste:

Our Christians observe strictly the laws of caste as far as meals are concerned. That is to say never, for any reason, do those of higher castes eat with their brothers of the lower castes, whether the former are poor beggars, and the latter princes or millionaires. But at the same time, this does not prevent either making, or receiving alms which can be practised in a thousand ways, even in the form of food, without anyone ever partaking of the same meal.

The Pariahs, Sakili, and others considered as vile or impure, not only cannot eat with the other Christians, but even touch them, or enter their houses, or touch their vessels, or draw water from their wells, etc. The missionary observes all of this (

): he never lets a Pariah come into his house, he does not touch the food that the latter may have prepared, he does not use the water drawn from the wells where the Pariahs take it.

Since the Europeans are considered as pariahs, not so much in themselves as because they allow the Pariahs to approach them, and above all because they are served by them and eat things prepared by them, even beef, an Indian of good caste cannot eat anything touched by the vessels or the kitchen of a European. Thus, because of the dishonour which would accrue to us publicly, and which would considerably impede our ministry, the missionaries avoid frequenting the Europeans, above all for meals. However since they cannot always do so, and above all since they do not always choose to (for that is a very great mortification) it follows that their reputation is nil with the pagans, and highly compromised with the Christians who would not touch the dishes which have been served to the missionary above all in the places where the mix of missionaries and Europeans is more common.

The former priests of the country, in their capacity of Indians of good caste, never wanted to eat with the missionaries. One priest of Pondicherry would have believed himself dishonoured by appearing at the table of his Bishop, because the latter was forced by the proprieties to accept one or two meals a year from the Governor of the French colony.

Since an abuse so prejudicial to the priesthood could not last in our eyes, above all when working seriously to form a numerous clergy, it was wished to modify this in certain ways.

I worked personally on this while I was superior of the seminary of Pondicherry, but indirectly and almost without it being noticed. Nonetheless, on the first occasion when my plan could have been suspected, I was close to seeing my seminary completely deserted; and in fact the older pupils who had been in the seminary a long while before my arrival, and the newcomers whose minds I still had not had time to prepare sufficiently, all left. My great crime was to have presented a fruit to the pupils, a pineapple cut up using one of our knives and served on one of our plates.

After my departure from the seminary, however they continued to follow my plan with the result that, about two years ago, there was a terrible revolt on the part of the Christians of Pondicherry, who were on the point of passing en masse over to paganism. We found ourselves obliged to withdraw and to avoid the directors of the seminary appearing, even without eating, in the pupils' refectory. Despite all of these difficulties, it should be possible, if we are determined enough, to introduce this reform, that is, to obtain that the priests of the country do not refuse to sit down at the table of the European priests, providing the latter have no pariah servants. But the missionaries still are not agreed as to whether this reform would represent a good or an evil.

Even in those places where the missionary lives in the midst of Europeans, he strictly observes abstinence from beef and certain other meats. Some persons fear that this abstinence, which admits of no exceptions, is really based on superstition or on the distinction of the pure from the impure which the new law condemns.

When the missionary goes to administer the pariah villages, he never lodges in the houses of Christians. He could not do so without serious drawbacks and, besides, their houses are most often disgustingly dirty. Ordinarily for the priest a house is provided somewhat apart, or else he builds himself a hut and his domestic servants prepare outside of the pariah enclosure everything he may need.

One should beware of believing that the Christians of high caste in our times consider the Pariahs as necessarily reprobates. No. They do not doubt that they have a soul like themselves and that they are entitled to the same celestial rewards. Some of them even concern themselves particularly for the salvation of the lowest castes and do not fail to help them in need, for the care of the poor is a virtue dear to the Indian. But all of this is done without prejudicing the laws of caste. These laws almost always foresee some loophole which allows them to accomplish the essential duties of charity. However, in an exceptional case, which most people to not think of, and which practically only arises very rarely, one may say, I believe, that our Christians have the inclination of observing caste to the prejudice of what seems to us essential to charity. Thus, for example, in a case of extreme need, they would not publicly introduce a Pariah into their houses.()

For divine service, the pariahs have a distinct and separate place in the church. Nonetheless they are in the same building, although they enter by different doors; and the same mass as well as the same instruction serves one and the other. This communication under the same roof, imperfect as it is, is a permanent dishonour for our Christians in the eyes of the Gentiles, as well as for our holy religion. It is because of this, principally, that our Christians are in general considered as having lost their caste, that they are not received in the homes of pagans of their own castes for meals, and that the religion of Jesus Christ is generally designated by the surname of religion of the Pariahs.

European costume, whether because it recalls men soiled by their habits, or that it appears in itself soiled, above all because of the hat and shoes of leather, is viewed with a very critical eye by the Indians. Missionaries only wear it in places where they are in permanent contact with the Europeans, such as in the town of Pondicherry for example ; even in such places however they avoid wearing a hat. The name of man in a hat (Topicaren) is synonymous with countryborn, mulatto, etc. which, according to Indian ideas, form one of the vilest and most despised castes.

All of this has given rise to various ecclesiastical costumes one more bizarre than another. Not so long ago it consisted generally of a ample angui or open white robe in the style of the Persians, with a long scarf of variegated colours on the shoulders, with a fold falling over the head above an enormous and very tall red shako. For shoes, Turkish slippers were preferred in either red, or yellow, or decorated with bright tinsel; in the place of these slippers wooden clogs could be worn, such as the Brahmins and other distinguished persons wear, to go to church, while the priest performed the services of the holy ministry barefoot. Such is the costume of the native priests of Pondicherry.

The missionaries are abandoning it little by little. Many, even among the native clerics, replace the angui with the white cassock, and the red shako with the red biretta, which has the considerable drawback of being too much like a hat.

However, apart from the native clerks, it is worn in the black version in the town of Pondicherry. The scarf is still worn with it, but cutting down on the various colours in favour of white; it continues to be worn in the form of a belt or under the name of mantle. In place of the Turkish shoes or the wooden clogs, many wear flat shoes of red cloth, that they keep on during the holy services. It appears that little by little, providing we do not choose the colour black which arouses distaste and in addition is very unhealthy in this country, we could arrive without too much difficulty at a uniform costume and unius coloris in the shape of a European cassock.

But the missionaries are far from agreeing on the usefulness of this reform. Some of them would like the priests of the country to keep integrally the costume that I described heretofore. While others hold to the angui and do not want the cassock ; some others, instead of a white angui wear one in the colour known as cavi, that is a yellowish colour, while this colour is suspect to others as indicating superstition, since that is the distinctive colour of the pagan priests of certain sects. Many still say mass barefoot.

In certain places, the Christians keep on inside the church, even before the very holy Sacrament laid out, the turban or the cloth with which they cover their heads. But the contrary applies to other places where a man is not suffered to appear in church with his cloth on his head. In those places where the custom is to keep it on, the laymen who act as cantors, sacristans, acolytes etc. keep it on also. In a church where it was decided that the choir boys would go bareheaded when serving at the altar, the Christian population revolted, and won their battle.

Not only do Christians observe marriage always in their caste, but furthermore they take great care to do so within the same nuance of caste. A whole Christian community will perish rather than consent to mingle with a different caste or even branch of caste from its own. This case is unfortunately fairly common among our Christians whose caste counts few neophytes: for it sometimes happens that no boys or no girls are available for a considerable period of time. Thus, that Christian group languishes and may even end up by dying out. Thus it is that true Christians Brahmins have practically disappeared.

Moreover, they tend to marry as far as possible between relatives. There are cases where they consider such a daughter as due to her first cousin and, in the case of an act of renunciation of the latter, no-one else can ask for her hand in marriage. Whence it happens that almost all marriages are contracted with dispensation and many to the second degree ; while dispensations touching the first degree are also much commoner than would be wise, considering the Christian population. Although present in almost all the castes, this disorder is more common among the high castes, both because they are more anxious to contract only honest alliances according to the views of the country, and because they count less Christians than the others.

Not only is it impossible to admit to the seminary pariah or sakili pupils, etc., but even from other lower castes though honest, nor those of the castes of the left hand who, while considering themselves as high, and so, it would appear, they are, are not admitted with the others for meals. Such are the carpenters, blacksmiths, etc., not because of the nature of their trades, for if exceptionally a man of different caste were to exercise their trade he is not dishonoured, but as members of a caste of the left hand.

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Let us now pass in review the article of Cardinal de Tournon's decree, as they have been retouched in the doubts and resolutions contained in the brief Compertum exploratumque Vobis of Clement XII.

Primum dubium ... etc. ... : This article is observed, only some regret that, out of condescendence to the pagans, we cannot omit certain sacramentals that disgust their ideas of cleanliness.

Secundum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed, only it often happens that parents give their children some other name than that of baptism. Perhaps we should call this a surname, since no family names exist among the Tamoul. This name or surname often sounds very Gentile. But finally, it is never given at baptism.

Tertium dubium ... etc. ... : There are certain things touching on religion which are expressed by words that appear inappropriate, and even at times dangerous. I would only quote the word used in Tamoul to express abstinence from meat ; they say : souttapossanam, which means pure food. Friday and Saturday are considered the days of pure food. This term is to be heard every day in the mouths of all Christians; it exists in printed books as well as in handwritten documents. Now in a country where a distinction exists still between the pure and the impure, do such expressions not favour this anti-evangelical prejudice which appears not to have been one whit uprooted from the minds of our Christians ?

Quartum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed by the missionaries. Only parents are at times negligent.

Quintum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed. I will merely say in passing that it would appear good to certain missionaries for the decree of the Holy Council of Trent, chap. 1, sess. 24, de ref. mat., to be published in all these missions, since having been published in certain places and not everywhere, it is sometimes difficult to know whether it has been in such and such other place, thus giving rise at times to doubts on the validity of certain marriages.

Sextum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed.

Septimum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed as regards the number of children, but not as to the unctionem, that is to say that little attention is paid to whether the cord is or is not dyed yellow, seeing that the Christians are not much concerned about this, which would suggest that there is no superstition, when by chance this colour is present.

Octavium dubium ... etc. ... : The fact is that a whole crowd of more or less superstitious ceremonies are practised in marriages. The missionaries will not explicitly tolerate any recognised as superstitious, but they all know that there are some that are highly doubtful. Those enumerated in Cardinal de Tournon's decree are explicitly forbidden, and on discovering that the Christians have transgressed this law, they are punished, even publicly, if there is sufficient authority over them.

The detail of all the marriage ceremonies would be endless, all the more so since the particularities vary according to the caste and the places. It is difficult to believe that many Gentile practices or superstitions do not occur on this occasion, despite the vigilance of the missionaries and the punishments that they often inflict.(

)

Nonum dubium ... etc. ... : No missionary authorises this splitting of coconuts, but the ceremony takes place either unknown to him, or else without him being able to prevent it in many marriages.

Decimum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed at least by the missionaries ; only since it is very difficult to speak of these things and to instruct the people in such matters, various of our Christians, by ignorance and natural horror and sometimes without doubt also out of superstition, observe the usage of the country. If often happens that women in this condition themselves avoid coming to the church, or else come but keep themselves apart.

Undecimum dubium ... etc. ... : The manner in which the decree was moderated gives rise to different interpretations ; and some missionaries are very shocked by what seems in general to be tolerated. In fact it would appear that under one name or another, and much more probably, in my opinion, sub titulo menstrui than sub titulo nuptiarum, this ceremony commonly takes place. However it is only rarely of a very solemn nature. Only some poor Christians in the big towns do it with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. In all places, it appears that on this occasion more or less superstitious things take place.

Decimum secundum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed, only sometimes it is tolerated that the sick person is brought to the church when there is no grave danger for his/her condition.

Decimum tertium dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed whenever possible without outcry, but it sometimes happens that if an attempt is made to get the musicians out of the church, this may give rise to scandals, or to contestations with the civil authority, even European, so that at that point the order to get rid of the guilty parties is not enforced.

Decimum quartum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed with the exception of the bathing after mortuary ceremonies. Those who tolerate such bathing base themselves on an answer from Rome; but others, as happens almost always in this sort of questions, think that the case has not been exactly described, and that these baths are not devoid of superstition. In certain places, the Christians all go and bathe on Saint John the Baptist's day.

Decimum quintum dubium ... etc. This article gives rise to many disputes. As the decree only refers to albi vel rubei coloris, some persons sustain that the other colours, for example crocei, are not forbidden, and that a sign on the forehead or elsewhere, that may be considered not to imply gentility, may be tolerated if it is neither red nor white. Moreover, basing themselves on the Constitution of Gregory XV, where the Sandanam seems to be authorised in certain cases, and on the explanations given of this usage by the Reverend Father de Nobili, as may be seen from the letters recently published by the Reverend Father Bertrand, of the Company of Jesus, the usage of the Sandanam is generally believed to be permitted.

It is merely seen as an indifferent adornment, an ornament whose usage may be based on a purpose of cleanliness. Nowhere thus far has it been considered a mortal sin to carry on one's forehead a pottou of Sandanam, any more than to daub the face or shoulders with this powder. However, apart from the inhabitants of the big towns, the Christians do not generally have this habit, because by mocking them rather than formally forbidding it, the effect has been for this usage to have gradually disappeared. But that is only true of everyday life. On the contrary, in the big ceremonies, and above all those of marriage, the usage of the Sandanam is general. Our best Christians wear it openly on such occasions, although certain new missionaries are strongly opposed to this tolerance on the part of their elders.

A lively contestation arose in earlier times regarding a red pottou worn by certain women in the Telegu country, and the opinion of those who sustain that it is devoid of superstition, and that it may be tolerated has prevailed in practice, to the great displeasure of others. What is most regrettable in this is the opinion that it was believed could be sustained by basing ourselves, it is said, on the answer of Rome, which was given on the occasion of this red pottou, namely: that if the missionaries agree in recognising that some of the things prohibited by Cardinal de Tournon's decree are not superstitious, they may be tolerated. For Rome, it is said, only intended to condemn these practices insofar as they really are superstitious.

Now, in the detail of the innumerable signs with which the Indians cover their bodies, according to whether they are of such a caste or such a province, there may be those which have never been superstitious or that, as a result of the changed signification given to them, are no longer so today. And the same could be said of certain other practices.

This opinion has not been abandoned by everyone and since sooner or later contradictory and outraged practical conclusions cannot fail to be drawn, I believe that, in the present state of things, it may imply very great dangers.

On Ash Wednesday there are some places where the Christians take home blessed ash to distribute it to those who have not come to church.

Often, the Christians demand to receive a slip of paper on which some pious sentence or some words from the Holy Scripture have been written. They wrap it up and carry it continually with them, hung around the neck or the arm. They do this, they say, to preserve themselves from the attacks of the demon, and in fact, even if only as a result of the calm that this gives to their imaginations, many claim that in this way they are delivered from nightly fears, trembling of the limbs and other similar things.

Sometimes, instead of having recourse to the priest, they address themselves to catechists or to laymen believed to have some power over demons ; and they obtain from them similar slips of paper, or else long formulas of prayers, mainly to Saint Michael Archangel.

These formulas are not always orthodox. When the missionaries become aware of this, they never fail to get rid of these slips or prayers containing things dangerous for the faith; but if they see nothing wrong with the content, they let them wear them and above all they condescend to the feebleness of this childish people, by giving them others of an exclusively pious content. Some however see in all of this Gentile practices and above all superstition.(

)

Everyone agrees on the wisdom contained in the warning that follows the resolution of the fifteenth doubt ; but it seems to several that Sancta Sede consulta et probante, there are many pagan practices and usages in India that it would be very advantageous to tolerate by giving them a Christian or purely civil signification, and thus removing, at least for the Christians, the superstition contained in them.

Decimum sextum dubium ... etc. ... : It is observed by the missionaries, but its execution by the Christians is almost impossible. The pagan and heretical printing presses are so abundant, and the Catholic missionaries find such difficulty and bother both in composing and printing good books, that the evil is worsening day by day until it appears incurable.

So much for each of the doubts that were proposed and solemnly resolved in connection with the decree of Cardinal de Tournon. But this decree ends as follows:

"Et ne ex his quae expresse praecepta, vel prohibita a nobis fuere, tacitum quis deducere valeat, in reliquis practicari solitis in istis missionibus, nostrum assensum seu approbationem; (cum plura forsan reformatione digna nostram cognitionem effugerint, et alia maturius examen postulantia indecisa remanserint) hanc interpretationem omnino rejicimus et menti nostrae esse contrariam declaramus".()

Now, it is probable, and more or less certain in my eyes, that there still exist a crowd of superstitions in the usages that we tolerate. Some even, as I have said, go as far as thinking (and I cannot see that their opinion has been victoriously refuted) that caste is itself essentially pagan; that absolute abstinence from beef is based on superstition; and that abstinence from other meats is based on the distinction between pure and impure, etc.

And I will end this article by saying that some think that Rome is not very much concerned with the strict observance of Cardinal de Tournon's decree:

1) because of the answer that was given on the occasion of the dispute that took place on the red pottou of the Telegu women, and of another answer which appears to tolerate the ceremony of baths after funerals. (I cannot get hold of these two documents in order to weigh the expressions used. They must be located in the archives of the mission of Pondicherry, but I believe it is prudent not to ask for a copy of them, so that it is not known yet publicly that I am writing about all of this to the Sacred Congregation. It is not that I fear to do my duty; but if the S.C., after having read this letter, should think that nothing need be said or done, and that things should be left as they are, I think it would be advisable for people not to know the extent of the doubts that I have brought to your knowledge.)

2) Because Rome does not require the written oath of the missionaries to be transmitted to it, as is recommended in the brief Concredita Nobis of Clement XII, and in the Constitution Omnium sollicitudinum of Benedict XIV ; to such a point that some doubt if all the Jesuits take this oath. I believe this doubt to be without foundation.

3) Because Rome knows full well that in the Missions of Madras and others where the same usages exist, each priest does as he thinks fit, even often ignoring that a constitution of Benedict XIV exists on this subject. There, each according to his way of thinking, tolerates what he believes in conscience to be tolerable, and forbids what he believes to be bad, without Rome stepping in, it is said, and without it giving a direction in line with the obligations falling on us on the occasion of these decrees and these bulls.

And let us finish by outlining certain practices which, without touching the sacramentals, depart from the general usage of the Church in administration of the sacraments, all of which are more or less direct consequences of caste.

Baptism: The baptisms of Choutres or of Pariahs take place separately. The baptismal fonts are arranged in such a way that the child is not obliged to enter strictly speaking. They are ordinarily placed on the limits of the place assigned in the churches for the noble and for the low castes, so that the child, and those accompanying him, can come right up to the balustrade around the fonts, coming out of the side assigned to their caste.

The priest and the server alone go to the back and the baptism is administered at the railing, receiving in a vessel the water running off the child's head. There are two different vessels to collect this water, according to whether it is from the head of a Choutre or of a Pariah.

Some small churches have no baptismal fonts. All ceremonies are then carried out on the side of the church allotted to the different castes. But at times it happens that these small churches have no room assigned for the Pariahs. In that case, it becomes necessary to give the baptism at the door, without observing the ceremony of making the child come into the church.

In places where the choutres are less scrupulous than others on caste, the exorcisms and other ceremonies may be carried out simultaneously, on the children of different castes; only, great care must be taken to start off with the choutre children, whatever their sex ; then when the time comes to enter the church, each one takes the path leading to the fonts, on the side of the church assigned to him.

In certain places, a choutre would never suffer a pariah to be the godfather of his child, nor would he consent to be godfather of a pariah. In other places, it happens that choutres consent willingly to become godfathers of pariahs, but so far as I know, a pariah can never become the godfather of a choutre.

Confirmation: Irregularities of the same kind as those I have just indicated for baptism may be found in the administration of the sacrament of confirmation.

Eucharist: The holy table is ordinarily placed in such a way that the part corresponding to the place of the choutres in the church is separated from the part corresponding to that of the pariahs. Communion is first of all given to the choutres, however few they may be, then the priest goes over to the side of the pariahs, coming back on his steps if the shape of the church so requires.

Unfortunately there are some small churches that do not have room for the pariahs. When celebrating in these churches, and when some pariahs attend, the latter stand close to the church, ordinarily within sight of the priest, most often under a pandel; which is far from conveying the idea of scorn that we might imagine in Europe. Seeing the usages of the country, these Pariahs are very honoured, and they consider themselves very honoured to be placed there.

However, there are some big drawbacks for the holy communion when the case arises. We avoid as far as possible giving communion in these churches, but finally we are sometimes obliged to so, and there are certain cases in which the priest, after having given communion to the choutres, walks to the door of the church to give communion to the pariahs, who are kneeling on the threshold or something similar. There are even certain parts where there are a large number of these small churches and this way of proceeding is very frequent.(

)

The priest can never be served at the altar by a pariah, who besides is not ordinarily admitted to read or to say the prayers in the vulgar tongue recited out loud for the people. In a completely pariah Christian community, and even elsewhere if it is impossible to do otherwise, it would be permissible for a pariah to respond from his place, and without entering into the sanctuary; but not to go near to the priest, to touch his ornaments and above all the burette of water, or even to take water into the church.

The most convenient shape of a church, to avoid as far as possible shocking the proprieties is that of the cross. Thus, almost all of our churches have this shape. In this way the transepts are separated from the central nave by pillars, and from the sanctuary by the holy table. According to whether the Christian community has more or less pariahs, these occupy one or two transepts and the choutres have the nave; or else the pariahs have the nave, which is rarer, while the choutres one or two arms of the cross.

However, some churches are not exactly of this shape, above all the biggest ones which have a triple nave. In these big churches, the pariahs often occupy one of the side naves, and are separated form the choutres either only morally with the risk of perpetual conflicts, or by a wall one and a half feet high at the most, or else by a balustrade. The usage of this wall which certain missionaries find very shocking, and which seems to have been envisaged only for the church of Pondicherry, on certain more or less lasting conditions, has prevailed in some other lesser churches. It is not rare to see lively disputes arise on the subject of these sorts of separations between the missionaries who refuse to erect anything similar, where only a moral separation exists as yet, and the Christians who demand what has been done in the church of Pondicherry and a few others, be done for them too.

It was the general custom, not so very long ago for the priests to say mass barefoot, because of the horror Indians have of flat leather shoes, and the grave impoliteness that would be occasioned to them by entering into an honest place, without being barefoot. The slippers that the Indians wear sometimes are left at the door of the house; and certainly it would be more indecent for them to enter the church wearing these slippers, than it would be in our countries for someone to enter church with his hat on. So that the priest left his slippers at the door of the church. This usage still exists in many places; it exists without exception for the native priests, although the European priests dispense with it little by little, adopting flat shoes made of coloured material. It goes without saying that all the servers at the altar, clerics or others, even consecrated ministers, are always barefoot.

Apart from low mass, the ceremonies of worship are almost unknown in this country. Nonetheless, there is almost no fairly large Christian community where from time to time some big outside ceremony is not held, in which some of the Indian spirit is mingled with the Catholic cult. These are the representations in action of the Passion of Our Lord, night processions by the light of torches and fireworks, accompanied by a stunning music, etc.

In these enormous baldaquins are carried, bearing the statues of the Holy Virgin and of the Saints. I cannot see anything very irregular in all that; for after all something should be granted to the popular taste. However some missionaries are shocked by them and say that we are holding ceremonies resembling too closely those of the pagans. In all of this, one single thing appears regrettable to me, and that is that these baldaquins bear the name of floats (ter: here the word is written in Tamoul) and that in certain places, they are still carried on wheels and pulled by ropes, which is strongly suggestive of the progress of the pagan floats dragged along in the festivities of the pagodas, in the way we all know.

These baldaquins carried on wheels diminish day by day. They are being replaced by those that I spoke of and which are in fact of such size that it would sometimes take more than thirty porters to lift one. Then these great masses are replaced, as soon as this is possible without disinclining the Christian community, by other less heavy but more elegant baldaquins, so that in certain places these processions end up by not differing greatly from those that we see practiced in certain places in southern Europe.

I said that the Indians practically know no other ceremony of worship than low mass. However there are some churches where it doesn't end there. In these churches, one has at times to regret seeing the rubric pushed somewhat to one side, together with certain decrees of the S.C. on Rites. But I think that these are abuses such as are to be found more or less everywhere, which could be reformed with a little prudence, and that in fact are being reformed a little more each day among the French missions, insofar as the Gallican ideas are disappearing and happily being replaced by ideas more in line with the spirit and authority of our Mother the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

Finally, one thing that I find very regrettable for religion in general in this country is that the missionaries of different nations, of different orders, of different congregations, all bring with them certain particular usages of their nation or of their order. It is rare for Rome to refuse the requests made separately by the different Missions. This condescendence is without doubt very praiseworthy in itself, and I respect the intentions of the Holy See which has its reasons for sparing the susceptibility of each one. I merely warn of the fact which, without seeming to me very grave, is one of the thousand and one drawbacks not very considerable each on its own, but which, in combination, considerably impede the work and the foundation of the Churches abroad.

Forgive me for this digression which has made me stray somewhat from my subject.

Penance: In some places, we observe for the place of the confessionals what we said earlier regarding the place of the baptismal fonts, that is to say, they are placed on the separation of the place consecrated to the choutres and that assigned to the Pariahs, so that they can all come to confession without entering into the others' place.

At times it happens that men are confessed in his room, but never Pariahs, since they cannot set foot in the priest's house.

Extreme Unction: As I have already said, sometimes pariah patients are brought to the church, to avoid the pagans despising both the priest and religion whose ministers they see so often frequenting pariah houses. But this takes place only rarely, when there is no danger for the sick man, and even only in certain places. For nowhere does the priest refuse to go and administer to the pariah in his own house, and the Christians now make few difficulties, for they have almost nothing more to lose, since our holy religion has become the object of the utmost contempt on the part of the pagans, by the public inobservance of so many practices regarded by these poor peoples as essential to honesty and to the social proprieties.

Burials generally take place without the presence of the priest, and without any church ceremony. The Christians however make prayers, and sometimes they request the catechist who recites these prayers aloud, and gives various blessings that I believe to be quite irregular. The dead person's body is never brought to the church, which many attribute to very unchristian ideas of defilement.

On occasion, they call for the priest, who simply goes to bless the body in the house, and then comes back. Finally, although much more rarely, the priest is sometimes called to go out to the cemetery. This only occurs in the case of big burials and never for the pariahs. Even in this case, the corpse is not brought to the church ; the priest goes to the dead person's home and, from there, directly to the cemetery. In certain places, the priest never goes to bless the bodies of the pariahs. In places where the church possesses bells, there are very marked distinctions in the bell tolled for the choutres and for the pariahs. In certain places, there are two separate cemeteries, one for the choutres and the other for the pariahs. In other places, there is a single graveyard, but divided like the church, either physically, or morally, so that even after death there is no mingling of castes.

Whereas, in place of the church ceremonies, the Indians observe civilly a whole crowd of funeral ceremonies. It would take too long and be as difficult to go into the details of funeral ceremonies as in those of marriage ceremonies. Many missionaries accuse the superstitious practices observed by the Christians on this occasion of paganism.

Ordination: Ordination cannot be given to the pariahs and other vile castes. It would even be impossible to receive any in the seminaries and other preparatory schools. As soon this was attempted, we would be sure of seeing the school or the seminary immediately deserted by all the others who, even if they personally wished to pass over the prejudice of their country, could certainly not do it, because of the general uprising which would take place on the part of the Christians who would never permit a pariah to wear a clerical habit or to serve at the altar.

The pariahs are not the only ones to be excluded from orders, but also all those whose caste is considered low. According to whether the time and places allow, we are trying very gradually to introduce pupils of less high caste in the seminaries; but we cannot hope to go beyond the point where we would arrive at a caste which is not permitted to eat with the others.

Marriage: I do not think there is a single Indian who understands that it is good to marry outside of his relatives, and that it is not good to marry between close relatives. Thus, not only do they never marry outside of their caste, which they absolutely could not do, but they observe the various nuances of the same caste, so as not to contract misalliances, and moreover they almost always choose among their relatives. Whence the continual usage of marriage dispensations, without other reason often than the usage of the caste.

Above all in the high castes, a marriage without dispensation is an exception. There is no means of refusing these dispensations, for the Indians would not have the strength to submit to this law, the justice of which besides has not entered minimally into their intelligence. If it were refused, they would pass over it, they would attach the taly to the house and would live for the rest of their days in concubinage. All that we can do is to indirectly diminish the number of marriages to the second degree between first cousins.

For that reason, before the parents agree between themselves on the marriage conditions, they are given opinions, they are threatened, it is announced to them that they will not obtain the dispensation without being subjected to a fine, etc. On occasion they consent to look for some other combination. But all of this can only succeed for as long as the parents have still not reached agreement on the marriage conditions ; for, once they have arrived at the point of requesting the dispensation, some difficulties may be made for the sake of form, but in the end it has to be granted.

Our Christians no longer try to marry before the girl is twelve years old, and the boy fourteen. Some awkward subjects only, having tried on this point to advance a rightful refusal, have proceeded to get their marriage blessed, it is said, by priests of the schism of Goa. But once arrived at the age of twelve and fourteen years, we find numerous marriages contracted by children who are far from being able to appreciate all the implications of their act, and other very disparate ones that make the heart bleed.

In an honest caste, widows never remarry. It is true that, in a few Christian groups, we have managed to diminish this prejudice, and there have been a few rare marriages of widows; but, even in these places, it is always a very big exception. On the contrary, a husband who has already lost several wives takes yet another, above all if he is rich. An old man, he sometimes marries a child of twelve to thirteen who in a few years' time is destined to swell the number of poor widows.

Since the priest cannot be present at the innumerable ceremonies taking place at the house before and after the marriage, it is certain that, very often, superstitions are practised and that, in more than one circumstance, they pass over Cardinal de Tournon's decree. Whenever possible, we send a catechist to see that nothing of this kind is done, but the catechist is sometimes the first to transgress the law, or to interpret it in his guise. Moreover, a great many ceremonies other than those falling under the blow of the decree are practised openly. Certain missionaries excuse them; while others criticise them as superstitions, and it appears probable to me that they are not all without reason in a country, as I have said, where everything is more or less defiled with paganism.

Sometimes, the civil marriage ceremonies do not take place until a long time after the church marriage. In this case, the couple does not live together. This is all the easier since, even in the case where the marriage has ended from all points of view, the woman returns to her mother's house, and is only delivered over to her husband with the new ceremonies, once she has given sure signs of puberty. These separations sometimes last several years, often to the prejudice of the couple's morality and salvation.

We do not bless the ring and no ring is given to the wife in the course of the marriage ceremony. The ring is replaced by the taly and instead of "annulum hunc" of the blessing, we say "tesseram hanc nuptialem." It appears that to Indian minds the attachment of the taly is considered as the irrevocable sign of marriage. As long as the taly is not attached, the couple is not civilly married, and this ceremony should take place with great solemnity and pomp. Then again, once the taly is attached, there is no possible reason authorising it to be detached for so long as the husband is alive, in order to attach it once more. Thus our Christians are very desirous of omitting this ceremony in church, where it cannot be done according to their taste, and they request permission to attach the taly in the course of the civil ceremony, under the marriage pandel.

Unfortunately, the sentiments and the practice of the missionaries are not uniform on this point. Can it, or can it not be permitted? Does it not imply not only omitting a church ceremony, but also letting it be believed that the marriage is still not irrevocable once consent has been given at the foot of the altars! The older missionaries generally think that it can be permitted, and they sometimes grant such permission.

It is said that in certain Christian communities, this permission is very common. However, in general, it is not granted except in rare cases, to rich people, who make very brilliant marriages. But these permissions granted sometimes, and by certain priests, create a great deal of trouble and displeasures to others who believe they are never authorised to give them. It is at least certain that, if this manner of attaching the taly to the house is tolerable, it is a powerful occasion for gentilities and superstitions.

And there, I believe, Very Eminent Lord, you have the conscientious account of the most irregular practices existing in the country of India for which the Constitution of Benedict XIV Omnium sollicitudinum was drawn up. There are places where all these abuses are not present at the same time.() However, I believe I can say that they are at least implicitly present in all places, for it only needs some occasion to permit or tolerate in one place what is permitted or is tolerated in places close at hand. Sometimes, for example, certain little Christian communities have few contacts with the towns ; the inhabitants are simple and they allow themselves to be easily guided. But it requires a nothing to arouse their attention and, if their caste susceptibility is attacked, we soon find ourselves forced to grant them what they see is granted to others.

I believe also that these abuses, or similar ones, are in force in other places than those for which the Constitution of Benedict XIV was drawn up(

) But I could not say up to what point, because I have not seen with my eyes, and I have not had sufficiently close relations with the missionaries of the North to be sure of what happens there.

If, in everything that I have just said, there may be some inexactness, I beg the S.C. to believe that this is involuntary. I ask it also to rest assured that, if I have omitted something grave, it is not for the purpose of allowing it to ignore it, but merely because I ignore it myself or that this did not occur to my memory, although I have only written these lines after mature reflection. For God is my witness that it is neither passion, nor envy, nor a partisan spirit which has dictated this work, but exclusively the obedience that I owe you and the desire to be sure of my own salvation.

I repeat, for I have said it in other letters, that I fear nothing as much as these sorts of discussions. Almost always they have wider implications than we might wish, and often they do greater harm than that which we are seeking to remedy. Thus, if the S.C. considers it its duty not to stop there and if it does not think it can let things go as they are going in these Missions, I beg it to take all the means in its power to avoid discussion above all between the missionaries.

Lastly, although I am prepared to obey all the orders of the S.C., even in what I find most repugnant, I beg it once more not to expose me personally to such discussions. I have not enough intelligence, or enough prudence, or enough of any other virtue for that.

I pray the Lord to enlighten those who lead us and to lead us all in the end to him. Amen.

Your Eminence's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Near Coimbatore, 12 June 1851)

Sent_0500

Sent_0500 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 juin 1851 -/3

Sent_0500 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 June 1851 -/3

Sent 0500 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 June 1851 /3

Sent 0500 Original, AMEP, vol 1000 J, pp 403-410

partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 388-391

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

A question of canon law relative to a marriage dispensation. Then he tells him that he has just written to the S.C. (letter 0499) on the Indian usages. The reason for this letter: an order from the S.C. in answer to a question that he had raised. The comment : great prudence, reflection, frankness, but also the awareness that others are of the opposite opinion. A desire: that a commission of missionaries should be set up to make a conscientious report on all of these questions. He ends with some news on the vicariate and the missionaries.

Index: Indian usages, Rome (authority), my missionaries, canon law

Carumattampatty, 18 June 1851

My Lord,

Yet another case of conscience to lay before you. I have been asked to give a dispensation of affinity of the 1st to the 3rd. Our powers authorise us to dispense the 1st to the 2nd. Does this mean that we can the 1st to the 3rd? Could we apply here this principle: qui potest plus potest minus ? What leads me to think not, is that each impediment seems to me separate and distinct. The Holy See took care to enumerate all of them in our powers, etc. Besides, is it really minus ?

Quite apart from the moral disorder which appears to me to differ very little once we touch the 1st, this dispensation from the 1st to the 3rd should habitually contain another disorder, that of the difference of age between husband and wife. It is true that, in this country, this disorder will often be less great than in most other places, but since it is quite ordinary, it might be that one should be more severe in general for dispensing the 1st to the 3rd than the 1st to the 2nd, and thus Rome has not attempted to give us this power, in giving us the other. I would be much obliged to Y.L. to give me your opinion. Do you think that I could grant this dispensation, or do I have to write to Rome?

Since Y.L. does not give me the hope of our seeing each other soon, I cannot delay any longer to speak to you of something that I would have preferred not to confide to paper, but that I would have been happy to communicate to you personally. The Lord has not permitted that I was given this consolation, despite the strong desire that I have expressed several times to Y.L. of seeing and conversing with you. As I have often said to you, for me it would have been more than a pleasure. However, I would not wish Y.L. to learn from others, and perhaps not quite exactly, what I will now say to you as briefly as possible, for it seems to me that, in the present circumstances, these are subjects which is it better not to discuss by letter.

Y.L. knows what I think on the usages that we tolerate in these missions. I am very inclined to believe that the line of conduct we take, and which is that adopted by our predecessors, following the Constitution of Benedict XIV, may be excused. In my personal opinion, we could even, I believe, by clearly explaining things to Rome, be authorised to tolerate things that we prohibit, providing a way is found (which does not appear impossible to me) of preserving Religion from all participation in superstition; and this indulgence would appear to me to be extremely useful, both for the conversion of the pagans, and for the perseverance and perfecting of the Christians.

However, I cannot hide from myself the fact that others think quite differently, and I cannot see that we have ever perfectly answered their objections. What appears to me as quite unquestionable is that many missionaries are in doubt ; but in view of the upheaval that any different conduct would cause, they lay their doubt on the conscience of their superiors who decide on their line of conduct, believing rightly that if, in such a position, they act wrongly, the fault falls on their superiors and not on them.

Thus it is that I myself, while theoretically thinking that we may do what we do now, and even that we could be more indulgent in certain cases, practically I have always been in doubt in the presence of the instructions and decrees of Rome, of certain texts of the Gospel and of the turmoil of conscience felt by several confreres, but I have always laid my conscience in that of my superiors.

However, when despite my unworthiness, I was made bishop, and above all apostolic vicar, I felt I could not remain under the weight of this responsibility. Then I could no longer lay my conscience anywhere except in that of the S.C. That is what I did last year, after having been appointed apostolic vicar.

I wrote to the S.C. that I continued to follow, and that I required that my missionaries follow the proceeding which was that of our predecessors, and which is still common among the present evangelical workers of our neighbouring missions, while admitting that I could not see clearly in all of these matters, that a real doubt existed in my conscience, but that, without doubting in any way of the perturbation that any different proceeding would introduce into my mission, I laid my conscience in its own, and would go on quietly until it told me that it is impossible to continue to act as we do now.

The S.C. answered me immediately, praising me for the opening that I had made to it, and commanding me to explain to it exactly and in specie everything that takes place here. This is what I have just done after four months of reflection, in order not to use inexact words.

However, if I had only reported purely and simply what takes place, without drawing attention to the grave reasons that determined our older confreres to act as they have done, and us to follow in their tracks, that might have made a very vexatious impression on the minds of the members of the S.C. ; on another hand, I did not want to enter into a discussion that I regard as impossible for a single man. For these two reasons, I preceded this account with a number of propositions that I regard as certain, and which contain substantially the reasons that might later be developed in favour of our behaviour.

I have attempted to take all possible precautions not to say anything excessive, while informing the S.C. on every aspect, and above all insinuating to it that great care must be taken not to go fast and not to condemn anything without fresh information from the different vicariates that are affected by these questions.

In my opinion, I said to it, if the S.C. considered it impossible to remain as at present, and to let things go on as they are now, if it needed a detailed work, it would be necessary for it to appoint a commission consisting of the missionaries most versed in these sorts of questions, to make a conscientious report to it in which the pros and cons would be exactly discussed.

I have received no news form Mr Méhay since he went up to Ootacamund. A coolie, after having gone from Salem to Idapady, from Idapady to Codively, and from Codively to here, brought him, two or three days ago, a sizeable packet of letters. Among these, I noted one from Y.L., as well as some copies of your pastoral letter. I have passed all of this on to him.

The Reverend Father Gury has arrived at Ootacamund. He had been at Verapoly to help My Lord of Chyrra with some buildings. After the rains had driven him away from those parts, he went to Trichinopoly. I asked him if he could not do us the service that he had just been doing at Verapoly. We wrote to the Very Reverend Father Castanier, who gave him permission. So he has come to build our house on the mountain. Unfortunately it is the rainy season at Ootacamund too. I fear that the work will proceed slowly and will not be as solid as in some other season.

Nothing new here. The jubilee goes fairly well at Carumattampatty, but elsewhere it will achieve little.

I have sent Mr Perceval to Darabouram and Mr Barot to Coimbatore, Mr de Gélis, while continuing to be bursar of the mission, is entrusted with the seminary. In this way Mr Métral will have more time for tending the Christian community.

I have received a letter from Mr Pouplin who appears to be well. No news of money.

I commend myself to the memento of your holy sacrifices and ask you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. I have just received your letter of the 11th. I refrain from all comment, only I have unsealed a letter that I had written to Mr Leroux, so that Y.L. may be informed of it.

(Carumattampatty, 18 June 1851)

Sent_0501

Sent_0501 - à Mgr Hartmann, n° 1 - le 28 juin 1851 -/2

Sent 0501 - to Mgr Hartmann, no. 1 - 28 June 1851 /2

Sent_0501 - à Mgr Hartmann, n° 1 - le 28 juin 1851 -/2

Sent 0501 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 391-392

Translation: following page

(to Mgr Anastase Hartmann, bishop of Derbé)

(apostolic vicar of Patna, then of Bombay)

(letter no.1)

Regarding a request to Propaganda to put an end to the Goan schism.

Index : Goan schism

__________

Coimbatore, 28 June 1851

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Heri, Amplitudinis Tuae litteras recepi quibus tuam mentem ostendis petendi Curiam Directorum cum spe obtinendi finem perturbationis schismatis Goani.

Notitiam mitto de actionibus schismaticorum in Vicariatu meo, ut si utile videbitur Amplitudini Tuae, ea uti possis.

Alia documenta quae aliunde facile non habeas in mea meum non sunt.

Cum Tuae litterae non contineant exemplarium petitionis propositae, meam opinionem, ut petis, manifestare nequeo vel in ea signaturam meam ponere, sed, confidens in prudentia Amplitudinis Tuae, per istam epistolam consentio ut meam signaturam apponas si jam major pars aliorum Praesulum Indiae vel apposuerunt suam vel Amplitudini Tuae auctoritatem tribuerunt apponendi.

Amplitudinis Tuae,

Uti frater humillimus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 28 June 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Mgr Hartmann)

Coimbatore, 28 June 1851 (letter no.1)

Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

Yesterday I received Your Lordship's letter in which you inform me of your plan to write to the Court of Directors, in the hope of putting an end to the nuisance caused by the schism of Goa.

I am sending you information on the actions of the schismatics in my Vicariate, so that, if your Lordship sees fit, you can make use of it.

The other documents that you could not easily lay hands on elsewhere are not in my possession.

Since your letter does not contain a copy of the proposed request, I cannot express my opinion, as you ask me to do, or add my signature to it, but trusting in Your Lordship's prudence, I hereby consent to your signing it for me, if already the majority of the other Prelates of India have signed it or else authorised Your Lordship to do so on their behalf.

Your Lordship's

Very humble brother.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 28 June 1851)

Sent_0502

Sent_0502 - à Mgr Hartmann, n° 2 - le 28 juin 1851 -/2

Sent 0502 - to Mgr Hartmann, no. 2 - 28 June 1851 /2

Sent_0502 - à Mgr Hartmann, n° 2 - le 28 juin 1851 -/2

Sent 0502 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F11, pp 251-254

(to Mgr Anastase Hartmann, bishop of Derbé)

(apostolic vicar of Patna, then of Bombay)

(letter no. 2)

Account of the difficulties encountered in the vicariate of Coimbatore, since 1846, as a result of the schismatics of Goa.

Index : schism of Goa

__________

Coimbatore, 28 June 1851

Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore

To Monsignor Hartmann, apostolic vicar of Patna and apostolic administator of Bombay

My Lord,

In answer to your charitable circular of 13 June last, and in order to cooperate as far as lies in my power in the proceeding that Your Lordship proposes making in respect of the Court of Directors, I have the honour of sending you the present account on the state of the schism of Goa in the Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore, as well as on the harm it is doing us and may well do us.

1) Some time ago, the priests of Goa strongly opposed, not without disturbance and scandal, the administration of the apostolic missionaries sent out by My Lord the apostolic vicar of Pondicherry, who at that time had jurisdiction of the Holy See in those parts.

2) These disturbances had ceased for some years, when I was sent here as bishop in 1846. However, it did not take me long to see that fire was smouldering under the ashes, and that the priests of Goa were merely waiting for a favourable opportunity to re-appear and bring back disorder and confusion among the Christians. The great majority of these, being closely attached to us, vanified their attempts.

3) Thus far, these attempts have been limited to two acts which have not had any great repercussions, but which might well have had, and which leave some hope still both to these priests, and to the turbulent minority of our Christians.

4) The first of these attempts was the arrival of a schismatic priest at Ootacamund, with a individual who claims to be in possession of a church that belongs to him. This priest laughed at my warnings, even at the offers I made him of giving him a regular jurisdiction. Finally he added insult to sacrilege and made a mockery of the sentence of suspension that I was obliged to pronounce against him.

5) The second was on the occasion of the discontent of certain Christians in the part of my Vicariate which forms an enclave in the Kingdom of Cochin. These Christians, having joined forces by means of tricks and intimidation, called in a schismatic priest. The latter arrived at once and caused big trouble in this district. He had great hope of winning over various other Christians in the Vicariate, if once he could establish himself there and form a core of supporters. Undoubtedly he would have succeeded in forming a party by means of a certain number of trouble-makers, and these would have dragged in other weak or ignorant elements.

Foreseeing the harm that would be done, I immediately sent a missionary to Cochin to explain the matter to the Diwan. The latter, without giving any conclusive answer verbally, gave him good hope, and after having gathered further information, he sent to the Dazildar () of Sittour the order to drive this priest out of the Kingdom of Cochin within 48 hours. This order was carried out and the schismatic priest withdrew immediately to the Company's territory, where he came to replace his confrere at Ootacamund.

And he has been there since that time, that is since the end of 1848, in the church of this individual who has died, but whose children have inherited his spirit of disobedience to the envoys of the Holy See. He has practically no Christian with him. Our church, quite close to his, is attended by a large number of native Christians who give us great consolation. But it is easy to see how dangerous this proximity is. It only needs the ill-will of a few discontented Christians for this priest to form a party, based on any of our churches and to bring trouble into our peaceful Christian communities.

We have to hope that the Court of Directors will at last see the advantage for the public peace of not recognising as Catholic authorities in these parts anyone except the envoys of the Holy See. Without doubt the freedom of conscience that the English leave us so liberally does not override the power of disturbing the Catholic community by claims that are as ridiculous as they are without any solid foundation.

Now, to the numerous documents proving that we are the envoys of the Holy See, and that no other bishop than us has jurisdiction over the Catholics of this country, is now added the address given by His Holiness the Pope on 17 February of this year, which is so conclusive that the Court of Directors will make it a point of honour, I hope, not to recognise anyone but us as Roman Catholics, after such clear and solemn words pronounced by him whom all Catholics call their Father and Head.

With all my soul, I pray the Lord Jesus Christ that this will be the case, and to crown with success your proceeding to which I adhere wholeheartedly, hereby giving you the liberty of using this notice as you consider best for the cause of our holy religion, and for the glory of Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Master of us all.

Issued at Coimbatore under our signature, the seal of our arms and the counter-signature of our pro-secretary, on 28 June 1851.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

By order of His Lordship of Pruse,

Signed Barot, pro-secretary

(Coimbatore, 28 June 1851)

Sent_0503

Sent_0503 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 30 juin 1851 -/3

Sent 0503 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 30 June 1851 -/2

Sent_0503 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 30 juin 1851 -/3

Sent 0503 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 392-394

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

He explains why he has written to Rome regarding the usages practised in the missions of India. This is merely to relieve his conscience while hoping one day to arrive at a perfect conformity of action of all workers in India. In any case, it is necessary to proceed with great prudence.

Index : Indian usages, Rome (authority), conscience, general meeting

__________

Coimbatore, 30 June 1851

My Lord,

I have had the pleasure of receiving your good missive of the 25th. Despite the points [...] that it contains, it gave me great pleasure since I see (as, in fact, has almost always been the case when we have been able to explain ourselves) that we are completely in agreement on the substance.

Like Your Lordship, I feel quite convinced that the account, however perfect, that a single person would give to the S.C. of the reasons for and against the usages of these missions, would not be supported by all of the evangelical workers of these parts. What is more, the account given by the missionaries of a single vicariate would have the same drawback. Thus I indicated to the S.C. that if it wanted such a work, in my opinion it would have to appoint a commission of the missionaries best versed in these sorts of questions, and taken from the different vicariates concerned by them.

Y.L. is very much mistaken in thinking that I want or do not want, etc. On the contrary I very much want Rome to be perfectly enlightened and to take measures such that any tergiversation is from now on impossible. Like you, I fear one thing only : a false and inexact explanation, based on individual opinion. What I desire is that, after a solemn decision, all divergence of opinion and of behaviour (so fatal, whatever the true opinion is) should disappear, and we can be sure of saving our souls while trying to save those of others.

It is in order to avoid myself falling into any of these pitfalls that I have written to Rome, without taking any side, but merely for the purpose of informing the S.C. that we cannot remain as we are. If we are right in following the proceeding of our missionary predecessors, we must be in a position to show this clearly and be able to satisfy the most scrupulous conscience of our missionaries. If we are wrong, come what may, we must first of all save ourselves and consequently adopt another way of administration.

But I would consider it very imprudent to bring the S.C. to decide quickly that we are wrong, that our neighbours are right, or that our predecessors were wrong. On the contrary, it seems to me that we should beg it to use every possible means so as not to shatter the broken reed, not to put out the still smoking wick. Meanwhile, we are in perfect safety of conscience if Rome is informed of our doubts, if it is assured of our will to obey all its orders and to follow not our course, but the one it sees fit to assign to us.

It was exclusively for the purpose of setting my conscience at rest that I wrote last year to the S.C. I placed my conscience in its, so that, as a simple missionary or even pro-vicar, I placed it in that of the apostolic vicar. At this point, the S.C. ordered me (onerata quoque conscientia) to give it a report of everything happening here. I did this without more ado, telling it why I accompanied this account with some proposals that are true in all systems or at least very probable. My only aim is to lead it not to condemn, without more mature consideration, things that we might regret to see condemned on the basis of this simple account. Finally, this was necessary in order to keep a strict neutrality on the various systems. Not that I have no opinion, but because I have no desire to meddle in any discussion of opinions unless I am forced to do so.

Until fresh order, I hold to the strict requirement either of my conscience or of the obedience I owe to the S.C. to such a point that I refused to answer it on certain articles that it urged me to explain to it. The reluctance, I said, that I feel in taking a hand in these sorts of discussions obliges me to ask you to excuse me. It needs nothing less to make me decide to write on these matters, than the requirement of consience or an order from the Holy See.

I was glad, My Lord, to have been able to add these explanations to those I gave you in my letter of the 18th, trusting they would satify Y.L..

I have no doubt that, if Y.L., your missionaries and mine, those of Pondicherry etc., agree to deal with these questions with composure and all the prudence the matter requires, we will arrive at a more satisfactory state than that in which we have lived. For the missionaries' doubt appears to me well founded. It has always existed in my soul, and although heretofore I believed that I could die in peace, if the Lord calls me to him, in referring my conscience to that of my superiors, I would not believe it so now that I am superior, if I had not taken the step that I have done.

After this step, not only am I in safety, but so are my missionaries who see clearly that I have no illusion as to the difficulty, that Rome is informed, that it has not remained indifferent to my first warnings, etc. That, if we have to wait some time for a clear decision from Rome, they will be the first to recognise that the matter is in hand. They would not wish to see us or the S.C. precipitate things and, in the meantime, they will easily admit that there is nothing to be changed in the practice handed down to us by our predecessors. If there are certain drawbacks in this practise, it is only material on our part.

I will be very pleased to receive the result of your consultations, although I hope that Y.L. will not wait until then to give me your news.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 30 June 1851)

Sent_0504

Sent_0504 - à la Propagande - le 9 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0504 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 9 July 1851 /2

Sent_0504 - à la Propagande - le 9 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0504 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 395

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

To send the oaths of the last two fathers who have arrived ; he makes some comment on the Pope's address on the Goan schism; he indicates that he has answered the Holy Father on the subject of the Immaculate Conception and asks if his long letter on usages has arrived safely in Rome.

Index : Immaculate Conception, Goan schism, Indian usages, oath

__________

Coimbatore, 9 July 1851

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

1°Huic annexa epistolae Eminentiae Vestrae mitto juramenta D.D. Perceval et Malhaire qui nuper ad Vicariatum meum appulerunt.

2°Notum facio Eminentiae Vestrae me jam suo tempore recepisse

1)litteras Encyclicas Sanctissimi de Immaculata Conceptione Beatae Mariae Virginis quibus meum dedi responsum, mediante S.C. ;

2)allocutionem S.P. relativam ad Goanas perturbationes, quem lingua vulgari typis mandavi et inter christianos vulgavi. De quo actu multas quidem gratiarum actiones S.P. debemus, sed minime sperandum est Indiae incolas ab illo quantumvis solenni multum afficiendos esse ; ut certum vero tenendum talem allocutionem absque effectu futurorum esse ad schismaticos in obedientiam redigendos, nisi alia sequantur momenta a populo intellectu faciliora et a sacerdotibus Goanis obeditu efficaciora ;

3)indultum quo nobis concedebatur Jubileus quem accurati, quantum in nobis fuit, celebravimus non sine fructu et consolatione.

3°Mense praeterito juxta mentem S.C. in suis litteris diei 21 Decembris anni praeteriti mihi significatam, Eminentiae Vestrae misi epistolam de usibus, abusibus, consuetudinibus etc. a nobis in istis regionibus toleratis tractantem. Cum magni momenti hanc habeo epistolam, ex qua, ut spero, S.C. inducetur ad efficacia adhibenda media quae perplexam conscientiam nostram in tuto ponere possint, humiliter a S.C. expostulo ut notum mihi faciat utrum eam receperit.

Eminentiae Vestrae, Servus humillimus et obsequiosissimus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, die nona Julii 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(Propaganda)

Coimbatore, 9 July 1851

Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

1) I am sending, enclosed with this letter to Your Eminence, the oaths of the Reverend Fathers Perceval and Malhaire who recently arrived in my vicariate.

2 ) I hereby inform Your Eminence that I received in due time :

the encyclical letter of the Very Holy Father regarding the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to which I replied through the Sacred Congregation,

  1. the Holy Father's address relative to the troubles of Goa, that I have sent in the vulgar language and have made known among the Christians. For such a document, in truth we should offer abundant thanksgivings to the Holy Father ; however, despite the solemnity of this deed, there is little hope that it will greatly affect the inhabitants of India ; it may even be considered as certain that such an address will not have the effect of bringing the schismatics back to obedience, unless it is followed by other important things, easier to understand and more effective for bringing the priests of Goa back to obedience.
  2. the indult by which the Jubilee was granted us, which we celebrated with profit and consolation insofar as our limits permitted.
  3. Last month, according to the desire of the Sacred Congregation evinced to me in its letter of 21 December of last year, I sent Your Eminence a letter dealing with the usages, abuses, habits etc. tolerated by us in these parts. Since I consider this letter to be of great importance, whereby, I trust, the Sacred Congregation may be led to employ effective means liable to put our perplexed conscience at rest, I humbly ask the Sacred Congregation to let me know whether it has received it.
  4. Your Eminence's
  5. Most humble and respectful servant

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 9 July 1851)

Sent_0505

Sent_0505 - aux directeurs - le 19 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0505 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 19 July 1851 /2

Sent_0505 - aux directeurs - le 19 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0505 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 76

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 396-397

(to the directors of the Seminary of Paris)

With Mr Lefeuvre's arrival, I have no further need of missionaries, but I still have a great need of money. The details of your letter in common are not sufficient for the members of our family. We do not even know who is superior among you. Give us more details.

Index : news, finances (request)

__________

Coimbatore, 19 July 1851

Gentlemen and very dear Confreres,

Mr Tesson has just announced to me Mr Lefeuvre's forthcoming departure for this Mission. If the good God permits this dear confrere to arrive without undue accident, he will complete, with Mr Malhaire who has just arrived, the missionary personnel required for the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore. Thus, save misfortune or considerable changes in this vicariate, please do not to send any further missionaries. If we were any more, we would waste precious time here which could be usefully employed elsewhere, without counting the danger of losing our vocation in the trials of forced inaction.

Even in case of misfortune, be so good as not to send anyone out until due request has been made to you, for if our vicariate does not attain a considerable extension, both as regards its area, and its Christian population, the number of missionaries should tend to diminish rather than increase, once we have some priests of the country.

What unfortunately will not diminish for a long time still, is the need for pecuniary aid. I hope that having from now onwards very few general expenses to incur for this vicariate, such as the maintenance of aspirants, costs of departure, etc., you will bear in mind this circumstance, so as to increase our supplement and bring it in line with our needs.

Through Mr Malhaire I have received your letter in common of last year, that you addressed to the Council of Propagation of the Faith. Doubtless you will not be surprised, Gentlemen and dear Confreres, if I regret that you considered sufficient for us the details with which the outside world has to be content, but which leave much to be desired for the members of a family who need to be initiatied into everything concerning it. And even more regrettable is the absence of any letter in common for this year.

There are some further points, Gentlemen and dear Confreres, that leave more than one thing to be desired. Perhaps by giving us some more circumstantiated details than you have done in your correspondence, both official and private, you will keep us informed of a host of things that it would be at least appropriate for us to know. I will just give you one example : how is it that we do not know who among you is at this moment the superior of the Seminary ? Private letters announced, a long while ago, that you were about to proceed to a new election. We have heard no more about it. We imagine that the venerable Mr Langlois is still superior, but I cannot be sure of this, if anyone asks me. And there are many more things that we do not know. I hope that your future and forthcoming letter in common will meet all of our desires.

I commend myself to your good prayers in the union of which I ask you to believe me,

Gentlemen and very dear Confreres,

Your very humble and very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 19 July 1851)

Sent_0506

Sent_0506 - à M. Tesson - le 19 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0506 - to M. Tesson - 19 July 1851 /2

Sent_0506 - à M. Tesson - le 19 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0506 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 75

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thank you for having sent me the accounts. We need much more money in order to establish ourselves. The allocation of gifts by Propagation of the Faith is very curious. For the moment, once Mr Lefeuvre has arrived, do not send us anyone else. What should our behaviour be with regard to the charitable work of the Holy Childhood ? Send me mass fees. This year, owing to the price of the rupee, the exchange rate is very unfavourable.

Index : accounts, fees, exchange

__________

Coimbatore, 19 July 1851

My dear Mr Tesson,

By the last post of Madras I received your letter of 24 May, and a few days ago that of 4 June. The former contains your accounts for this year and announced that we were to receive £803.56 from Messrs Arbuthnot and Co. I am awaiting any day now a note from the latter who have announced dispatch of this sum.

Thank you for having made up in the form of personal gifts what was missing from our allocation. It goes without saying that next year you must assign to the mission of Mysore what you have assigned us this year from the revenues of Mr Dubois. As for the final sum of our allocation, I do not dare either complain or be gratified. It would be sufficient if we had only to maintain ourselves, but is not since much still has to be done in order to establish ourselves.

On another hand, I feel very sure that the proportion serving as the basis of your dividends is far from being in relation to the needs of the various missions, above all if we consider the local resources that some have and others do not. But I realise that it is very difficult for you, and perhaps impossible even, to maintain an equal balance from this point of view. The table given in the Annals shows equally curious irregularities, whereby we find that some vicariates, which could quite well do without the Institution's alms, are as well remunerated as others that depend on them for their existence.

You were quite right not to buy either an organ, or a bell, or anything else at high cost. We have to wait until we have built houses and churches. However, perhaps next year I will ask you to procure an organ using the money sent out to Mr de Gélis by his family which he   
ordinarily hands over to us.

You had almost made me fear by announcing that you were asking for two new missionaries for Coimbatore. If they had been granted to you, there would have been one too many. For with Mr Lefeuvre, whose departure you now announce, our personnel is complete ; we are eleven, and that is enough. Thus, do not request any further subjects for Coimbatore, save fresh instructions.

Since I have been here, neither you nor the Gentlemen of the Council have ever informed me of the relations now existing between the Seminary for Missions and the charitable Work of the Holy Childhood. While I was at Pondicherry, I saw letters to My Lord of Drusipare in which we were advised to have no dealings with it, etc. However, in the table of allocation for 1849, I see 500 francs for Mysore and a note that seems to indicate that, if we received nothing, this is because we failed to complete some formality with which we are unacquainted. It is certain that in the Missions of India, the Work of the Holy Childhood will never undergo any great development. Meanwhile, not a year goes by without the baptism of a certain number of children of infidels. A single Christian in my mission has baptised over one hundred in his lifetime; and with some special expenditures, we could obtain further baptisms.

I have distributed the 125 masses that you indicate in your last letter ; they will be performed in more or less a month. It would be desirable, when you send me fees for masses, that you indicate whether these masses are urgent or not. For they would be more profitable if I had time to see that they were performed, since I would give a larger number of them to those in the greatest need.

Kindly pray the Lord for us, and believe me,

Very dear Confrere,

Your very affectionate servant and friend.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. of the 22nd. I have just received the note from Messrs Arbuthnot. We have lost enormously on the exchange at Madras. Basically, the rupee now costs us 2 fr. 62. Whereas last year it only cost us 2 fr. 50. The difference between gain and loss amounts in all to 1500 francs.

(Coimbatore, 19 July 1851)

Sent_0507

Sent_0507 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0507 - to Mgr Bonnand - 21 July 1851 /2

Sent_0507 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 21 juillet 1851 -/2

Sent 0507 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 411-414

partial copy + Brésillac summary

in AMA 2F6, pp 397-399

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding the letter sent to Rome on Indian usages. Why he has only consulted Mr Leroux besides the fathers of his vicariate. Having acted in this way, my conscience is at rest, whether Rome speaks or is silent : this is what I desire most after the glory of God. Mr Jarrige's present doubts clearly show the need to combine our ideas in order to prudently find a way out of the state we are in at present.

Index : Rome (authority), Indian usages, general meeting, conscience

__________

Coimbatore, 21 July 1851

My Lord,

A few days ago I received your good letter of the 8th. I pray the Lord to accompany Y.L. throughout the course of your long pastoral visit.

I hardly remember what I wrote to Mr Leroux in February, but I can't imagine that my letter could have indisposed him against authority. That was so far from my mind that I'm inclined to think my words were misunderstood.

Before sending my work to Rome, I would have desired to consult with all the missionaries of Pondicherry, but two reasons prevented this :

it would have seemed like an act of authority for which I am unfitted;

  1. I would have feared lest dangerous rumours spread among the Christians.
  2. I limited myself to consulting my missionaries and those with whom I spoke personally on this matter. The only exception I made was for Mr Leroux because I knew that he had written a great deal on the subject and that he had pushed to excess the difficulties that can be brought against our behaviour. It is precisely because I know the excess of his outlook that his work would be extremely useful to me, if I had made a complete and well discussed report.

This very excess would have served me in the part of the report defending the contrary. But, as I had the honour of saying to you, I have laid aside all discussion until fresh order, firmly convinced that, even if was perfect, it could never obtain the assent of all the evangelical workers unless it was made in common by all the vicariates concerned in the question, as I indicated to the S.C. By the course I have adopted, I have a clear conscience in any case, and that is the only goal, after the glory of God, that I wished to achieve. Whether Rome speaks or is silent, whether it stays where it now is or whether it insists, I am equally at rest.

If Rome is silent, I continue in peace to follow the practice we now adopt, since it is informed of everything that I am doing and, at the same time, it is not for my pleasure that I am acting thus, but determined by the most grave reasons and by the enormous danger there would be in doing otherwise. If Rome speaks, I have merely to obey. But I feel sure that it will only speak after having acquired information from others, as I begged it to do, or even after appointing a commission of missionaries taken from the various vicariates of this country.

I wrote in mid-June to Mgr Charbonnaux in more or less the same terms as my letter to Y.L. Only then did that venerated confrere tell me that he intended to hold a meeting to deal with these matters. In this answer, he quoted to me the following sentence of Mr Jarrige's : "Until now, that is for the last 30 years, I have acted in good faith, but now that I have examined things more closely, [...] I can no longer do so. If Y.L., whose authority alone holds me back, does not examine and prohibit the ceremonies that disturb me so much, [...] I cannot lose myself, [..] I will (regretfully) resign from the mission."

Y.L. will understand as well as I do how dangerous such a proposal is coming from the pen of the oldest of our missionaries, and the terrible consequences ensuing both from his thirty years' silence and the scruples which have come to him just recently. The most direct, it seems to me, is that we are living in a state of doubt, in which we cannot remain. Let us combine our ideas and our efforts so as to find a way out with prudence, but without illusion and without fear. Y.L. will very certainly help us in this difficult undertaking.

Mr Méhay is writing to you. He came down from the mountain over two weeks ago. He has had some trouble with his legs; but now seems fully recovered. I do not know when he will leave us. Not a word about his departure.

I commend myself to the memento of the holy sacrifices, asking you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 21 July 1851)

Sent_0508

Sent_0508 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 juillet 1851 -/1

Sent 0508 - to Mgr Bonnand - 25 July 1851 /1

Sent_0508 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 25 juillet 1851 -/1

Sent 0508 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 415-416.418

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondichéry)

I am going to make a journey to Jaffna and, on my return, if I can, I will pay you a visit.

Index : journey, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 25 July 1851

My Lord,

I profit from the passing of My Lord of Jaffna who is here at the moment to make a short journey to Ceylon. For a long time now I have desired to get to know this country from the religious viewpoint ; and the present opportunity is most favourable.

We expect to be at Trichinopoly by 2 or 3 August, at Negapatam by the 8th or 9th, and at Jaffna by the 14th or 15th.

I should be back here before the feast of the Rosary.

According to what you said in your last letter, I have some hope that on my outward, or more likely on my return journey, I could pass quite close to Y.L. so that, by turning off if necessary from my way, I could stop off to greet you. If that is possible, I would be truly obliged if you could leave me word at one or other of the places on my way.

Kindly pray for us and believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 25 July 1851)

Sent_0509

Sent_0509 - à M. Molle - le 26 juillet 1851 -/1

Sent 0509 - to Mr Molle - 26 July 1851 /1

Sent_0509 - à M. Molle - le 26 juillet 1851 -/1

Sent 0509 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 399-400

(to Mr W.M. Molle, magistrate)

A complaint regarding a bill payment of which he has been awaiting for four days npw. This obliges him to delay his journey to Ceylon.

Index : finances, civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 26 July 1851

Dear Sir,

I have the honour of writing you these few words, to ask you to help me get out of a truly painful embarrassment to me, on having received no reply from Mr E. B. Thomas, regarding a considerable bill, payable on sight, that I sent him on the 22nd of this month.

Obliged to leave for the island of Ceylon, I had no doubt but that this bill would be paid to me on the same day, if Mr Thomas had received it here, or the day after if he was absent. Yet here we are at the 26th, and I have received nothing. I have sent off to the catcheri () to ask if they had not received the order of payment ; but the answer was that no such order had come.

I was to have left yesterday with My Lord of Jaffna who can wait no longer. His Lordship is going on ahead and I have promised to catch up with him on the way ; but how can I leave without knowing what I have to fear, or what I should do in order to receive this money of which I have pressing need ?

Would you be so good, Sir, as to tell me what I should do. Is it indispensable for me to delay my journey ? Could I not give a proxy ? etc.

I have the honour of being, with consideration,

Sir,

Your very humble servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 July 1851)

Sent_0510

Sent_0510 - à M. Tesson - le 3 novembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0510 - to M. Tesson - 3 November 1851 /2

Sent_0510 - à M. Tesson - le 3 novembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0510 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 77

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 400

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director of the Seminary of Paris)

Regarding Mr Langlois's death. His illness on returning from his journey to Jaffna. A few words on the Holy Childhood. It would not be advisable for Quilon to be joined to Coimbatore : everything is too different there. Thanks for the mass fees.

Index : voyage, illness, fees, jurisdiction (limits)

__________

Carumattampatty, 3 November 1851

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have received your two letters of 23 July and of 24 August. You cannot imagine how affected I am by Mr Langlois's death. However much it had been expected, it is nonetheless an immense misfortune. Oh yes, he would have gone straight to heaven where he will have been welcomed by the crowd of his children confessors and martyrs of whom he himself ensured the entry by way of Tong-Kin and of Cochin China ; but will he have found any missionaries from India there ?... Will not our condescendence for so many possibly superstitious practices hold us back in purgatory at least until the general judgment ?

The first of your letters came to find me at Karikal where I spent one month fairly seriously ill. I came from Ceylon where I had spent a month visiting Jaffna and the neighbourhood : Trincomalee, Kandy, Colombo. I had long desired to see for myself the religious situation of this island which contains so many Christians, coming mid-way between our caste-bound Christians of Coromandel and those of Malabar entirely devoid of caste. I took advantage of the passing by Coimbatore of My Lord of Jaffna, to go and spend a few days with him, and from there made the aforesaid small excursion.

On arriving at Karikal, I was affected by violent headaches, constipations, and then a rather extraordinary fever from which I recovered at Tranquebar. I only arrived back here four days ago. Now I am fairly well, and the only remaining signs are some swelling, some slight pains in the legs, and a very disagreeable trembling of the hands, which will make my writing more than ever liable to try your patience.

I cannot see why I would be obliged to write to My Lord of Arras or to the secretary of the Holy Childhood. Do you not represent our mission to all effects and purposes? Now, we are not in a position to write anything very interesting. If we obtain an allocation from this institution, the number of pagan children baptised under the article of death might rise, but would never become very high. But if this work was not confined to procuring baptisms, but permitted the establishment of schools or other good works, we could very profitably use the funds that it would send us. What we lack here is money.

And let us come now to the question of the Carmelites. I think that it would not be at all a good idea for Quilon to be annexed to Coimbatore. However close the Christians of these two missions are to each other, they are as different as Spaniards are from Russians ; here the castes, there not, etc. It seems to me that the mission of Quilon has the same fault as that of Coimbatore, of being clearly too small for setting up a vicariate there. And that is all that I can tell you for the moment.

Since I do not have with me here the lay-out of the table for Propagation of the Faith, I am sending something approximate ; I think it should suffice. I have distributed the 250 masses contained in your letter of 24 August. I commend myself to your good prayers, asking you to believe me, in union of the holy sacrifices,

Very dear confrere,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar

P.S. We have not a drop of rain here ; our weavers are without work. I foresee great hardship for this year.

(Carumattampatty, 3 November 1851)

Sent_0511

Sent_0511 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 3 novembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0511 - to Propagation of the Faith - 3 November 1851 /1

Sent_0511 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 3 novembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0511 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 79

Table enclosed with the letter to Mr Tesson of 3 November 1851

and to be sent to Propagation of the Faith

Annual table serving as a basis for the dispatch of funds by Propagation of the Faith.

Index : finances

__________

Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore (East India)

Revenues of the vicariate: absolutely none. Instead of receiving from the Christians, we are obliged to undertake expenditures for them.

Number of churches: Three or four bearing the name of churches. These are only slightly larger than small chapels and are in great need of repair, or need to be completely rebuilt. One of them has been pulled down and we are now building in its place a small but decent church. Work is at a standstill, for lack of funds. The church of Coimbatore has still not been started ; we have merely carried out the preparatory work.

Number of Catholics : approximately 15,000. I fear many will move away this year, as a result of hardship.

Adult baptisms: about one hundred in the course of the year.

Baptisms under the article of death: 15 or 20.

Number of missionaries: one bishop and ten missionaries, counting Mr Lefeuvre whom we are expecting any day now.

Schools: one seminary, four Malabar schools and one English school. The pagan children are admitted to the Malabar schools.

Observations : Since this mission possesses no local resources, the funds granted in the last few years have not been sufficient to set up the vicariate solidly. The bishop still has no church worthy of that name and which is independent.

It is almost impossible for the missionaries to live here on their viaticum alone. Such impossibility is increasing day by day. Accordingly part of the supplement must be assigned for them to live on and, however little is given to each one, what remains thereafter for the upkeep of schools, catechists' wages, buildings, etc. ?

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 3 November 1851)

Sent_0512

Sent_0512 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 novembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0512 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 November 1851 /2

Sent_0512 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 novembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0512 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 419-422

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Unfortunately I was not able to meet up with you on my return from Ceylon. Thanks you for all the kindnesses done to me in crossing your vicariate. I think that it would not be good to join Quilon to Coimbatore. Joining Mangalore to Mysore ? I don't know. I have not replied to the letter from Mgr Fenelly who asks for information for the presidency of Madras.

Index : friendship, jurisdiction (of the apostolic vicar), jurisdiction (limits), civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 3 November 1851 ()

My Lord,

I arrived back here four days ago ; the journey did me good rather than fatigued me. When I set off, my legs were swollen and I could hardly take two steps. Today, I am quite well, to judge from my appetite. All that is left is some pain in the legs and some slight trembling in the hands, which bothers me a great deal when writing.

I do not know if you have received the letter I wrote to you at I don't know which bungalow, when I learned that you proposed to come to Tranquebar on the day fixed for my departure. I told you that I was waiting two days longer, in the hope of seeing you. This hope vanished, like all the others I had of meeting you ; a letter from Y.L. to Mr Brisart, arriving on Saturday evening, informed me that I had delayed my journey until Monday in vain. It was no small sacrifice.

Last month, I received a letter from Mr Tesson who told me to arrange with Y.L. to see whether it would not be good to accept the Mission of Quilon that the Carmelites want to abandon, apparently, as well as that of Mangalore. I do not know if there would be any good to be expected from the annexation of Mangalore to Mysore, but it seems to me that none is to be expected from the annexation of Quilon to Coimbatore. These are two completely different peoples, and the customs of the Christians are too much opposed. As to making Quilon a separate vicariate, I fear that this will have the same drawback as that of Coimbatore, in that it is much too small for a vicariate to be developed there. What does Your Lordship think about it ?

Does Your Lordship think there is any great danger to be feared for our Churches if I do not answer a letter from Mgr Fennelly, of which you will doubtless have received a copy ? This letter asks for information on the number of missionaries, of churches, etc., which it seems is required of him by the government for the Presidency of Madras. It seems to me that there are so many dangers for the future in the bishop of Madras meddling in our business, that my conscience finds it difficult to agree to pass on any such information to the government through him. This has nothing to do with Mgr Fennelly personally, but the bishop of Madras, whoever he may be.

I beg you once more, My Lord, to receive my thanks for all the kindnesses that Y.L. and your missionaries showed to me in the time during which I passed through your vicariate, and in particular for the invitation to complete my recovery at Pondicherry. If I had only listened to my pleasure and my heart, I would very certainly have gone there, but since I had already had a proper convalescence following my illness, I had to silence these feelings in favour of my duty calling me here after three months of absence.

I plan to go and spend some time in the mountain in a month. I hope that we will soon have a house there ; work is now proceeding on the roof. Ah ! when it is finished and decent, I hope Y.L. will soon come and spend some time there to breathe the mountain air.

I commend myself to the memory of your holy sacrifices, asking you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, 3 November 1851)

Sent_0513

Sent_0513 - aux directeurs - le 15 novembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0513 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 15 November 1851 /1

Sent_0513 - aux directeurs - le 15 novembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0513 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 78

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 400

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

At the request of one of you, I am sending you a copy of my letter to the S.C. (letter no. 0499). A paragraph to reiterate his great need for money.

Index : finances (requests), Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, 15 November 1851

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Since one of our dear confreres of Paris has written to say that not only does he consider it would not be useless, but indeed good for me to acquaint you with the work that I sent to the S.C., regarding the usages that we tolerate here, I am sending you enclosed herewith copy of letter no. 2 that I wrote on 12 June of this year.

I am expecting any day now the arrival of Mr Lefeuvre who arrived at Pondicherry several days ago. He will undoubtedly have much to suffer from the rainy season.

I have no doubt that, aware of the needs of all kinds of our poor vicariate, you are doing your very best to come to our aid. But I am far from thinking that it is only in order not to violate the rules of distributive justice that you have not granted us even more ; I prefer to think that other reasons, just as respectable, force you not to allocate a sum which, necessary as it would be for us, might shock and indispose persons who are less well acquainted than you and we are regarding the needs of Coimbatore.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, I have the honour to be, Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 15 November 1851)

Sent_0514

Sent_0514 - à son père - le 16 novembre 1851 -/3

Sent 0514 - to his father - 16 November 1851 /3

Sent_0514 - à son père - le 16 novembre 1851 -/3

Sent 0514 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 156-159

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 400

(to his father)

Long letter describing his journey to the island of Ceylon. Jaffna, his reception by the bishop and the missionaries, the boat trip to Trincomalee, the journey on horseback to Kandy and the journey by diligence from Kandy to Colombo. Reflections on the state of religion in Ceylon. His illness coming back to Tranquebar and the competence of the poor Danish doctor.

Index : journey, friendship, religion in Ceylon, illness

__________

Coimbatore, 16 November 1851

My very dear father,

Your interesting letter of 27 June came to find me at Kandy, former capital of the island of Ceylon. For a long time I had been desirous of getting to know myself the religious state of this island where great good is done, not without evil, as everywhere, and where the Christians occupy a middle position between the caste-ridden Christians of Coromandel and the centre, and the Christians without any caste prejudices of the Malabar coast.

My Lord of Jaffna, a town situated in the north of this island, paid me a visit; he pressed me warmly to go back with him on his return from Verapoly whither he was bound. I promised him to do so and, towards the end of July, we left Coimbatore. Once arrived at Negapatam, we embarked on a brig which took us in less than 48 hours to the island of Caits, quite close to Jaffna.

In this small island there are a large number of Christians and several quite remarkable churches. We visited some of them and, on the very evening of our arrival, towards 5 in the evening, we took a small boat to reach Jaffna which is only a few leagues away. If we had capsized in the course of this short crossing, I think it would have been a pleasure and a recreation rather than a disaster, for the sea is so shallow that you can see the stones, plants and other objects on the bottom ; at times is is not more than three feet deep.

My Lord Bishop was set on our not arriving until after nightfall because of a magnificent reception that he had prepared for me without saying almost anything about it. Thus, instead of urging on the boatmen, as it would have been natural to do, he continually checked their ardour. Finally we arrived after night had fallen, although the streets were lit up as in daylight ; thousands of lamps, globes and torches accompanied me as far as the church that over nine hundred candles set ablaze with light.

The Christians of these places are rich, numerous and avid for these sorts of external manifestations. I spent a very pleasant week in the domicile of this good bishop, during which I visited some Christian communities in the neighbourhood. However, it was not my wish to have made such a long journey to see Jaffna alone. I was very eager to penetrate into the interior of the island. My plan was to go to Trincomalee and, from there, to Kandy, overland. But that is impossible, they told me. It's a terrible path, untrodden, through immense forests filled with ferocious beasts and elephants. Moreover, you can catch very dangerous fevers there.

Since what frightens the Indians is not always fearsome, I resolved not to change my plan until my arrival at Trincomalee. There, I would obtain more reliable information. Accordingly we embarked, the priest accompanying me and myself, at Port Pedro which is a little used roadstead at the northernmost tip of Ceylon. We were very fortunate in finding a small brig instead of a horrid chelingue and, a day and a half later, we sailed into the magnificent roads of Trincomalee. There we were greeted with fresh honours and as always a pleasant and very fraternal reception by the good Milanese priests in charge of that Christian community.

This town is remarkable for its magnificent port, quite apart from the roads that I mentioned and whose merchant vessels are restricted to the fine weather season. This port, perfectly sheltered on all sides, is capable of containing several hundred vessels, and is deep enough to accommodate the biggest warships, an inestimable advantage for the English who have almost no ports in India. Thus they come to winter here, and here they have an arsenal where they hold in store everything necessary for the navy.

And now for our crossing of the famous forest. The information I gained here was much less frightening than that which I had been given at Jaffna. We mounted two very quiet steeds, we engaged several trusty men, good Christians, to carry our belongings, and thus entered into this artery, or rather, this little vein of the forest called a path.

It cannot be said that the country is a beautiful sight. In fact it cannot be seen, as one proceeds uninterruptedly under a dark vault formed by the thick foliage of ageold trees. However one may admire the marvellous vegetation occurring in these forests, and take pleasure in noting among so many plants the magnificent Setim whose wood is so precious and which rises, majestically, like our finest oaks, and the ebony of which the tree is not handsome, but the wood serves to make such fine furniture.

Our slow and monotonous progress had nothing remarkable about it as far as Damboul, for I do not count at all the meeting with several elephants who were very polite and allowed us to pass without insisting. Only one of them walked for a few moments two hundred yards in front of us. We requested him to withdraw by firing two shots into the air. Immediately, with great swings of his long trunk, he plunged into the forest.

At Damboul, a little mountain at two thirds of our way, there is a quite remarkable temple of Buddha. We stopped to visit it. The Buddhist priests, full of honesty and, at least externally, of modesty, opened up all the doors to us without difficulty. Thus we were first of all singularly struck by the contrast between their bearing and that of the proud race of the Brahmins.

This temple is nothing but a cave containing many apartments whose openings have merely been walled in. In these apartments lie enormous statues of Buddha, represented reclining on a couch ; some of these statues measure 35 to 40 feet long. Then there are an infinity of other statues, almost all with their legs crossed. However there is nothing to be seen there that is indecent, and this too is an enormous contrast with the statues and other representations that adorn the exterior of the pagodas of the Hindus or that one encounters on the paths.

Eighteen miles out of Kandy, the missionary of that town was waiting for us. We were no longer on ground within the jurisdiction of the bishop of Jaffna, but rather on that of the bishop of Colombo, whom I still had not met and from whom I had received no power, which prevented me from exercising any episcopal function in the domain of this good missionary, who received us with a quite English generosity and a quite French heart, for he is French while Kandy is an English town ; a town of luxury and of liberal expenditure if one has money. I would have reproached this missionary on his prodigality in a country where everything is bought at the price of gold, had I not known that rich Christians were meeting the costs.

From Kandy to Colombo, the road is magnificent, perfectly maintained, and travellers take the diligence as in Europe. After leaving at 5 in the morning, we arrived at Colombo at 3 in the afternoon, after stopping for one hour at the halfway point for lunch. We went to go down to the bishop co-adjutor of the apostolic vicar ; the latter is a black bishop, very respectable, but little versed in European civilisation, which means that European ecclesiastics ordinarily go to visit the co-adjutor. In fact I already knew him slightly, having met him at Pondicherry on his arrival from Europe. It goes without saying that he received us with open arms. In the mission, as soon as two priests meet, they are friends, a fortiori two bishops. We stayed for a few days more in this town remarkable from many points of view before re-embarking to return to the mainland.

You may ask me why, after doing so much, I did not also visit certain other places of special interest in Ceylon. First of all, my aim was more or less achieved. What I would have found elsewhere, from the religious viewpoint, would have been more or less a repetition of what I had seen, and then everything is so expensive on this island, since there are so many English there, that I had little money left. So, we set sail for Negapatam, whence I planned to resume without ado the route for Coimbatore, passing by Karikal, a French colonial town. But man proposes and God disposes.

I suffered from a violent headache during the two days of our last navigation. When we crossed the Bridge of Adam, I could bear it no longer. Once arrived at Karikal, this headache turned to a veritable illness, which confined me to my bed twice over in the course of one full month. The way in which I was treated by the doctor and by the civil authorities of Karikal left much to be desired. Alas ! how is it that a Frenchman like me could regret no longer finding himself in English territory on entering a French town!

Thus, since a second illness had set in with quite extraordinary fevers after the beginnings of a first convalescence, I left Karikal and its doctor philosopher, to go and search at Tranquebar, former possession of the Danes that the latter have just handed over to England, for a poor Danish doctor, almost forgotten since his fellow countrymen are no longer there, and who treated me perfectly. A few days later I resumed the road to Coimbatore where I arrived in good health, for the journey which I had dreaded a little ended up by restoring me. Now I am quite well, of which this long letter is certain proof.

This time I hope that you will not scold me. As you see, when I have something to say to you, I write volumes, and the cause of an ordinarily briefer correspondence is above all the absence of news.

I am writing a few words to my aunt de Nicol. () Would you kindly pass the enclosed letter on to her. Please also convey my compliments of condolences to the other persons whose losses you inform me of.

As for the false news which intrigued you so much, it is without foundation, it is a fib.

A Dieu, very dear father, compliments and friendly greetings to any concerned, and believe me always, of your children,

The most respectful and the most loving.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. Excuse the bad handwriting ; I was obliged to write in haste.

(Coimbatore, 16 November 1851)

Sent_0515

Sent_0515 - à la Propagande, n° 1 - le 21 novembre 1851 -/4

Sent 0515 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no.1 - 21 November 1851 /4

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0515 - à la Propagande, n° 1 - le 21 novembre 1851 -/4

Sent 0515 Brésillac copy , AMA 2F6, pp 400-402

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 1)

The apostolic vicar of Madras has sent him a request for information to be filled in for the civil Governor of Madras. Does Mgr Fennelly have jurisdiction over the other apostolic vicars in the south of India ? Should he comply with this request ?

Index : jurisdiction (of the apostolic vicar), Rome (authority), civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 21 November 1851

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Ante promotionem meam ad Episcopatum, quonam modo res sese ita habuerint ut Vicarii Apostolici Provinciae Madras eo deducti fuerint ut assensum suum darent dispositioni Gubernii qua Vicarius Apostolicus hujus urbis solus a potestate Civili caput Catholicorum habeatur, nescio. Ex hac vero dispositione sequitur alios Vicarios Apostolicos, in suis relationibus cum Gubernio, nunquam per seipsos intervenire, sed mediante Vicario Apostolico Madras (in ore Gubernii eorum superiore) omnia tradenda esse.

Hic autem agendi modus mihi videtur dedecus injiciens Episcopatui, cujus honorem et Hierarchiam integre servare debemus, nec non periculo plenus quoad futura tempora. Episcopi enim Madras coram lege humana suis confratribus superiores habiti, in spiritualibus quoque se ipsos superiores esse decursu temporis existimare forte potuerunt. Imo facta quaedam jam afferi possent quibus aliquos sacerdotes Anglos in hanc errorem jam incidisse videtur, existimantes Vicarium Apostolicum Madras jurisdictionem ecclesiasticam habere in tota Provincia civili.

De laïcis et praesertim de acatholicis non loquor qui haec ita se habere naturaliter existimare debent. Atqui talis error fulcitus naturali desiderio Cleri et populi Angli videndi Anglos aut saltem Hibernos omnes episcopos in tota ditione Anglica, nihil aliud est, meo sensu, quam semen novi schismatis Goano schismate magis extimescendi.

Huc usque nihil occasionem mihi dederat publice scribendi ad Vicario Apostolico Madras, et aliunde de supradicta irregularitate persuasus, cautus fui quin aliquid ab eo peterem. At vero paucis elapsis diebus exemplar Epistolae circularis recepi quae ad omnes Episcopos Vicarios Apostolicos Provinciae a Vicario Apostolico Madras missa est, expostulante in nomine Gubernii notas de Missionariis eorumque natali regione, de ecclesiis, etc.

His litteris responsum non dedi, ad Gubernium scribendi cupiens me paratum esse ut illi darem indicia et notas postulata, sed directe non vero per Vicario Apostolico Madras qui superior meus ecclesiasticus minime est. Attamen, cum vicini mei Vicarii Apostolici suum responsum jam dederunt, timui ne talis epistola ad Gubernium missa suspicandi locum daret aliquid discordiae inter membra cleri Catholici. Ideoque, ab omni responso abstinens, directionem a S.C. petere malo. Unde tribus sequentibus dubiis ut S.C. benigne responsum dare dignetur postulo :

l°S.C. approbatne ut Vicarius Apostolicus Madras (qui nullam habet in nos superioritatem a S.S.) pro capite Religionis Catholicae in tota provincia Madras civiliter habeatur ?

2°Tuta conscientia nobis licetne huic errori concurrere ad Gubernium mittendo, mediante Vicario Apostolico Madras, nominationes Capellanorum exercituum et alia omnia quae, natura sua vel exigente gubernio, officialiter mitti debent ?

3°In casu supra exposito, debeone dare responsum epistolae Vic. Ap. Madras, vel ad gubernium in sensu supra dicto scribere, vel tacens remanere ?

Eminentiae Vestrae,

Servus etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. Timores mei de consectariis schismatis Angli vel Hiberni in India minime cadunt in D.D. Episcopum Fenelly, hic et nunc Vicariatum Madras administrantem, sed in principium ipsum. Lusitana Potestas enim si, post tot et tanta in Indii operata pro Religione Catholica, luctabili schismati Goano favere non exhorruit, de qualibet aliacumque Potestate quid merito nobis timendum non est !

(Coimbatore, 21 November 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(letter no. 1)

Coimbatore, 21 November 1851

Most Eminent and Reverend Lord,

Before my elevation to the episcopate, how things arrived at the point that the apostolic vicars of Madras were led to give their assent to the arrangement of the Governor, according to which only the apostolic vicar of that town is regarded as the head of the Catholics by the civil authority, I do not know. But, from this arrangement, it follows that the other apostolic vicars, in their relations with the Governor, never intervene directly, but all questions are dealt with through the apostolic vicar of Madras (their superior in the mouth of the Governor).

This way of doing things seems to me a dishonour thrown on the episcopate, the honour and hierarchy of which we should serve with equity, and also full of danger as far as future times are concerned. In fact, the bishops of Madras, considered as superior to their confreres by the civil law, might perchance come to think, as time goes on, that they are likewise their superiors in spiritual things. What is more, certain facts could be related which show that certain English priests have already fallen into this error, considering that the apostolic vicar of Madras possesses an ecclesiastical jurisdiction throughout the civil Province.

I am not speaking of the lay and even less the non-Catholics who must think that things are naturally thus. But such an error, sustained by the natural desire of the English clergy and people to see the English bishops or even the Spanish bishops under English dependency, is no less, in my opinion, than the seed of a new schism even more to be feared than the schism of Goa.

Until now, I have not had the opportunity of writing publicly to the apostolic vicar of Madras, and besides, persuaded of the aforesaid irregularity, I have taken care not to ask anything of him. But a few days ago, I received a copy of a circular letter that had been sent out to all the apostolic vicars of the Province by the apostolic vicar of Madras, asking for information on the missionaries, their places of origin, on the churches, etc.

I have not answered this letter ; I am prepared to write to the Governor to give him the information and notes requested, but I wish to do so directly and not through the apostolic vicar of Madras, who is in no way my ecclesiastical superior. However, since the apostolic vicars who are my neighbours have already sent their answers, I feared that such a letter sent to the Governor might lead him to suspect some discord among the members of the Catholic clergy. For this reason, refraining thus far from giving an answer, I prefer to seek counsel of the Sacred Congregation. Accordingly, I hereby request the Sacred Congregation to be so good as to answer the three following doubts :

1) Does the Sacred Congregation approve the fact that the apostolic vicar of Madras (who has no superiority over us conferred by the Holy See) is regarded civilly as the head of the Catholic religion in the whole province of Madras ?

2) Does any sure conscience permit us to contribute to this error by sending to the Governor, through the apostolic vicar of Madras, the names of the military chaplains and other things that, by their nature or at the Governor's request, should be sent officially ?

3) In the case illustrated heretofore, should I send an answer to the letter of the apostolic vicar of Madras, or write to the Governor in the aforesaid way, or else not reply?

Your Eminence's

Servant, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. My fears that an English or Spanish schism might ensue in India do not arise in any way from His Excellency Mgr Fennelly, insofar as he administers the vicariate of Madras, but from the principle itself. In fact, if the Portuguese power, after doing so very much for the Catholic religion in India, has not feared to promote the grievous schism of Goa, should we not fear precisely that from any other power whatsoever !

(Coimbatore, 21 November 1851)

Sent_0516

Sent_0516 - à la Propagande, n° 2 - le 21 novembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0516 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 2 - 21 November 1851 /2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0516 - à la Propagande, n° 2 - le 21 novembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0516 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 403-404

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

As a result of the difficulty of obtaining real flour in India, he asks permission to make consecrated wafers in a rather particular way.

Index : canon law

__________

Coimbatore, 21 November 1851

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

In hac regione, difficillimum est conficere panes Eucharisticos ex farina proprie dicta ; unde consuetudo orta est (exceptis forsitan locis in quibus faciliter haberi potest farina ex Europa) panem conficiendi ex granis contritis et per aliquas horas in aqua infusis, non tamen usque ad corruptionem. Quae grana manibus comprimant ut, ex materia alba adveniente, panes conficiant ferro calido, modo ex Europa consueto. Aliquod habeo scrupulum de tali confectione. Nam

1°Si, panem conficientes, maximam attentionem non adhibeant, triticum relinquere possunt in aqua usque ad corruptionem saltem inceptam.

2°Tota substantia tritici non mihi videtur in tali pane contineri.

3°Talis materia mihi videtur appropinquare amydum ex quo practice Panis Eucharisticus confici non debet. Aliunde, de farina ex Europa adveniente, valde dubitandum est utrum pura sit vel non, cum omnibus notum sit mercatores mixturas innumerabiles facere.

Unde humiliter quaero

1°Utrum licita sit supradicta confectio panis pro missa.

2°Si non sit licita, quid debeam facere, praesertim cum illa consuetudo vigeat in diversis partibus Indiae.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 21 November 1851)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

Coimbatore, 21 November 1851

Most Eminent and Reverend Lord,

In this region, it is very difficult to make eucharistic bread with real flour, whence the habit has arisen (save perhaps for those places where it is easy to obtain flour from Europe) of making the bread from grains crushed and soaked in water for a few hours, but not however until alteration takes place. These grains are kneaded with the hands so that, from the white matter obtained from it, wafers are made using a hot iron, the customary way in Europe. I have certain scruples regarding the making in this way, for :

1) if when making the bread, great attention is not paid, the wheat may be left in the water until some alteraton has at least begun to occur :

2) not all the substance of the wheat seems to me to be contained in such bread ;

3) such matter seems to me to be close to starch, from which eucharistic bread should not be made. On another hand, as regards the flour coming from Europe, there is assuredly some doubt as to whether this is really pure, for it is well known that the merchants make innumerable mixtures.

In view of all of which, I humbly ask :

1) Is the aforesaid method of making bread for mass licit ?

2) If it is not licit, what should I do, above all since this habit exists in various parts of India ?

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 21 November 1851)

Sent_0517

Sent_0517 - au journal l'Examiner - le 25 novembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0517 - to the newspaper The Examiner - 25 November 1851 /1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0517 - au journal l'Examiner - le 25 novembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0517 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 402-403

(to the editors of The Examiner)

Compliments to the editors of the newspaper for their spirit and zeal. He sends 10 rupees more than his subscription.

Index : newspapers, congratulations

__________

Coimbatore, 25 November 1851

I regret that the needs of all kinds in which my mission finds itself do not permit me to be more generous towards you. All that I can do at the present time is to send you 10 rupees over and above our one-year subscription. I have requested Mr Bonjean to write to you in this regard and to send you this small offering.

I pray the Lord to bless your good intentions and to ensure that the work that you have undertaken exclusively for his glory, in the courageous defence of our holy religion, does not perish before it has yielded its fruits.

I take advantage of this occasion to congratulate you on the spirit and the editing of your newspaper, which besides cannot but perfect itself day by day if your zeal succeeds in assuring its lasting existence.

I beg you, Gentlemen, to receive the assurance of my distinguished consideration.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 25 November 1851)

Sent_0518

Sent_0518 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er décembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0518 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 December 1851 /2

Sent_0518 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er décembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0518 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 423.425-426

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 404

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Mr Lefeuvre has just arrived. Our personnel is now complete. I am not in favour of the annexation of Quilon by Coimbatore. Some words on the necessary reform of the MEP regulations and on the letter on usages (letter no. 0499), receipt of which has just been acknowledged by Propaganda.

Index : missionaries, MEP regulations, Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, 1 December 1851

My Lord,

Mr Lefeuvre arrived only yesterday, not without difficulty and some accident in the midst of the muds and streams transformed into rivers.

This dear confrere completes the personnel of our little vicariate for, as long as things remain as they are, I have written to the Gentlemen of Paris not to send me any more missionaries. I now have one for each pangou, one for the seminary and two whom I propose to assign specially to the pagans. I am eager to attempt this work that I commend very specially to your prayers.

I answered Paris that I did not think that Quilon could be joined to Coimbatore. The nature of the two peoples is too different, as well as their usages and the administration proper for them. Since I am not acquainted with Mangalore, I declined to say anything about that mission.

I can imagine Y.L.'s reluctance to take over the white town of Pondicherry if the S.C. so desires, but I cannot prevent myself from desiring it for the good.

Although the reasons given by the Gentlemen of Paris for keeping the missionaries returning to France away from the Seminary in accordance with the regulations appear good to me, it seems to me that they themselves are going against the regulations, if they force these confreres to retire. This is yet one more proof that our poor regulations are in need of reform.

I received by the last steamer out from Bombay a letter from the S.C. acknowledging receipt of the work I sent to it on the usages we observe and which disturb the conscience of many of us. The S.C. appears to want to deal seriously with this question. I hope that after mature deliberation it will decide on our behaviour in a sure manner.

Otherwise nothing new here ; life jogs along quietly as usual.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, please believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 1 December 1851)

Sent_0519

Sent_0519 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 décembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0519 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 December 1851 /2

Sent_0519 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 décembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0519 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 404-406

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

My reluctance to send you copy of my letter to the S.C. (letter no. 0499). The S.C. asks for further clarifications on Indian usages. I would willingly undertake a little work based on the Scriptures, the Fathers and the History of the Church ; but it would be necessary for us to meet up before that with My Lord of Jassen. Is the future beatification of Joan de Britto not an encouragement for us to continue in our present way in India regarding rites ?

Index : Indian usages, Rome (authority), meeting

__________

Coimbatore, 10 December 1851

Why I am reluctant to send him a copy of my letter to the S.C.

But now, see My Lord, whichever way the balance of your wisdom falls regarding my reluctance to hand over to you a copy of this letter, or Y.L.'s desire to have it, I will abide by your decision, and if in your next letter you still evince the desire to have such a copy, I will send it to you.

I have also received the circular of the S.C.

We should not have any illusions on the faults which our practice might still contain. Our own salvation is affected by it; we must emerge from the present doubt. But we find ourselves torn between two obligations : to frankly enlighten Rome on everything that is done, and to uphold, if possible, our present behaviour ; if possible, I say, without compromising either the evangelical faith or morality. This is what I tried to do in my letter to the S.C.

But I seem to note by certain terms in the circular and in the letter I received some days earlier, that the impression of the S.C. is strongly pronounced against the usages that we still tolerate. I would feel like undertaking a small work which would seek to show :

1) that the usages that we tolerate do not go against the letter of the gospel.

2) that if they do depart from its spirit, they do not do so essentially, but accidentally, as imperfections that we can tolerate and that we must tolerate if we can, under pain of shutting the door of heaven to thousands of souls.

If Y.L. approved my carrying out this work, that would encourage me greatly, above all if you suggested some good reasons. Such reasons would have to be based on the Holy Scriptures, or on the Fathers or the History of the Church. It seems to me that if this matter takes a serious turn at Rome, it would be good for us to meet up in order to reach a better understanding and proceed in harmony also with My Lord of Jassen.

I hope that, in a few weeks' time, our house in Ootacamund will provide us, if not with a finished lodging, at least with some apartments sheltered from the wind. Would this not be a suitable place for such a meeting ? It seems to me that Y.L. has every reason to refuse Chandernagor.

P.S. Could it not be that the Holy Spirit has inspired the present beatification of the venerable Joan de Britto, who died as a martyr in Madurai ? He did all that we do and a hundred times more. How can the S.C. condemn us when the decree of 3rd of the calends of October of that year runs : "As he noted that this saint had in no way used the rites in question in the manner of the Gentiles, who attach a superstitious value to them, but had merely accommodated himself to them, as common procedures in civil life, the Pope (Benedict XIV), after praying greatly and having celebrated the holy mysteries, issued on the sixth day of the nones of July of the same year (1741) the following decree : the rites objected to by the Promoter of the Faith are not, in the present case, such as to prevent them being passed over, etc... " (taken from L'Univers of 9 October 1851)."

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 10 December 1851)

Sent_0520

Sent_0520 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 26 décembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0520 - to Mgr Bonnand - 26 December 1851 /2

Sent_0520 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 26 décembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0520 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 427-430

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 409-411

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

As in letter no. 0519, he reiterates his reluctance to send him a copy of his letter to the S.C. on Indian usages (letter no. 0499), It would be better to discuss things in person. He once more explains the why and the wherefore of his way of doing things and the limits within which he intends to stay.

Index : Indian usages, Rome (authority), jurisdiction, conscience

__________

Carumattampatty, 26 December 1851

My Lord,

Your letter of the 19th pained me very much. I am glad, seeing how you interpret my proceeding, that I did not send my work to Pondicherry, despite often having had the desire to do so. More than ever, I see that it is by speaking, and not by writing, that agreement can be reached on such matters.

Besides, my reluctance to allow this document outside my archives was not a refusal to Y.L. Would you kindly re-read my letter of the 10th to convince yourself that this is so ; but following what Y.L. has seen fit to write to me, in exchange for the filial trust that I have never thus far ceased to evince to you, I am forced to admit that my words may have been understood otherwise than I intend, which lays on me, more than ever, the obligation to be on my guard and not to send a copy of my letter to the S.C. I have to say to Y.L. :

1) that I do not meddle in other people's apostolic vicariates ;

2) that I obey the S.C. when it orders me to write to it, whatever the subject of its request;

3) that I have not sent anything of what was written by Mr Leroux to Rome ;

4) that I have still not made any use of the communications that that dear confrere saw fit to entrust to me ;

5) that if the occasion arises to use such, as also the communications to me by anyone whomsoever, I will make loyal use of them;

6) that I have only written to the S.C. as a matter of conscience;

7) that the goal I set myself in telling it of my own practice was :

to dispel a doubt in which I cannot in conscience remain ;

  1. to obtain approval of such behaviour, if it is legitimate, so as to be in a position to direct all my cooperators in a uniform way and put an end to the diversity of actions consequent on the diversity of opinions ;
  2. to frankly abandon it if, despite all the reasons that we may allege, it is judged illegitimate, and to direct in a uniform way once more all my missionaries in the sense of the decisions taken by Rome ;
  3. 8) that I have prayed and begged the S.C. not to decide anything regarding my report before consulting with evangelical workers well versed in these matters, who are wiser and more intelligent than me ;

9) that I was pained to see that the S.C. used in our regard, in its circular, terms which make me fear that its final judgment may be against Y.L.'s opinion, which continues to be mine also, but which I am prepared to lay down if the S.C. should so require ;

10) that I will do all I can to avoid the salvation of the Indians being made more difficult than it already is, but without risking my own salvation thereby ;

11) that, in order to achieve this purpose, it would be advisable for Y.L., My Lord of Jassen and myself to agree completely;

12) that it is not my fault, if I have not come to a more explict understanding with Y.L.

I beg you, My Lord, not to believe that the laconicism of these propositions is an attempt to reply pain for pain to the deep sorrow that the form and substance of your letter have caused in my soul, but merely to express in an exact way the truths that I cannot prevent myself from making known to you.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Your Lordship's

very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, 26 December 1851)

Sent_0521

Sent_0521 - à Mgr Luquet - le 28 décembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0521 - to Mgr Luquet - 28 December 1851 /2

Sent_0521 - à Mgr Luquet - le 28 décembre 1851 -/2

Sent 0521 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 617-620

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 409-411

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

He has just received one of his works and congratulates him on it. He goes on to tell him that he has nothing but compliments to make for his mission in Switzerland and also for other works of his. He then explains why he has practically stopped writing to him and comes back to the indispensable role of Rome to settle the difficult problems of India.

Index : friendship. Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 28 December 1851

My Lord and dear friend,

A few days ago, I received your Etudes historiques sur le Saint-Bernard() and the first nine numbers of your Souvenirs of the French expedition to Rome. I have read all of this avidly and with very great pleasure.

I tell you this without reticence, for you know that I am a man who speaks without mental reservations to those to whom he has vowed true friendship. I was all the more happy to read your work on Saint Bernard and the letter serving as introduction since, without blaming (for I cannot see that you are clearly to blame) your behaviour, in the difficult affairs of your mission to Switzerland, I could not simply uphold you in the face of your adversaries, since I no longer saw clearly that you had acted quite prudently.

Accordingly my friendship for you has nothing to regret now, in this phase of your existence, except the very acceptation of this dangerous mission that I have never understood on your part, and perhaps also some expressions in your note to Vorort(

) which, while they seem to me true, at the same time strike me as inopportune.

Apart from that, what I praise without exception in these works is your admirable devotion for the holy cause of the Gospel, pursued in all parts and without discouragement, in the midst of the reverses and perhaps also in the face of certain ingratitudes, with a remarkable talent of erudition and, on capital points that concern the holy Church, with an aptness of vision more worthy than will very probably be appreciated.

In it I found many of my ideas, those ideas which fitted so well with yours on so many points, during the time, all too short for me, in which I had the opportunity of keeping up with you.

May the Holy Spirit breathe into the souls of those without whom our devotion will remain without other fruit than the reward which He who appreciates all justice will not fail to give us. May, further, that Spirit of intelligence and of life keep us always in a holy humility, which puts us constantly on our guard, even when it seems clear to us that we are upholding justice, and which maintains our willingness to recognise our error if at times it happens that we take it for truth.

By certain notes, I see that you have updated some works of yours that I do not know : Your Voyage dans l'Inde, Dei pericoli presenti della società, Vie complète d'Anna Maria Taigi and perhaps others. Some time ago, I received your Lettres au clergé protestant d'Allemagne and L'abrégé de la vie de la susdite Anna. I have never spoken to you of these two works because, in the midst of many things that gave me pleasure, there are certain others that pained me. Now I did not want to say the one without the other ; I preferred to be silent and to wait until I had cause to praise you, as you so nobly give me the occasion for doing today.

You would give me great pleasure by sending me those of your works that I do not know, above all your Voyage dans l'Inde. With what joy I would see that you have gone back on certain appreciations, to my mind inexact, contained in your previous writings on Indian matters, and that you only put forward, I feel sure, because you had not had time to become sufficiently acquainted with the ground that you were cultivating.

I would have liked very much to bring you up to date on our difficulties in India, but as I will tell you with my usual frankness, the laconicism of your letters, the time I spent waiting for them, and the doubt that you have left in my soul of whether I was giving you pleasure or pain by speaking so frankly stopped me. Besides, the good of religion, in my eyes so greatly possible in these parts, is impeded almost everywhere by innumerable obstacles which seem destined never to be overturned.

Rome is our only resource, but it is so distant despite the steamer which we fail to make full use of, and it is so difficult to give it an exact knowledge of things, that I dare hope no longer. On the contrary, I have grounds to fear the greatest misfortunes for the poor Indians. Very often, I have had the idea of picking up my pen and writing a book, but it has remained paralysed. Who would read my poor jargon ? Above all when the most delicate subjects would have to be dealt with, not without danger of always maintaining the balance between two precipices.

A Dieu. Pray for your poor friend who does not forget you a single day before the Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 28 December 1851)

Sent_0522

Sent_0522 - à sa mère - le 28 décembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0522 - to his mother - 28 December 1851 /2

Sent_0522 - à sa mère - le 28 décembre 1851 -/1

Sent 0522 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 154-155

(to his mother)

To wish her a happy New Year to her as well as to the other members of the family. He speaks of the building of the church in Coimbatore.

Index : attachment (family), building

__________

Coimbatore, 28 December 1851

My very dear mother,

Although I wrote to my father last month, and am very busy at the moment, I do not wish to send off my packet for Europe, without putting into it a little note which will bring to my family the very best wishes I send you at the approach of the New Year. I beg you, dear mother, to kindly accept them. And if they do not always produce all that they contain, they are like a foretaste of that perfect happiness which will not fail to come about elsewhere than on this earth of our exile.

Would you be so kind, also, please, as to pass on these same wishes for my excellent father, for my beloved brother, for my dear sisters and for all those who are close to us through the sweet bonds of blood or friendship.

Since my last letter to my father, nothing new has happened here, my whole time is occupied as master mason, for I have been supervising the building of the foundations of a big church here. I do not know when it will be finished, or if I will finish it, depending on what divine Providence sends us. But I have drawn up the plan, as if I were sure of devoting thirty thousand francs to it by means of which I hope to carry out a work which in France would cost 45,000 or 50,000 francs. My health is as good as ever. A Dieu.

Of your children,

The most respectful and the most loving.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 28 December 1851)

Sent_0523

Sent_0523 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0523 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 January 1852 /1

Sent_0523 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0523 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 431-432.434

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 412

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

To wish a Happy New Year to him and to the missionaries of the vicariate of Pondicherry.

.

Index : friendship, civilities

__________

Coimbatore, 1 January 1852

My Lord,

More than ever, I feel the need to tell you how warm and sincere are the wishes that I address to heaven for your happiness. I have not failed to pray to our good Master and Saviour, during the holy sacrifice of this first day of the year, that he will deign to shower on your person, on all your missionaries and on your vicariate, his sweetest and most abundant blessings. I hope that, for your part, Y.L. will see fit to address to heaven your prayers for my poor person and the vicariate of Coimbatore.

I ask you, My Lord, to convey my very best wishes also to your missionaries, and to believe me, in union of prayer,

  * My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 1 January 1852)

Sent_0524

Sent_0524 - à Mgr de Chyrra - le 3 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0524 - to Mgr of Chyrra - 3 January 1852 /2

Sent_0524 - à Mgr de Chyrra - le 3 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0524 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 412-413

(to Mgr Tiburce Martini, archbishop of Chyrra

(apostolic bishop of Verapoly)

I am happy that you are leaving for Rome, but do your utmost to postpone your departure by one month and come and see me. For the good of India, I wish to inform you of things that it would be well for you to know before leaving.

Index : Indian usages, meeting, Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 3 January 1852

I am glad of his forthcoming departure for Rome.

Yes, I would have many things to say to you, for the S.C. and I truly regret that I cannot see you and converse with you prior to your departure. If I did not fear to arouse dangerous susceptibilities, I would leave this very day for Verapoly.

You have not forgotten, I think, the communication I had with you on what I wrote to Rome, a few days after having obtained your opinion, on the usages, ceremonies, etc. that we tolerate in this part of India. This matter is well under way, and if it is well dealt with, could have the happiest of results ; on the contrary, it could have fatal results if it is not perfectly conducted.

Now it could happen that, against our will, we might appear to contradict each other, although we are in agreement, if we do not reach a perfect understanding, and for that we would need to communicate face to face, we would have to meet up. I also have other affairs in Rome that I believe it would be advantageous, for the good, for Y.L. to know exactly.

Accordingly I will venture to say to you, My Lord, that it seems to me, for the good of India in general, that Y.G. would do well to postpone your departure by one month and to come and spend a few days here. For Y.G., it is a question of two days by palanquin, not counting the night on the river in your boat. I think I can assure you that you will not have cause to regret this trouble, that I would willingly have spared you by going myself to Verapoly ; but once I have said and made you see all, you will be the first to recognise that I should not go there.

Accordingly, I beg you, My Lord, for the good of India, that good which is the only reason which makes Y.G. act, and the only one (as God is my witness) acting on my soul, postpone your departure for one month and come and see me before leaving. I have many things to say to you. Come for the love of Jesus Christ. I hope that you will not refuse me this consolation that you will grant not to my friendship, however great it may be for Y.G., but in the interest of our missions, far more precious than any human consolation.

I await with impatience a letter from Y.G. telling me that you will come and in the meantime I beg you, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 3 January 1852)

Sent_0525

Sent_0525 - à M. Dupuis - le 10 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0525 - to Mr Dupuis - 10 January 1852 /2

Sent_0525 - à M. Dupuis - le 10 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0525 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 413-414

(to Mr Louis Dupuis)

(apostolic pro-vicar)

Your experience and your knowledge will, I hope, make it a duty for you to help clarify the question of the permitted and forbidden usages, whatever your personal opinion is. Our practice is defensible.

Index : Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, about 10 January 1852

Matters regarding the printing press.

Has he received from Rome the authorisation to translate the Holy Bible into Tamoul ? I think he is acquainted with the circular Rome has sent us.

On all sides, I fear greatly for the poor Indians. If our practice is really to be condemned, what a misfortune for them, for I cannot believe that even the Christian Indians will be strong enough to give up what we thus far believed could be tolerated. If our practice is defensible, I still fear because of the number of our adversaries, the ease they have in attacking what will prove very difficult to defend, and because of the difficulty we will have of maintaining our line in the discussion. A perfect agreement would be required between the principal evangelical workers in India who believe our practice at least in general legitimate.

[...] Your experience and your knowledge will, I hope, make it a duty for you to help clarify the question, whatever your personal opinion may be, for, in these sorts of questions, one sometimes changes opinion as one further develops cognizance of the subject, as testified by Mr Jarrige.

What My Lord of Jassen writes to me on it.

Despite this, dear Mr Dupuis, I still believe that our practice in is general tenable ; what I fear the most, is the way in which we decide to uphold it. I continue to hope that you will come to our help. A Dieu. Pray for your confrere and friend.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, about 10 January 1852)

Sent_0526

Sent_0526 - à la Propagande, n° 3 - le 12 janvier 1852 -/8

Sent 0526 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 3 - 12 January 1852 /8

Sent_0526 - à la Propagande, n° 3 - le 12 janvier 1852 -/8

Sent 0526 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F11, pp 317-336

Brésillac mention , AMA 2F6, p 414

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 3) ()

Here are certain considerations to be added to my letter on usages (letter no. 0499). Let us be very prudent before condemning any usages and study carefully how far the gospel allows us to go. A mentality other than ours may draw principles from the eternal Wisdom and practical consequences different from ours. What happiness if we could arrive at a clear and unanimous solution ! Alas, your last circular leads us to think that you incline rather to the side of severity ! Perhaps the decrees of Cardinal de Tournon are based on information which may not have been sufficiently developed. I have wished to write a detailed treatise on this question, but I am not the right man for that. It is true that there is some doubt in our conduct, and only Rome can dispel this doubt. Rome should bring together prudent, pious and experienced missionaries : each of them would give his opinion as an individual, after which they would arrive at a common judgment.

A long PS regarding the future beatification of Joan de Britto. The decree issued by the Holy See seems to praise him for what is forbidden to us. Can we not separate in the practice of Indian usages, the religious idea and the civil idea, and allow the usage insofar as it is civil ? What harm would be avoided by this distinction !

Index : Indian usages, general meeting, prudence

__________

Coimbatore, 12 January 1852 ()

Most Eminent Lord,

I have the honour of receiving letters nos. 2 and 3 from the S.C. regarding Indian usages. The second, which is none other than the circular sent out to the Prelates of these parts, asks for information which I have already given and to which, I think, there is no need for me to return. Allow me only to add, on the occasion of this circular, certain considerations to the propositions which preceded the account of the abuses that we tolerate in these missions.

I have spoken to you with enough frankness to hope that you are persuaded of my sincere desire to see an end put to the doubts impeding our ministry, and of my willingness to let the S.C. know everything, without any reticence and without any mental reservation, ready to accept Rome's judgment and to bow down without tergiversation to the sentence it deigns to pronounce. But while I consider it a rigorous obligation to emerge from the state of doubt in which we find ourselves, it is also our no less rigorous obligation to avoid the Holy See, as a result of not being perfectly informed through our negligence, passing fresh condemnations and new decrees, which would close the door of heaven to thousands of souls.

Doubtless we must change our behaviour, if our condescendence is in contradiction with the gospel ; but if there is no contradiction, if this condescendence is on the contrary in accordance with the gospel, if even the gospel allows us more condescendence that we have, what a terrible responsibility would be ours before God if, for having been too severe, if, for having forced Rome to be so by our inexact reports or by obstination in upholding our own thought, we should attempt to indiscriminately pull up the darnel from the Father's field, thereby risking to destroy against his order the good grain for which he will ask account of us?

What apostolic ministry would we have fulfilled if, instead of going all out to win over everyone to Jesus Christ, we had not chosen to go outside of our European habits and ideas, if we had confused the principles of the eternal and unchangeable Wisdom with the practical consequences that the application of our habits have drawn from these principles, and if we should refuse to understand that other habits and other ideas may draw from these same principles other practical consequences very different from ours ?

Let us take care therefore not to render useless the blood of Jesus Christ shed also for these poor peoples, by making ourselves unworthy of our vocation, either from a weakness little becoming apostolic workers, or from pride, the most dangerous of all vices, but which follows us everywhere and often blinds us, either through lack of practical intelligence for which those having some superiority in the missions will be reproached, for they should have graces of their station for directing the peoples entrusted to them, and they are obliged to act accordingly.

How happy we would be if, at a time when there does not, I far as I know, exist among us any violent cause capable of throwing a veil over the intelligence of most decent people, if, at a time when the evangelical workers of India, various and numerous, seem to take nothing so much to heart as working for God's greatest glory, without personal interest, without rivalities between congregations(), without any other prejudice than that which is legitimate through an analogy of the cases still not irrevocably judged with those on which judgment has been passed, how happy we would be, I say, if, at such a favourable moment(), we could arrive at a clear and authentic solution of all the difficulties impeding the progress of the Gospel in these immense regions !

The patience of the S.C. will not fail us. It will not cooperate in the imprudence of those anxious for a reform that would be inopportune if it is not necessary, any more than in the error of those wishing to maintain a practice contrary to the Gospel, if any such practice exists among us.

However, the circular we have just received contains certain terms that have alarmed me, because they lead me to fear that the S.C. already considers it has the duty of using a rigour that will be ruinous for the poor peoples of India (whatever the illusions that many entertain on this point), and which, in my view, would not be absolutely necessary.(

)

For I must say that, if I fear that our practice departs from the spirit of the Gospel, above all in certain points, and if I have drawn the vigilance of the S.C. to this grave doubt, I fear much more that our severity may be misplaced, that it may produce a quite contrary effect to that which a praiseworthy zeal, but to my mind not in accordance with wisdom, would wish to obtain ; that it too might depart from the spirit of Our Lord, from the truly apostolic spirit which has so admirably led the workers to whom the evangelisation of the peoples of Europe was entrusted, but which, by one of those impenetrable decrees of the God's designs, seems sometimes to have been lacking in those who were sent at various times to these regions.()

Party spirit, corporate allegiance, an extreme spirit in the various opinions, national spirit, etc.: these are what seem to me to have been often mixed with the spirit of the Church which is no other than the spirit of Jesus Christ. At times, this foreign spirit has mingled with the spirit of the Gospel without anyone noticing it, merely through the natural inclination leading back to the habits of his childhood even the apostolic man whose spirit has not been thrice soaked in the grace of his vocation. At times, and above all after indulging in quarrels and disputes (for the apostolic spirit is a spirit of peace and not of quarrel, whether the dispute is between one man and another or one society and another), this shortcoming has occurred openly and with scandal to the point, I think, of having forced Rome, in order to avoid an even greater one, to issue decrees founded on the most exact appreciation that it was able to obtain, but that it never has perfectly had, I believe. ()

In the hope of avoiding, if possible, a terrible misfortune to these poor peoples whom I love more than my life, for whom I would give everything but my soul, everything up to the last drop of my blood, but for whose salvation I would not wish to commit a single venial sin deliberately, I have chosen to write a short treatise to be presented to the S.C., in the first part of which I would have tried to prove : (

)

1) that the usages that we tolerate at this moment are not literally opposed to the decree of Cardinal de Tournon, and that they do not fall under the oath that we take ;

2) that they are not against the letter of the gospel ;

3) that if without any doubt they depart from the gospel spirit, they do not do so essentially but accidentally, as imperfections that we may tolerate for very serious reasons, and that we must tolerate if we can, under pain of accounting to God for the damnation of these peoples.()

(NOTE : I mean to speak here of these usages in general, and in particular of those which it would be extremely dangerous to reform. On the contrary, I would not uphold certain of the particularities that I have enumerated in my report, for example that, in certain cases, the priest comes out of the sanctuary and even out of the church to give holy communion to the pariahs.(). This is intolerable, in my opinion, as are certain other practices ; but it would not be difficult to remedy them if the Holy See found the means, quite easy to my mind, of establishing a regular ecclesiastical administration in India.)

In the second part of this treatise, I would have attempted to show :

1) that most of the usages of India have two principles, one civil and the other religious ;

2) that these two principles can very well be distinguished and separated in practice, in such a way as only to observe these usages in the civil and not at all in the religious sense.

3) that it is only for having believed secundum exposita that we were forced to practice a religious act by observing certain practices, that they were prohibited ;

4) that there would be no contradiction in the decrees of Rome if today it left us the liberty on certain practices that it formerly prohibited, providing we found the means of ensuring that the Christians only observed them civilly ;

5) that if we can do all of this, we should, given the nature of these peoples, the circumstances in which they find themselves, etc.

In short, I would have shown that the shortest and surest way of bringing these peoples to the perfection of the evangelical practices is to tolerate first of all these various imperfections in them, if we can do so in conscience. With this tolerance, it appears to me certain that we would come to have a magnificent Church in India. It would only require a little good administration and a few enlightened and prudent bishops. Without it, we will merely be dragging on indefinitely, without ever achieving anything really solid, and if we are obliged to become more severe than we are at present, we will destroy the little good that exists without any hope, I feel morally sure, of ever rebuilding the ruins.

This, Most Eminent Lord, is the idea of a little work that I proposed to carry out and send you. But I left my pen and my hand remained paralysed when I realised that, in order to discuss these difficult questions properly, I was obliged to handle points so delicate that it would require, above all when dealing with them in writing, a man whose devotion to the Holy See was so well known and so proven that no-one could be scandalised by his words. Now I have done nothing to deserve this trust and the S.C. could quite rightly rate me as imprudent and rash.

It would be one thing to speak to you personally on these delicate matters, and quite another to write to you. Verba volant, scripta manent. And I admit that, very often, it happens that I desire to see you and speak to you. If I had only listened to my zeal for the cause of the Missions of India, I would already have undertaken the journey to Rome. But I considered that many bishops have already made this journey, without apparently gathering any great fruits thereby, as a result, I think, of not having come to a firm understanding with their confreres and not having sufficiently prepared the questions connected with our work.

I considered above all that the S.C. does not appear to desire apostolic vicars going to Rome without very grave reasons, etc. Thus I resolved not to undertake this journey myself save some evident necessity, or some serious duty to fulfil, or a desire evinced by the S.C. itself.()

It is now close on twelve years that I am body and soul in the work of the missions, and it seems to me at times (but perhaps this is presumption on my part ?) that the Lord is suggesting certain thoughts to me that it might not be useless to to make known. May God's holy will be done and no other, may it be done without mixing our own will with it !

I believed there might be some duty for me, Most Eminent Lord, to send you these reflections, for fear that, by the account I have given you of the abuses reigning here still, you might think that I am of the opinion that a violent remedy should be found. Oh no, no violence !

My opinion is, it is true, that there is doubt as to the legitimacy of our behaviour, and that we cannot remain in this doubt produced by the diversity of opinions held by very respectable evangelical workers. Only Rome can dispel this doubt, for it is of such a nature as only to yield to that supreme authority. But in theory, so long as Rome has not told us that we have to think the contrary, I am convinced()

1) that our behaviour, which was that of our predecessors, is much less reprehensible that some think and than it would at first appear;

2) that it is only truly reprehensible on points of detail that a good ecclesiastical administration would soon put right, and which, even without it, could still disappear, above all thanks to the authority of the S.C., although with greater difficulty and very probably to be replaced almost immediately by other abuses ;

3) that, if Rome was perfectly acquainted with the morals of these peoples, with their customs, their acts, and the intention inspiring them, etc., not only would it praise the practice of our predecessors in general, but it would encourage us to continue this by reassuring our consciences, and by providing us with the means of avoiding any participation in idolatry, while allowing us to use a condescendence perhaps even greater than that we use at the present time ;

4) that this condescendence would bear abundant fruits in the place of certain ruin that greater strictness would entail.

In short, it seems to me that this condescendence could come about without leaving an appearance of contradiction, always dangerous, with the past. But what, I think, will prevent this happy result is the practical impossibility of the Holy See, even today, receiving perfectly exact reports.

I would fear nothing if, in the thorough examination of these questions, it was possible for the Holy See to discard the opinion of all those who cannot be fit to deal with these questions. Thus : Europeans who have not made any special study of the question, however pious, however well informed, and however prudent they may be in other ways ; all of those who, although in India, deal principally with the spiritual care of the Europeans, such as chaplains of the regiments, chaplains of the English, etc. ; all those whose ministry does not go beyond the eastern limits of the Ghats, given that the peoples that they evangelise are morally further removed from ours, than the inhabitants of Madrid are from the inhabitants of Saint Petersburg ; finally all those who, while exercising the holy ministry with us, have given, on other questions, evidence of a not very solid judgment or exaggeration in their opinions.

If Rome, I say, could discard all those, and only address itself to prudent, experienced missionaries who had given on other questions proof of their prudence and good judgment, I would no longer fear; or rather I would only fear then for those Indians who would not be capable of submitting to the law, if that law was a law of rigour. At that point, their perdition would not be our fault, but would fall back on themselves alone.

And in order for the truth to emerge in its entirety from this consultation, without risking being mingled still with various errors, it would be necessary not only for the missionaries to give their opinions separately ; it would be necessary, if I am not mistaken, for the S.C. to oblige them to meet and to draw up for it, together, a detailed, exact and discussed report, in which the pros and cons of each difficulty would be conscientiously expounded.(

)

Of course, if after the work of such a commission, Rome condemned our present practice and refused to listen to our desires, we would have to admit that our cause is untenable, that we are wrong, and that our own salvation requires us to change our behaviour.

In vain, some could still say thereafter that the thing is not absolutely certain, because the judges, being all Europeans, might have let themselves be influenced by European ideas. This difficulty, which would be a serious one for any other tribunal than that of the Holy See, is inadmissible here, for it goes without saying that God gives special graces to the Holy See to judge soundly of all the cases in the universe, since Jesus Christ set the Holy See up as the head and judge of all the Churches in the world.

Nevertheless, if Rome could neither form the commission of which I have spoken, nor take some other means, suggested to it by its wisdom, just as capable of reassuring all consciences, if it is obliged to base itself on reports made by individuals even by bishops, or if it were suspected that any sort of passion, even praiseworthy, has exclusively dominated those that it is due to consult, there will always remain a door open to the inobservance of its decrees. On the one hand, as on the other, grave men, who may even be very respectable and very pious, may become convinced sooner or later that all these decrees are based secundum exposita, on inexact reports. In this or that circumstance, they will believe it possible to form the awareness that not obseving them to the letter is a need if not a virtue ; that is to say, that the question will never be settled.

It may be objected that by requesting a commission such as the one I have just indicated, I exclude many people from this examination. This is true, but it seems to me that, according to the nature of the question, you will have no difficulty in recognising that it is a painful but rigorous necessity. All other persons than those I indicate for the formation of this commission will only be in a position to give exact information as an exception ; whereas, all those whom I indicate will only be able to give false information as an exception.

Furthermore, I do not say that apart from this commission, one could not also consider the opinion of all the other missionaries. There would undoubtedly be some danger in doing so, but it would also imply an indirect advantage, if only that of making everyone happy, and not allowing people to believe that we have hidden or weakened certain objections. The danger would be avoided if care was taken not to count the votes, but to weigh them carefully, for it is precisely in this case that we should apply the adage : non numeranda sed ponderanda.

However that may be, it appears to me certain that, in the missions of Pondicherry, of Madurai, of Coimbatore, of Mysore, and I believe I could add of Vizagapatam, it would be easy to find a considerable number of missionaries with the qualities required, and whose devotion to the Holy See is as certain as the desire they have to win their own salvation while seeking to gain it for these peoples.

I pray to God to spread his grace and guidance over us, and I beg you, Most Eminent Lord, to believe me,

Your Eminence's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. I had already begun to write these lines, when I read, in a French newspaper l'Univers, that the case of the venerable Joan de Britto was so advanced that the decree has already been issued. The newspaper even gave the translation of this decree and, if we can rely on this translation, the terms employed by the Holy Father give tremendous force to our opinion. The venerable martyr is implicitly praised, in this solemn act, for what we are prohibited from doing, we who are working in the same places as him, who have the same reasons for tolerating what he tolerated, who desire nothing so much as to be able to follow his example, all of which certainly without personal interest, since the observance of what the venerable Joan de Britto has done would necessarily be accompanied by various mortifications from which we are necessarily exempt.

In order to reconcile this decree of beatification with those which impose on us a different practice from that observed by this illustrious missionary, must it not have been that, secundum exposita, Rome thought, on the basis of the testimonies given to it, that the civil part of the usages of India could not be practised without mingling with the religious part which degrades them ? But this is not what the venerable Britto thought, and his testimony is quite liable to cast doubt on the exactness of the testimony of those who, through their reports, undoubtedly well intentioned, but perhaps inexact, have obliged Rome to a severity which has such terrible consequences.

Not only did Joan de Britto observe what we still observe (disregarding certain very reformable particularities in any case), but many other things too. He died as a martyr, it is true, but without retracting at all the behaviour that he had adopted, which he believed to be legitimate and which he was quite prepared to continue for the whole of his life. He observed and tolerated these usages only in their civil sense, without doubt, but no-one attempts to follow them or permit them in any other way.

If we could quote, in the past, particular cases in which certain evangelical workers exceeded, it is said, the practice of Joan de Britto, of Robert de Nobili, of Constant Beschi, etc., this is an excess that everyone will condemn today, and which could only have claimed to be legitimate in the heat of the disputes, and in the light of that partisan spirit of which I spoke earlier, and which must have forced Rome to issue decrees which might perhaps never have taken place, if it was not for the need first and foremost to restore the peace so necessary between the various evangelical workers of the Missions.

Thus, Joan de Britto thought, like us, that it is possible to distinguish and separate, in the practice of Indian usages, the civil idea from the religious idea, and permit the usage insofar as it is civil. How many evils might this clear distinction not have avoided, how much good would it not have done! This venerable martyr is praised, is universally praised (perhaps at the present time we should say this blessed martyr ?) for converting thousands of pagans before his glorious death. But if the missionaries had managed to continue following his example, the same conversions would have continued too.

This is no vain hypothesis, it is no superfluous regret for times past. For those thoroughly acquainted with the character of the peoples of these regions, it is an unquestionable truth. It is even very probable that today even the whole of India or at least all the southern part would be Catholic. And who can say what would be the happy consequences of the complete conversion of a vast country, in the heart of Asia !

Moreover (and this is no illusory theory, I repeat, but an unquestionable truth for those who have seriously studied the character of the Indians), once India had become Christian, most of the usages observed by Robert de Nobili, Britto and the others, would have fallen by themselves. They are too much opposed to the perfection of the gospel spirit (although accidentally in my opinion) for the Christian Indians, once strong in numbers, not to have abandoned them easily, and even joyfully, if they had prudent missionaries and who, since not obliged to continually contradict their tastes, would have managed to make themselves loved.

Straightway, the destiny of the pariahs and other low castes would become what it should be in all ways, and what is expected of Christians who recognise one another as brothers ; while by delaying the conversion of the country, and by trying imprudently and inopportunely to maintain their laws, we are indefinitely prolonging their fate.

Finally this beatification will come once more to corroborate the presumption that the glorious Saint Francis Xavier himself practised and authorised certain of these usages that are so abhorrent to Europeans. It is true that the ministry of this great saint extended very little on this side of the Ghats, but the little that he did in the interior of India leads us to think very definitely that he tolerated at least caste and the principal usages connected with caste.

Whatever happens, the beatification of Joan de Britto will have the most grave consequences in this country : happy consequences and followed by abundant fruits, if our opinion carefully examined by the Holy See deigns to gain its approval, but disastrous and redoubtable consequences in my opinion (and I hope that I am mistaken) if Rome, in its wisdom, finds it necessary to condemn us.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 12 January 1852)

Sent_0527

Sent_0527 - à Mgr de Jaffna - le 25 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0527 - to Mgr of Jaffna - 25 January 1852 /2

Sent_0527 - à Mgr de Jaffna - le 25 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0527 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 414-415

(to Mgr Horace Bettachini, bishop of Torona, apostolic vicar of Jaffna)

Thank you for your wishes. Mr Pajean has made you overtures with a view to going to work with you. Do not give him any hope of being accepted.

Index : transfer of missionaries, civilities, Pajean question

__________

Ootacamund, 25 January 1852

My Lord,

I received only yesterday your letter of the 12th. With all my heart I return the wishes that you were kind enough to make for us at the beginning of this year, and I pray the Lord will shower you, as well as your cooperators and your mission, with his most abundant blessings.

As for the confrere whom you mention, I would view with extreme reluctance Y.L. giving him the slightest hope of welcoming him in your mission. Ours is so poor and unfruitful that necessarily the temptation of leaving it must often occur to the minds of those who have not achieved complete self-abnegation. This temptation must be all the stronger since our missionaries are not bound by vows. Thus, it would be doing a very poor service to our missionaries, and to my mission, to give them the slightest hope of being taken on elsewhere.

Accordingly I hope that Y.L. will not even answer him on this point. In fact this young missionary has qualities, but not only good qualities. I have no need to say more, but I feel sure that Y.L., after some time had passed, would not be so satisfied to have taken him on as you might at first have believed.

Would you kindly convey to your missionaries my very best wishes for the New Year, and believe me, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Ootacamund, 25 January 1852)

Sent_0528

Sent_0528 - à M. Pajean - le 28 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0528 - to Mr Pajean - 28 January 1852 /2

Sent_0528 - à M. Pajean - le 28 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0528 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 415

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

I have just learned that you have made overtures to My Lord of Jaffna with a view to going to work with him. I would never consent to your leaving. Why did you never speak to me of this ?

Index : transfer of missionaries, jurisdiction, overture, Pajean affair

__________

Ootacamund, 28 Januaury 1852

The letter that I received lately from My Lord of Jaffna told me something about your project; I did not speak to you of it in my last letter because I thought that H.L. would not have answered you.

Since in a few days' time I shall be in Coimbatore, we will speak more fully of this question, however I must say as from now :

1) that I am quite persuaded, not to say sure, that you are exposing yourself to a temptation which will be utterly disastrous for you, if you do not immediately repress it and that, far from finding more benefit for your soul, it will bring you only spiritual damage ;

2) that I will never consent to your leaving, above all to go to a neighbouring mission of another congregation, because that would be contributing both to your unhappiness and to a grave direct and indirect harm to the mission that the Holy See has entrusted me with, and whose interests I am obliged to defend ;

3) that I am very grieved to see that you did not instead confide in me regarding this project. It seems to me that this implies not having fully recognised the interest I take in you, of which the Lord knows the measure more than he has allowed you to understand without doubt.

But, whatever grief you have caused me on this point, I will not remember it any more, dear brother in Christ, than all those I have received in this world, providing the good God does you the grace of not going any further along the dangerous path which you have imprudently taken. In case God should refuse you this grace, it is above all you that I would feel sorry for.

I commend myself to your good prayers, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Ootacamund, 28 January 1852)

Sent_0529

Sent_0529 - au P. Semeria - le 28 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0529 - to Father Semeria - 28 January 1852 /2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0529 - au P. Semeria - le 28 janvier 1852 -/1

Sent 0529 Brésillac copy AMA 2F6, pp 415-417

(to the Reverend Father Semeria)

(Superior of the Oblates at Jaffna)

What a surprise it was for me to learn that you have just written to Mr Pajean, telling him that he could be received by the Oblates ! Without an order from the S.C., I would never agree to that. What happiness if our congregations only sought to help one another !

Index : transfer of missionaries, collaboration, overture, Pajean affair

__________

Ootacamund, 28 January 1852

Reverend Father,

In the last few days I received a letter from My Lord of Jaffna, in which H.L. spoke to me of the project Mr Pajean has of entering his mission. I answered him and I had grounds for hoping that H.L., as a good neighbour and confrere, would have written nothing to Mr Pajean before receiving my answer.

Accordingly what was my astonishment on learning just now from Mr Pajean himself that not only has H.L. answered him leaving him the hope of receiving him, but that you yourself have written to Mr Pajean that he would be received in your congregation ; and this before having reached agreement with me and without having said anything to me of the overture that he had made you regarding this project, as he says, on our passing through Jaffna. I must say that this causes me the utmost grief. I was far from thinking that the edification that I had found at Jaffna, and that I believed without ulterior motive, also had its covert side.

I am singularly astonished that you have not yet understood to how many temptations, discouragement and consequently changes, are exposed in the missions (above all if the latter are poor and unfruitful like ours) certain spirits who should be encouraged to persevere in the way that divine Providence has laid before them, instead of holding out to them the hope of a change, almost always for the worse, whatever the appearance of good that the demon gives it.

So that I have the honour of informing you that, save an order from the S.C., I will never consent to the departure of one of my missionaries for a neighbouring mission.

It would be quite a different matter to help one another in difficult cases. What happiness it would be for me to see that the various congregations dealing with missions are sisters and treat one another as sisters, that without fear that one of them might lead the members of the other astray, they could help one another, visit one another, be mutually edifying and of mutual succour, etc. ! But for that, it is absolutely necessary in the mission above all that care be taken not to encourage the temptations which may arise in some as in the others.

However great is the blow I have just received, on seeing that you have entertained relations which I believed I should not have expected before you had spoken of them to me, I am quite prepared to forget this sorrow and to maintain the esteem in which I hold you, providing you let Mr Pajean know clearly that he has no hope of being received in your congregation, at least in India.

I commend myself to your prayers and holy sacrifices, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Ootacamund, 28 January 1852)

Sent_0530

Sent_0530 - aux directeurs - le 5 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0530 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 5 February 1852 /2

Sent_0530 - aux directeurs - le 5 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0530 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 82

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 417

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

How much better formed for self-abnegation missionaries need to be! What should be done if all, or several, only find the same thing to their taste? Some positive results in the last year. I have just heard that Mr Pajean was trying to go over to the Oblates.

Index : Pajean affair, apostolic virtues, abnegation, moral difficulties

__________

Coimbatore, 5 February 1852 (

)

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

How we are being put to the test of late ! I will write to you at greater length hereafter. I have only time to tell you that, on all sides, hearts are shattered. Finally I hoped soon to put into effect the project of devoting two missionaries to the special work of conversion of the Gentiles. To do that, I was waiting until Messrs Malhaire and Lefeuvre could speak Tamoul, to entrust them with a Christian community and devote two of the older missionaries to the aforesaid work.

Unfortunately all our missionaries are far from being able to fill all posts. Oh what need there would be for them to be more solidly formed in self-abnegation, in indifference for such and such a function, etc. ! What can be done if all, or only several, only have a taste for the same thing and if, in placing them against their taste, that clearly risks leading them to discouragement, or to exposing the Christian communities for whom their character is ill suited ?...

In brief, the demon does not waste his time. The year that has just closed has had some good results against him. Quite apart from the sacraments which have been more numerous, and I think better received, we have removed from his power more pagans than ever, and he foresees that this is only the beginning ; he seeks to destroy the instruments of this happy result, by discouraging the missionaries, by working on their imagination, etc. I have just learned that Mr Pajean is doing his best to leave our Society and to pass over to other missions. The demon of the schism is also hard at work and disturbing certain villages, etc., etc.

I commend myself to your good prayers, in the union of which I ask you to believe me,

Your devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 5 February 1852)

Sent_0531

Sent_0531 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 11 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0531 - to Mgr Bonnand - 11 February 1852 /2

Sent_0531 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 11 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0531 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 435-438

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 417

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Short letter : the new house at Ootacamund, the statement on the administration for 1851, Mr Pajean's desire to go elsewhere.

Index : news, Pajean affair, building

__________

Coimbatore, 11 February 1852

My Lord,

This morning I received letters from the East that Y.L. was good enough to pass on to me. My Lord of Mascula says that he is sending Y.L. a communication which you will share with me. I hoped that at least on the envelope Y.L. would say a word or two of your news. And so I turned the paper over and over and, niente ! I hope that Y.L. continues to enjoy good health.

I have just come back from the mountain where I went to spend three weeks to complete the work for this year on a house that we are building there and which has encountered certain difficulties. This means that it will cost us more than it is worth. What is to be done? Souami Sittam (). Now there are three rooms that can be lived in, the rest can wait.

I have just completed the statement on the administration of the mission for 1851. The year was good, but the devil is not happy ; he is stirring in various forms and is bothering us at this moment in different ways. Let us pray.

(Soli) Mr Pajean is working to leave the mission and the Society for Foreign Missions to go elsewhere. Would you kindly not speak of this yet, because I still have some hope of making him give up this project.

I commend myself to the memento of the very holy sacrifice, asking you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 11 February 1852)

Sent_0532

Sent_0532 - à M. Bonjean - le 20 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0532 - to Mr Bonjean - 20 February 1852 /2

Sent_0532 - à M. Bonjean - le 20 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0532 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 417-418

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

The priests of Goa have made an attempt at Coimbatore. This letter is to encourage the missionary responsible for the place to go and find the Collector. He gives him several reasons for obtaining a decision in his favour.

Index : schism of Goa, civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 20 February 1852

I have just received your letter of the 18th. Not only do I authorise you to go and speak to the Collector, but I think that you would have done well to presume such authorisation.

Make it known that we have been in possession of these churches for over ten years, that the obligation in which we find ourselves to uphold the rights of the Holy See, whatever happens, will force us, in any case, to preach to the people that they cannot in conscience adhere to priests who have no jurisdiction, for this will necessarily nurture troubles from which they have been so happily free for over ten years.

That if they have alleged frivolous reasons to him, seek to destroy them ; for example, the vari() for the priest and the church is a very small and voluntary tax, levied from time immemorial, and absolutely necessary not for us, but for the upkeep of the churches for which we give three or four times more funds from the mission than we receive. The only difference there is between us and the priests of Goa from this point of view, is that they, necessarily needing this contribution in order to live, demand it much more vigorously and obtain it far more readily.

That as regards the vari of the seminary, it is even more voluntary, since it is not demanded under spiritual penalties (the only ones that we use for forcing the Christians to meet their obligations) and everyone is free to give what he wants for the upkeep of their children who are brought up in the seminary.

Try to make him see the danger for the peace of the Christians if, as a result of any discontent in religious administration, they have the possibility of themselves changing their priests. Try to obtain on behalf of the priest of the pangou of Carumattampatty, and even on my behalf if it is necessary to assert it, something that allows people to recognise that we are in possession of the spiritual administration of these churches.

If he proved docile, you could quote to him what happened on the subject of this same priest at Atticodou, where the government of Cochin having clearly recognised that the administration of the church, where he had come to disturb the Christians, belonged to us, gave order that that priest should immediately leave the place.

In brief, very dear confrere, do all you can in respect of the Collector, and then let us address ourselves above all to God who will give us, I hope, a more effective assistance than that of men and who will be able, I hope, to turn the evil into good.

Keep me informed of everything that you come to learn up there and of the inclinations of the Collector. Tell me if and when he should come here. A Dieu...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 20 February 1852)

Sent_0533

Sent_0533 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 23 février 1852 -/2

Sent 0533 - circular to his missionaries - 23 February 1852 /2

Sent_0533 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 23 février 1852 -/2

Sent 0533 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 418-420

(circular to his missionaries)

We are now sufficient in number for me to devote two missionaries specially to preaching to the Gentiles. We will begin after the retreat in June. At that time you will let me know your thoughts on the best way of proceeding. It would also be necessary for us to have internal regulations for the mission of Coimbatore. Make me your proposals on this subject.

Index : preaching to the Gentiles, annual retreat, internal regulations

__________

Coimbatore, 23 February 1852

Gentlemen and dear Confreres,

Thanks to God and to the zeal that his mercy does not cease to impress on the hearts of the generous priests who dedicate themselves to the Foreign Missions, we are sufficient missionaries, in this vicariate, to give the Christians all the care they can expect from priests foreign to their country, and also to devote some part of our time to the unfortunate pagans, who still groan in great numbers in the darkness of idolatry.

There is no need for me to repeat it to you, for your zeal tells you so quite loudly enough: we could today make ourselves guilty of omission, in a part of our duties, if we were to devote our care exclusively to the Christians. By carefully coordinating his tasks, there is perhaps no missionary in this vicariate who cannot devote a considerable part of his time to the evangelisation of the pagans.

However, quite apart from the solicitude that the missionaries of the districts will never cease to show for this work, it is my intention to dedicate two of you especially to preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. I hope that the two dear confreres recently arrived from Europe will soon be sufficiently competent in the language of the country to be employed either in this work, or in a district, so as to begin, following this year's retreat, that is to say after the month of June, to put this plan into action.

And yet, very dear confreres, there is not one of you who does not realise how difficult it will be to carry through this undertaking satisfactorily. We may even presume that many of our expectations will prove wrong, and that we will see, after some years' experience, that quite a few things may have to be changed in the practice that we adopt. The lack of antecedents and the very extraordinary character of the inhabitants of these parts make this almost certain.

From another point of view, it is very important to avoid from the outset any serious mistake, of the kind that risks compromising the future. For this reason I would ask you as from now, in the Lord, to reflect on the difficulties implied by this undertaking and the means of overcoming them, so as to be in a position to share your thoughts with me at the general council which will follow the retreat. Besides, let us put our trust in God and pray him to enlighten us ; then let us combine our ideas as we meet in his name and for his greatest glory, and the Lord will be in our midst, I hope, to let us know his will and prevent us from falling into the errors that our ignorance could not fail to produce.

Another thing, very dear confreres, that we can scarcely postpone any longer is the drafting of final regulations for the vicariate. Until these come into existence, the draft regulations now in force will of course continue to be obligatory and it is not permitted to depart from them without authorisation ; but since they are not sufficiently explicit, it is easy to allow oneself to adopt particular practices, inspired by the thoughts of the moment, and without sufficiently distrusting one's own will. But now that we are numerous, how many drawbacks may this not lead to ? Could we even be sure of excluding the occurrence already of some evil, involuntary without doubt, but almost inevitable, for lack of more detailed regulations which foresee all the needs of the mission ?

I have already drawn your attention to this point, but owing to the difficulties implied by this matter I have obtained little enlightenment from the communications that I asked of you earlier on. I hope that this will not be so once more, and to make less difficult the means of coming to my help, I now ask you to kindly let me know simply what things you would like to see included in our regulations.

After which I will draw up a list of all the proposals addressed to me in this way, and without saying that it is this or that one of us who expresses such a desire, I will submit it to the council to see what it thinks about it ; and as I have no doubt that you all have the sincere desire to have regulations in perfect harmony with the real needs of the mission, and which help to keep us in the sublime vocation with which heaven has favoured us, I feel confident that I will obtain, in this way, the subject-matter of the regulations best suited to us and that after that, it will be quite simple to put them into words.

And I end up by informing you once more that the annual retreat will take place this year at Carumattampatty, It will open on 23 June in the evening and will finish on 29 June in the morning. On the 29th, at three in the afternoon, the first session of the council will be held which could go on for two or three days if need be. I hope that we will have the pleasure of all coming together at that time, and that it will provide the opportunity for tightening ever more closely the bonds of charity which bind us and in which I ask you to believe me, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 23 February 1852)

Sent_0534

Sent_0534 - à M. Pajean - le 29 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0534 - to M. Pajean - 29 February 1852 /2

Sent_0534 - à M. Pajean - le 29 février 1852 -/1

Sent 0534 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 421

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

I confirm that on 15 July I wrote to the Gentlemen of Paris, asking them to include your name in our registers of admission.

Index : regulations of the MEP, belonging to the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 29 February 1852

My dear Mr Pajean,

In our conversation of the last few days, you tell me that you do not remember having received any letter indicating that you have been definitively included in our Congregation. The letter I wrote to you to inform you of this must be dated from Carumattampatty towards the end of May 1849. It must have been handed over to a coolie(), since the post does not go to Codively where you were staying at that time.

Could it have got lost ? However that may be, on 15 July of that same year, I requested the Gentlemen of Paris to enter your name in our admission registers. Certainly I made it a pleasure to announce it to you, just as I now make it a duty to give you once more written confirmation of the same, in case you have mislaid the letter testifying to your admission.

Believe me completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. The obligation in which I found myself of looking through my secret correspondence, to give you the certainty of the foregoing, revealed to me a fresh subject of grief, added to all those with which it pleases the Lord to gratify me. Bless the hand that plumbs our hearts and sustains us in all sorts of trials !

(Coimbatore, 29 February 1852)

Sent_0535

Sent_0535 - à M. Perceval - le 3 mars 1852 -/1

Sent 0535 - to Mr Perceval - 3 March 1852 /2

Sent_0535 - à M. Perceval - le 3 mars 1852 -/1

Sent 0535 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 422

(to Mr Louis Perceval)

(apostolic missionary)

Regarding difficulties caused by the priests of Goa. Take care not to pass judgment. Leave Aravacouritchi arranging the matter as well as you can. It is from God's grace and from patience that we should first of all await the sinner's conversion.

Index : schism of Goa, civil authorities, patience

__________

Coimbatore, 3 March 1852

As I wrote to you, I sent Mr Bonjean your letter of 21 February as soon as I had received it. I asked him to go and see the Collector, if he felt that he could speak to him in your favour, without contradicting himself regarding what he had said to him only a few days earlier on the subject of the priests of Goa.

This dear confrere writes to me that he did not deem it prudent to go and find the Collector and he wrote you a letter which he sends to me unsealed, so that I may read it. This letter seems to me wise. Except that, the formal action that he considers might be successful is an illusion. You may rest assured that, in the present state of things and of men, you would lose it and we would all lose by showing people our weakness. Avoid for the time being any proceedings. If you have not left Aravacouritchi, the best thing you could do, in my opinion, is not to stay there much longer ; and when Mr Molle is in a good humour, try in particular to arrange the matter as well as possible, so as not to appear to have acted arbitrarily.

Believe me, very dear confrere, that it is from time, patience and grace alone that we can expect the sinner's conversion, and not from men nor from ourselves, other than by the peaceful preaching of the truth. All of which does not prevent us from making use of human succour as an instrument of Providence, but only when Providence itself has disposed it so well that we can foresee that it will work in our favour and not against us. In short, let us not forestall the operations of grace, but merely press it by our continual prayers.

A Dieu.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 3 March 1852)

Sent_0536

Sent_0536 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 mars 1852 -/2

Sent 0536 - to Mgr Bonnand - 9 March 1852 /2

Sent_0536 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 mars 1852 -/2

Sent 0536 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 439-442

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 442

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Difficulties caused by the priests of Goa at Podour with Mr Métral and at Aravacouritchi with Mr Perceval. The English administration is not favourable to us, especially since the Collector is a very zealous Protestant. It is from God alone that we can expect help. A question of canon law.

Index : schism of Goa, civil authorities, English administration

__________

Coimbatore, 9 March 1852

My Lord,

I thank you very much for giving me communication of the letter of My Lord of Sebastopolis, as well as the extract from that of My Lord of Mascula. I am enclosing the former herewith, It seems to me that My Lord of Mascula does not tell us anything much. It is a long time now since the means he suggests to us were put into effect, as far as possible, without producing the fruit that it yields for him, for causes intrinsic to the usages of this unfortunate country.

I too have still not received the new jubilee, but only the encyclical announcing it. I do not know what channel brought this encyclical in duplicate, unsealed, without any covering letter, in a word without any sign of authenticity. I very much fear that this new jubilee will do us more harm than good. Not that we have no need for prayers, but our Christians are not strong enough in the faith, or well enough informed, to profit from these oft renewed graces.

If Y.L. finds that the needs of your mission are great, what about ours ? Quite apart from the inner sorrows that are numerous and poignant at this time, we are in direct struggle with the schism. You know that Podour and Combacodou have never laid aside their affection for the priests of Goa. By dint of kind treatment, we had managed to keep them quiet until now. However, Mr Métral, feeling himself strong enough, a few months ago, to punish them severely for certain faults, they called on the schismatic priest from the mountain. This wretched priest had nothing more urgent to do than to respond to the appeal, so that division is now once more introduced among our Christians of the pangou of Carumattampatty,

It is to be feared that evil will win and make many ravages, especially since the civil authorities are doing nothing to come to our aid. The Collector is a very zealous Protestant who cannot help rejoicing at the sight of division among the Catholics, etc., etc. Unfortunately, at the same time as this priest came from Ootacamund, Mr Perceval committed a great imprudence at Aravacouritchy. He forced his way into a church no longer officiated by the schismatic priest of Dindiguel. The Christians complained to the sarcar, who had the church closed.

The affair must necessarily go badly for us, and the English will be even less inclined to consider the priests of Goa as disturbers, since they will accuse us too of being the disturbers in those places where those priests have remained in possession of the churches. Accordingly, pray earnestly for us, My Lord; everything is in God's hands, and it is from him alone and not from men that we can expect our help.

So here we are at the 9th, and the steamer from Madras has still not arrived. I was expecting some letters from Rome by this post. As regards Rome, it seems to me that Y.L. told me some time ago that you had written to ask what line we should take in practice regarding the ecclesiastical titles of our clerics. If it were not indiscreet to ask you what the answer was, I would be very pleased for you to tell me, for I think that our position is more or less the same from this point of view.

I commend myself to your good prayers, declaring myself,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 9 March 1852)

Sent_0537

Sent_0537 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 28 mars 1852 -/1

Sent 0537 - to Mgr Bonnand - 28 March 1852 /2

Sent_0537 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 28 mars 1852 -/1

Sent 0537 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 443-446

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 423

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have received the Holy Father's letter on the jubilee. I am tempted not to publish it. A question of canon law regarding the clandestinity of marriages. A paragraph on the difficulties that the priests of Goa continue to pose to them.

Index : jubilee, schism of Goa, canon law

__________

Carumattampatty, 28 March 1852

My Lord,

I have received from Bombay an English copy of the Holy Father's letters announcing a jubilee. As I said to you in my previous letter, and as Y.L. yourself agree, it seems to me that this jubilee, in the circumstances we find ourselves in here, cannot do any good and may do some harm. Accordingly I am very strongly tempted not to publish it. But can I do so in conscience ? I would be very pleased if Y.L. would tell me what you think.

I do not remember to which question of Y.L.'s, regarding the clandestinity of marriages, I could have answered that "I knew what line to follow on this subject". I seem to understand that Y.L. was asking me if I had any doubt on the fact of the non-publication of the decree of the holy Council of Trent in my vicariate.

As for asking Rome if it should be published, that is another question on which on the contrary I would not know what line to take ; but since Y.L. has asked me, I would be very glad to know what answer they give you. For if such publication is not considered expedient in the vicariate of Pondicherry, it would be even less so here. If on the contrary this decree were to be published throughout the length and breadth of your vicariate, if only for the sake of uniformity, I believe it would be well to publish it here.

The black priest has gone back to the mountain after making his vissarané in Podour. This village still remains separate from the others which drove him away from the caste. Nevertheless, the scandal is great. Indubitably these priests of Goa still have a large part of the Christians attached to them. Besides they are far more accommodating than we are on everything that pleases this poor people, since no pangs of conscience weigh on them. So that I would not be at all astonished if, sooner or later, they were once more called in, not only for Combacodou and Podour, but by others. Pray for us, that this misfortine may be averted.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Carumattampatty, 28 March 1852)

Sent_0538

Sent_0538 - à M. Tesson - le 29 mars 1852 -/1

Sent 0538 - to Mr Tesson - 29 March 1852 /2

Sent_0538 - à M. Tesson - le 29 mars 1852 -/1

Sent 0538 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 83

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 423

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

A problem regarding the forwarding of the post. Activities of the priests of Goa as far as Carumattampatty. "The civil authorities treat us with a superlatively English contempt". Are we going to receive sufficient money to continue the church of Coimbatore ?

Index : post, civil authorities, schism of Goa, building

__________

Coimbatore, 29 March 1852

My dear Mr Tesson,

An accident happened to the India post of 24 January. It appears that the Bombay post took the dispatches of the Madras post, for the news and newspapers from London arrived two weeks later. However, I was hoping to receive some letters from Paris, since it is a long time now that we have not received any, but nothing came. The Univers has not arrived either. I am telling you this in case some letter may have gone astray.

A schismatic priest broke into our Christian community of Carumattampatty. He was well received by certain villages ; he might quite easily be made welcome also in other villages of the Christian communities, which could cause us a lot of trouble. Moreover, the civil authorities treat us with a superlatively English contempt, so that we can expect nothing from their protection.

We are impatiently awaiting news of our allocation this year, to see whether we will be able to continue the church that we have started at Coimbatore. It would be very useful if, at any time of revolt on the part of the Christians, we have a church belonging to us alone, where no-one can pick a quarrel with us.

I commend myself to your good prayers asking you to believe me,

Very dear confrere,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 29 March 1852)

Sent_0539

Sent_0539 - à Mgr Bettachini - début avril 1852 -/1

Sent 0539 - to Mgr Bettachini - early April 1852 /1

Sent_0539 - à Mgr Bettachini - début avril 1852 -/1

Sent 0539Archives OMI archives, Semeria diary, p 125

photo copy of the copy of Father Bateyron, OMI ()

(to Mgr Horace Bettachini, bishop of Torona

apostolic vicar of Jaffna)

To complain of Father Semeria who has just written again to Mr Pajean "in a manner little conducive to satisfying me".

Index: Pajean affair, transfer of missionaries

__________

Beginning of April 1852

My Lord,

[...] In this letter Mgr de Brésillac, after saying to |Mgr Bettachini that, even if he would have preferred that H.L. of Jaffna had waited for his reply before writing to Mr Pajean, however he has never doubted of his loyalty, adds the following lines : (

)

The same does not apply to Father Semeria, who appears to persevere in his proceeding, and who had written again, it would appear, to Mr Pajean in an extremely imprudent manner. If this good Father knew the character of this poor young men, always wanting what he has not got, and incessantly aspiring to new changes, etc., he would not be so enthusiastic to welcome him. With a little prudence, this good Father could easily have obtained such information before writing to him ; he could above all easily have written to him again very honestly, without giving him any hope of receiving him. It appears that this is not how he wrote ; I have not read the letter, but according to what Mr Pajean told me in a quite disagreeable interview, this good Father wrote to him again in a manner little conducive to satisfying me. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore ? beginning of April 1852)

Sent_0540

Sent_0540 - à la Propagande, n° 1 - le 26 avril 1852 -/2

Sent 0540 - to Propaganda of the Faith, no. 1 - 26 April 1852 /2

Sent_0540 - à la Propagande, n° 1 - le 26 avril 1852 -/2

Sent 0540 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 423-424

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 1)

Mgr Hartmann has just sent me a copy in English of the Holy Father's letter announcing the Jubilee. I ask for permission not to publish it. He gives four reasons for this.

Index: Rome (authority), jubilee

__________

Coimbatore, 26 April 1852

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Recepi epistolam Encyclicam Sanctissimi datam die 21 Novembris elapsi anni, incipientem Exultavit. Nescio tamen a quo missa sit. Sed non recepi litteras quibus Sanctus Pater Jubilaeum denuo profere dignatus est. Tamen RR. DD. Hartmann misit nobis exemplar traductionis harum litterarum in lingua Anglicana excerpta ex diario Tablet dicto. Dubito utrum sufficiat haec notitia ad publicandum Jubilaeum, absque majoris authenticitatis conditione.

Insuper, hoc novum Jubilaeum nullum posse affere bonum credo in meo Vicariatu, propter summam ignorantiam christianorum,

1°quia praeteritum Jubilaeum datum est a praedicatoribus tanquam res rara et extraordinaria ;

2°quia hi christiani omnino sunt incapaces intelligendi causam promptae renovationis talis gratiae ;

3°quia scandalizari possunt de conditione duplicis eleemosynae ;

4°quia, ad decipiendum populum, sacerdotes schismatici se frequenter habere relationes cum Sancta Sede proclamant et saepesaepius novum Jubilaeum se obtinuisse praedicant. Timendum est ne accusemur mendacio cum eorum varia Jubilaea ex ipsa frequentia falsa esse ostendimus.

Unde

1°peto permissionem non publicandi praedictum Jubilaeum ;

2°si absolute publicari debet, quaero utrum satis authentica sit notitia ex Anglicana traductione e diario Tablet a RR. DD. Hartmann missa ?

Eminentiae Vestrae etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1852)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(letter no. 1)

Coimbatore, 26 April 1852

Most Eminent and Reverend Lord,

I have received the encyclical letter of the very Holy Father dated 21 November of last year, beginning Exultavit. However I do not know by whom it was sent. But I have not received the letter in which the Holy Father deigns once more to announce a jubilee. However His Excellency Bishop Hartmann has sent us a copy of the translation of this letter in English, taken from the newspaper entitled Tablet. I doubt that this knowledge would suffice for publishing a jubilee without the condition of a greater authenticity.

Moreover, I believe that this new jubilee cannot bring any good into my vicariate because of the great ignorance of the Christians.

1) because the previous jubilee had been given by those who proclaimed it as something rare and extraordinary ;

2) because these Christians are quite incapable of understanding the reason for a rapid return of such a grace ;

3) because they may be scandalised by the condition of a double alms ;

4) because, to deceive the people, the schismatic priests proclaim that they have frequent relations with the Holy See and preach quite often that they have obtained a new jubilee. It is to be feared that we will be accused of lying, when we show that their various jubilees are false because of their very frequency.

For these reasons,

1) I ask for permission not to publish the jubilee announced ;

2) if it absolutely has to be published, I ask if the knowledge I have of it, taken from the English translation appearing in the newpaper Tablet, and sent by His Excellency Bishop Hartmann, is sufficiently authentic ?

Your Eminence's etc,

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1852)

Sent_0541

Sent_0541 - à La Propagande, n° 2 - le 26 avril 1852 -/2

Sent 0541 - to Propaganda of the Faith no. 2 - 26 April 1852 /2

Sent_0541 - à La Propagande, n° 2 - le 26 avril 1852 -/2

Sent 0541 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, p 424

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

To request the renewal of the power of granting a certain marriage dispensation.

Index : canon law

__________

Coimbatore, 26 April 1852

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Facultas Vicario Apostolico Coimbatorensi concessa dispensandi ut catholicus licite possit matrimonium contrahere cum acatholica et vicissim, finiet initio anni venturi. Humiliter peto ut supradicta facultas prorogetur ad decem annos numerandos a die qua terminabitur praecedens indultum.

Eminentiae Vestrae etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1852)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

Coimbatore, 26 April 1852

Most Eminent and Reverend Lord,

The permission granted to the Apostolic Vicar of Coimbatore to give dispensation in order for a Catholic to licitly contract marriage with a non-Catholic, and vice versa, will come to an end at the beginning of next year. I humbly request that the aforesaid faculty be renewed for ten years, starting from the day when the previous indult expires.

Your Eminence's etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1852)

Sent_0542

Sent_0542 - à la Propagande, n° 3 - le 26 avril 1852 -/4

Sent 0542 - to Propaganda of the Faith no.3 - 26 April 1852 /4

Sent_0542 - à la Propagande, n° 3 - le 26 avril 1852 -/4

Sent 0542 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 424-426

copy, AMA 2F1, pp 160-161

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

(letter no. 3)

To send his formal resignation from the vicariate of Coimbatore. But what should he do after that ? He proposes going to Jerusalem on foot and entering a monastery there. For the moment, he will say nothing to anyone while awaiting the answer from Propaganda.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 26 April 1852 ()

Eminentissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Jam iterando Eminentiae Vestrae patefeci moralem impossibilitatem pro me in hac Missione remanendi. Quas autem dedi rationes eae nec dissipatae nec mutatae sunt, sed equidem invaluerunt tum ex parte Societatis Missionum ad Exteros, tum ex parte collaboratorum meorum, tum ex parte relationum cum aliis Missionibus Indiae, ita ut a duobus annis et supra premitur anima mea, cruciatur et intoleranter dolet. Ad letteram haec Sacrae Scripturae verba experior : "Omnis plaga tristitia cordis est, [...] et omnem plagam et non plagam videbit cordis." () Unde demissionem seu abdicationem formalem Vicariatus Apostolici Coimbatorensi Sacrae Congregationi mitto, pro qua valeant istae litterae.

Nunc vero quid de me fiet ? Non ignoro quam difficilis, quam periculosa et aliquoties scandalosa sit positio Episcopi absque jurisdictione degentis ; et in simplicitate cordis dico : Utinam moriar, antequam sim causa scandali cuicumque !

Ad hoc vitandum (cum firma et irrevocabilis sit mea intentio non remanendi in India), reliquum vitae meae ducere propono, non in Gallia, ne reditus in patria potius malum sit quam bonum, non Roma, cum timeo ne praesentia mea in Urbe displiceat Sanctissimo et Cardinalibus, sed in quodam loco quo possim vivere ignotus omnibus, quasi in solitudine, in paupertate et humilitate, perseverans in oratione pro missionibus quorum status mihi videtur lugendus supra modum.

Mea ergo mens est Jerusalem pergere ut ibi expectem finem vitae meae coram Eo qui mortuus est pro omnibus, pro Indianis aliisque Barbaris, sicut et pro Europeanis, in perpetua meditatione Mysteriorum Redemptionis nostrae, implorans sanguinem Christi pro Missionibus quibus diutius in actu prodesse non possum.

Congregationem Missionum ad Exteros cui plus quam decem annis servivi modicam pensionem mihi commodaturam esse credendum est ; quod si recusaret, Deus est in quem spero, qui vestit fœnum agri et pascit volatilia cœli.

Tamen, si peregrinando Jerusalem aliquod boni facere possum, non recuso laborem et pœnam. Si ergo Vobis videretur probandum iter facerem per terram, pertransiendo totam Indiam, Regnum Afganistan, Persiam et Turquiam, et si vobis non videretur esse tentare Providentiam pedibus iter facerem mendicando. Ad hoc vero aggrediendum necessaria esset expressa approbatio Vestra cum litteris commendaticiis quae testarent de mea unione cum Sancta Sede et facultates darent utiles ad perficiendam tam periculosam viam sine periculo animae.

Quod si non probabitis, modo quod volueritis ibo, vel simpliciter et via ordinaria, vel per terram sed non mendicando nec pedibus iter faciendo, sed impensi Missionis. Quae impensae probabiliter reddantur Missioni Coimbatorensi ex reditibus generalibus Congregationis Missionum ad Exteros.

Ne qua fiat in Missione perturbatio, nihil dicam de meo consilio antequam vestrum responsum recipiam, nisi sese dederit occasio (quae videtur proxima) novae discordiae meos inter cooperatores et me ; ita ut cogar vel graviter eos offendere vel aliquid concedere quod menti meae vehementer repugnet. In tali casu eis patefaciam meum firmum propositum exeundi, jam demissionem meam missam esse declarabo, et dum adveniat acceptatio Vestra dictae demissionis, omnes facultates meas Provicario communicabo. Haec tamen vitari posse spero si sine mora veniant Vestra responsio et acceptatio quam imploro, sperans Sacram Congregationem non velle me ad summam tentationem exponere demissionem hanc non acceptando.

Eminentiae Vestrae etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1852)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(letter no. 3)

Coimbatore, 26 April 1852

Most Eminent and Reverend Lord,

I have already conveyed on two occasions to Your Eminence the moral impossibility for me of remaining in this mission. And the reasons that I have given for this are neither dissipated, nor changed, but assuredly they are fortified both as regards the Society of Foreign Missions, and as regards my collaborators, as also by my relations with the other missions of India, in such a way that, for more than two years now my soul is afflicted and crucified and it suffers in an intolerable manner. Literally, I am undergoing the experience of these words from the Holy Scriptures : "No wound, however serious, is comparable to a wounded heart"() Accordingly I am sending in my resignation or my formal abdication from the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore to the Sacred Congregation, in the shape of this letter.

But now what am I going to do ? I realise how difficult, dangerous and at times how scandalous may be the position of a bishop employing his time without jurisdiction ; and in all simplicity of heart, I say : May heaven strike me down rather than that I become a cause of scandal for anyone !

In order to avoid this (since my intention of not remaining in India is firm and irrevocable), I propose to spend the rest of my life, not in France, for fear that my return to my homeland may be rather an evil than a good, not in Rome, for I fear that my presence in the City may displease the very Holy Father and the cardinals, but in some place where I can live unknown to everybody, almost in solitude, in poverty and humility, persevering in prayer for the missions, the state of which appears to me to be utterly deplorable.

Accordingly my intention is to reach Jerusalem in order there to await the end of my life before Him who died for us all, for the Indians and the other barbarians as well as the Europeans, in perpetual meditation of the mysteries of our redemption, imploring the blood of Christ for the missions, for which I can no longer be effective in the act.

I should think that the Congregation of Foreign Missions which I have served for over ten years will provide me with a modest pension ; if it refuses, it is in God that I put my trust, he who clothes the flowers of the fields and who feeds the birds of the air.

However if, by going as far as Jerusalem, I can do some good, I refuse neither work nor sorrow. If therefore it seems to you that this could be approved, I will take the land route, crossing the whole of India, the kingdom of Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, and if it does not appear to you to be tempting Providence, I will carry out this journey on foot and begging. But in order to undertake all of this, your explicit approval would be necessary, with a letter of recommendation which would testify to my union with the Holy See, and which would give me faculties useful for covering this so perilous road, without danger to my soul.

If you do not approve this, I will go in any way that you wish, either simply in the ordinary way, or by land but without begging or walking all the way, but at the expense of the Mission. These expenses will probably be paid back to the Mission of Coimbatore out of the generous revenues of the Congregation of Foreign Missions.

In order to avoid all disturbance in the mission, I will say nothing of my intention before having received your answer, for fear that this may provide the occasion (which seems imminent) for a fresh discord between my cooperators and myself, in such a way that I would be impelled either to gravely offend them or else to grant something that is completely unacceptable to my spirit. In such a case, I will let them know my firm intention of leaving, I will declare to them that my resignation has already been sent in and, while awaiting your acceptance of the aforesaid resignation, I will communicate all of my faculties to my pro-vicar. However, I hope that all of this can be avoided if, without delay, your answer and the acceptance that I implore arrive, hoping that the Sacred Congregation will not expose me to too great a temptation by not accepting this resignation.

Your Eminence's etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 26 April 1852)

Sent_0543

Sent_0543 - à M. Tesson - le 29 avril 1852 -/1

Sent 0543 - to M. Tesson - 29 April 1852 /2

Sent_0543 - à M. Tesson - le 29 avril 1852 -/1

Sent 0543 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 84

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 427

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

He says that he is sending the directors copy of two of his letters to Propaganda ; he gives some internal news (burse) ; he reiterates the small amount of the allocation. The church of Coimbatore will be continued next year.

Index : finances, news. building

__________

Coimbatore, 29 April 1852

My very dear Mr Tesson,

I have received your post of January and yesterday your letter of March. I think that the 150 masses announced in January are different from those that you give in March : the former are practically all discharged ; I have distributed the others today. I will arrange for the punctual discharge of those which are for fixed days.

I am sending those gentlemen two letters from the S.C. and a fresh one of mine to Rome. I hope that you will read them carefully and you will see how important it is to get out of the our present state of doubt and how important it is also for us to do this with prudence and maturity. We hear no more about the return of Mgr Canoz, Jesuit bishop of Madurai. He had announced his return for the month of December last. I would not be surprised if this business has held him up in Rome, which would not bother me particularly, if it were not to be feared that the Jesuits may influence things in one way or another. Please God that, if the S.C. passes judgment, it is clear that the truth alone has made itself heard. Please God that, by some influence or other, it does not leave us in our present state.

You were quite right to buy Mr Bruyère's monstrance in solid silver. It is a folly to buy for these parts bright but not very solid things, in the case above all of sacred vessels, it is preferable for them to be much less fine to the eye and in solid silver.

I had still not received the globes at the time of my last request. I had asked for them at the same time as many other things which had arrived a long while ago, so that I could not suppose that they would arrive on their own and much later. The second ones will not be of much use to me, but what's to be done about it ? In my request for next year, I will raise the question of Baronius' annals again and decide on the edition.

I will not speak about the allocation that you announce to me. It is clear in my eyes that the Seminary of Paris has not understood our relative position, but my eyes may not see clearly on such a question.

Next month we will be finshing work on the foundations of the church of Coimbatore. We will remain at that point until next year.

A Dieu. Pray for us.

Your devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. Will we not receive anything this year from the Holy Childhood?

(Coimbatore, 29 April 1852)

Sent_0544

Sent_0544 - aux directeurs - le 29 avril 1852 -/1

Sent 0544 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 29 April 1852 /2

Sent_0544 - aux directeurs - le 29 avril 1852 -/1

Sent 0544 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 85

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 427

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

He sends them copy of his letters to Propaganda, hoping that Paris will help to settle in Rome the problems of India. Mgr Forcade leaves the congregation ; in this connection, he reiterates the urgent need for a reform of the Foreign Missions.

Index : reform of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 29 April 1852

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

I have the honour of sending you enclosed herewith copy of two letters from the S.C. and another one that I wrote to Rome on the affairs of India. By keeping you informed on these difficulties, I have the hope that you will use your influence with the S.C. to ensure that it makes a clear decision, such as we need.

Mr Tesson informs me that Mgr Forcade is leaving our congregation. That grieves me deeply, but does not astonish me. I told you two years ago, and I repeat so that my conscience is clear: if you do not introduce a reform into our congregation, the latter can only come to an end and perish. It carries within itself elements of dissolution which must necessarily prevent it from growing : and if it does not grow a little, the number of its members will be the immediate cause of its ruin, for it is impossible for them to walk in harmony without a more explicit rule and which foresees better the difficulties and needs of the missions.

You will tell me that this is the business of the superiors ; but it is easy to see that the superiors are merely so in name, and cannot do anything since they find it impossible to see one another, come to an understanding, etc. ; the only superior in fact is the Seminary of Paris. It is up to it, and it alone, to propose at least the means that may save us.

I commend my self to your good prayers and holy sacrifices.

Believe me,

Very dear confreres,

Your devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 29 April 1852)

Sent_0545

Sent_0545 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 mai 1852 -/1

Sent 0545 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 May 1852 /2

Sent_0545 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 mai 1852 -/1

Sent 0545 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 447-450

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 427-428

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I rejoice with you in the numerous ordinations that you have just carried out at Pondicherry. A question on the ecclesiastic title with which the apostolic vicars ordain the priests of their vicariate. Is the step taken by Mr Forcade not a sign of the dissolution of our poor congregation ?

Index : ordinations, canon law. Reform of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 15 May 1852

My Lord,

I congratulate Y.L. on the numerous ordinations which have just consoled you. According to Mr Godelle, it was very edifying. May it please God to continue to grant these dear Levites his most precious graces and allow them to persevere up to the end in the spirit of their sublime vocation.

Despite what Mgr Perrocheau says in two lines on ecclesiastic titles, the question de titulo missionis appears to me not without difficulties. First of all, the apostolic vicars should not have this power by themselves any more than anyone else. Accordingly it must be delegated to them in some way, either in their particular powers, and ours say nothing about this, or by means of a general indult that I am not aware of, and which would seem not to exist, either by the particular concessions that we see have been granted to others, or by the conditions with which these concessions are at times accompanied.

Thus it is that at Verapoly they require clerics ordained sub titulo missionis to take the oath that Pope Alexander VII requires of the pupils of Propaganda in his brief Cum circa. Accordingly I beg Y.L. to share with me the answer you receive from Rome.

I still have heard nothing from Mr Leroux. If he writes to me, I would be glad if Y.L. would let me know how you desire me to answer him.

I do not understand at all the step that Mgr Forcade has taken, unless it is a sign of the dissolution of our poor congregation which cannot fail very shortly to be dismembered if we let it go on as it is now.

It is quite astonishing that Mr Fages, who continues to be a member of the Congregation, left without saying anything to his neighbours, without asking them if he could do anything for them in France, etc. !

I commend myself to your prayers and have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 15 May 1852)

Sent_0546

Sent_0546 - à M. Bonjean - le 15 mai 1852 -/2

Sent 0546 - to Mr Bonjean - 15 May 1852 /2

Sent_0546 - à M. Bonjean - le 15 mai 1852 -/2

Sent 0546 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 428-430

copy AMA 2F1, pp 162-163

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

He explains to him at length why he cannot support his request to the government of the Company to recognise him as chaplain of the Catholic military of Ootacamund. He does not wish everything to be done through Mgr of Madras. In fact he has written to Rome on this subject to know what his behaviour should be.

Index : civil authorities, jurisdiction, Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 15 May 1852 ()

My dear Mr Bonjean,

Since you are so set on working to ensure that the government of the Company recognises a chaplain for the Catholic military of Ootacamund, I feel it my duty to let you know very briefly why on the contrary you find that there are so many reservations on my part on this subject.

Without judging my venerable colleagues who certainly thought they were doing rightly, but whose conduct I cannot explain, the way of acting of the government and of My Lord of Madras is so unacceptable to me that I cannot consent to being a party to it before the Holy See has told me that I can do so with a clear conscience.

In fact it appears to me contrary to the honour of the episcopate (that we must uphold), and even to the holy canons, that My Lord of Madras consents to be recognised alone as bishop of the whole presidency of Madras and that, in the government's eyes, he alone carries out such functions.

If My Lord of Madras merely supported us when we ask something of the government, if he only used the natural influence falling to him in his capacity of an Englishman or an Irishman, that would be alright ; but that all ecclesiastical affairs must necessarily pass through his hands to arrive at the government, without the Holy See having given him any such authority, appears to me a dangerous abuse which I do not wish to be a party to.

I am quite prepared to offer the English or Irish Catholics all the spiritual succour that is in my power; but if they want to have a private chaplain, they must address themselves to me ; and since they are sufficiently rich to provide for his upkeep, they must do so in some way, either by subscription, or by themselves obtaining an allocation from the government, since the government refuses to receive our communications. Only, until such time as the Holy See takes on itself the responsibility for the consequences that may ensue, I will not consent to this allocation being granted to the Bishop of Madras and to all appointments, changes, etc. of such a chaplain being made through the channel of this prelate.

I should also tell you that, foreseeing what is now happening, I have already written to Rome ; but their answer is not clear, so that I have to request another one. Doubtless this will take time. Meanwhile, I do not forbid you to address yourself personally to the bishop of Madras, as a missionary of the place, and to your asking him to help you to get yourself recognised as chaplain, but without using my name, and without making any allusion to everything that I have just told you.

You must not think that my scruples on this point are prejudiced by nationality. For everything concerning the salvation of souls, I know neither English nor French, Whites nor Blacks, Greeks nor Barbarians. So that here I am considering exclusively my honour as a bishop (despite my unworthiness), and the rules of ecclesiastical discipline so dangerous to violate anywhere, and here perhaps more than elsewhere.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 15 May 1852)

Sent_0547

Sent_0547 - au Collecteur - le 21 mai 1852 -/2

Sent 0547 - to the Collector - 21 May 1852 /1

Sent_0547 - au Collecteur - le 21 mai 1852 -/2

Sent 0547 Brésillac copy , AMA 2F6, pp 430-431

(to the Collector of Coimbatore)

The land that we have at Coimbatorae is by now consecrated as a church with lodgings for Catholic missionaries. I hope that you will be so good as to exonerate it from the charges now payable on it.

Index : civil authorities, taxes

__________

Coimbatore, 21 May 1852

Sir,

In 1847, some time after having been sent to this country by Our Holy Father the Pope, in the quality of Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of Coimbatore, I bought, for the use of the Mission, the bungalow which I am inhabiting with my priests. From that time, the principal apartment of the bungalow has been transformed into a chapel where the Christians come for the divine worship, not only from the town, but from the villages of Periacoulam and Saveriapaleam not far from the town.

Besides, having not been able to get easily, as I desired, a fitter ground for the erection of a church, I resolved to build it in the very ground adjacent to the bungalow, and now the walls of this church are already three feet high.

This ground and this house are then definitively consecrated to a church and to habitation by the Catholic missionaries, which makes me hope that you will be so good as to discharge the ground with the taxes with which it is burdened ; the more as this church having no income, the mission is obliged to provide for the worship expenses.

Waiting for an answer which, I hope, will be favourable, I have the honour to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 21 May 1852)

Sent_0548

Sent_0548 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 juin 1852 -/1

Sent 0548 - to Mgr Bonnand - 9 June 1852 /2

Sent_0548 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 9 juin 1852 -/1

Sent 0548 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 451-454

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He tells him about the building of the church in Coimbatore. Why we need a church in that place, and a fine church ; his plan ; the present state of the works ; the lack of money. I have begun to dig my tomb there.

Index : building, finances

__________

Coimbatore, 9 June 1852 ()

My Lord,

I am as happy as Y.L. to learn this good news that Mr Barran has given you. If something came for me from Rome, it would be a pleasure for me to notify you of it. I hope that if Y.L. is first in receiving the news, you will be kind enough to share it with us as soon as possible.

This necessity of building is a wretched thing. Unfortunately, we too are in the same position, and it appears that this will probably last a long while, all the more so since we do not have, as at Pondicherry, several veins to provide the argentine blood.

I have just laid the foundations of a church in Coimbatore. Quite apart from the fact that it is clearly there that the centre of my mission should be, it is absolutely necessary for us to have a church of our own, on which the Christians will be able to depend in the case of revolt and schism. But here we need a church which does us some honour, without falling into the ridicule of having a big church that is always empty. I think I have solved the problem by drawing up a plan where the accessories are larger than the naves. Apart from the central nave and the two arms of the cross, there will be a sanctuary and eight chapels, one of which will contain batpismal fonts, plus two towers and a peristyle.

So far we have only arrived at the level of the paving, three feet above ground and we are going to stop there, at least until after the rains, to give the foundations time to settle properly. The principal walls are three feet wide and all in masonry and bricks. I hope that it will be solid, but I do not know if I shall see it completed, for it will take money and time.

Moreover, by precaution, I have begun to dig my tomb there, and we are working today even on the vault of a tomb that I had made in the nave at the entrance to the sanctuary. It will be closed by a stone at the level of the paving that can be removed in order to introduce the missionaries' mortal remains into the sepulcral vault.

I have also received a letter from Mgr Luquet, but it is merely a letter of friendship. Mr Leroux has still not written to me.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 9 June 1852)

Sent_0549

Sent_0549 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 juillet 1852 -/2

Sent 0549 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 July 1852 /2

Sent_0549 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 juillet 1852 -/2

Sent 0549

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Great consolation following the retreat just preached to us by Mr Bonjean at Carumattampatty. The four sessions which followed were characterised by wisdom, calm, reserve and a great freedom. We have decided to begin the preaching to the pagans. The post of each of his missionaries.

Index : retreat, council (bishop's), conversion (of the pagans), my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 3 July 1852 ()

My Lord,

In the midst of the trials and sorrows with which God is pleased to punctuate our lives, there are days of veritable consolation that he sends us in his mercy. Such were the ten days that we have just spent at Carumattampatty, whence I returned this morning.

I had convened all my missionaries for the annual retreat. And they were all there, except for Mr Pajean. I hope that his sore foot is the only cause of his absence. This retreat took place in an admirable manner. Mr Bonjean spoke to us like an angel. In fact I had entrusted him with preaching to us. I only gave the first instruction attempting to show the advantages of our common retreats being preached, and the conditions that would have to be observed in order for such preaching between confreres to be useful and without danger.

I had the comfort of seeing these points observed to the letter. The most important, in my eyes, was that of abstaining from all criticism, even that which may elsewhere be very legitimately permitted, to abstain from it totally and in respect of everyone, above all the person who had the charity to address us. Well, even when it drew tears from our eyes, I never heard anyone say even once: well said! And after the retreat, as I had recommended, not a word either of complaint, or of compliment was to be heard !

The retreat ended on Saint Peter's day with a pontifical mass, and in the evening the council began, lasting four sessions. All the proceedings took place with a wisdom, a calm, a reserve and at the same time a frank freedom which gave me the greatest pleasure and which will have made this council, I think, truly useful to the mission.

One of the most important things treated in it was the question of deciding whether we should postpone any longer the attempt to consecrate certain missionaries to the direct task of converting the pagans. The great majority was of the opinion that we should delay it no further.

This decision that I had already foreseen led me to make the following changes, which will take place little by little, so that each man resumes his post first of all, to continue what he has begun : Messrs Métral and Bonjean for the pagans, but in six months' time at the earliest, preparing themselves for it in advance by study, meditation and prayer ; Mr de Gélis in the seminary ; Mr Ravel at Carumattampatty ; Mr Perceval at Coimbatore ; Mr Barot at Darabouram ; Mr Pajean at Atticodou ; Mr Bruyère at Ootacamund ; Mr Malhaire at Codively ; and Mr Lefeuvre at Palghat.

Enough in detail on this subject, My Lord, but I thought that Y.L. would gladly share in my joy, as you have the goodness to share at times in my sorrows.

I commend myself to your good prayers.

Your Grace's

Very humble and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. No news from Rome.

(Coimbatore, 3 July 1852)

Sent_0550

Sent_0550 - aux directeurs - le 4 juillet 1852 -/2

Sent 0550 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 4 July 1852 /2

Sent_0550 - aux directeurs - le 4 juillet 1852 -/2

Sent 0550 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 86

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, pp 431-432

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Great consolation following the retreat which Mr Bonjean has just preached for us at Carumattampatty. The four sessions of the council which followed were characterised by wisdom, calm, reserve and a great freedom. We have decided to begin the preaching to the pagans. The post of each of his missionaries. I would need one missionary more to fill in any gaps. As regards character, I would need a second Mr Ravel.

Index : retreat, council (bishop's), conversion (of the pagans), my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 4 July 1852 ()

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

In the midst of the trials with which the Lord is pleased to punctuate our lives, in the midst of the difficulties that have become our daily bread, there are days that God grants us in his mercy, in order to sustain us in our weakness, by filling them with solace and with joy. Such have been the ten or twelve days which have just passed.

I had convened all my missionaries to Carumattampatty for our annual retreat. This retreat was perfect, and I feel sure that Our Lord will have been greatly glorified by our dear confreres. They were all these, except for Mr Pajean whom an indisposition of the feet kept at home (at least I hope that that is the reason). Mr Bonjean whom I had entrusted with giving the instructions for the retreat spoke to us like an angel.

I merely gave the first instruction, showing how useful it would be if these annual retreats were preached by one of us, and indicating the precautions to be taken in order for such preaching between confreres to bear fruit and to be without danger. One of the most important, in my opinion, was that we should refrain absolutely from all criticism, even that which everywhere else might be legitimate, to refrain from it always and in respect of everyone, but above all the person who had the charity of addressing us, accordingly not to make him either reproaches, or compliments. Well, neither during, or after the retreat, nor even after the instructions which had drawn tears from our eyes, was any such remark heard, etc.

I hope that the general council which followed the retreat will also have been blessed by God. All the proceedings took place with great calm, wisdom and reserve together with a frank freedom cheering to the heart. The most important of the questions to be dealt with was to decide whether we should postpone any further specially devoting two missionaries to preaching to the pagans. As I foresaw, the great majority was of the opinion that we should wait no longer.

All of this will involve us in fresh expenses and undoubtedly considerable ones, but in order not to mix the questions, I reserve the question of money to a letter to Mr Tesson, and to a complete reshuffling of the missionaries. In order for all of this to come about without shock or commotion, I have let each man resume his post, while changes will take place successively and in such a way that the person leaving a post can spend some time with his successor and initiate him in the work already undertaken.

If divine bounty does not put any obstacles in the way of our plans, this is how things will be in five or six months' time : Messrs Métral and Bonjean principally for the pagans, Mr Ravel missionary of the district of Carumattampatty, Mr de Gélis in the seminary, Mr Bruyère in the mountain, Mr Pajean in place of Mr Bruyère at Atticodou, Mr Malhaire in place of Mr Pajean at Codively, Mr Lefeuvre in place of Mr Ravel at Palghat, Mr Barot at Darabouram, and Mr Perceval at Coimbatore. So that is quite enough on that subject, however I thought that you would not be displeased if I shared our joy with you, since you do not refuse often to share in my sorrows.

And now, Gentlemen, I must inform you that I will have need of another missionary. Doubtless, all the posts are filled, but what does it take to impede the smooth running of all of this ? a misfortune, a serious illness, either physical or moral.

Clearly we would need one confrere more who, having no specal place, would be prepared to fill them all, and to help out any confere who might have need of him. But things being as they are here, it is of the utmost importance to choose his character carefully. What we need is a zealous man without doubt, but not of an ardent zeal, who does not get bored if he has little external occupation, and who is quite indifferent to one job or the other. If you have not forgotten the character of our dear confreres here, I will say : a second Mr Ravel. It would be very useful not to delay the departure of this missionary, for we should not forget that it takes at least one year, after his departure from Paris, for him to make himself useful.

Unless the good God should bless abundantly our work with the pagans, I do not think that we will need a larger number of missionaries for a long time. I even hope that, once we have some native priests (and our young clerics are growing day by day), there will not be any need for such a large number of European missionaries to ensure the care of the Christians.

But as regards the man I am requesting of you at this moment, this is in a sense urgent, and the number of aspirants that you have at present makes me hope that you will be able to meet our desire immediately.

Kindly believe me in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very affectionate and devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 4 July 1852)

Sent_0551

Sent_0551 - à la Propagande - le 13 juillet 1852 -/4

Sent 0551 - to Propaganda - 13 July 1852 /4

Sent_0551 - à la Propagande - le 13 juillet 1852 -/4

Sent 0551 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 432-433

copy, AMA 2F1, pp 164-165

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

In your latest letter two things distressed me : first of all, you seem to accuse me of reporting facts which are not true, and then you do not answer my question regarding the role of the bishop of Madras in the affairs of the government of the East India Company. I am still awaiting your acceptance of my resignation, On leaving, I will hand over the administration of the vicariate to Father Métral.

Index : frankness, bishop's authority, resignation from Coimbatore, civil authorities

__________

Coimbatore, 13 July 1852 ()

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Litteras Sacrae Congregationis datas die 1 Februarii praesentis anni ab aliquot mensibus accepi.

Cum omni reverentia Vobis debita, fas mihi sit quaeso dicere duo esse in eis litteris quae aliquam pœnam mihi dederunt. Primum, quod in epistola ad RR. DD. Vicarium Apostolicum Madraspatani (cujus exemplar adjunctum ad mei animi informationem tantum transmittere dignati estis), Sacra Congregatio sequentibus verbis utendum esse credidit, nempe : "Haud veritati consona ducimus, quae dudum istis in regionibus invaluisse ac locum habere, nuper Sacrae Congregationi nunciatum fuit, nimirum etc."

Nonne interpretari possunt haec verba de mendaci relatione ? et cum probabilissimum sit quod RR. DD. Vicarius Apostolicus Madraspatani sciet a me emanasse notionem Romam missam, nonne locus ei praebetur autumnandi Sacram Congregationem judicare me falsa referendi valentem ?

Propriam humiliationem exinde mihi forte adventuram libens accipio, sed veritatis gratia (quae necessario tamen difficile a longe cognoscitur) non inutile esse puto asserere coram Deo me mori paratum esse, potius quam mendacium vel etiam falsam amplificationem, ut talis a me cognitam, Vobis scriberem. In aestimatione rerum errari possum quidem, et in multis erro prababiliter ; sed ut Sacrae Congregationi mendacium scribam, Dei opitulante gratia, nunquam.

Secunda causa pœnae vel potius anxietatis est quod Sacra Congregatio non arbitraverit respondendum secundae quaestioni letterarum mearum nempe : "Utrum nobis liceat mittere ad Gubernium, mediante Vicario Apostolico Madras, nominationes capellanorum exercituum et alia omnia quae, natura sua vel exigente Gubernio, officialiter mitti debeat."

Sacrae Congregationis silentium veneror praesertim, cum sua responsio verissimiliter pendeat ab ipso principio : Modus agendi Episcopi Madraspatani estne legitimus nec non ? Tamen cum hodie casus sit nobis practicus, humillime renovandam esse puto quaestionem ; et ut Sacra Congregatio difficultatem apprime noscat huic epostolae sequentia instrumenta addam :

1° exemplar epistolae circularis a RR. DD. Episcopo Madras nobis missa, quae occasionem dedit meae epistolae 21 Novembris anni praeteriti ;

2° extractum epistolae D. Bonjean, Missionarii Apostolici Vicariatus mei, in districtu Ootacamund, ubi nunc primum europeanos milites Angli mittunt ;

3° exemplar responsi quod huic missionario dedi.

Antequam his litteris accipiatur responsum, adveniet, spero, Sacrae Congregationis acceptatio demissionis meae, quam Eminentiae Vestrae misi per litteras n° 3, 26 Aprilis. Attamen, ne administratio Vicariatus in periculosa anxietate perdiu maneat, sine mora de hac quaestione rescribendum esse duxi. Quod responsum, si jam alter a Sancta Sede designatus non est, mitti poterit R.D. Métral Provicario meo, cui proficiscens administrationem Vicariatus relinquam.

Eminentiae Vestrae etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 13 July 1852)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

Coimbatore, 13 July 1852

Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

A few months ago I received the letter from the Sacred Congregation dated 1 February of this year.

With all the respect due to you, I request that I be permitted to say that two passages from this letter have occasioned me some pain. First of all there is the fact that in the letter to His Excellency My Lord the Apostolic Vicar of Madras (of which you have deigned to transmit to me only a copy by way of memorandum), the Sacred Congregation saw fit to employ the following terms : ˝We do not consider as corresponding to truth the things recently reported to the Sacred Congregation as having been introduced in recent times and having taken place in these regions, without doubt, etc.˝

Cannot these words be interpreted as an untruthful report ? and as it is very probable that His Excellency My Lord the Apostolic Vicar of Madras will know that this idea sent to Rome comes from me, does this not provide him with the opportunity of saying that the Sacred Congregation considers that I am capable of reporting falsities ?

I willingly accept the personal humiliation which may very well ensue to me from this, but in the interest of truth (which necessarily, although with difficulty, will become known in time), I think that it is not useless for me to state before God that I am prepared to die rather than to write you a lie, or even a false affirmation, known by myself to be such. Of course, I may be mistaken in my estimation of things, and I probably am in many ; but that I should write a lie to the Sacred Congregation, with the grace of God, never.

The second cause of pain, or rather anxiety, is that the Sacred Congregation has not seen fit to reply to the second question in my letter, namely : "Is it possible for us to send to the Governor, through the apostolic vicar of Madras, the appointments of the military chaplains and those other things which, by their nature or by an explicit request of the Governor, should be sent officially ?"

I respect the Sacred Congregation's silence, above all because its answer depends very probably on this same principle : Is the manner of acting of the bishop of Madras legitimate or not ? However, since today this takes the form of a practical case for us, humbly, I think that my question must be repeated; and in order for the Sacred Congregation to clearly understand the difficulty, I will add to this letter the following documents :

1) copy of the circular letter sent to us by His Excellency My Lord the Bishop of Madras, which prompted my letter of 21 November of last year ;

2) extract from the letter of Father Bonjean, apostolic missionary of my vicariate, in the district of Ootacamund, where the English send out European soldiers initially;

3) copy of the answer that I gave to this missionary.

Before an answer to this letter is received, I hope I will have received the acceptance by the Sacred Congregation of my resignation, which I sent to Your Eminence in my letter no. 3 of 26 April. However, to ensure that the administration of the vicariate does not remain for a long time in dangerous uncertainty, I have considered that an answer to this question should be given without delay. Which answer, if no-one else has already been designated by the Holy See, could be sent to Reverend Father Métral, my pro-vicar, to whom I will leave the administration of the vicariate on my departure.

Your Eminence's etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 13 July 1852)

Sent_0552

Sent_0552 - à des évêques MEP - le 28 juillet 1852 -/2

Sent 0552 - to certain bishops of the MEP - 28 July 1852 /2

Sent_0552 - à des évêques MEP - le 28 juillet 1852 -/2

Sent 0552 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 433-436

(to various bishops of the MEP)

Our congregation lacks unity ; it is said that we bishops are its superiors and yet we never meet. One of us should be designated to do the rounds of all our vicariates to get to know the spirit and desires of our confreres, who would go thereafter to Paris and to Rome taking with him the fruit of his work. If you like, I could be that bishop. Tell me what you think of this idea and who would be the bishop of your choice.

Index : reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 28 July 1852

A letter which, after several versions of preamble, contained, with certain minor variations the following passage :

I admit it, I am lazy, very lazy, almost systematically lazy, when I see what little fruit may be gained from a necessarily limited correspondence which however is the only means we have of understanding one another, we who are called the superiors of the Congregation of Foreign Missions. Singular body, it must be admitted, of which a portion of the head is in Paris, a portion in Japan and a portion in Bangkok, etc. !

Is it not obvious that we carry in ourselves the principle of our extreme weakness ? How can we remedy a single one of the evils that impede the good that we could do and that we do only by half or not at all ? And how can we understand one another without doing anything outside of the rules governing us at this moment ? For, it is not by violating the rules that we can achieve any sort of good, but by conforming to them so as to to arrive through them at a better state, if that is possible.

This is what I propose : that each bishop from our congregation makes an exact report before God of what he feels to be desirable, both in general for the good and the advancement of the Missions, and in particular for the Society of Foreign Missions, and especially for his own mission. That one of us be deputed to going personally to each apostolic vicar, to receive this work from his own hands, to become penetrated with his spirit, to get to know perfectly the desires of his confreres, entering together with them into a thousand details that letters can never hope to say completely, however extensive they may be. That this bishop, after having done the rounds of all the vicariates in our Society, or at least of all those consenting to receive him, should go to Paris and to Rome, with a view to fulfilling the desires of each and every one.

However much I search, I cannot see any other legal and practical means, coming from us, of taking the first step towards a certain unity of which we clearly are in need. Besides it seems to me that in all of this there is no harm to be feared, for each apostolic vicar would be entitled to abide rigorously by the terms of his report, if he does not see fit to accept the views of his confreres. But I am persuaded that we would find ourselves in agreement on many points and that we would all profit more or less from the communications of the others.

Doubtless, perfection would not emerge from this first proceeding, however I consider it as very proper to opening the way which might lead us to this perfection, and the mere possibility of this result seems to me to be worth the trouble of not stopping in the face of the difficulties of its execution. The greatest of these difficulties, the only one that appears grave in my eyes, is to find an apostolic vicar who would accept, nay, who could expose himself to the dangers, the difficulties and fatigues of such journeys, and whose mission would be such that it did not suffer essentially from his absence for perhaps five or six years.

It would further be necessary for that bishop to have great prudence, good judgment and other personal qualities, for him not to be too advanced in age to bear such great fatigues, or too young to have acquired experience of the missions. The combination of these conditions would perhaps constitute the principal difficulty, not that it is doubtful in any way that they are to be found in various of our venerable confreres, but because we do not know one another sufficiently to decide who possesses them most eminently.

If only the conditions that I first of all indicated were necessary, I would not hesitate to offer my services to my venerated confreres, but they alone can judge if I am not totally unprovided with the others, in order to decline or accept my offers. It seems to me that I am under no illusion in thinking that it is not pride, but a little the spirit of charity and of sacrifice which urges me to propose myself to render to our beloved congregation a great service which would necessarily entail a great many physical and moral hardships for me; however I would be more content for some other than me to be chosen who could do better than me.

I would be infinitely obliged to you, My Lord, to answer me immediately after having considered before God the plan I am proposing to you and, if you approve it, to tell me who you think we should ask to render this service. I will be writing the same thing to our other bishops, and if a number of voices converge on one of them, I will hasten to add mine so as to put him in a position, as far as I can, to do the utmost good possible.

In union of prayers etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 28 July 1852)

Sent_0553

Sent_0553 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 août 1852 -/2

Sent 0553 - to Mgr Bonnand - 5 August 1852 /2

Sent_0553 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 août 1852 -/2

Sent 0553 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 459-462

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 436-438

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

A question of ecclesiastical law in the episcopal offices : appointing the apostolic vicar by the canon of mass. Unity of action should be achieved in all the vicariates of India.

Index : canon law, unity of action

__________

Coimbatore, 5 August 1852

My Lord,

Yesterday I received your kind letter of 28th. I hope that you are now back in Pondicherry, and will give us your news as often as possible.

What you tell me regarding the content of the letter you have just received from the S.C. does not astonish, but distresses me, because I think that changing the episcopal offices, to which the peoples of these parts have been accustomed for a long time now will necessarily give rise to some serious drawbacks. That the matter is in itself irregular, is evident ; we have merely to read the ceremonial of bishops now in force; that we should never have begun, is perhaps true ; but to change it now, all at once, when this is done in Pondicherry, in Verapoly, in Jaffna, in Trichinopoly to my knowledge, and very probably in all the other vicariates of India, it seems to me, would be dangerous.

Besides, we should consider how it began. Was it through ignorance, or on the basis of a particular indult ? And further, how has Y.L. posed the question ? If the question is posed as a general thesis, the answer could not have been any other than it was. But perhaps we could modify it by pointing out the circumstances, since we see that an answer of toleretur has been given for certain vicariates which have let the custom of appointing the apostolic vicar by the canon of mass be introduced. In all of this, a petition will have to be made that we be permitted to continue.

The worst possible case would be if we were to act in one way at Verapoly, and in another at Pondicherry, here and elsewhere, at least as regards what is most particularly apparent. At Verapoly, the bishop is appointed under the canon and I believe (without being in a position to be sure) that My Lord of Chyrra grants indulgences of forty days. Not only does he use the throne (pontifical) when officiating, but he has the permanent bishop's see in his church, etc.

As for me, I have adopted the usages of Pondicherry, without adding any others, knowing that all of this is not according to common law, and having only to presume the legitimate usage established in the mission to which this vicariate belonged. But for a long time now, it was my intention to write to Rome to inform them of the variants of my neighbours and to ask it what I was to observe. I delayed writing :

1) because I felt that this letter was difficult to write so as to present the matter from all the various points of view ;

2) because I see us surrounded with a thousand other very serious difficulties, directly affecting the salvation of souls, and I felt it necessary to start off with the most urgent. The slowness with which all of this is dealt with makes me hope that I will be in my callare(), before we have the happiness of seeing the Church of India in a well coordinated state.

But, since Y.L. has raised this question, it seems to me that we cannot delay taking this step, at least on this point. Could Y.L. not write on behalf of us three at least ? As for me, I consent with all my heart and fully authorise Y.L. to make use in this question of my name and my opinion.

Oh, why can we not see one another from time to time ! I regard this moral impossibility as one of the principal graces that the Lord refuses India. It is only by seeing one another and dealing with questions together that the bishops can truly advance the work of God.

Has Y.L. not received any answer on the clerical title ? I had not written to the missions of the East for a year now ; I wrote just recently and propose to send Y.L. copy of a passage that I put in the letter to the bishops. It resembles a little the idea of Mgr Lefebvre.(

)

Pray for us.

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar

P.S. I shall be leaving Monday or Tuesday to visit the district of Darabouram. Continue to address all letters to Coimbatore ; they will reach me almost as quickly.

(Coimbatore, 5 August 1852)

Sent_0554

Sent_0554 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 août 1852 -/1

Sent 0554 - to Mgr Bonnand - 27 August 1852 /2

Sent_0554 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 27 août 1852 -/1

Sent 0554 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 463-466

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Somewhat obscure letter following a letter received from Mgr Lefebvre. Must he write to Rome on the doubtful questions of various practices ? These questions should not be dealt with one by one.

Index : Rome (authority), reform of the MEP

_________

( ? ), 27 August 1852 ()

My Lord,

I do not want to wait until my return to Coimbatore to send you the letter from My Lord of Isauropolis. There would be, I believe, much to be said on the nature of the remedy that H.L. demands; even less is it necessary to deal with persons, but the ailment is real and what appears to me urgent is to seek out a salutary remedy. Please God it is not too late even and that the difficulty we have in understanding one another does not turn into impossibility.

It seems to me that having gone so far as to write to Rome on the doubtful questions of these different practices, they should not be dealt with one by one and as if by circumstance. That would imply writing and sustaining a whole treatise, for the question is a complex one, it hurts certain interests, and yet it is of very great importance for the Churches far away from Rome. Thus, I will refrain from writing at least as yet on these questions.

I do not think there is any chance of making them concur with my reasons. The more I consider the state of the missions, the more I find that we are wandering in an inextricable maze, yet I cannot find the thread which will bring us out of it. If Y.L. writes, and you will be so good as to keep me informed on this business, I will follow it with pleasure. It seems to me that we should not give as the reason for our conduct that we are replacing former bishoprics ; for precisely for that reason perhaps it will not be granted, in order to spare the susceptibility of Portugal. Remember what they replied to Mgr Charbonnaux regarding the decree which does not permit us to officiate pontifically outside of our vicariate.

I find it very astonishing that we have received nothing from Rome regarding the other matters. And what of the news that Mr Barran was to give you ?

I am writing to you in haste and in some anxiety ; on my arrival at Coimbatore, I propose sending Y.L. copy of a passage from the letters I wrote to several bishops in our congregation, just before I left.

I expect to be in Coimbatore in about two weeks' time.

I commend myself to your good prayers.

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

( ?, 27 August 1852)

Sent_0555

Sent_0555 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 16 septembre 1852 -/1

Sent 0555 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 16 September 1852 /1

Sent_0555 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 16 septembre 1852 -/1

Sent 0555 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 438-439

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

Yes, an apostolic vicar can authorise one of his missionaries to work for some time outside of his vicariate.

Index : canon law

__________

Carumattampatty, 16 September 1852

If I have understood correctly Y.L.'s question, everything comes down to this difficulty :

Can an apostolic vicar of our Society authorise one of his missionaries to go and work for a time outside of his vicariate ?

I see no difficulty in deciding in the affirmative. I feel I cannot share the fear of the consequences that Y.L. dreads, because, in practice, it is up to the apostolic vicar to grant or refuse his consent, for which he will consult God, and his Council if he considers it appropriate, but that he will refuse if he believes he has to do so before God, even if all his missionaries should urge him to grant it.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 16 September 1852)

Sent_0556

Sent_0556 - à M. Pajean - le 6 octobre 1852 -/1

Sent 0556 - to Mr Pajean - 6 October 1852 /2

Sent_0556 - à M. Pajean - le 6 octobre 1852 -/1

Sent 0556 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 439-440

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

While you must be strict with the Christians, at the same time be very prudent. You are accused of making use at times of corporal punishment. Such means rarely produce any good and always do a great deal of harm. Take care that your attitude does not lead the Christians of your pangou to call in the schismatic priest.

Index : corporal punishment, prudence

__________

Coimbatore, 6 October 1852

It was a long time since I had any news from you when finally I received your letter of the 27th. I have waited until today to answer you, to see whether I had anything to say to you, after having seen your Christians at the feast of Carumattampatty ; but they came in very small number and I failed to see any of the principal ones, which is a bad sign. Besides, everything that you tell me makes me fear that the sinister rumours circulating are all too well founded. I hope that you will couple the rigour necessary to guide these poor peoples, with the prudence that is even more necessary, and that you will not expose them to throwing themselves over a precipice.

Among the few of those who did come, there are some who ascribed to you falsities which have unfortunately been echoed by many persons that you have more or less irritated at some time. Even some of the Christians from Salem repeat that on previous occasions you threatened them with an old shoe. Now it is said that you used the same language, and this irritates everyone. It is added that you forgot yourself to the point of yourself striking a maniacaren, that you knocked him down, or the like! Without doubt, all of this is at least greatly exaggerated, but people believe it and that is unfortunate.

Even if all the Christians should persist in taroumarou(), we should never, we can never use such means. They rarely produce any good and they always indirectly do great harm, without counting the harm that they do to ourselves. If you push these poor peoples to the limit, it is almost certain they they will call in a schismatic priest ; now that is the greatest evil that can occur for the mission in the present state of things. That priest would establish himself comfortably in the pangou, and from there he would come to make his vissarané to Podour, perhaps to Canapaleam, a very irritated village and, who knows later ! Whatever the good that we have to expect from any proceeding, we are gravely obliged in conscience to refrain from it, if it makes that misfortune likely.

I pray God to accompany with his other gifts the gift of strength that he has given you and which will produce its fruits if it is held within its rightful limits, I hope that you will keep me informed of things and so long as there is some fear, you will write to me often in detail.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 6 October 1852)

Sent_0557

Sent_0557 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 7 octobre 1852 -/1

Sent 0557 - to Mgr Bonnand - 7 October 1852 /2

Sent_0557 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 7 octobre 1852 -/1

Sent 0557 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 479-482

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The feast of Carumattampatty with two priests of Salem ; the severity of Mr Pajean with the Christians of Atticodou ; the answer from the S.C. on how to make consecreted wafers ; order for red wine.

Index : news, consecrated wafers

__________

Coimbatore, 7 October 1852 ()

My Lord,

Since my arrival from Darabouram, I have been so occupied that I have had little time to devote to my correspondence. We have just ended our feast of Carumattampatty which was very brilliant. Mr Bordereau, that peaceful and pious missionary from Salem, with Marisaverinader() came to help us celebrate. I have no doubt but that everybody was greatly edified by the presence of these two good priests. They came with me on Tuesday to see Coimbatore, and left today at one in the morning, hoping to be back at Salem in time to celebrate holy mass on Sunday.

I do not know what turn things will take, but Mr P. drives the peoples of Atticodou with such vigour that I fear that he pushes them to the limit and they may call in a schismatic priest. Besides, this poor missionary indisposes all the Indians to him by his acts of violence. He does not choose to understand that "gentleness achieves more than force or rage". Pray that this misfortune does not arrive ; it would be one of the worst possible in the present state of the mission.

I had consulted the S.C. on how we make consecrated wafers for mass here. It first of all answered that the question appeared to it very grave and that it would consult the Holy Inquisition. I have just received the answer from the Inquisition. If Y.L. wishes to be acquainted with its content, I will be pleased to send you a copy.

I will be writing one of these days to the Bursar to ask him to send us some red wine. In order to do so, I am awaiting the arrival of Mr de Gélis who is at Palghat for the question of wood. Meanwhile, I would be very much obliged if you would tell him that, if he has the opportunity of getting hold of a good cask, that he can buy it, but kindly not to send it until fresh instruction.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and respectful confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 7 October 1852)

Sent_0558

Sent_0558 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 octobre 1852 -/3

Sent 0558 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 October 1852 /3

Sent_0558 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 octobre 1852 -/3

Sent 0558 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 467-470

partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 440-441

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of vicaire Pondicherry)

(letter no. 1)

Some internal news. Answer from the Holy Inquisition on how to make consecrated wafers. A long passage on the necessary reform of the MEP regulations, with quite a long quotation from his letter to the MEP bishops. A better education of aspirants is required ; at Paris not only good bursars, but also a good superior are needed ; the authority of each apostolic vicar should be increased ; there should be a general visitor of the missions.

Index : news, reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 23 October 1852

My Lord,

I did not know the sad news from Mysore. I still fear that these examples may be contagious in particular for this mission, for spirits are very inclined to leave India. Mr P. embroils not only people's spirits, but their heads. The two newcomers appear very inclined to take him as their oracle.

Meanwhile, Mr B. makes long written dissertations against caste. It is everything you could imagine in the way of falsity and irrationality; however, it is written with a force and vigour capable of making a great impression on superficial minds. Especially since a mass of exaggerations and even errors is mingled with certain truths and with gravely doubtful points on which people's consciences dwell, whether they are really timorous, or else delight in such thoughts favouring the desires of nature. These writings are apparently circulating and may do the greatest harm.

I was not aware either that Mr Bouquet was ill. In general, we know very little of what is going on in your parts, since no-one but Your Lordship writes to us.

I wrote to the Bursar to ask him to render us certain services and I count somewhat on Your Lordship's indulgence for the information I am asking of him. Kindly hand over the enclosed to him.

I am also enclosing herewith copy of the answer from the Holy Inquisition(). We have managed to make consecrated wafers here out of flour, and even very good ones, by carefully selecting the flour and taking care to beat the dough well before cooking it.

If Y.L. sees fit to pass my opinion on to Mgr Lefebvre, kindly tell him that I admit as he does that it is impossible for our Society to prosper if the superiors cannot reach agreement, if there is no authority which can be referred to easily and which has the power of remedying the daily ills before they turn to scandal, etc.

However, I would not be in favour of his idea of a bishop residing in Paris who would be superior general, above all of the other bishops. Besides the numerous drawbacks that would ensue, Rome will never consent to this, for it is against the ecclesiastical rules for a bishop to be the superior of another bishop. Even the archbishop is not strictly speaking the superior of his suffragans, he only has a jurisdiction over the dioceses of his province limited by the canons. A fortiori this is the case for an archbishop in partibus, since his title of archbishop gives him none of the rights attached to an episcopal jurisdiction that he does not have.

The example of the Society that he quotes is not apt, for it appears that it is not without difficulties and that the cause of this lies partly in this impossible superiority that it was wished to give to a bishop over other bishops. But then, you may ask, what is the remedy ? I admit that it is very difficult, and I do not think that a single apostolic vicar could insinuate it. Even if he should consider it just, it would be almost impossible for him to prove the soundness of his reasons by letters that are never very explicit and never sufficient for a discussion.

.

To my mind, it would suffice :

1) to provide more effectively for the education of the aspirants. From this point of view, the Seminary of Paris, it would appear, is very slack in its duties. Everything referred by the young missionaries is pitiable. It would appear that the missionary's education there is bland, that scarcely a single director deals with them, they do not even know them, they do not know who they are sending us. This depends on a capital fault, which is that at Paris we have mainly bursars ; now an excellent bursar can or must ordinarily make a very ineffective director ;

2) to increase the authority of each apostolic vicar in his own see and to provide him with the means of recompensing virtue and devotion, and of punishing the contrary at least indirectly ;

3) of maintaining corporate unity by means of a general visitor who would be given accidentally the powers required of him by the circumstances.

That is my general idea, but I repeat, if it were good, it would need to be discussed with the apostolic vicars and would be completed and perfected by them. In the meantime, this is what I wrote to several bishops of our Society, with very little hope, I admit, of being heeded, and with the intention of writing about it to all of our venerable confreres, if their response was favourable.

() "Singular body, I said to them, it must be admitted, of which a portion of the head is in Paris, a portion in Japan and a portion in Bangkok ; etc. Is it not clear that we carry in ourselves the beginning of our extreme weakness ? How can we remedy a single one of the evils that impede the good that we could do and that we do only by half or not at all ? And how can we understand one another without doing anything outside of the rules governing us at this moment ? For, it is not by violating the rules that we can achieve any sort of good, but by conforming to them so as to arrive through them at a better state, if that is possible.

"This is what I propose : that each bishop from our congregation makes before God an exact report of what he feels to be desirable, both in general for the good and the advancement of the Missions, and in particular for the Society of Foreign Missions, and especially for his own mission. That one of us be deputed to going personally to each apostolic vicar, to receive this work from his own hands, to become penetrated with his spirit, to get to know perfectly the desires of his confreres, entering together with them into a thousand details that letters can never hope to say completely, however extensive they may be. That this bishop, after having done the rounds of all those consenting to receive him, should go to Paris and to Rome, with a view to fulfilling the desires of each and every one.

"However much I search, I cannot see any other legal and practical means, coming from us, of taking the first step towards a certain unity of which we are clearly in need. Besides it seems to me that in all of this there is no harm to be feared, for each apostolic vicar would be entitled to abide rigorously by the terms of of his report, if he does not see fit to accept the views of his confreres.

"But I am persuaded that we would find ourselves in agreement on many points and that we would all profit more or less from the communications of the others. Doubtless, perfection would not emerge from this first proceeding, however I consider it as very proper to opening the way which might lead us to this perfection, and the mere possibility of this result seems to me to be worth the trouble of not stopping in the face of the difficulties of its execution.

"The greatest of these difficulties, the only one that appears grave in my eyes, is to find an apostolic vicar who would accept, nay, who could expose himself to the dangers, the difficulties and fatigues of such journeys, and whose mission would be such that it did not suffer esssentially from his absence for perhaps five or six years.

"It would further be necessary for that bishop to have great prudence, good judgment and other personal qualities, for him not to be too advanced in age to bear such great fatigues, or too young to have acquired experience of the missions. The combination of these conditions would perhaps constitute the princpal difficulty, not that it is doubtful in any way that they are to be found in various of our venerable confreres, but because we do not know one another sufficiently to decide who possesses them most eminently.

"If only the conditions that I first of all indicated were necessary, I would not hesitate to offer my services to my venerated confreres, but they alone can judge if I am not totally unprovided with the others, in order to decline or accept my offers. It seems to me that I am under no illusion in thinking that it is not pride, but a little the spirit of charity and of sacrifice which urges me to propose myself to render to our beloved congregation a great service which would necessarily entail for me a great many physical and moral hardships ; however I would be more content for some other than me to be chosen who could do better than me."

I beg Y.L. to kindly tell me what you think of all this and to believe me, in union of prayers,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 23 October 1852)

Sent_0559

Sent_0559 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 octobre 1852 -/4

Sent 0559 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 October 1852 /4

Sent_0559 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 octobre 1852 -/4

Sent 0559 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 2197-2198

Translation: following page

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

(letter no. 2)

copy of letter no. 0516 to Propaganda on how to make consecrated wafers at Coimbatore. Affirmative answer of the Holy Inquisition to this question.

Index : consecrated wafers, canon law

__________

Coimbatore, 23 October 1852 (

)

C O P Y

Case proposed by Monsignor Melchior Marion de Brésillac

Bishop of Pruse in Partibus

Apostolic Vicar of Coimbatore

In hac regione, difficilimum est conficere panes Eucharisticos ex farina proprie dicta, unde consuetudo orta est (exceptis forsitan locis in quibus faciliter haberi potest farina ex Europa) panem conficiendi ex granis contritis, et per aliquas horas in aqua infusis, non tamen usque ad corruptionem. Quae grana manibus comprimant et, ex materia adveniente, panes conficiant ferro calido, modo ex Europa consueto. Aliquod habeo scrupulum de tali confectione. Nam

(1°) Si panem confidentes, maximam attentionem non adhibeant, triticum relinquere possunt in aqua usque ad corruptionem saltem inceptam.

2° Tota substantia tritici non mihi videtur in tali pane contineri.

3° Talis materia mihi videtur appropinquare amydum ex quo practice panis Eucharisticus confici non debet. Aliunde, de farina ex Europa adveniente, valde dubitandum est utrum pura sit vel non, cum omnibus notum sit mercatores mixturas innumerabiles facere.

Unde humiliter quaero

l° Utrum licita sit supradicta confectio panis pro misssa.

2° Si non liceat, quid debeam facere, praesertim cum illa consuetudo vigeat in diversis partibus Indiae.

Feria IV, die 23 junii 1852

In Congregatione generali Sanctae Romanae et Universalis Inquisitionis habita in Conventu Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam, coram Eminentissimis ac Reverendissimis Dominis Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalibus Generalibus Inquisitoribus, proposito suprascripto dubio, et praehibito voto Consultorum, iidem Eminentissimi ac Reverendissimi Domini decreverunt : Affirma(tive). Curet tamen, si fieri possit, Vicarius Apostolicus ut frum(entum), ex quo panis eucharisticus conficitur, non contundatur tantummodo, sed apto instrumento in farinam redigatur, quae deinde cribro exacte purgetur et panis ex eodem (faciatur ?) modo in Europa usitato.

Eadem die ac feria

Illustrissimus D.N.D. Pius, Divina Providentia PP. IX, in solita audientia R.P.D. Assessori Sancti Officii impertita resolutionem Eminentiarum approbavit.

Angelus Argenti

Sanctae Romanae et Universalis Inquisitionis Notarius

Concordat cum Originale

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, Episcopus Prusensis,

Vicarius Apostolicus

TRANSLATION OF THE TWO PRECEDING DOCUMENTS

Case proposed by Monsignor Melchior

de Marion Brésillac

bishop of Pruse in partibus

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

In this region, it is very difficult to make eucharistic bread with real flour, whence the habit has arisen (save perhaps for those places where it is easy to obtain flour from Europe) of making the bread from grains crushed and soaked in water for a few hours, but not however until alteration takes place. These grains are kneaded with the hands so that, from the white matter obtained from it, wafers are made using a hot iron, the customary way in Europe. I have certian scruples regarding the making in this way, for :

1) if when making the bread, great attention is not paid, the wheat may be left in the water until some alteration has at least begun to occur ;

2) not all the substance of the wheat seems to me to be contained in such bread ;

3) such matter seems to me to be close to starch, from which eucharistic bread should not be made. On another hand, as regards the flour coming from Europe, there is assuredly some doubt as to whether this is really pure, for it is well known that the merchants make innumerable mixtures. In view of all of which, I humbly ask :

1) Is the aforesaid method of making bread for mass licit ?

2) If it is not licit, what should I do, above all since this habit exists in various parts of India ?

Wednesday 23 June 1852

In the general meeting of the Roman and Universal Holy Inquisition held in

the monastery of Santa Maria della Minerva,

in the presence of their Very Eminent and Reverend Lords

the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Inquisitors General,

to the foregoing doubt proposed to them and having received the opinion of the Consultors,

these same Very Eminent and Reverend Lords replied in the affirmative.

However, if this is possible, that the apostolic vicar should take care to ensure that the grain

from which the eucharistic bread is made, is not only crushed, but that

with a suitable apparatus, it is reduced to flour, which thereafter will be carefully

sieved, then transformed into bread in the same way as this is done in Europe.

That same day

Our Holy Father Pope Pius IX, Sovereign Pontiff by divine Providence, in the habitual audience that he granted to the R.D.F. Assessor of the Holy Office, approved the resolution of the Cardinals.

Angelus Argenti

Secretary of the Roman and Universal Holy Inquisition

Faithful to the Original

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

Sent_0560

Sent_0560 - à Mgr d'Arras - le 25 octobre 1852 -/1

Sent 0560 - to Mgr of Arras - 25 October 1852 /2

Sent_0560 - à Mgr d'Arras - le 25 octobre 1852 -/1

Sent 0560Annals of the Work of the Holy Childhood,

April 1856, tome 8, p 127

copy, AMA 2F17/1852

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F6, p 441

(to Mgr Pierre Louis Parisis)

(bishop of Arras)

(President of the Work of the Holy Childhood)

He informs him of the needs of his vicariate for obtaining an allocation from the Work of the Holy Childhood.

Index : allocation

__________

Coimbatore, 25 October 1852

In this letter, dated 25 October 1852, Mgr de Brésillac who still had not received any allocation, informs the Council of the Holy Childhood of his vicariate's needs :

"How we long not to have to work any more principally on bricks and cement, in order to devote ourselves to more directly spiritual works !"

My Lord thinks that the Holy Childhood should be one of these works ; and although its application cannot be referred as exclusively as it is in China to the baptism of infidel children, he believes that it is called upon to do great good in this vicariate so newly established, where so many orphans require a bishop's care.

"In India, children are never forsaken; the parents can never have too many of them and if, by an exceptional misfortune, a child came to be abandoned, ten families for one would vie for the happiness of adopting him and including him among the number of their other children. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to approach the pagans in sickness, because our Christians, all of whom are treated by the pagans as people of degraded castes, cannot enter into their homes. There is only one way : that is to have some fairly competent doctors who, in their capacity of clever doctors, can sometimes go in to see sick persons. In this way each year we obtain several children's baptisms under the article of death. If we could remunerate seven to eight baptisers in the capacity of itinerant doctors, we would obtain a larger number of them."

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 25 October 1852)

Sent_0561

Sent_0561 - aux directeurs - le 26 octobre 1852 -/3

Sent 0561 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 26 October 1852 /3

Sent_0561 - aux directeurs - le 26 octobre 1852 -/3

Sent 0561 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 88

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 441-444

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Fairly long letter in which, after reiterating his profound attachment to the congregation of Foreign Missions, he returns to the reforms necessary in order for religion to be better established in the missions. He repeats in particular that those in charge should meet up to discuss matters and reach agreement. "The recent approval of our constitutions does not prove that everything in them is perfect˝. He does not understand the great value of letters patent. He returns to his resignation, but will work in his post until the last day. Comments on certain confreres.

Index : regulations of the MEP, reform of the MEP, my missionaries, resignation from Coimbatore

__________

Coimbatore, 26 October 1852

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I will not develop at length the feelings that your good letter of 18 August inspired in me. They are those of gratitude, although you are thwarting a plan that I feel myself obliged to pursue in conscience ; those of a more or less great attachment, if that is possible, to the congregation to which I have the honour of belonging, and of which I am far from desiring the reform of its essential organisation, but only such reforms as are possible with this organisation and which would put it in a position to accomplish the purpose for which it was created. But this is morally impossible to achieve in the various attendant circumstances. Above all I would like it, if need be, to re-form the individuals or rather form them, in such a way that reform would rarely be useful.

Apart from this, the reasons for my determination are too complex for us to have to search for their cause in a single reason. It is rather the sum-total of these reasons, that contribute invincibly, to my mind, to making impossible the normal establishment of our holy religion in mission countries such as India, which do not permit me, unworthy bishop as I am, to contribute to such a state of things, with this conviction.

If the good God had given me some power, I would consider it my duty, before leaving my post, to exhaust all the resources of a legitimate and charitable discussion. But our weakness is evident, I ask leave to withdraw. What could be simpler ? Is that not more advisable than disputes, and even than a discussion which is always dangerous if it is useless ?

I am almost angry for having started that on the Malabar rites (and yet I could not hold my peace : I could withdraw in silence, if they leave me free to withdraw), on seeing how this business is going ; I am sure that this beginning of a discussion has done some harm, and the good to be expected of it is highly problematical ; and yet, there are various other fundamental points which deserve, as much as that one, the serious attention of those whom God will ask to account for the sterility of our apostolate in these immense regions.

Meanwhile, I believe I should redress certain thoughts that you have perhaps conceived of me, to judge by certain terms used in your letter.

I do not deny that our constitutions in their essential outlines are the work of our predecessors. From this point of view, I admire our congregation, I respect it, and I love it so much that if it did not exist, I would bless the person fortunate enough to establish it. But the same is not true of the details that our predecessors were not in a position to foresee, and which must necessarily vary over time. There we find things which have not won the approval of time, for if you search in your correspondence, I think that you will not find a single period when strong complaints were not made on some point or other.

The recent approval of our missions() does not prove anything much, for it was given without agreement being reached, as an attempt at compromise, and without the general conviction that at last we had what was required. Perhaps not a single apostolic vicar indicated his perfect satisfaction. Finally, there are still some blank articles of which we do know the final drafting.

This recent approval, you say, excludes any modification, whose reform is not generally sought. But that there is something generally considered as defective, you cannot doubt. And it is difficult for superiors, who are isolated and separated from one another by thousands of leagues, to agree on expressing that something in the same way, even though they would easily agree if they could hear and understand one another.

Like you, I agree that for any change, it is necessary to reflect carefully, I would go further: it is necesary to help each other's reflections, and guard against being carried away as is all too common in our times, for no-one is more opposed than I am to current ideas.

You quote the word of a cardinal to me. That is all very well, but I would prefer to see at the head of our regulations the approval of the Sovereign Pontiff, much more than the signature of Louis and of Napoleon. Besides, I only want for us what that cardinal wants, God forbid I would want to touch the wise institutions handed down to us by our predecessors, but only the practical development that they could not bequeath to us.

I have never understood the great value of letters patent. Does this acknowledgement by the government procure us the slightest advantage abroad ? Are our confreres not decapitated without the government caring about it any more than if we were Turks ! Are we not humiliated elsewhere in every possible way without the government making any effort to avenge our honour ! Do these famous letters patent procure for us even some slight material good ? What would we be with them and without Propagation of the Faith ? And yet, I do not despise them, for I have no reason to believe them bad, providing it does not become necessary for their sake to neglect a veritable good to be done. Let us keep them, if we can do so without prejudice to a real good, and that, it seems to me, is what we could do.

I am quite aware that the ideas of some seem to be in contradiction with the terms of these letters ; but, I repeat, the different opinions, given by men who are unable to agree, merely prove the general malaise ; and in the discussion, many of them would be the first to abandon such and such a thought that they have entertained in isolation. I have no doubt, for example, that Mgr Lefebvre would abandon his idea of an archbishop superior of his brother bishops, which appears to me to go against the ecclesiastical rules.

You quote other unfortunate congregations to me. Their misfortune distresses me considerably, because they all have something good, unfortunately rendered useless by a weak side of their constitution. What would distress me above all if I belonged to it, is that they had neglected to listen to the complaints of certain devoted members, who had not failed to warn them in good time.

I pray the Lord to avoid this extremity for us and, therefore, I urge you not to reject a priori the opinions and observations of our confreres who deserve our trust by their zeal, their talents and their piety. They will be the first to abandon their ideas (for there cannot be any systematic opposition in their establishments) once these are shown to them to be false or incapable of remedying the evil.

I hope the time will come when I will only have to make wishes and prayers for that. But until such time as I can form the awareness that I am not going against God's holy will by leaving the post I am occupying, you may be sure that I will act as if I should remain in it always, even if I were sure of having only 24 hours to carry this heavy burden, not for the work it entails, but due to the state of my conscience.

I am very grateful to you for your good intentions for the mission of Coimbatore ; you know its needs and I have no doubt but that you will always do all you can to succour it. Next month, I will be sending Mr Tesson the table for Propagation of the Faith, with the details of our needs for the year. I hope shortly to receive news of the departure of a new missionary.

I have notified Mr Perceval of his final admittance to our congregation. Kindly enter his name on our registers. In the last two years, this young missionary has given us nothing but grounds for consolation.

I very much fear that I shall not be able to give you a similar testimonial in respect of Messrs Malhaire and Lefeuvre. The latter above all appears not to have awaited even his arrival in the mission to repent of the whole undertaking. I myself heard certain words suggesting this, and now he says that, when the time comes, he will refuse to be admitted into the congregation. Mr Malhaire speaks very much in the same way. These two Gentlemen, besides, allow themselves to be carried away by the language and examples of Mr Pajean and Mr Barot. I should not be at all astonished if all four of them were to leave in a day.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Very dear confreres,

Your completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 26 October 1852)

Sent_0562

Sent_0562 - à M. Tesson - le 27 octobre 1852 -/2

Sent 0562 - to Mr Tesson - 27 October 1852 /2

Sent_0562 - à M. Tesson - le 27 octobre 1852 -/2

Sent 0562 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 89

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 444-445

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

I accept all the unfortunate consequences that I will incur by resigning. The lack of material means has no place in my determination. Thanks for the latest dispatch of objects. I foresee placing another order next month, above all of books for the seminary.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, poverty, questions of the burse

__________

Coimbatore, 27 October 1852

My dear Mr Tesson,

Thank you very much for the good things you say to me in your letter of 18 August. Believe me, I have reflected at length and will continue to reflect on the implications of the act which I believe to be my duty, so as only to carry it out with the conviction that I will not be going in any way against God's holy Will. I have no illusions as to the unfortunate consequences that I will incur personally. Please God I may be the only one to suffer therefrom ! But I fear the scandal of the weak.

However, by proceeding slowly, by giving unmistakable proofs that it is not the good of this world that I have in view, or even rest, or even the wish to return to my homeland, etc., I hope that the scandal will disappear. God could even change it to grounds for edification, for others who do not have the same conscience as I, either because they do not see what I see, or that my view is misguided (I admit both hypotheses), will clearly do more good than me, in a position abhorrent to my conscience.

I am very glad that you feel, and that all our confreres of Paris feel with you, that we would require a larger allocation to found the Mission. However, I beg you not believe that it is because I have not obtained what I requested for the last few years, that I have allowed discouragement to creep into my heart. This reason has absolutely no place in my determination. I have always felt quite sure that, if you did not do more that was because, for various reasons independent of your will, you could not do more than you did.

Next month, I will be sending you the table for Propagation of the Faith and the details of our needs for the year.

I am sending you, enclosed herewith, a letter for My Lord of Arras, asking you to kindly hand it over to him if you see fit. Would you also see that the other enclosure is received by Mr Desgenettes, or his substitute at the head of the archconfraternity of Notre-Dame des Victoires.

We have received the latest dispatch of objects ; everything arrived safely. However, we were unable to find the medals and rosaries, for which the account debits us for 107 francs, or the geographical maps the price of which I cannot remember, since at the moment Mr de Gélis has the accounts. I am very glad that you bought the monstrance for Mr Bruyère in silver. This dear confrere, finding himself short of money as a result of his change, decided to get rid of it ; if it had been finer, but in copper, he would have been obliged to keep it, and some years afterwards, it would have been horrible.

I will be placing a fresh order with you next month. As for the bell, that can be postponed to some indefinite time in the future. Baronius's Annals would be very useful for the seminary, since we have few Latin books for readings in the refectory, and for giving the pupils some notions of ecclesiastic history. Kindly buy the cheapest edition. I am telling you this now so that you have ample time to get hold of it, however I will repeat this order in my note of requests. A few other Latin books would be extremely useful to us, history books, an arithmetic and a physics book, etc. It is true that it is difficult to find this last kind of Latin books that are not very old-fashioned ; whatever they are, we will make good use of them.

I ask you to believe me in union of prayers.

Your very affectionate confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 27 October 1852)

Sent_0563

Sent_0563 - à M. Barran - le 27 octobre 1852 -/2

Sent 0563 - to Mr Barran - 27 October 1852 /2

Sent_0563 - à M. Barran - le 27 octobre 1852 -/2

Sent 0563 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 445-447

(to Mr Jean Barran)

(superior in the Seminary of Paris)

I will only leave my post if I have the conviction that God wants or permits it. What I wish is for Rome to know what is happening here and to give us a clear line of conduct. In India, the episcopate is impotent .״I cannot consent to be the foster-father of a child if I cannot give him the food he requires each day." For our constitutions, the changes I would like to see would not affect the essence of what already exists in any way.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP, Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 27 October 1852

Monsieur le Supérieur,

Since the death of our very venerable and much venerated Mr Langlois, we have not been honoured by any letter from the Superior of the Seminary for Foreign Missions. Indeed, for a long time after his appointment we were completely unaware of who he was, or else we only knew it through the newspapers. Allow me, very worthy confrere, to complain a little ; but let us pass immediately over this omission that the heart finds more culpable than the mind, and go straight to the subject of your letter dictated by charity alone, for which I thank you.

No, I do not wish to leave my post unless I feel sure that God wishes or at least permits it. I know he wants our obedience and not our sacrifice ; thus we must reflect before offering him a sacrifice, and that is what I have done and what I will continue to do until the instant when I deem the time has come to put it into effect.

Thus please believe, Monsieur le Superieur, that I will see you return with pleasure to this subject, as you make me hope, and that I will read with the utmost attention the considerations by means of which you promise me to prove until clearly demonstrated that God's will is formally opposed to this project of withdrawal. Now, with the same frank liberty that you use and which cannot displease anyone when discussing for the good alone, allow me to say that I am a little surprised that in your eyes, my reasons bear no weight or value.

As for the modifications to be made on the question of the usages and practices of India, you may notice that I request none such explicitly. What I want is for us to know what line we should take and for us not to have to seriously fear on the one hand being under the weight of excommunication, or on the other of shutting, by our rigour, the door of heaven to thousands of souls. Twofold fear which leads me to regard it as impossible not to be here at this time, unless totally abandoned to the current, with no wish to give account for what we are doing. Accordingly, I request that at Rome adequate steps be taken to become thoroughly acquainted with the state of things. I have no doubt regarding Rome's determination to get to know everything and to come to the help of these Christian communities. But what I have occasion to fear is that attempts will be made to prevent the truth from being seen in its full light.

What is Mgr Canoz doing at Rome, since he was due back here over a year ago ? Of course, I would desire what in all probability the Jesuits do too, but only in the case of it being the pure and simple truth. If we obtain a sort of concession or silence, through authority, because powerful voices have covered other voices which deserve to be heard, even if they are not those of bishops, I would never consent to cooperating in a doubtful ministry. I do not ask for dispute, I do not want that, but I only ask to withdraw, and who can find that bad ?

Then you go on to say : You may hasten the time by consulting with your venerable confreres of India. Alas ! (and this is another cause of profound sorrow) our intercourse is nil, our relations sterile and our agreement impossible. The episcopate, which is alone capable of achieving anything stable, is impotent here.

Pastoral solicitude, present every day, at all times, which should continually attend to the development of the Churches, as a mother to the development of her children, since she feeds the Christians with such and such a substance always one in its essence, but infinitely variable in its practical use, now giving milk only, now replacing this with some stronger food, this solicitude, I say, is impossible. There are no shepherds ! How then would they reach agreement to ensure that the different parts of the flock do not spoil one another, but are mutually edifying? Simple administrators of the head of the family who is in Rome, they must necessarily leave paternal solicitude to this father. But he is too far away from his children, this father, to hear their cries and see their sorrows.

I cannot consent to be the foster-father of a child if I cannot give him the food he requires each day.

I cannot consent to fight at the head of a company if I do not know what the conduct of the captains fighting at my side is, if I cannot either see them, or consult with them so as to combine our efforts.

Just one word more : You believe that I want to see a major change in our constitutions. Let us be clear here: major as regards the practical consequences, yes ; major, that is destined to change everything, subvert everything, disturb everything, or even only touch essentially what already exists, no, thrice no, unless it should be recognised (which I do not think) that it is necessary to touch them essentially in order not to essentially impede the establishment of the Churches.

I will stop there, praying God to give us all the realisation of our faults and the needs of our unfortunate Churches, just as he gives us the goodwill to remedy them if we can. As for me, I ardently desire him to inspire one of his servants most capable of illuminating people's minds and of successfully dealing with such grave questions. I would be happy not to have to bring him succour except by prayer.

I commend myself to yours, very respectable confrere, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 27 October 1852)

Sent_0564

Sent_0564 - à la Propagande - le 28 octobre 1852 -/7

Sent 0564 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 28 October 1852 /8

Sent_0564 - à la Propagande - le 28 octobre 1852 -/8

Sent 0564 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 447-448

and AMA 2F7 verso, pp 1-3

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

Yes, I will stay in Coimbatore until such time as Propaganda authorises me to leave. Account of the administration of the vicariate : 7 districts, 1 seminary (I hope soon to have some native priests), 10 missionaries some of whom are young and inconstant ; the buildings in each district, the poverty of the Christians, the lack of resources, exceedingly slow progress made, the threat of the priests of Goa. Even conversions are not all for the same reasons. And then no unity of action exists betweeen the vicariates. Reminder of various proceedings which still remain unanswered, especially on the subject of a modification to the limits of Mysore, Madurai and Coimbatore.

Index : resignation, administration, Indian usages, unity of action, poverty

__________

Coimbatore, 28 October 1852

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Mense nuper elapso, recepi litteras S.C. die 13 lulii datas cum Sacrae Inquisitionis responso ad dubium circa confectionem panis eucharistici et indulto ad prorogationem facultatis dispensandi in matrimoniis mixtis. In supradictis litteris, S.C. jubet ne deseram mihi creditam gregem usquedum responsionem alteram dederit de mea demissione. Obediam quidem, "Melior est enim obedientia quam victimae".

Spero tamen hanc responsionem brevi venturam esse et Sacram Congregationem, quidquid dicant Moderatores Seminarii Parisiensis, non velle me detinere in positione quae magis ac magis ita repugnat conscientiae meae ut moraliter invitus remanerem. Interea, omne onus declino ita ut et quae agantur et quae non agantur mihi imputari non possint in tremendo judicio.

Mihi proponebam administrationis Vicariatus rationem Vobis reddere proficiscendo. Cum vero mea profectio indefinite prorogata est et a diuturno tempore hanc obligationem non implevi, huic officio satisfaciam his litteris.

Vicariatus Coimbatorensis in septem districtus dividitur, quorum unusquisque a suo proprio missionario administratur. Alius missionarius seminarii curam gerit et duo alii ad conversionem paganorum specialiter deputantur. Hi vero suum opus speciale non adhuc inceperunt, cum, usque nunc, vel missionarii sufficienti non erant numero ad Christianos curandos, vel linguam non satis callebant ; spero tamen quod decurrente anno incipere poterunt.

Nunc ergo missionarii mei decem sunt et alterum expecto qui forsitan a Lutetia profectus est. Ab aliquis annis, duo mortui sunt, duo alii missionem reliquerunt, ex quibus unum in mare periisse timendum est ; omnes ergo juvenes sunt, excepto Provicario meo, R.P. Métral, qui omnibus virtutibus sacerdotibus et apostolicis repletus est. Valde tamen timendum est ne plures ex illis ad Europam serius ocius redeant, vel inconstantiae causa vel causa fastidii de rebus Religionis in India.

Quoadusque vero notabiles mutationes in Vicariatu fiant, decem missionarii sufficere videntur, et etiam numerus ille minui poterit postquam fuerint sacerdotes indigeni, quod aliquot post annos eventurum spero, cum novem nunc habeam clericos ostiarios, lectores et etiam acolythos quorum unum, decurrente anno, ad subdiaconatum promovendum esse spero.

In quolibet districtu, 1200 Christiani ad minimum, et 3000 ad summum, inveniuntur. Convenientes domus aedificatae sunt in loco praecipuo commorationis missionarii, ex quibus quatuor intra sex praecedentes annos constructae, reliquae vero reparatae et quasi renovatae fuerunt. Insuper domus pro Episcopo empta est in urbe Coimbatore et alia domus aedificata est pro seminario in vice Carumattampatty, satis ampla, ut occasione data, v.g. quotannis tempore secessus spiritualis, omnes missionarii convenire possimus.

Eodem tempore, quasdam parvas ecclesias refecimus, quasdam alias incepimus in praecipua sede districtuum, loco earum quae jam existebant sed quae nomine ecclesiarum indignae erant. Ea opera absolute necessaria ut Vicariatus convenienter administraretur nimis celeriter et nimis parce adimpleta sunt ut magni sit soliditas cui deinceps providendum erit. Sic Coimbatore jecimus fundamenta pulchrae et solidae Ecclesiae cujus muri ad tertium cubitum supra solum elevantur.

Omnimodo conatus sum aliquod invenire medium quosdam redditus faciendi et seminario et ecclesiis ; sed usque nunc frustra laboravi, praesertim cum fundus terrae tantis graventur impositionibus ut nisi ab ipsis agricultoribus inutile et aliquoties onerose possideantur. Aliunde, Christiani omnes istius Vicariatus pauperes sunt ita ut nihil aliud possideamus nisi subsidia a pio et pretiosissimo Opere Propagationis Fidei praestita et quasdam eleemosynas ex zelo Moderatorum Seminarii Missionum ad Exteros nobis provenientes.

Postquam vero expletae sunt expensae ad sustentationem missionariorum et seminaristarum, nec non ad cultum divinum omnino requisitae, parvum est quod remanet ad supradictas constructiones et ad alia opera charitatis desideranda sed usque nunc fere neglecta.

Quoad vero reales profectus qui exinde sanctae religioni evenerunt, fucum sibi faceret qui eos magnos putaret. Christiani nec numerosiores effecti sunt nec meliores. E contra, sive propter inopiam et etiam famem quibusdam locis exhortam, sive defectu laboris, minuerunt ; et ex eorum irritatione contra missionarios, forsitan nimis rigidos contra usus et mores istarum regionum, pejores videntur.

Quotidiana enim et in omnibus contradictio inter missionarios et Indianos causa potens est cur sancta nostra Religio radices in cordibus agere nequit. Quod si inevitabile sit ad servandam integritatem Fidei Indianorum perditio sibi solis tribuetur ; si vero, intacta Fide, eorum praejudicia tolerari possunt nostra agendi ratio ad ruinam vertitur. Aliunde, sacerdotes schismatici etiam evidenter intolerabilia tolerant ad juvandam Christianorum propensionem ad schisma, quod, a duobus annis, magnam inducit perturbationem in isto Vicariatu. Aliquibus in vicis qui vocaverunt sacerdotem Goanensem, Christiani illi adherent, et alii sunt qui, data occasione, dispositi sunt ut expellant missionarios.

Post meas litteras 12 Junii 1851, n° 2, ad S.C., missionarios deprecatus sum ne quid innoverent, usque dum S. Sedes dubia proposita judicaverit sed sequerentur cum conscientia reflexa praxim a praedecessoribus nostris observatam et quae etiam nunc observatur in vicinis Missionibus Pondichery et Maduré.

Jam eos retinere difficillimum erat, praesertim cum et in Missione Pondichery plures missionarii sicut et mei reclamant fortiter, cum aliunde repugnantia sacerdotum Europeanorum erga Indianorum praejudicia magis ac magis augetur cum frequentia aliorum Europeanorum in India, sed post litteras circulares S.C. ad Vicarios Apostolicos Indiae, missas die 11 Octobris 1851, fere impossibile fuit. Quidam enim cogitant (forsitan recte) haec verba : caenosae consuetudines [...] perperam interpretantes seu torquentes clara satis etc. [...] a caenosis fontibus avertere etc., manifeste indicare quosdam usus eliminandos qui ipsis videntur evidenter mali et aliquoties in contradictione cum juramento a nobis emisso.

Attamen numerus adultorum qui baptismum recipiunt quotidie augetur. Antea fere nullus paganus convertebatur in provincia Coimbatore ; anno vero praeterito, centum vigenti duo (122) baptisati sunt, et hoc anno ad centum et quinquagenta pervenient haec conversiones ; quae tamen, ut omnia dicam, plerumque ex alique parte claudicant. Majori numero missionariorum praesertim tribui debent qui in Provincia dispersi facilius cognoscere possunt miseros quos paupertas, fames, et saepe saepius infamia vel nequitia ad nos impellunt. A suis derelicti, veniunt ad nos.

Unde non semel aliquid dedecoris non vero honoris sunt Religioni christianae. Verum est quod dum eos edocent, curant missionarii ut motivis naturalibus eorum conversionis motiva supernaturalia substituantur, sed quidquid sit, tales conversiones (paucis exceptis) Religioni dedecori sunt coram populo, et aliunde plerique ex talibus neophitis senes, infirmi vel ex sua tribu (casta) propter culpas expulsi matrimonium inire nequeunt. Denique, fides debilitatur et etiam numerus catholicorum minuit cum progressu protestantismi quem negare non possumus.

Multa remanent dicenda de probabili statu futuro Religionis in his regionibus, et de mediis adhibendis ad eam firmiter stabiliendam. Id vero evolutissimam explanationem requireret, eo magis quod media in uno Vicariatu adhibita inutilia et forsitan noxia evaderent, nisi in tota India, vel saltem in notabili parte Indiae, operarii evangelici consentaneum agendi modum habeant ; ita ut nunquam se contradicantes sese mutuo adjuvent.

Questio de caeremoniis et ritibus Indianis bene tractata et explanata maximi potest esse momenti pro futura sorte Indiae ; sed haec difficultas non quidem sola est quae seriam ex parte S.C. attentionem requirat. Extra limites et propositum praesentis epistolae esset defectus omnes indicare qui necessario, juxta me, (utinam errem) ducere debent ad continuam debilitationem Religionis catholicae in India ; sed mei muneris esse arbitror, quacumque data occasione, S.C. monere quod nisi efficax et promptum afferatur remedium, aliqua quidem particularia efficientur bona, sed fructus manentes, verum Religionis incrementum, Ecclesiae progressus firmoque stabili fundamento positi frustra expectabuntur.

Si inscrutabilia Dei judicia has regiones nunquam christianas fore permettant verba mea tanquam phantasiae, amplificantis ingenii et pusillanimi timoris effectus habebuntur. Si vero dies Salutis et Misericordiae oriri debent his populis, Servus bonus et fidelis a Deo mittetur qui gravitatem mali intelligat et in cujus manibus potentia sit noto malo remedium afferendi. Quae tempora ut celeriter appropinquent a Deo flagito et piam sollicitudinem S.C. imploro.

Juramentum a D.D. Lefeuvre prestitum et scriptum mitto.

Finiam rememorando Em. V. quod, mense Martii vel Aprilis anni praeteriti, litteram scripsi S.C. de qua nullum responsum datum est. Quod dico in casu quo perdita sit, non vero ut urgeam petitionem in ea contentam. Nam, de talibus rebus, valde indifferens sum cum meam conscientiam non tangunt. Si quod credo utile aliis videtur inopportunum, desidero ut ratio sit in eorum parte.

Tamen quoad Collegal disjungendum a Vicario Coimbatore ut adjungatur Vicario Apostolico Maysore, re melius examinata, desidero et peto ut fiat talis mutatio independenter ab aliis modificationibus si P.P. Jesuitae oppositionem mittunt a S.C. judicatam rationabilem. Nam fere impossibile est ut paucos Christianos qui in Collegal inveniuntur curem propter eorum linguam vernaculam quae nota est missionariis Vicariatus Maysourensis et ignota meis.

Aliam quoque litteram S.C. missi die 12 Januarii istius anni, de qua nihil audivi. D.O.M. deprecans ut tandem misereatur India, S.C. oro ut pro certo teneat quod verba mea non ex superbia vel praesumptione prodeunt, sed ex solo desiderio salvationis meae, salvationis animarum et glorificationis Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae, et habeat tanquam probabile quod non ex vano terrore, scrupulosa conscientia vel nimia tristitia effluunt.

Verum est "quoniam tristitia mihi magna est, et continuum dolor cordi meo pro fratribus meis", sed sine perturbatione animi et semper gaudens in Domino cui soli sit sempiternus honor et universalis gloria. Amen.

Eminentiae Vestrae etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 28 October 1852)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

Coimbatore, 28 October 1852

Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

Last month I received the letter of the Sacred Congregation dated 13 July, with the answer of the Holy Inquisition concerning the doubt on the making of eucharistic bread, as well as the indult for prolongation of the faculty of dispensation in mixed marriages. In the letter which I have just mentioned, the Sacred Congregation orders me not to abandon the flock entrusted to me until it has given me a further answer on the subject of my resignation. Of course, I will obey, "for obedience is worth more than sacrifices״.

However I hope that this answer will arrive shortly and that the Sacred Congregation, whatever the Moderators of the Seminary of Paris say, will not choose to retain me in a position which my conscience abhors, in such a way that I stay there against my will. During such time, I decline all responsibility, so that the things which are done, and those which are not done, cannot be held against me in the judgment that is to be feared.

I proposed, on leaving, to account to you for the administration of the vicariate. But, since my departure is postponed indefinitely and I have not fulfilled this obligation for a long while now, I am going to fulfil this duty in this letter.

The vicariate of Coimbatore is divided into seven districts, each of which is administered by its own missionary. Another missionary is entrusted with the seminary, and two others are specially deputed to the conversion of the pagans. However, the latter two have still not begun their special work because, until now either the missionaries were not sufficient in number to care for the Christians, or else they were not sufficiently competent in the language. However I hope that they will be in a position to start by the end of the year.

Accordingly, now my missionaries number ten, while I am expecting another one who has already left Paris. In the last few years, two have died, two others have left the mission, of which it is to be feared that one of them perished at sea. They are all young, except for my Pro-vicar, Reverend Father Métral, who is filled with all the priestly and apostolic virtues. It is however to be feared that several of them may return sooner or later to Europe, either because of their inconstancy, or because of their abhorrence for the things of religion in India.

But, until considerable changes are made in the vicariate, ten missionaries would seem to be sufficient, and might even diminish once we have some native priests, which will be the case, I hope, in a few years' time, since I now have nine clerics, porters, readers and even acolytes, one of whom, at the end of the year, will be promoted to sub-deacon.

In each of the districts, there are from a minimum of 1,200 to a maximum of 3,000 Christians. Decent houses have been built in the main places of residence of each missionary, of which four have been built in the last six years, and the others repaired and practically renewed. In addition, a house for the bishop has been bought in the town of Coimbatore, and another house has been built for the seminary in the village of Carumattampatty ; it is fairly large so that, on occasion, for example each year at the time of the spiritual retreat, all the missionaries can gather there.

At the same time, we have rebuilt certain small churches, we have begun several others in the main centres of the districts, in place of the existing ones, which were unworthy of the name of churches. These works, absolutely necessary in order for the vicariate to be administered properly, were carried out too fast and too cheaply for them to have now the solidity they should later acquire. Thus, we have laid the foundations of a fine and solid church at Coimbatore the walls of which already rise three feet above the ground.

I have made every possible effort to find any means of obtaining certain revenues for the seminary and the churches ; but thus far I have worked in vain, above all since the ownership of the land is encumbered with taxes so high that it is possessed, if not by the farmers themselves, uselessly and sometimes at great expense. Apart from this, all the Christians in this vicariate are poor, so that we possess nothing but the aid granted by the pious and very precious work of Propagation of the Faith and a few alms coming to us through the zeal of the Moderators of the Seminary of Foreign Missions.

Once the living expenses of the missionaries and seminarians have been met, as well as those absolutely necessary for divine worship, there remains very little for the buildings I have just referred to and for the other charitable works which would be desirable but thus far have been practically neglected.

But as regards the real progress to be found here for holy religion, it would be illusory to imagine that this is great. The Christians have become neither more numerous nor better. And indeed, either because of the penury or even the famine which ravages certain places, or because of the lack of work, they have diminished ; and because of their irritation against the missionaries, who are perhaps less severe against the usages and customs of these regions, they seem to have become less good.

In fact, the contradiction of every day and everywhere between the missionaries and the Indians is the important cause why our holy religion fails to take root in people's hearts. If this is inevitable for safeguarding the integrity of the faith, if the Indians lose themselves, it is their own fault ; but if while maintaining the integrity of the faith, their prejudices can be tolerated, then our conduct leads to ruin. On another hand, the schismatic priests themselves openly tolerate intolerable things in order to help make the Christians fall into the schism which, in the last two years, has caused a great perturbation in this vicariate. In certain villages which have called in the priest of Goa, Christians have adhered to him, while there are others who, on the first occasion, are prepared to drive out the missionaries.

After my letter no. 2 to the S.C. of 12 June 1851, I asked the missionaries not to make any innovations before the Holy See passes judgment on the doubts raised, but to follow, with a clear conscience, the practice observed by our predecessors and which is still observed now in the neighbouring missions of Pondicherry and Madurai.

Already, it was very difficult to hold them back, above all because in the mission of Pondicherry there are many missionaries like mine who complain loudly and because, apart from this, the abhorrence that European priests feel for Indian prejudices is increasing more and more with the affluence of other Europeans in India ; but, after the circular letter from the S.C. to the apostolic vicars of India, sent on 11 October 1851, it has been quite impossible to do so. In fact, there are certain of them who think (perhaps quite rightly) that these words : bad habits, [...] interpreting in the wrong way and deforming quite clear things, [...] turning one's back on bad sources etc. clearly show that it is necessary to eliminate those usages which appear to them as manifest evils and at times in contradiction with the oath that we have sworn.

However, the number of adults receiving baptism increases daily. Previously, in the province of Coimbatore, practically no pagan was converted ; but last year, 122 were baptised, and this year the number of such conversions has risen to 150 ; and yet, to tell the truth, they are shaky most of the time in one way or another. They are to be attributed above all to the larger number of missionaries who, dispersed in the province, can more easily get to know the unfortunate individuals that poverty, hunger and most often infamy or some defect impel towards us. Abandoned, by their own people, they come to us.

This is the reason why, more than once, they are something shameful and not honorific for the Christian religion. It is true that, when undertaking their instruction, the missionaries seek to change the natural reasons for their conversion into supernatural ones, but whatever the truth regarding such conversions (except for a few) they are, in the eyes of the people, dishonouring for religion and in fact most of these neophytes, old, sick or rejected by their castes because of their faults, cannot contract marriage. Finally, the faith is weakened and even the number of Catholics is diminishing with the progress of Protestantism that we cannot deny.

There would still be much to be said on the probable future state of religion in these regions and on the means to be used in order to establish it in a stable manner. But all of this would require a very detailed explanation, especially since the means employed in a single vicariate would become useless and even harmful unless the evangelical workers reach agreement on a line of conduct throughout India or at least a large part of India, so that, without ever contradicting one another, they could be of mutual help.

The question of Indian ceremonies and rites, appropriately dealt with and explained, may prove of great importance for the future destiny of India ; but, in truth, this difficulty is not the only one requiring the S.C.'s attention. Outside of the limits and the goal of the present letter, it would be advisable to indicate all the faults that, necessarily in my opinion (unless I am mistaken), must lead to a continual weakening of the Catholic religion in India ; but I think that it is my duty, on every occasion, to inform the S.C. that, unless a prompt and effective remedy is applied, certain individual goods may in truth be achieved, but durable fruits, a real growth of religion, progress by the Church resting on a firm and stable foundation would be awaited in vain.

If God's inscrutable designs permit that these regions never become Christian, may my words be regarded as chimeras, as the consequence of a mind that exaggerates things and of pusillanimous fear. But if the days of salvation and of mercy are to dawn for these peoples, may a good and faithful servant be sent out by God, who understands the gravity of the evil and who has the necessary power in his hands to apply a remedy to the known ill. I urge God and I implore the pious solicitude of the S.C. to ensure that these times come quickly.

Enclosed herewith, please find the oath taken and signed by Father Lefeuvre.

And I will end by reminding Your Eminence that I have still not received an answer to the letter that I sent to the S.C. last year in May or April. I am saying this in case it may have gone astray, but not to press the request that it contains. For, as regards such matters, I am extremely indifferent, since they do not affect my conscience. If what I believe appears inadvisable to others, I would desire them to be in the right.

However, as for the Collegal, to be detached from the vicariate of Coimbatore and added to the apostolic vicariate of Mysore, having now better weighed up the pros and cons, I desire and request that such a change be made independently from the other modifications, if the Jesuit Fathers send an opposition considered reasonable by the S.C. For it is practically impossible for me to deal with the few Christians who are in the Collegal, because of their vernacular language which is known to the missionaries of the vicariate of Mysore but unknown to mine.

On 12 January of this year, I sent the S.C. another letter also, of which I have heard nothing more since.

Imploring the almighty and merciful God at last to take pity on India, I beg the S.C. to accept as certain that my words do not arise from pride or presumption, but from the sole desire for my salvation, for the salvation of souls and the glorification of our holy mother the Church, and to consider as probable that they are not the result of any vain fear, of a scrupulous conscience or of a great sadness.

It is true ״that sadness is great in me, and sorrow continues in my heart for my brothers״, but without the perturbation of the soul and always rejoicing in the Lord to whom be eternal honour and universal glory. Amen.

Your Eminence's, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, October 1852)

Sent_0565

Sent_0565 - à la Propagande - le 1er novembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0565 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 1 November 1852 /2

Sent_0565 - à la Propagande - le 1er novembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0565 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 3-4

(translation: following page)

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

Propaganda does not accede to my request to resign: I obey, but what a sorrow for me ! May I be permitted at least to go and explain myself to Rome.

Index : resignation, explanation to Rome

__________

(Coimbatore), 1 November 1852

Illustrissime ac Eminentissime Domine,

Jam scripta erat praecedens epistola 28 Octobris, sed nondum missa, cum mihi pervenerint litterae S.C. 13 Septembris. Non dicam cum quanto dolore eas perlegi, quamvis argumenta contineant benevolentiae S.C. erga me indignum. Obediam semper, Dei opitulante gratia, sed persuasum habeo justam Sacram Congregationem non velle imponere mihi perpetuam obligationem conservandi jurisdictionem delegatam, si mihi repugnant circumstantiae in quibus versatur talis delegatio ; praesertim cum non existat vinculum spiritualis matrimonii quod liget me Ecclesiae, cujus non sum Episcopus.

Quid peto ? Divitias ? Absit ; honores ? non ; Otium ? nec illud. Peto remedium malis imminentibus, vel non videre mala quae praecavere non possum. Negant alii ea existere ! Eorum negatio periculum auget ; ego vero claudere non possum oculos in eorum praesentia. Non possum, Eminentissime Domine, libenter consentire ut Vicarii functiones continuam. Mea ergo meus est dimissionem denuo mittere in manibus Sancti Pontificis qui solus est Ordinarius istarum Ecclesiarum.

Sed antequam ad hoc extremum veniam, peto permissionem petendi Romam ut viva voce omnia Vobis explanare possim. Si malum quod oculis meis evidens est Vobis affulgeat, non dubito quin omnia possibilia faciatis ad illud removendum ; si errem (nam tanta est debilitas mentis humanae ut de particulari evidentia dubitandum est) meum errorem indicabitis et me submittam. Peto ergo humillime ut mihi liceat petere Roma.

Eminentiae Vestrae etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore ?, 1 November 1852)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

(Coimbatore), 1 November 1852

Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

My previous letter of 28 October was already written, but not yet sent, when I received the letter from the S.C. of 13 September. I cannot tell you with what sorrow I read it, although it contains proofs of benevolence on the part of the S.C. on my unworthy self. I will obey always, with the aid of God's grace, however I still feel that the just S.C. would not wish to impose on me the perpetual obligation of keeping a delegated jurisdiction, when I abhor the circumstances in which such a delegation is placed, principally because there is no bond of spiritual marriage that binds me to a Church of which I am not the bishop.

What do I ask ? For riches ? no. For honours ? no. For rest ? not either. I ask for a remedy to imminent evils, or not to see the evils that I cannot prevent. Others deny the very existence of these evils ! Their denial increases the danger ; as far as I am concerned, I cannot close my eyes to their presence. I cannot, Very Eminent Lord, consent willingly to continue in the functions of vicar. Thus it is my duty to place my resignation once more in the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff who, alone, is the ordinary of these Churches.

But before I arrive at that extreme measure, I request permission to go to Rome, in order to explain everything to you personally. If the evil, which is evident to my eyes, becomes so for you also, I have no doubt that you will do everything possible to make it disappear. If I were mistaken (for the weakness of the human spirit is such that there is reason to doubt of personal evidence), you would show me my error and I would submit. Accordingly I request very humbly that I be permitted to go to Rome.

Your Eminence's, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore ?, 1 November 1852)

Sent_0566

Sent_0566 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 novembre 1852 -/3

Sent 0566 - to Mgr Bonnand - 10 November 1852 /3

Sent_0566 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 10 novembre 1852 -/3

Sent 0566 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 471-474

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 4-7

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

You do not reject my plan of a meeting of bishops of the Society with a representative of the direcxtors. But where ? Is it possible ? Will Rome authorise it ? Then a long explanation on the difficulties, but also the advantages of his project. We should continue our discussions to arrive if possible at a solution. The present malaise depends on two or three apparently unimportant points, but which will produce an infinity of unfortunate results.

Index : reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP

__________

Ootacamund, 10 November 1852 ()

My Lord,

I am writing you these lines from Ootacamund were I have come to spend a couple of weeks.

If Y.L. wished to share with me the answers you will be giving to the difficulties raised by your missionaries on the superstitions and gentilities of these regions, it could be a great help to me for overcoming similar difficulties, and also for my personal guidance.

I see with pleasure that Y.L. has not absolutely rejected the plan that I propose for arriving at a state of improvement, if it is possible. However, you think that it will come to nothing and I am of the same opinion, less because of its intrinsic difficulties than of those which will arise for its implementation. So I do not insist on it more than necessary and am quite prepared to adopt another one if it is more practicable. But let us not forget this condition : practicable. For, if another clearly better project is practically impossible, what use is its degree of perfection ? It will hold out vain hopes to us for long years without us ever getting any further forward, and please God during that time we do not fall back.

Thus it is, My Lord, that a general meeting of the apostolic vicars of our Society, with a representative of the Seminary of Paris, as you propose, would in my opinion be the best and most effective means available. But is it really possible ? Wherever we think of holding this meeting, various apostolic vicars would necessarily find themselves away from home for over a year ; for it would be necessary for us to continue meeting for at least three months.

Meanwhile, all the apostolic vicars would have to leave their vicariates at the same time, while in the meantime the persecution rages in several places and may in fact arise elsewhere from one moment to the next! The age of some of our venerable confreres will not permit them to expose themselves to the fatigues of a long and dangerous journey, etc. etc. Finally, even if all our bishops would consent, I very much doubt if the Holy See would permit this simultaneous absence of all of us outside of our vicariates.

You see, My Lord, Y.L. proposed this plan in 1837 ; so that it is now 15 years that it has doubtless appeared impracticable, for it is so natural, so simple in itself and so evidently good that, without knowing what the other apostolic vicars answered then, I suppose that it must have been speculatively approved, but practically regarded as impossible. Have the circumstances changed so that today it is possible ? I fear not, and if it became possible, I would back it up immediately.

Now, outside of this general meeting (supposing it to be impossible), is there any other project better than the one I am proposing ? I very much hope so, and would attach myself to it as soon as it appeared, however I am still waiting for it.

But we should not be under any illusion : the first step that we take, whatever it may be, will not lead to perfection ; it would suffice for it to be capable of remedying certain imperfections, that it is urgent not to allow to grow, and for it to prepare the ways to a greater perfection thereafter. Perhaps it would be possible to introduce into the regulations, or to establish first of all in the form of a general resolution, that the meeting of all the superiors should take place at times decided in advance, foreseeing all the difficulties of such meetings, for example every 20 or 30 years.

Supposing that this idea stood up to the discussion, and was admitted by the majority of apostolic vicars and approved by the Holy See, its practice would thereafter be possible and regular. If the step that I propose could achieve that, I think that it would have attained your goal more surely and perhaps more quickly ; especially since if this principle was admitted, it would not be difficult to make people understand that the first of these general meetings would need to be convened in the next thirty years.

The difficulties entailed by my project are great. I admit, I even think that we may not surmount them, but should this thought prevent us from working to surmount them, and are they truly insurmountable, above all if Y.L. came to my aid ?

As for the delays implied by the journey of one of us, these would doubtless be regrettable, but in the end they would finish, and given the means of transport in existence today, we could hope to see the end of it within four to five years.

The divergent opinions will be an obsacle in the way of accomplishing all the good that is desirable. This will be true in any case, but I do not think that this diversity prevents the good that is truly achievable at this time. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that we have no need of a reform in the true sense of the word. Our Society has faults, but it has unquestionable advantages that should be carefully preserved. God forbid we should want to change everything, to subvert everything, to want to innovate even.

It would be a misfortune, but such a misfortune will not occur because the ideas of innovation passing through the minds of some will not be uniform and accordingly will be rejected by the majority. The general malaise that we feel seems to depend on two or three points that are apparently not very important perhaps, but fruitful in unfortunate results. Everyone will wish to put some order in things and we will come together first of all for a common resolution on such points.

Please note that, according to my plan, many apostolic vicars could become acquainted with the ideas of all their confreres and thus modify their own after this sort of discussion, for the deputed apostolic vicar could see them as he comes and goes, except for those who are far from the coast and in lands of persecution ; he would show them the different reports and the written discussions.

Why should the Gentlemen of Paris be opposed to the desire of the majority of apostolic vicars ? Would they not seek, as we too do, the good of our dear Society ? Would they think that we want to act against the Seminary ? But the Seminary of Paris is very dear to us, we are far from wanting to weaken it, etc. However, if it contradicted the desire of the majority of apostolic vicars, which I do not think it would do, that would be very serious, for after all it has only one voice of superiority, like each apostolic vicar. Accordingly it would abuse of the accidental power deriving from its position, which would be one further proof that we are in need of a reform. I like to suppose that this will not happen, but if it did, we would need to have the courage to pass over it.

So there, My Lord, are some ideas on which I ask you to reflect, so as to back them up in respect of the other apostolic vicars, if you find them to be not devoid of foundation.

Mgr Canoz is reported to have arrived ; do you have any certain news of that? I do not know whether My Lord of Mangalore has left for Rome.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Ootacamund, 10 November 1852)

Sent_0567

Sent_0567 - à son frère Henri - le 13 novembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0567 - to his brother Henri - 13 November 1852 /2

Sent_0567 - à son frère Henri - le 13 novembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0567 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 34

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F7 verso, p 8

(to his brother Henri)

His father would like to share out his goods between his children. He confides to his brother that he has just offered his resignation to Rome, which has refused it. Accordingly he does not know what his future will be. Nevertheless, for everyone's sake, things must be settled in a clear manner. How he would like things to be settled. He has just heard that his brother is going to get married. ״Behave in all things as a perfect Christian״.

Index : family, personal goods

__________

Ootacamund, 19 November 1852

My dear friend,

I received yesterday the letter from my father and yours dated 2 October. I am answering it today having offered the very holy sacrifice of our altars, so that the author of every gift may deign to bless your projects and your good intentions, that he may make you happy, and inspire in me an answer which may satisfy you, without going against prudence. For, in business affairs, as you know, prudence is a virtue, it is necessary in order not to expose in future the good relations which have always existed between us and which will never cease, I hope ; your good heart, together with the purity of your principles, is our certain guarantee of that.

I am answering to you, although my father alone speaks to me of business, because I have understood that it is out of delicacy that you left this to him.

Dear Friend, I am in a position in which it is impossible for me to give up whatever it pleases Providence to send me in any capacity. What will it be in the future ? Nothing is more uncertain ; for I confess to you that it may happen that I feel obliged to leave my apostolic vicariate. It is certainly not out of disgust for my calling that I love more than ever, that I would still embrace if I were free, etc. But there are certain things that I so thoroughly abhor that, if I do not succeed, as I have been trying to do for three or four years now, in regularising what appears to me irregular and harmful to the propagation of the Gospel, I will withdraw.

As a simple missionary, I would remain in peace under the responsibility of my bishop ; as a bishop, despite my unworthiness, I will use all the means in my power, and when they are still insufficient, I will leave the responsibility to someone else. I must tell you that I have offered my resignation which has not been accepted by the Holy See, But, what will happen hereafter ? God alone knows ; I am very tranquil because, wishing only for what God wants, I feel sure that he will guide events for his greatest glory and my greatest spiritual good.

However, if I ceased being an apostolic vicar, my plan is not to go to France, because the presence in France of a former missionary, and above all a bishop (unless it is for something to do with his mission) is rarely a subject of edification for the public to whom a priest owes edification always. Just imagine then that the case might arise in which it would be absolutely necessary for me to use what God would give me.

Nonetheless, outside of that extraordinary case, I will not touch on what might be my share of the family inheritance, that I consider as a general duty to leave to the family, contenting myself with any income from it. Thus my desire would be to arrange things in such a way that in case of need I could claim what would be mine, while, outside of that case, I would consent very willingly to leave it in your hands, on condition that I have a pension estimated at 4% of its value. Finally all of that should be clearly worked out, not that I distrust your loyalty in the slightest, but because, for the constant good of us all, you know that business must be treated as business.

Since I have only today if I am to take advantage of the Bombay post and not to delay this answer by two weeks, I will leave you rather quickly. However I hope to receive further news from you before the accomplishment of a matter which gives me great pleasure, according to all you tell me about the young person who wishes to unite her destiny with yours. I have no doubt at all that you will make her happy, and if she is as you see her, she will make you happy too, as also our virtuous parents so worthy of our respect and love.

I only ask you one thing for everyone's happiness and yours above all , and that is to behave in this whole affair as a perfect Christian. Realise that your real consolations and the wellbeing of your future family depend on that. I do not need to tell you how happy I would be to bless your union, and I will do so from here by joining in the holy ceremony, and you will besides invite our divine saviour to the wedding, and will place your trust in him, awaiting true happiness from him alone. Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laboraverunt qui aesificant eam.()

A Dieu, very dear Henri, convey my friendship to my parents and believe me,

Your affectionate and devoted brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Ootacamund, 19 November 1852)

Sent_0568

Sent_0568 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 novembre 1852 -/1

Sent 0568 - to Mgr Bonnand - 19 November 1852 /2

Sent_0568 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 novembre 1852 -/1

Sent 0568 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 475-478

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 7-8

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I regret the approach of the directors of Paris to the aspirants in the seminary. He also complains about the way in which Mr Tesson deals with their orders. He is gratified by the good that could be done in Pondicherry.

Index : reform of the MEP, bursary questions

__________

Ootacamund, 19 November 1852

My Lord,

I received your letter of the 9th at Ootacamund yesterday.

I cannot help regretting very much the expressions used by the Gentlemen of Paris. This is yet another proof of the grave irregularaities committed in connection with the admission, the education, conduct and final admission of the aspirants, a profound evil the consequences of which are already terrible, and which may, sooner or later, lead to the ruin of our dear congregation. I must expect the same monition, since last month I wrote regarding Mr Perceval's final admission. This will not prevent me from continuing, for I do not wish it to be through my fault that any beginnings of destruction should set in among us.

As regards what Y.L. tells me about Mr Tesson, unquestionably we have little ground for satisfaction in the way he deals with our orders. But the remedy that you propose, My Lord, believe me, would only have the effect of increasing the harm. For one or two years, from certain points of view, you would be better served but, considering the serious drawbacks that might follow, and above all if all hope is not lost of making the seminary of Paris what it should be, I feel sure that it would be better to abandon that thought.

I congratulate Messrs Dupuis and Lehodey on the success of their zeal. You are lucky to be in a place where, in one way or another, public charity can help you both for the poor, and for the churches, etc. Here there is none of all that. I am not envious of you, God forbid ; I am pleased with you for the good which is done in your parts, and I pray God to increase even further your resources and your means of charity.

Kindly commend me to the memory of our two good confreres and believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. I shall leave Ootacamund for Coimbatore at the end of the month,

(Ootacamund, 19 November 1852)

Sent_0569

Sent_0569 - à M. Tesson - le 1er décembre 1852 -/3

Sent 0569 - to Mr Tesson - 1 December 1852 /3

Sent_0569 - à M. Tesson - le 1er décembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0569 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 90

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Letter to the bursar, enclosing the annual table to Propagation of the Faith. The viaticum is not sufficient for us ; the newly baptised, the catechists, the building : all of these cost ; some of our houses are of cardboard ; some of our churches shame us ; we lack schools. Get as much you can for us and ensure that we obtain a separate sum from Propagation of the Faith. Thank you for the masses ; we need some more.

Index : finances (request), money, financial difficulty, buildings

__________

Coimbatore, 1 December 1852

My very dear Mr Tesson,

This letter is all burse for the Bursar.

I am sending you the table for Propagation of the Faith, as always reluctantly, and if certain apostolic vicars do without it, I would gladly be included in their number.

Hereafter the state of the mission from the point of view of its needs ; kindly make use of these details for the Council of Directors who distribute the allocations, and if necessary, for the Councils of Propagation of the Faith.

It is morally impossible for the missionaries to live on their viaticum alone. This impossibility grows daily as the country becomes more English. The seminary would not be able to exist either on what is allocated to it. We cannot prevent ourselves from building, and that is the greatest of our material misfortunes :

1) because it uses up everything that might remain after paying off the few catechists and the personnel of the mission ;

2) because, since we have no means of building things solidly, we achieve nothing valid.

We have obtained a larger number of adult baptisms than before ; I think that this year we will arrive at 150 ; but not without expenses. In most cases, we have to feed them for a month at least, give them one or two cloths, etc., so that each baptism costs us over five francs, no less. What will this become now that we are going to employ two missionaries specially for the work of conversion of the Gentiles ? Whether they succeed or not, this will imply considerable new expenses.

Each of them needs to have two catechists, who will not consent to follow them almost always away from their homes for less than 10 to 12 rupees per month, or 1,440 francs. The missionary, always out and about and with no casual revenue, will require at least 30 rupees per month, that is 10 rupees more than his viaticum ; for two, that makes 600 francs per year. Thus over 2,000 francs of certain expenses. But if they achieve something, which is to be hoped, say five francs per neophyte, and only 200 converts, 1,000 francs added to 750 francs of expenses incurred for the 150 neophytes that we may hope to convert, as this year, by the means already adopted (. ?,) : 3,790 francs, and however slightly this work develops, it will come to even more.

Finally, even if these two missionaries did not achieve great results immediately, it would be necessary to persevere ten or twelve years, for it may be that success will depend exclusively on perseverance.

Now we have a house in each district, it is true, but I repeat that some are houses in cardboard, others are unfinished, and all are characterised by cheapness. And the churches ? You can't believe how painful it is to hold back the missionaries each of whom would like to build at the same time. It would be better, I tell them, to build only one slowly, a little each year, than to build several in haste, without solidity or dignity, etc. That is a good reasoning when others are available ; but when they are obliged to hold mass continually in thatched huts, their patience wears thin.

Now we have three big ones begun, without my knowing really when they will be completed. The one at Coimbatore is still only three feet off the ground, meanwhile we continue to say mass in the principal apartment of our house, which is more and more inconvenient, given the number of missionaries. At Ootacamund, where our religion is greatly humiliated, beside a magnificant Protestant church for the Europeans, and other less fine churches for the natives, however better than our churches, is a Catholic chapel which makes the heart bleed. In vain does Mr Bonjean patch it up each year, it is always an old habit falling apart.

However, we should reject still as a temptation any project for a new church in that place, for it would require no less than 50,000 francs to build a church there which did us honour. We will build it, very probably, but it will be a misfortune, and we should not begin before being sure of spending on it at least 30,000 francs in the space of the three years that would be required for the building. But before thinking of doing so, if ever the moment comes to think of it, we have to finish that of Coimbatore : 30,000 francs ; to finish that of Codively : 3,000 francs ; to finish that of Darabouram : 3,000 francs : to build one at Palghat : 12,000 francs, and one at Atticodou : 5,000 francs. Without doubt, all of this is not the work of a year ; but it is all urgent and should be done in the space of four to five years, else we risk dragging on as we have done for the last six years.

And the schools ! We have two at Ootacamund, one for boys and the other for girls, maintained by means of subscriptions ; but they are far from meeting the need of the place ; elsewhere we help four to five vatiars() who are poorer than their pupils, and that is all ; when we would need to oppose Catholic schools to Protestant ones, if only to prevent our Christian children from going to lose their faith with the heretics.

Mr Bonjean's zeal knows no limits. He also wanted to have his own hospital ; and for that he incurred relatively considerable expenses, for an almost nil result, for lack of funds.

What else could I not tell you ! But I think that it is already more than enough to spur you to make every possible effort in our favour, for whatever zeal you put into the task, it would seem all but impossible to obtain for us everything that would be necessary for the perfect development of our works. However, I repeat, do not lose hope of obtaining for us from Propagation of the Fatih a separate sum, once and for all, quite apart from the ordinary supplement.

I have received your letter of 7 October, and lost no time in distributing the 300 masses that you pass on to me. Kindly do not forget us when you have any more, for they are a great help to the missionaries to fill in the deficit of their viaticum.

As I told you in a previous letter, everything that you sent us has arrived safely. However Mr de Gélis has some fault to find on comparing the accounts. I told him that, in his capacity of bursar, it is up to him to write to you about this. I think that that is what the enclosed letter is about.

I told you at one time to ask the institution of Propagation of the Faith to show Coimbatore among the apostolic vicariates in the table showing the distribution of its alms. I do not know why it continues to put Mission of Coimbatore. These tables are reproduced by the newspapers of India and may induce the civil authorities and other persons into error. Please do all you can to see that the next tables do not contain this error.

Believe me, my dear Mr Tesson, in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Your very affectionate confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. It will be 1853 by the time you receive this letter. Kindly accept my New Year's wishes and offer them on my behalf to all of our well loved confreres of Paris.

(Coimbatore, 1 December 1852)

Sent_0570

Sent_0570 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 1er décembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0570 - to Propagation of the Faith - 1 December 1852 /3

Sent_0570 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 1er décembre 1852 -/2

Sent 0570 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 92

(to the Council of Propagation of the Faith)

Annual table of information to be sent to Propagation with the resources and expenditures of the vicariate.

.

Index : finances

__________

Coimbatore, 1 December 1852 ()

Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore

Mgr M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar

Date of the information given: This information refers to the year 1851.

Population :

* Catholics: 15,000.

* Heretics: 5,000, counting the English

* Infidels: 1,100,000.

Adult baptisms: 122

Baptisms of children of infidels under the article of death: 12 or 15.

Communions : 5,337.

Clergy :

* Missionaries: 1 bishop, 10 missionaries; another is expected shortly.

* From the country: 9 clerics in different orders, but still no priests.

Churches :

* Churches: seven, all undergoing construction or being repaired.

* Chapels : about thirty huts serving as chapels.

Schools, Seminaries, hospitals:

* 1 seminary,

* 4 small boys' schools,

* 1 small girls' school,

* 1 hospital,

  * 2 catechumenates where pagans are lodged and fed during the period of probation.
  * N.B. : All of this is in the initial stages only. The lack of resources prevents us from developing these works as would be desirable.
  * General observations:

The mission of Coimbatore was raised to the rank of apostolic vicariate four years ago. At that time it would have needed to have a considerable sum in order to set itself up appropriately. Since such a sum has still not been granted to it, many things are dragging on, and we have the sorrow of being below the Protestants from many points of view. In the province of Coimbatore they have some fine churches, many schools, catechists, hospitals, etc., while all we have been able to do so far is to repair some poor churches, hastily build a few houses, and sketch out rather than found the other works indicated in this table.

Resources of the vicariate:

None.

The small collections that we have instituted in the churches do not provide for even what is absolutely necessary to cover worship expenses. Other gifts from the faithful are almost non-existent. Although in the town of Ootacamund there are often many English, only rarely are any of them Catholics, and if any are to be found they are often ashamed to declare that they are Catholics because of the poverty of our churches and of the completely native Christian community. Besides, they are only there for a short time and reserve their liberalities for the more respectable churches of Madras, Bombay, etc.

Expenditures:

1) For the bishop and 11 missionaries: 8,580 francs.

This is what the Seminary of Foreign Missions allocates to us, but it is impossible for a European to live in India on 660 francs. It is less than the wage of an Englishman's butler.

2) Expenses for missionaries' passages : these are covered by the Seminary of Foreign Missions.

3) Expenses for establishments already founded : impossible to assign any such sum. We proceed according to what we have available.

4) Expenses for the establishments still to be founded : as yet impossible to decide on any sum.

5) Particular expenses of the mission : the same remark as in answer to the previous two points.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 1 December 1852)

Sent_0571

Sent_0571 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 décembre 1852 -/1

Sent 0571 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 December 1852 /2

Sent_0571 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 décembre 1852 -/1

Sent 0571 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 483-485

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding the necessary reform of the MEP and the earlier project of Mgr Bonnand. I would be ready to follow you. Best wishes for 1853.

Index : reform of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 22 December 1852 ()

My Lord,

Forgive me for delaying so long in sending back Mgr Thabert's letter to you. I thought that you would not need it immediately, then various occupations prevented me from making a copy, which I have now done presuming on your authorisation. I consider it regrettable indeed that your project has not succeeded, and if you think that it may meet with better fortune this time, I could not but praise you for putting yourself forward, in order to obtain for our Society a good which was not possible then.

You are one of our most senior apostolic vicars. Many, I feel sure, would make it a pleasure and a duty to follow you in this course, and I at their head.

This letter will reach you at the end of the year. I beg you to accept, for the year about to begin, my most sincere good wishes. May the Lord bless all your works, as well as those of all our dear confreres who exercise their zeal under your paternal authority. Would you kindly convey to them my feelings of affection and my New Year's wishes.

I am going to spend the Christmas festivities at Carumattampatty, whence I will come back immediately to continue work on the church here, after an interruption of almost a year to allow the rain to settle the foundations. I hope to continue the work this year up to the level of the cornice.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 22 December 1852)

Sent_0572

Sent_0572 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 janvier 1853 -/2

Sent 0572 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 January 1853 /2

Sent_0572 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 janvier 1853 -/2

Sent 0572 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 487-490

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 8-9

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Regarding the necessary reform of the MEP. What a pity your plan did not come to anything in its time ! How is it that the directors admit in our missions young people in large number, without ensuring the necessary sound guarantees ? Among the directors of the MEP there would need to be an agreement and an energy that they do not possess.

Index : reform of the MEP, unity of action, admission of aspirants

__________

Coimbatore, 23 January 1853

My Lord,

I have taken the liberty of copying the documents that you were kind enough to send for my information and which I was not acquainted with.

I will merely add one reflection and that is that it seems to me that your plan is very wise and that it would be capable, if appreciated, of producing abundant fruits of salvation. I am speaking of this plan as a whole and of the spirit which fills it. For, as the venerable Mgr Thabert remarked very aptly, discussion would clarify certain points. Some would undoubtedly be modified as regards their terms first of all, which you are certainly not concerned about, and even as to the substance, but remaining in the spirit of the whole. Some others would have difficulty in being admitted by the Holy See, but they would be replaced by their equivalent in praxis.

Now, I wonder how this light has remained under the bushel, or rather how their eyes could have remained closed to its brightness, in what was perhaps the most favourable circumstance that could have been found, since it had been decided to admit new regulations.

How could the superiors major (but only in name) of the Society have preferred to admit this abortion of regulations that we have today, rather than agree to make some which would remedy the evils already existing and prevent those which have occurred since and that were foreseen !

How were the Gentlemen of Paris permitted to change one of the most serious usages of the Society, namely, only to receive priests as aspirants, or at least mature men having already taken a course in theology, in favour of admitting young people in large number, before prudent regulations had given any guarantees as to their vocation, their education in the Seminary and their first attempts in the missions !

Certainly, the evil is greater today and the remedy more difficult than then. To remedy all of this and to avoid the continuation of progress in evil, among the superiors major (supposing they had the sentiment of their superiority), there would need to be an agreement and an energy that they will not have. Sixteen years have elapsed since your remarkable letter to Mgr Courvezy, and 16 and then 20 years more will pass, and then we will end up wretchedly after dragging along for centuries, achieving some little good of detail undoubtedly, but without having responded to what the Church was entitled to expect of our Congregation. This is what I foresee. I hope I am wrong !

I commend myself to your good prayers, assuring you of the profound respect with which

I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 23 January 1853)

Sent_0573

Sent_0573 - à Mgr Bonnand - (le 23 janvier 1853) -/1

Sent 0573 - to Mgr Bonnand - (23 January 1853) /1

Sent_0573 - à Mgr Bonnand - (le 23 janvier 1853) -/1

Sent 0573 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 491-492

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Some questions on the statue of the Virgin on the frontispiece of the church of Pondicherry. He would like to have some statues made for Coimbatore.

Index : statues

__________

(Coimbatore, 23 January 1853 ?) (

)

My Lord,

Would you be so kind as to let me know what are the measurements of the statue of the Holy Virgin situated on the frontispiece of your church : what it is made of ; how much did it cost ? and if it would be possible to have some statues of this kind made in Pondicherry and then transported here without any danger of their being broken ? Thus what it would cost me to have seven such statues made, namely : Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael measuring seven to eight feet in height, and Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke and Saint John measuring five to five and a half feet in height ?

Would the sculptor be willing to come and make them here ?

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 23 January 1853 ?)

Sent_0574

Sent_0574 - à M. Lefeuvre - le 1er février 1853 -/1

Sent 0574 - to Mr Lefeuvre - 1 February 1853 /1

Sent_0574 - à M. Lefeuvre - le 1er février 1853 -/1

Sent 0574 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 9-10

(to Mr Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

Reminder that he must send his apostolic vicar account of the administration of his district ; it is not optional.

Index : administration, bishop (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 1 February 1853

I send him the bishop's Lenten letter

The month of January has now ended and I still have not received the account of the administration of your district, or the registers of baptisms, etc., nor your report. I hope that you will conform without further delay to this point in the regulations, which is not only in the nature of advice, but of precept. Besides, I cannot conceal from you that it is very painful to me never to receive any news from you and only to come to know something of what is happening in your district by accident, through strangers and consequently very imperfectly.

It is not for nothing that the regulations require that each missionary keeps the apostolic vicar informed of what is going on in his Christian community by writing to him at least once a month.

Another thing which grieves me is that, after having urged you on various occasions to come and spend a few days here, you have declined a journey so relatively painless as to take only one day on foot.

I go on to give him some news.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 1 February 1853)

Sent_0575

Sent_0575 - à M. Lefeuvre - vers le 15 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0575 - to Mr Lefeuvre - about 15 February 1853 /2

Sent_0575 - à M. Lefeuvre - vers le 15 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0575 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 10-11

(to Mr Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

Reminder that he must send in the report on what happened in his district in 1852. One's spiritual good can only be found in submission to God's will. Take care that the difficulty you find for the language does not become a ground of fatal temptation for you.

Index : administration, advice, language

__________

Coimbatore, about 15 February 1853

Questions of marriage dispensations

Although you did not know your district as well as you will know it next year, I would really have liked you to make me your report. The better of next year would have been without prejudice to the good of this year. As for the administrative account, I absolutely need you to send it immediately. On leaving, Mr Ravel had to hand on to you the account of the sacraments administered until you took over. Accordingly kindly send me a table of the sacraments administered in 1852 in your district. I have to send this account to Europe.

After Easter, I will authorise you with pleasure to go and spend some time with Mr Pajean to perfect yourself in the language. But I cannot conceal from you the considerable pain I feel on seeing that the difficulty you are finding in that regard may become a subject of fatal temptation, which will poison your whole life if you succumb to it. The enemy is not without having already won something. Your letter bears clear signs of that, were it only for the singular interpretation that he impels you to give of a decree of the S.C.

Believe me, your spiritual good can be found everywhere, when you remain submissive to God's holy will, but nowhere if you substitute something of your own will to that supreme will ; everywhere, when you are faithful to the vocation that God has given you, but nowhere if, looking behind you, you turn into uncertain paths. I hope that you will awaken the sentiments of your faith and that you will not do yourself the greatest damage that you have to fear both for your soul and for the peace of heart which makes for the principal happiness of this life.

We are in the impossibility of buying the bungalow he speaks of this year...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, about 15 February 1853)

Sent_0576

Sent_0576 - à M. Pajean - le 20 février 1853 -/2

Sent 0576 - to Mr Pajean - 20 February 1853 /2

Sent_0576 - à M. Pajean - le 20 février 1853 -/2

Sent 0576 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F7 verso, pp 11-12

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

Letter full of charity of a father to his son urging him to change his way of acting and of thinking. "The Lord will ask account of me for your soul". Do not live in an unreal future, but "live each day as if it were your last".

Index: delicate charity, advice

__________

Coimbatore, 20 February 1853

My dear Mr Pajean,

I take advantage of the first free moment left me by the week's occupations to write you a few short words, today Sunday, after having prayed to Our Lord in the holy sacrifice, very specially for you. I hope that you will read these lines in the same spirit which dictates them ; that is the spirit of charity and no other.

You are undoubtedly under no illusion as to the pain that your last letter must have caused me, so painful in its laconicism, so painful for the little it says, so painful above all for what it does not say but allows to be glimpsed. Yes, you once more have grieved me profoundly, but I do not hold it against you, I bless the instrument that the Lord uses to mortify me. May all of this be done without God being offended ! But it is here that I fear, dear Mr Pajean, and finally I feel myself obliged to say so to you.

The Lord will ask account of me for your soul, as of all those entrusted to me, despite my unworthiness. What will I answer him on the Judgment Day, if I have not done everything I can to tear away the veil that deludes you and which makes you persevere in a state that will prove fatal to you ? Whatever your thoughts, whatever your projects for the future, should you not live each day as if that day were your last ? for can we be sure of tomorrow?

I will willingly suppose that the projects you have for the future are innocent, or at least that you have on this point a conscience formed on specious reasons that make it invincibly mistaken, so that the good God will not find you culpable. But while awaiting the coming of the moment of Providence, either in his mercy, or in his justice, do not engage in faults for which you will not feel the need of repentance thereafter, and which expose you to no less than vitiating all of your works, by making them devoid of merit in the eyes of the Lord.

Whatever you do and wherever you may be, your salvation will always be dear to me. It would suffice that for a single hour of the day it had been in my safe-keeping for it to be dearer to my heart than the salvation of so many others. Please God that these lines, that I am addressing to you in the interest of your soul, help to make you walk simply in the way that God has marked out for you, until such time as he indicates some other, if you so really desire another, so that in this new way (may it be according to God) you walk as simply, piously and humbly, as not to miss the single goal to which all ways must lead. Fiat, fiat !

I go on to give him some news.

A Dieu. May the Lord deign to let his grace flow into your soul, and believe me, in the most sincere charity,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 20 February 1853)

Sent_0577

Sent_0577 - à M. Tesson - le 28 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0577 - to Mr Tesson - 28 February 1853 /2

Sent_0577 - à M. Tesson - le 28 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0577 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 94

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Do not send money via Madras ; we lose too much on the exchange. A question regarding a bequest for the performance of masses. Thank you for having sent me your Gradual and your Antiphonarium. Congratulations also for your latest hymn-books.

Index : questions of burse , liturgy

__________

Coimbatore, 28 February 1853

Very dear Mr Tesson,

I have to acknowledge receipt of your two letters of 24 November and of 24 December. The second was merely to announce the death of the much regretted Mr Fages.

In the first, you send me 150 masses that are discharged, or almost so, by this time. You send me £ 31.16, representing 803 francs 57, that I have received but with such loss on the exchange of Madras that, if it were possible to find some other route for passing on considerable sums of money, such as I hope the dispatch of the month of May will be, that would be a good idea. Already we have lost very much on the exchange of these last two years, above all last year.

Finally, in this same letter, you speak of a bequest of 1,800 francs for saying five masses, which bequest has been assigned to the profit of the mission of Mysore, the funds placed on the account and completed with the money of Coimbatore. Clearly, here we are faced with a lapsus calami. I think that you meant to write Coimbatore both times, since it is to me that you send this note to be kept. I hope that your forthcoming accounts will clarify all of this, and then I will have some explanations to ask of you on this subject.

I have just received your Gradual and your Antiphonarium, of which you send me a copy. I am most grateful to you. I have also read a review on this edition, which was addressed to Mr Lefeuvre. I cannot tell you how satisfied I was with this review, with the reasons given in it, etc. I would like it to be translated into Latin and circulated in Italy, in Spain and other countries.

Your edition, likewise preceded by Latin prefaces, would perhaps be appreciated elsewhere than France, thus contributing powerfully to a growing unity of chant, which would certainly be for the good. Not that I think that perfect unity would ever be possible, or that it would be absolutely desirable. But too great a diversity, above all in what forms the basis of the liturgy, is certain prejudicial. Finally, your latest hymn-books appear to me to be only tolerable. As soon as the old books that we have are the worse for wear, I will adopt them for this vicariate.

I will now write a few lines to the directors. They will show them to you ; thus I stop here. A Dieu. Pray for

Your affectionate confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 28 February 1853)

Sent_0578

Sent_0578 - à M. Voisin - le 28 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0578 - to Mr Voisin - 28 February 1853 /2

Sent_0578 - à M. Voisin - le 28 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0578 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 12-13

(to Mr Joseph Voisin)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Letter in a somewhat disenchanted tone on the state of religion in India. We are on the wrong road. It would be necessary for Rome to take things in hand and to send out a man with the necessary authority. Does such a man exist ? What astonishes me is that any vestiges of Christianity still exist in India.

Index : religion in India, Rome (authority)

__________

Coimbatore, 28 February 1853

Very dear Mr Voisin,

It is already a long time since I received your good but very brief missive of 23 June.

I wish I could share your hopes for religion in India. But it is impossible, for it is rigorously demonstrated to me that we are on the wrong road, and I cannot see how it is possible for us to get out of it. The evils are so numerous, complicated, intertwined with one another that it is impossible to sort them out without using Alexander's expedient. But who will hold the sword ?

It is impossible for the Holy See itself to come effectively to the aid of these desolated Churches, if it wants to act directly and from afar. Now, if it entrusts authority to a man who is not thoroughly acquainted with the ground, that man, even with the best will in the world, will destroy instead of edifying.

But who is it that knows perfectly the things of this country ? Who is it that, even if he has spent a long time in India, has formed the right idea of the whole and of the details of the very complex causes which produce the effects that we see ? Even if that man should be found, how will the Holy See dare to entrust to him the necessary authority which would be indispensable to him in order to act, in the midst of the contradictory reports, complaints, and demands that he will be bound to receive on all sides ? Humanly speaking, there is no hope ; supernaturally speaking, there is practically none, for divine Providence seems to permit that which is in its impenetrable justice against India.

As for me, what astonishes me, is certainly not that India does not convert ; it is that there still remain some vestiges of Christianity, that the still fuming wick did not go out completely a long time ago already. Who will send us to rekindle it : a Saint Augustine of England or a Saint Boniface of Germany ? For it will take no less than that. It may be said and perhaps you yourself, very dear confrere, will say that it is exaggerated. Alas ! What unfortunately will prove me right is there.

A Dieu. Pray for India.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 28 February 1853)

Sent_0579

Sent_0579 - aux directeurs - le 28 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0579 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 28 February 1853 /2

Sent_0579 - aux directeurs - le 28 février 1853 -/1

Sent 0579 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 95

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

He speaks of certain of his missionaries : Mr Pajean is preparing to leave us ; Mr Lefeuvre asks to return to Europe ; Mr Malhaire will very probably refuse to be a member of the congregation ; Mr Ravel is perfect but his health is weak ; Mr Métral has recently been very ill. May God preserve him for us ! Send me a missionary.

Index : my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 28 February 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

You promised me a long time ago that you would soon be sending me a new missionary. I hope you have not forgotten.

Mr Pajean is clearly preparing to leave us soon. Last year, he made me a formal request to pass over to Ceylon and the Oblates. I felt that I could not permit him to do so. This year, he has renewed the request to leave us. Meanwhile he behaves like a man who is only in the mission by force.

Mr Lefeuvre also asks to go back to Europe. I would not be surprised if he had arranged with Mr Pajean for them to leave together. Apart from that, I think that this young man had the intention of returning even before he had arrived here. Some things he said to me on arriving made me fear so. I have done everything in my power to try and calm him.

For a long time, I left him with Mr Bonjean who could give only good advice and good examples. But, since I was obliged to give him a post close to Mr Pajean, he has gone from bad to worse. I have urged him to come from time to time to see us and relax ; I have not managed to get him to come one single time in eight months, although he is only one day's journey away. Twice, I sent the excellent Mr de Gélis to his place to gently insinuate good advice ; but it seems that he immmediately forgets his good resolutions.

I would not be astonished either if Mr Malhaire should refuse to become a member of the congregation once his two years are up.

Mr Ravel, who has exclusively moral qualities, is weak in health and has been suffering for a long time now from an unpleasant skin disease that makes him incapable of doing anything. The venerable Mr Métral has just had a terrible illness which afforded me the keenest of fears. If God should take him from us, it would be an irreparable loss for this vicariate. Pray to God that this misfortune does not occur.

Thus, Gentlemen, at the present state of things, it is urgent for you to send us a new missionary, perhaps it would be prudent to send two.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, believe me.

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Your completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 28 February 1853)

Sent_0580

Sent_0580 - à M. Bruyère - (mars ?) 1853 -/2

Sent 0580 - to Mr Bruyère - (March?) 1853 /2

Sent_0580 - à M. Bruyère - (mars ?) 1853 -/2

Sent 0580 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 13-15

(to Mr Jean-Claude Bruyère)

(apostolic missionary)

Letter of reproach written with great charity. You have had works carried out against my advice ; you have not done those that were necessary, for the rains are approaching. All my long-term plans for Ootacamund are ruined. You have imprudently taken in an unfrocked priest from Trichinopoly. Following one's heart is not enough. Follow the direction of your superiors always

.

Index : obedience, charity, advice, constructions

__________

Coimbatore, (March?) 1853

My dear Mr Bruyère,

The good Mr Ravel arrived the day before yesterday and left this morning for Carumattampatty. Among the news he gave me of the mountain, there were some which gave me great pleasure, but others, as I cannot conceal from you, that grieved me,

The works that you have just had carried out, not only without my approval, but against the explicit advice that I gave you, overturn all my plans for the solid establishment of something at Ootacamund, They delay by over ten years the future church whose foundations I had hoped to lay in two or three years' time. They destroy the hope that I considered as a certainty of having a catechumenate this year at Ootacamund.

They afford me the keenest regret at having built the bungalow which, to my mind, was the necessary beginning of a fine church ; since for one habitual missionary, and two if circumstances so require, such a house is more than sufficient. They make me really regret the 600 rupees spent this year on the bungalow, and to that is added the fact that you still have not done the most urgent repair, that with which you should have begun, that of the algamasse ?

Now the fine weather is over ; in a couple of weeks you will have storms and rains ; if the corner of the roofing is still off then, that could quite easily lead to damage. If the algamasse ? is not completed before the future rains, it will be very bad . It was not necessary to do all of the inside this year, but it was urgent to do the outside, even before this time.

I had told you all that. I feel quite convinced that it was not precisely in order to disobey that you did the contrary, you must have felt impelled by the circumstances, but such misplaced impulsion will be fatal and it saddens me greatly. What is the use now of my going to Ootacamund ?

There is another thing that I was sorry to hear, and that is that you took into your house an unfrocked young cleric from Trichinopoly who came without any recommendation from the Reverend Fathers, without any letter from My Lord of Trichinopoly, nor from me, who said that he was a Minorite, without our knowing why he was reduced to the lay condition, etc.

Nothing would have been more just than you should have given him alms, but to have lodged him, dressed him in a cassock, etc., is neither in order, nor in accordance with the proprieties. All the more so since you could have informed yourself on what we do here. If he arrives at 9 in the evening, he is not taken in. He is given something to eat, and a rupee to get what is required, later he is given five rupees to make his journey, but he is not received at table, or in the bungalow for the night. What do you risk by doing as your bishop does ? By wanting to act differently, you expose yourself to regrets.

I know, good Mr Bruyère both your good heart, and your zeal and even your good spirit. Thus, I am not reproaching you, I excuse you due to your good faith. But this good faith has would not prevent prevented you from going against the rules by doing all of these things without my consent, without informing me of them, without writing me a single word, nor these things based on good faith, but unfortunately contrary to all my plans, causing me very keen disappointment.

And then why hide things from me ? Could you believe that I would intend to contradict any good however small it might be ? And if I do not believe that the time has come to do such and such a thing, are you sure of seeing things better than me ? And in doubt, above all in the case of things that may have more or less serious consequences, is one not always sure of doing one's duty by following the direction of one's superiors ? How much good is impeded by people forgetting these principles ! May the Lord bless your good intentions and change the harm into good.

A Dieu. Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. If the young man of whom I spoke to you is still in your house, would you please see that he leaves immediately.

(Coimbatore, (March?) 1853)

Sent_0581

Sent_0581 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 mars 1853 -/1

Sent 0581 - to Mgr Bonnand - 4 March 1853 /2

Sent_0581 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 mars 1853 -/1

Sent 0581 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 493-496

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Deplorable conduct of the bishops and priests of Goa. Harm done by the priest of Dindiguel with his lies in the vicariate of Coimbatore. The bad health of Messrs Métral, Ravel and Malhaire. As regards the statues, there is no hurry.

Index : Goa, my missionaries, statues

__________

Coimbatore, 4 March 1853 ()

My Lord,

I have had the pleasure of receiving your two letters of 21 and of 27 February. Mr Tesson having informed us of the death of the good Mr Fages, we hastened, a month ago already, to celebrate the customary masses for him.

I have heard nothing from Mgr Hartmann on the subject of the schism. How deplorable is the conduct of the Portuguese bishops and priests adhering to them ! The priest of Dindiguel does us terrible harm here. He carries on a secret intercourse with the villages that revolted last year, and that he prevents from submitting, and very probably with other Christians too who, at the wrong moment, may cause us the greatest trouble. In order to keep this hidden fire alive and excite the people, nothing is too much for them, the foulest lies are asserted, and more or less believed by these poor imbeciles.

Thus, a few months ago they spread the rumour that Mgr Canoz would not be returning from Rome ; today they are spreading the news that he never went there ! that he contented himself with a journey to Ceylon, from there to Bombay, and from there to Goa, where the government had him seized and sent back to Calicut, whence he returned to Trichinopoly, without ever having been to Rome. That, besides, an archbiship is about to arrive at Goa. In the present state of things, it would only need a spark to set fire to all of our Christian communities.

Mr Métral has been dangerously ill. He seemed to have recovered and came back to Carumattampatty, but I have just heard that he has a recurrence of fever. Mr Ravel is ill and fairly seriously. Mr Malhaire caught a fever that left him only to recur; while others are more or less sickly, what misfortunes !

As regards the statues, there is no hurry. I was glad to obtain my information in advance and I thank you for what you have given me. Perhaps I will order the four evangelists from France, for they will not be exposed to the rain, since they are to be set up in the vestibule. As for the three angels which would be exposed to all weathers, that is quite different, but we will see later. We have no need of a statue of the Virgin of this kind.

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 4 March 1853)

Sent_0582

Sent_0582 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er avril 1853 -/1

Sent 0582 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 April 1853 /2

Sent_0582 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er avril 1853 -/1

Sent 0582 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 497-500

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Illness of Messrs Métral and Ravel. Let us pray God to spare us Mr Métral ! Activities of the priest of Goa in the villages of Podour and Combacodou. The problems with Messrs Lefeuvre, Pajean and Malhaire. Will they stay with us for long? How fervent your prayers need to be for us !

Index : my missionaries, Goa, difficulties

__________

Coimbatore, 1 April 1853 ()

My Lord,

I have just come from Carumattampatty where I went to celebrate the Easter festivities which were less brilliant than in past years, above all as a result of the illness of Mr Métral and of Mr Ravel who was also incommoded. Mr Métral is still very ill. After a very poor convalescence, he suffered a recurrence of his previous illness so that his condition affords us lively fears. Pray for him and for us, for if the good God should take him from us, it would be an irreparable loss for Coimbatore.

Thank you for having sent me Mgr Hartmann's circular. However, having received nothing from him, I do not think that I have anything to answer him.

The whole schismatic village of Podour went in great numbers to the mass at Dindiguel. The priest of that place openly carries on an intercourse with that village and a secret one with other individuals and other villages. The village of Combacodou at least is schismatic in its soul.

Mr Lefeuvre is behaving in a pitiful way. I believe that he should be sent back to Europe without further ado, especially since he shows signs of eccentricity verging on madness. Mr Pajean continues to to cause me great pain ; I do not think that he will stay on for long. Last year he asked to leave, and he has renewed this request after just one year. Mr Malhaire, who in addition is feverish almost all the time, is very annoyed at having come to India. You will realise that with such inclinations, we are hardly prepared to treat the Christians with the discretion and prudence that the present state of affairs would require.

A schismatic priest came last year to Podour to make the vissarané. His presence did immense harm. If he returned now, he would make much greater ravages. All the more since these are not all of our troubles. But they are quite sufficient for you to concern yourselves in a special way for us with the Lord and for you to address your fervent prayers to him, while believing me,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 1 April 1853)

Sent_0583

Sent_0583 - à son père - le 6 avril 1853 -/2

Sent 0583 - to his father - 6 April 1853 /2

Sent_0583 - à son père - le 6 avril 1853 -/2

Sent 0583 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 35

(to his father)

A passage of communion and union of prayer on the occasion of the marriage of his brother Henri. He had written to Henri, telling him that he had offered his resignation to Rome which had refused it. He explains to his father the reasons for this decision, telling him that he is perfectly at peace with his conscience and that, whatever happens, he will continue his work as if nothing had happened.

Index : marriage (family), attachment (family), resignation

__________

Coimbatore, 6 April 1853

My very dear father,

This letter will reach you, I think, not very long after the union of my good brother with the person he has chosen to be his inseparable companion. Today I offered the holy sacrifice to him, asking God for every sort of blessing for him and for his other half, every sort of happiness for the family, of contentment and of joy for all those whose interests are touched closely by this event.

There is no need for me to tell you how fully I participate from afar in the happiness of all of you. Distance cannot separate hearts, and in spirit I am in your midst, dear father, excellent mother, good brother, loving sisters and beloved sister-in-law whom as yet I know only for the numerous good qualities enumerated by my brother, which will not fail, I hope, to be confirmed by the unanimous testimony of you all.

Do not be troubled, very dear father, at the opening that I made to Henri on the occasion of the family arrangements. I am not content, you say ; it would be true and false to say that. True, for in my position, I could only be content when the work to which I have devoted the whole of my existence is not going as it should, and as it could go. But since I do not think that is from any fault of mine, this pain does not prevent me enjoying peace of conscience, the only good that I have reserved myself, the only one to which I am attached in this world below.

It is my conscience that I try to consult in everything I do. As a simple missionary, it seems to me that it would tell me to rest in peace, leaving to the superiors all the responsibility for what is done and what is not done. As a bishop, however unworthy, I fear to participate in the evil that I cannot prevent by remaining in my post, especially since not being the bishop properly speaking of the place, but simply the apostolic vicar, I have only a delegated jurisdiction and am not irrevocably bound to my Church like the other bishops.

Apart from that, whatever happens, it is my intention never to return to France, at least to stay there, for the position of a former missionary in his homeland is almost always false, and that of a missionary bishop may be scandalous for the good of the people who are hasty in their judgments, and who do not know the reasons which led to his departure from the missions. Now, God forbid that I should ever be a subject of scandal for my brothers !

I would search in vain for something new to report to you. I do my little job just as I have always done and as if I were to remain here for ever without any difference. I have just spent the Easter festivities at Carumatatampatty, whence I have returned to continue work on my buildings at Coimbatore.

I pray the Lord to give you all happiness and peace in abundance, and believe me more than ever,

Very dear father,

The most respectful and the most loving of your children.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 6 April 1853)

Sent_0584

Sent_0584 - à Mgr Hartmann - le 14 avril 1853 -/1

Sent 0584 - to Mgr Hartmann - 14 April 1853 /2

Sent_0584 - à Mgr Hartmann - le 14 avril 1853 -/1

Sent 0584 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 15-16

(to Mgr Anastase Hartmann, bishop of Derbé)

(apostolic vicar of Patna, then of Bombay)

Letter of friendship and admiration for the apostolic vicar of Bombay who has just been imprisoned in his church. May the Lord give you strength and wisdom !

Index : friendship, admiration

__________

Coimbatore, 14 April 1853

My Lord,

I received this morning no. 7 (1 April 1853) of the Bombay Catholic Examiner, which reports Y.L.'s admirable conduct, your sufferings and your glorious imprisonment in Saint Michael's church. If all of those belonging to the true flock of which Jesus Christ is the head should feel moved and consoled at the sight of the courageous devotion of a bishop, who does not fear to lay down his life for the portion of this flock which is entrusted to him, with what feeling should the heart of a brother, of a bishop close to this generous confessor of the faith not vibrate!

I have read this account, My Lord, with tears in my eyes, and my heart filled with joy, and the respect that I had already conceived for Y.L. found itself transformed into veneration and love. Now love is communicative and I cannot resist the need it inspires in me to express at the earliest opportunity my keen satisfaction in the Lord.

I pray God to continue to give you strength and wisdom, and since I do not doubt that your prayers are pleasing to him, I expect more than ever of your brotherly friendship that you will deign to think of me during the oblation of the very holy sacrifice in the union of which I beg you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 14 April 1853)

Sent_0585

Sent_0585 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 avril 1853 -/2

Sent 0585 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 April 1853 /2

Sent_0585 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 avril 1853 -/2

Sent 0585 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 16-18

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

What has just happened to Mgr Hartmann makes him a true confessor of the faith. As regards the journeys of bishops of India in Europe, why are we not informed of them ? Undoubtedly that would be for the good. As for the seminary, I think that it is better to have one good solid seminary at Pondicherry than two weak ones in the vicariate. Mr Métral's health ; Mr Bonjean's activities with the English military.

Index : journeys to Rome, seminary of Pondicherry, my missionaries, agreement

__________

Coimbatore, 15 April 1853

I have received several issues of the Bombay Catholic Examiner, as well as a letter from Mgr Hartmann, which have informed me a little on the sad events of the schism in Bombay. It seems to me that the behaviour of H.L. in Saint Michael's church is above all praise ; it is the act of a confessor of the faith !

I am not at all surprised that Mr Fricaud is not happy in the bursar's office, but I am astonished that Y.L. finds a bursar's vocation in Mr Gouyon.

Mgr Charbonnaux had never said anything to me that could have made me presume that he was meditating a journey to Europe. Such journeys certainly imply some good side by side with certain drawbacks ; but would not this good be greater and more certain if, before making such a journey, one consulted with one's confreres ?

Already several bishops of India have gone one by one to Rome ; what good has this done for religion in general in these unfortunate regions ? How is it that we do not realise that, for the good, it would be necessary to understand one another and communicate our ideas to one another in writing and in person ? Before leaving, H.L. merely wrote me a scrap of a letter, and by the time I received it, My Lord was far from Bangalore. I only just had time to write him a couple of words to wish him a safe journey.

Since Y.L. sees fits to consult me on the question : "Do you think that we should enlarge our little seminary, instead of considering building a branch one elsewhere ?", I will tell you frankly what I think. The position of Pondicherry undoubtedly implies some drawbacks, but it also offers immense advantages that could not be found elsewhere, where other drawbacks will be found that are not present in Pondicherry. Nothing is more desirable for the formation of a good clergy then a seminary which works well from all points of view ; now for that, it needs to be quite numerous. By dividing the seminary, you risk having two weak ones, instead of one strong one as regards studies, personnel, principals, etc.

If we imagine that a branch seminary would give rise to many more vocations, I think that we are deluding ourselves. From all points in your vicariate, all those having a germ of vocation will go quite willingly to Pondicherry, providing they are ever so slightly encouraged by the missionaries of the districts. Accordingly I have no hesitation in believing that there are many more real advantages to be expected from the enlargement and development of the seminary of Pondicherry, than from the creation of a branch seminary.

As soon as Mr Métral was capable of facing the journey, I had him taken by palanquin to Ootacamund. The mountain air appears to be doing him good, but I very much fear that he will never recover completely, since he was so thoroughly shaken, especially since he is a man who is essentially worn out. Nonetheless, I hope that God will keep him with us for the moment.

Meanwhile, our work with the pagans is completely at a standstill. The development of Jakatala, where the English are forming a military cantonment, requires us to have an establishment there. Mr Bonjean is working on this with the utmost zeal ; he has already obtained a piece of land where he is building a hut for the soldiers, while awaiting the possibility of a church, a house, etc. ; but he is completely taken up with this work.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 15 April 1853)

Sent_0586

Sent_0586 - à un missionnaire - (avril ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0586 - to a missionary - (April?) 1853 /2

Sent_0586 - à un missionnaire - (avril ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0586 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 18

(to a missionary of his vicariate)

As a result of your way of acting in respect of your superiors, you are forbidden to say mass for 15 days. Shortly afterwards this punishment is lifted.

Index : punishment, suspension

Coimbatore, (April?) 1853

My dear Mr N.

For a long time now, your way of acting towards your superiors is worthy of every blame. In vain I have tried to make you revert to the line of duty, by silence in many cases, by means of friendly and paternal advice in others, and in certain cases by indirect warnings. Since all of this has proved useless and since you have just capped your indiscretion, I find myself obliged, though much to my regret, to act with severity, something that has as yet never happened in the seven years that I have been bishop here.

Know then that it is forbidden for you, under pain of suspension, to say mass for fifteen days as from the day when you receive this letter.

May this punishment, which is not yet a censure, serve to make you seriously reflect on your station, may it inspire in you humbler feelings on yourself, and preserve you from greater misfortunes.

Rest assured however that the hand that strikes you however regretfully never ceases to bless you.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, April? 1853)

Following this copy, we find the following note, undated :

A la suite de cette copie, la note suivante, sans date :

To the same : having received from him a fairly satisfactory letter, I lift the prohibition given in the preceding letter (Coimbatore)

Sent_0587

Sent_0587 - à M. Tesson - le 6 mai 1853 -/1

Sent 0587 - to Mr Tesson - 6 May 1853 /2

Sent_0587 - à M. Tesson - le 6 mai 1853 -/1

Sent 0587 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 96

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the masses. If the bishops who leave for Rome and for France made it known, a greater understanding could be reached and a greater good would be achieved. Mgr Charbonnaux went to obtain money ! What should I do, who am much poorer than him from all points of view ?

Index : journeys to Rome, poverty, agreement

__________

Coimbatore, 6 May 1853

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have distributed and had performed 250 masses announced in your note of 24 January, and 100 in your letter of February.

Mr Charbonnaux's departure for Paris and Rome thoroughly surprised us. H.L. had given no hint beforehand that made anyone suspect this resolution. He only wrote to me on leaving and already he had left Bangalore when I received his note. If I could have foreseen that, I would have done everything I could to go and see him and convey to him various oral communications. I only just had time to write him a few words to Madras to wish him a safe journey ! I don't even know if he received that note.

These journeys of apostolic vicars to Europe would, despite certain drawbacks, do good. But would such good not be surer and greater if we came to an understanding with our neighbours ? Already there have been several bishops of India who have gone to Rome one by one, and a good many bishops from our congregation have made such a journey, separately once more to Europe. I am quite prepared to believe that they have gained some personal or local good for their missions from it, but what even small general good has it done for the state of our holy religion in India, and in the countries entrusted to the care of our congregation ?

My Lord of Jassen told me on leaving that he is going to leave because he is much too poor. I wish him good receipts, but if he is much too poor, what does he think we are ? He has several missionaries completely paid for by the government ; he has a town of resource in Bangolore, he does not have to build churches, etc. etc. And with all that, he received the same allocation, if not bigger, than ours who are without any other resources. May the table that he shows you on his poverty make you understand what it is like here by a great a fortiori.

Pray for

Your devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 6 May 1853)

Sent_0588

Sent_0588 - aux chrétiens de Palghat - (mai ?) 1853 -/2

Sent 0588 - to the Christians of Palghat - (May?) 1853 /2

Sent_0588 - aux chrétiens de Palghat - (mai ?) 1853 -/2

Sent 0588 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 19-20

(to the Christians of Palghat)

In answer to your letter : it is Mr Lefeuvre who is your pastor ; Mr Pajean's orders have no validity for you. If Mr Lefeuvre threatens you with an old shoe, point out to him respectfully that I am absolutely contrary to such a practice. Some Christians from your village went to be married at Dindiguel by the priest of Goa. This marriage is null because of the impediment of consanguinity. The married couple and their relations are forbidden entry into the church. If you have any other problems, go confidently to your priest or send for me.

Index : Goa, marriage, corporal punishments, difficulties

__________

Coimbatore, (May?) 1853 ()

(Free translation of a letter in Tamoul)

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, etc., to all the Christians of Palghat, greetings in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

On reading your letter, I felt a great joy, on seeing that, in your afflictions, you have referred to me who am your first pastor who desire only that the good become better and that the bad are converted and become good, so that you all bring about your salvation.

Nonetheless, although I think that you have not deliberately written lies to me, I cannot help thinking that, after being punished, your affliction has exaggerated the situation. However that may be, since Mr Lefeuvre still encounters some difficulties in speaking Tamoul, I am writing you this letter to inform you :

1) that since Mr Pajean is not the priest of your district, for you his orders are not the orders of your own priest, since each Christian has to obey the priest of his district ;

2) if it sometimes happens that a priest, in his rightful indignation against sin, exceeds the limits laid down by the usages of public honesty in the country, and threatens you with an old shoe, that is absolutely against my intention, desirous that this punishment shall be unknown in my vicariate, and in that case, you may say to the priest, while observing the respect due to him, that you are in no way obliged to suffer such punishment.

But it is with great sorrow that I learned that some of you went to Dindiguel to celebrate a marriage held by a schismatic priest, in spite of the relationship to the second degree of consanguinity. Such an action contains two sins : first, because marriages celebrated in this way always remain without blessing, given that this wretched priest, being disobedient to the Church, has no blessing in his power ; and secondly, because the aforesaid marriage is null because of the impediment of consanguinity. Such marriages, when they do not contain impediments, are valid, it is true, but guilty of loguecalianam(), but they are null when some impediment exists between the parties, because the priests cannot dispense without a special permission that this wretched priest does not possess.

So that you can judge how guilty are those who have made such a marriage and those who have concurred with it. However, since everyone should not be punished because of them, and no-one should be seriously punished for a slight fault, with the exception of the married couple and their fathers and mothers, the others must not be forbidden entry to the church, even if they have committed the fault of communicating with them.

Finally, I exhort you to peace, to humility and to piety, rejecting all envy, hatred and anger and everything that is unbecoming in the children of God. If someone sins, let him receive the correction of the priest as a son receives that of his father who proceeds not out of anger, but out of love. This is certainly how your priest acts.

If anything remains still to be settled, go trustfully and find him, and since he still does not perfectly possess the Tamoul language, I allow you with pleasure to refer to me, if need be, providing it is without pride, without contention, without any spirit of dispute, but as children who run to their father in a pure intention, to learn what they still do not know, to correct what is defective and to advance surely in the way of salvation that I desire for you.

As a sign of the benevolence I have for you, I send my blessing to you, to your children and to your families.

Written at Coimbatore...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, May? 1853)

Sent_0589

Sent_0589 - à M. Lefeuvre - (mai?) 1853 -/3

Sent 0589 - to Mr Lefeuvre - (May?) 1853 /3

Sent_0589 - à M. Lefeuvre - (mai?) 1853 -/3

Sent 0589 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 20-23

(to Mr Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

He passes on to him letter 0588 to read out to the Christians of Palghat. Your conduct leaves much to be desired. I had decided to tell you that your place is not in India. But your last letter leaves some hope. Take counsel with your superiors and with your seniors. Practice gentleness and charity rather than severity. Apply yourself to study of the language. Learn to walk by yourself so that I get to know you better and see whether some other post might suit you better. Act towards the Christians as I said in my letter and modify your words and your orders according to my letter. And above all no corporal punishments or injurious words. Prudence, wisdom and gentleness : in this way you will have peace.

Index : corporal punishments, advice, obedience, prudence, delicate charity, language

__________

Coimbatore, (May?) 1853 (

)

My dear Mr Lefeuvre,

I was on the point of putting the enclosed in the post when your letters arrived. Before then, having heard absolutely nothing from you about what is happening at Palghat which public rumour paints as very serious, I could not do otherwise. After your letter, it is possible to transmit my answer to the Christians through you, which is much more appropriate and will avoid producing a very bad effect.

But since in your letter you speak to me with an open heart, I feel I have to open the whole of mine to you too. Things have arrived at such a point that it is absolutely necessary.

However little you should consent to examine your conduct for the last year, you will have no difficulty in recognising that it is impossible for me to be satisfied. I will not go into any details, it would take too long and besides the fact is too evident, if the Lord gives you the grace of recognising yourself, for you not to be easily convinced that you have left much to be desired. Without that grace, everything that I might say to you would be useless.

Only, I cannot hide from you that I had quite decided, if you persevered in this way until the end of the two years, to inform you then that I did not think that you were called to work in the missions, or rather (for it is in your interest that I hide nothing from you), that, since you were not responding to your vocation, you could not continue to work in it.

Meanwhile, I prayed every day to the Lord to open your eyes and touch your heart. Perhaps my prayer has been answered and your letter is a sign that you are beginning to enter into a better way, which I desire for you with all my soul.

For that, it is absolutely necessary that you act more simply and more cordially, that you get in touch with your superiors and your seniors, instead of withdrawing into yourself, that when in doubt you take counsel principally with me or with Mr Métral, thereafter acting according to the direction given to you, and all of this no longer once the blows have been delivered, but before acting. Without this, even if you should work wonders, they will go bad.

It would further be necessary that, in your inexperience, you should proceed calmly, and if you were to sin by excess, it should be above all by an excess of gentleness, of condescendence and of charity, rather than an excess of severity. You speak a lot about iron and fire that should be applied to the patient ; but what illness would stand the daily application of iron and fire ? The remedy would be worse than the ill and would soon kill the patient. Above all it is of oil and wine that you should make provision, the daily application of which is salutary.

If the good God gives you the grace of responding to your vocation, apply yourelf to doing what you can with gentleness, and do not worry about what does not depend on you. God will bless you and this blessing will be more fruitful than beatings, always so dangerous, reproaches, expulsions from the church, etc., all things whose good effects are very problematical in the present state of spirits, both on the part of the missionaries and on the part of the Christians, and which in many cases undoubtedly do great harm.

Apply yourself to the study of languages with simplicity of heart and without contention of the spirit ; this inclination alone will make you advance more quickly in what is practically necessary than any misplaced combinations.

I hope that during the few months still remaining before the end of the two years, you will replace with the hope of seeing you become a good missionary, the affliction that you have caused me in the fear that you would not become one. In order to do that, walk on your own, for we have to know what you can do alone. Consult without fail your confrere and neighbour when you have neither the opportunity nor the time to consult your superiors, but of his opinions take what you believe to be good and leave what appears to you inopportune before God ; but before the Christians, it is you who must appear, since it is you who are the missonary of the district.

It may very well be that some other post would suit you better, but in order to think seriously of this, I would need to know that I could count on you ; for as long as you leave us in the well-founded fear that you will leave us soon, it is totally useless.

As regards the latest events, it is impossible for me to remain silent. Quite apart from the letter that the Christians have written to me, the most sinister rumours are spreading in the country. Now I owe myself wholly to everyone. God forbid that, by allowing the still smouldering wick to go out, the last of the Christians should perish through my fault. I would be accountable to God. Doubtless they are much to blame, but we have come to save the sinners and not the righteous.

Warned in time, if my intentions had not been exceeded, I would have been able to prevent the harm : today we have to stop it, and that is more difficult. So that I am answering the Christians and I am sending you a copy of the letter with a free translation so that you instantly grasp the sense of it. If it contains anything that differs from what you have said to them, modify your words and orders in accordance with my letter, the example of obedience that you will be giving them will be an excellent sermon on the obedience that inferiors owe to their superiors, and consequently that they owe to yourself.

And if you have said to them that it is by my order that you have driven several persons out of church, tell them frankly that you were mistaken, for I have never consented to driving away anyone but the married couple, their fathers and mothers. Further I have in no way insinuated that a dramatic effect should be sought for this by putting out the candles, etc. That is exactly the contrary of what I would have wished.

May no talk of hitting with an old shoe ever be uttered by a missionary against the formal order that I have given, and since besides the circumstances must make it a law without exceptions, the same applies to the word poda() and others that are never appropriate for us.

So that, my dear Mr Lefeuvre, is what I could not prevent myself from saying to you, since things have come to this point. If it saddens you, I hope that that sadness will turn to salvation and good. I hope that, in some time, I will be able to use a very different language to you such as my heart would desire. The events of Palghat will gradually be put to rights, with much more difficulty without doubt and less success than if they had not been pushed to the limit, but they will be put to rights once you steer your boat with prudence, wisdom and gentleness instead of fighting against the stream.

You will acquire that peace of the soul which you have lacked for a long time, as each line of the so rare letters that you have sent me clearly shows ; you will respond to the graces of the Lord instead of looking behind you or embarking on an uncertain future that one may without rashness predict will be unhappy.

Finally, may you recognise that everything that I have told you in this long letter is dictated by a rigorous desire as far as the Christians is concerned, and by the interest I have in you as far as you in particular are concerned. If the Lord does you the grace of recognising this, we will not lose you and you will not lose yourself. Finally, please believe me, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. Rest assured that everything you have said in your letter for my ear alone will remain confidential . Please let me know that you have handed over my letter to the Christians.

Further P.S. No news from Rome on the questions of caste, but what is quite certain is that, if there is anything materially defective in our way of doing things, the S.C. takes it on itself, since it is informed that, until fresh decision is taken, we are acting here as in the vicariates of Pondicherry and of Madurai, where certainly they are more tolerant than us.

(Coimbatore May? 1853)

Sent_0590

Sent_0590 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 mai 1853 -/1

Sent 0590 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 May 1853 /1

Sent_0590 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 mai 1853 -/1

Sent 0590 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 501-502.504

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The death of Mgr Bernardin apostolic pro-vicar of Mangalore.

Index : news

__________

Coimbatore, 18 May 1853 ()

My Lord,

Yesterday I received a letter from My Lord of Héraclée() announcing the death of Mgr Bernardin, apostolic pro-vicar of Mangalore. H.L. asks me to communicate this news to you and to commend the venerable deceased to your good prayers. Although I think that you will already have heard of this death through the newspapers, I consider it my duty to fulfil my My Lord of Héraclée's pious wish, and to inform you, on his behalf, of the death of this worthy bishop.

It is a long time now since I had any news from you. I hope that your health continues to be good, as well as that of our dear confreres, to whose prayers I commend myself, as well as to yours, My Lord, asking you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 18 May 1853)

Sent_0591

Sent_0591 - à M. Lefeuvre - (début juin ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0591 - to Mr Lefeuvre - (early June?) 1853 /2

Sent_0591 - à M. Lefeuvre - (début juin ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0591 Brésillac copy , AMA 2F7 verso, pp 23-24

(to M. Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

He refuses to obey ; from true principles, he draws deplorable consequences. Refrain from all judgment in foro externo ; impose no punishment whatsoever. May the Lord forgive you. I am sending Mr Ravel to you with full powers, After he leaves you will leave things as he has arranged them.

Index : bishop (authority), delicate charity, advice

__________

Coimbatore, (early June?) 1853

My dear Mr. Lefeuvre,

In this way your last letter proves to me that you are prepared to push to the limit your refusal of obedience. I pity you and I pity you deeply. A few less imprudent pronouncements and far more simplicity you would have avoided you incurring a misfortune so great that perhaps you do not realise all of its implications.

What is really sad about this is that in the various communications you have made around this unfortunate business, now you pose erroneous principles, above all by their excess, and you pursue the consequences thereof, and now you put forward true and respectable principles, from which you deduce deplorable consequences. With such a logic, it is easy to go far and to do regrettable things. More than anything else, poor Mr Lefeuvre, you should prevent yourself from passing hasty judgments.

With all of this, how could I consent to allow you to carry out the functions of judge, which besides are not naturally those of the priest. Accordingly, apart from friendly reconciliations which do not involve a sentence, kindly abstain from now onwards from any judgment in foro externo, and in particular, until fresh notice, from imposing fines or corporal punishments and from banning people from the church.

If I had not been personally outraged by the way in which you wrote, I would consider myself obliged to go further and to prohibit you from carrying out other functions, but you might perhaps think that this act was inspired by some kind of passion (which God forbid) and, without the intimate admission of your fault, what penance would you do ? I prefer to leave you with your conscience in God's hands and to pray that he alone will open your eyes and your heart. May the almighty Lord deign to enlighten you, to forgive you and not to impute to you all the pains that you have caused me personally.

As regards all pending matters, and in order to calm the irritated spirits, I am sending Mr Ravel with full powers. He will act on my behalf and, after he has left, under pain of grave disobedience, you are to leave things as he has arranged them, unless I let you know that in all or in part I do not ratify the judgments of this dear confrere who will not fail to give me account of everything that he has done.

While waiting for the consolation to be given me of learning that you have returned to yourself, kindly believe me completely yours in the broken heart of Jesus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. In order that the Christians do not notice our inner griefs, it would be advisable, nay almost necessary, for you to act in everything with Mr Ravel as if nothing had happened.

(Coimbatore, early June? 1853)

Sent_0592

Sent_0592 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 juin 1853 -/2

Sent 0592 - to Mgr Bonnand - 18 June 1853 /2

Sent_0592 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 18 juin 1853 -/2

Sent 0592 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 537-540

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic bishop of Pondicherry)

We were threatened with the arrival of the schismatic priest at Carumattampatty. I succeeded in avoiding the revolt. What joy at the prospect of receiving a visit from you ! Let us know the date of your arrival. Third relapse of Mr Métral.

Index : Goa, friendly visit, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 18 June 1853 (

)

My Lord,

Before answering your good letter of the 5th which gave me such pleasure because of the hope it gives me of seeing Y.L., I wanted to see what our position was as regards the threat and even the beginning of a great calabam() which seemed about to break out at Carumattampatty itself. I came back from there yesterday evening. I hope to have calmed down spirits and even to have stopped it all for the moment, providing everyone is prudent. But this condition appears to me difficult to achieve.

As I let you know earlier, a thousand and one causes have helped to produce a volcano under our feet, so that the one we least expect may set off the explosion. This time we were threatened with nothing less that the arrival of the schismatic priest of Dindiguel, in company with Arokiam from Trichinopoly.

I hope that this news is false, at least as regards the latter, and all the more so, that even if they did arrive, they would not find the Christians inclined to receive them. But since Y.L. does me the kindness of coming to see us, come then, come quickly, we will have much to say to each other.

Quite apart from the pleasure that your visit will afford us, it will do good. I announced yesterday to the Christians that you would be coming shortly. Kindly let us know the time of your arrival. Do not expect a brilliant reception, like that you prepared for me at Pondicherry, but the heart will be all there.

It is however good and almost necessary that the Christians of Carumattampatty go ahead of Y.L. Thus do not fail to let us know exactly the day of your good arrival. Or even if you cannot establish the exact day, please tell us approximately in what period it will be.

Mr Métral was getting much better, and he hoped soon to come down from the mountain ; when just now I have received the news that he has had a third relapse. I fear very much that his body is so tried that he will not get over it.

A Dieu. I look forward to embracing you very soon. But write to me before.

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 18 June 1853)

Sent_0593

Sent_0593 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 juin 1853 -/1

Sent 0593 - to Mgr Bonnand - 23 June 1853 /2

Sent_0593 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 juin 1853 -/1

Sent 0593 Original AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 505-508

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

When you find yourself on the territory of my vicariate, act in every way as if you were in your own jurisdiction..

Index : powers, friendship, deference

__________

Coimbatore, 23 June 1853 ()

My Lord,

I cannot remember if, in my last letter, I asked Y.L. to kindly act in every way and under all circumstances as if you were in your own jurisdiction, for the whole time you are on the territory of my vicariate. I certainly intended to, and it is to make up for this omission, if I did not say this earlier, that I am writing you these few lines.

It may also happen that the Christians of this vicariate go to you in order to receive confirmation, above all when Y.L. is at Idapady. In any case, kindly receive them and treat them as your own flock. The same applies for confession in my vicariate, etc., etc.

We are looking forward to news on the approximate time of your good visit, while awaiting confirmation of the exact day.

I pray the Lord to keep you from all evil during your pastoral visit, meanwhile please believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respecful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 23 June 1853)

Sent_0594

Sent_0594 - à M. Malhaire - vers le 25 juin 1853 -/2

Sent 0594 - to Mr Malhaire - about 25 June 1853 /2

Sent_0594 - à M. Malhaire - vers le 25 juin 1853 -/2

Sent 0594 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 108, pp 0-3

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 27-28

(to Mr Louis Malhaire)

(apostolic missionary)

He has asked to return to Europe ; he has declared that he was not interested in belonging to the MEP. Thus it is not possible to admit him definitively. Is his decision irrevocable ? He should do a good retreat to see clearly in himself. He should write to say exactly what he wants.

Index : belonging to the MEP, regulations of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, (about 25 June?) 1853 (

)

My dear Mr. Malhaire,

It is now two years less a few days that your good angel led you to Coimbatore. If I regard exclusively your personal qualities, I would write to you purely and simply to say that you can count on your final admission to our very dear Society.

However, since in the course of these last two years you have, on various occasions, indicated your scant esteem for the congregation of Foreign Missions, openly expressing your regret that you had ever become attached to it ; since you have even explicitly declared, in various circumstances, that you had no wish to become a member of it, evincing openly your desire to return soon to Europe ; and since finally just recently you have asked me explicitly for permission to leave, requesting me to write to the Gentlemen of Paris to know whether they can immediately arrange to cover the expenses of your passage out of the common funds of the congregation, or if they are obliged to require two years of perseverance in your request, in which case you ask me to count two years from the day when you made this opening to me.

All of this considered, there would be injustice on my part towards our congregation, and as far as you are concerned imprudence and even danger of going against your desire by declaring you definitively admitted from this day to the congregation of the Foreign Missions.

From another viewpoint, considering that all of this may be a temptation of the demon, as I said to you the other day personally, advising you strongly not to come to any irrevocable determination without first of all holding a serious retreat for that purpose ; that, although you may have appeared at that time disinclined to make such a retreat, regarding it as useless, seeing that for a long time already you have examined this question before God, however a few days afterwards you asked me to suspend your request to the Gentlemen of Paris ;

Persuaded that if you regretted once and for all these various indecisions, instead devoting yourself unreservedly to our work, you would acquire the qualities that you still lack to attain the perfection of your calling, a perfection which has been impeded above all by the mental reservation of abandoning a congregation which did not please you and returning to France ; that, if rejecting effectively such preoccupations, you should enter definitively into our very dear congregation, you would love it, you would defend it and you would honour it with every means in your power, as a good son who may doubtless recognise from certain points of view the superiority of various persons over his own father and mother, but will never love and esteem anyone more than them ;

Persuaded, as I say, of all this, I would believe it to be unjust towards you and imprudent towards our dear congregation, which I would expose to being deprived of a man of merit, by declaring that I refuse to accept you in our congregation. Accordingly I believe that we should wait some time longer, if you really consent to consider as never having taken place the request that you made to me the other day for a passage to Europe, and that meanwhile we should pray to the Lord to confirm you in your vocation.

Meanwhile, I need to know and ask you to kindly declare to me clearly in writing :

1) if you really withdraw your request ;

2) if in the case of your withdrawing it for the moment, you consider it as absolutely not having taken place, so as not to make it count if, later, you should make any similar ones ;

3) if your intention of not becoming a final member of our congregation is irrevocable ;

4) if, in case of your consenting, and being definitively accepted, you would give yourself to our congregation unreservedly, adopting with a good heart both the letter and the spirit of its constitution. And when I say spirit, I mean that spirit that vivifies and not anything defective that may have slipped into it, as happens to all things regulated and directed by men.

If any such faults exist a good confrere seeks first of all to correct them in himself. To redress them if he is in a position to do so, but without contention, only rarely speaking of them and only when he hopes that his words will have a good effect, not exaggerating them ever, concealing them from the eyes of strangers, while he eagerly seizes any occasions that arise to pick up the good that the Lord has deposited by his grace in our adoptive family.

While awaiting your answer, please believe me, in union or prayers and in the hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, about 25 June? 1853)

Sent_0595

Sent_0595 - à M. Malhaire - le 27 (juin ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0595 - to Mr Malhaire - 27 (June?) 1853 /1

Sent_0595 - à M. Malhaire - le 27 (juin ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0595 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 108, p 4

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 28

(to Mr Louis Malhaire)

(apostolic missionary)

To explain letter 0594. Yes, in any case, I will delay having your name entered definitively in our registers.

Index : belonging to the MEP, regulations of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 27 (June?) 1853 ()

My dear Mr Malhaire,

In answer to the explnation that you request of me, I have the honour to declare to you that in fact the words in my letter mean that, in any case, I will delay for some time more giving you the attestation required, after two years of work in the missions, for being admitted into the associative body of the Foreign Missions (Regulations, Ch V, 2 and letters patent of 1775, art XII).

This is in view of the considerations made in my letter.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 27 June? 1853)

Sent_0596

Sent_0596 - aux directeurs - le 29 juin 1853 -/2

Sent 0596 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 29 June 1853 /2

Sent_0596 - aux directeurs - le 29 juin 1853 -/2

Sent 0596 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 97

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

We are living in a great confusion. I will come back to the causes which I described to you a long time ago at great length. Here each person acts according to his conscience, The superiors and the seniors no longer have any authority ; what we call moderation becomes weakness and easy good nature in their eyes. The Christians have less respect for their priests. Difficulties at Carumattampatty where things have now calmed down thanks to Messrs de Gélis and Ravel. But at Palghat, I answer for nothing : the words of Messrs Pajean and Lefeuvre would suffice to exclude them from our congregation if we had even a little authority. I am sending you my correspondence with Mr Malhaire: judge for yourselves.

Index : reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP, difficulties, my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 29 June 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

We are at a sad pass. What is happening is, in fact, inevitable and the confusion is bound to increase since the causes which we have pointed out for long years now still exist, without any doubt possible of having ever been able to remedy it in any way. I will not come back on everything that was said earlier in fairly long letters ; but will content myself to giving you some facts ; may they speak more loudly than my words !

I had convened the annual retreat for the 15th of this month. Foreseeing some days in advance that several missionaries would not turn up, which would have been a scandal, I have postponed it indefinitely.

Each day it becomes more and more impossible to give the various workers in this mission a uniform direction. Each of them says he has his conscience. Now these consciences do not in the least agree, and the youngest are in general the least prepared to lay down theirs in those of their seniors. Moreover, there is a growing spirit of irritation against the poor Indians, so that the poor Christians are losing the respect they had thus far evinced for their priests and at the same time that they are shocked at seeing their usages more and more despised, they are vexed at the rough way in which they are now treated.

This way of treating the Christians is called by some strength and courage ; the moderation of their confreres who imagine that here as elsewhere more flies can be caught with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar is called by the former weakness, fear and exceeding good nature. The result of all this is that the Christians are in their turn very irritated against their priests and even against all of us because, in order to avoid an ever greater evil, we are obliged to avoid, as far as possible, letting it be seen outside how little we approve this severity. Whence the spirit of revolt and of schism. This spirit has exploded on two points at the same time, in the course of this month.

At Carumattanpatty, our principal Christian community, where all of a sudden all of our domestic servants and those of the seminary were withdrawn by order of the caste and where there was talk of calling in two schismatic priests.

At Palghat, where the same rumours of schism were rife, a stone thrown by a Christian at Mr Lefeuvre hit him in the face. A journey that I took immediately afterwards to Carumattampatty proved sufficient to calm things down, at least in appearance, and the good spirit, prudence and the other remarkable qualities of Messrs de Gélis and Ravel who are there, make me hope that the harm will not go any further for the moment (the very respectable Mr Métral has been ill for five months now, which has forced him to withdraw to the mountain. His presence would very probably have prevented these excesses on the part of the Christians.)

I cannot say as much for Palghat. A letter that I was obliged to write to the Christians of that district to prevent them from hurling themselves into the abyss sent Mr Pajean into a rage against me, and caused Mr Lefeuvre to exceed the limits of all propriety . One and the other wrote me letters which would be quite sufficient, if there were any backbone in our congregation, to expel them immediately. Let us hope that they will not push the scandal any further, but I can answer for nothing.

I am enclosing a correspondence which has taken place in the last few days between Mr Malhaire and myself. You will see from this at what point things are as regards this young missionary, and I would ask you to kindly let me know what you think should be done about him. Mr Malhaire is a good priest, and has an admirable facility with languages ; his character leaves much to be desired ; he would have become a good missionary if he had not encountered in many of his confreres that spirit of independence which has done him great harm, and that irritation that I spoke of earlier, which makes him almost incapable of administering the Indians.

In ending this letter, I feel the need to remind you that, if I have spoken to you so frankly and plainly both on things and on persons, this is because it seems to me that it is not only useful but necessary for you to know things as they are, without illusion and without veil.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am,

Very dear confreres,

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 29 June 1853)

Sent_0597

Sent_0597 - à M. Malhaire - (29 juin ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0597 - to Mr Malhaire - (29 June?) 1853 /1

Sent_0597 - à M. Malhaire - (29 juin ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0597 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 108, pp 8-9

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 29

(to Mr Louis Malhaire)

(apostolic missionary)

I note your determination. If you wish to be destined to Pinang, I would not place any obstacles in your way.

Index : belonging to the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, (29 June?) 1853 ()

My dear Mr Malhaire,

After acquainting myself with your letter of day's date, I can only regret that you have arrived at this determination ; but I sincerely pray the Lord to ensure that it turns to your advantage. Besides, if in order not to leave the congregation you should desire another position, the college of Pinang for example, the Gentlemen of Paris would perhaps provide you with the means, and I would not place any obstacle in your way. In any case, I will write to these Gentlemen by the next steamer and will let you know what their answer is as soon as I receive it.

In the meantime, I have no doubt but that you will offer the mission all the services in your power, so as to be able to take with you as a priest the good testimonials that you have not ceased to merit thus far.

I commend myself to your prayers and am

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 29 June? 1853)

Sent_0598

Sent_0598 - à M. Lefeuvre - (fin juin ?) 1853 -/2

Sent 0598 - to Mr Lefeuvre - (end of June?) 1853 /2

Sent_0598 - à M. Lefeuvre - (fin juin ?) 1853 -/2

Sent 0598 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 24-25

(to Mr Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

For all your shortcomings which touch me personally, I forgive you. But, as your superior and apostolic vicar, I must wait until your conduct proves that you regret past facts. It is my duty to make my voice heard to the Christians of my jurisdiction and to come back on the judgment of my missionaries. As long as you retain the letter that you have to deliver to the Christians of Palghat, you are guilty of disobedience. As for your change of post, today the conditions do not permit that.

Index : forgiveness, bishop (authority), obedience, advice

__________

Coimbatore, (end of June?) 1853

My dear Mr Lefeuvre,

To your last letter, I answer that, as regards the shortcomings which have occurred against me personally, I sincerely forgive you for them and I consent with my whole heart to forget the past completely ; but I cannot and must not forget your shortcomings against me as superior of the mission and as your apostolic vicar, for as long as they persist and for as long as they have not been wiped out by facts proving that you yourself regret the past events.

Where would we be if I could not, when I consider it useful, make my voice heard to the Christians of my jurisdiction ? If I could not reconsider any judgment whatsoever passed by my missionaries, come back on the judgments and modify them ? If, when it comes to reconsidering a judgment, the missionary who passed it believed himself to be under charge, as if it were a question of judging himself, in such a way as to be obliged to summon him personally with witnesses for his acquittal ?

When the Lord has given you back your full calm, you will see yourself that such principles would be subversive of all authority, principles that I cannot authorise under pain of being unfaithful to my duties. You will see further that a letter cannot be held back for an arbitrary interpretation. Eh ! could you use the trust that I showed to you, by sending you a copy of it, in order not to hand it over ?

That if, in other terms than those which have been used, you had asked me for authentic explanations, I would have hastened to give them to you and you would have been able, during such time, to suspend delivery of my letter, presuming of the permission, but never hold it back against my intention. So long as this letter is in your hands, you are outside of obedience. I hope that you will not keep it any longer. It is easy for you, above all with the help of Mr Ravel, to make it known without shocking anyone, more than the necesity of the case requires, and it is your duty.

The accomplishment of this duty will tell me much more than words could do.

As regards a change of post for you, it is difficult under these circumstances. I can quite understand that you would desire it, and it is certain that, save a very great prudence, by means of which you could still raise yourself above events, your position will be disagreeable.

But from another point of view, it is very bad to make changes after such events, because the Christians easily imagine that their demand has won the day, and after that the trouble-makers become unmanagable. On the slightest occasion, they say out loud that they will get rid of their priest, that in the past they had got rid of others, etc. As a result of all that, I cannot promise anything at this moment, only perhaps you would do well to let it be known that you are asking me for a change, so that, if later on I can grant it to you, the Christians will not be able to say that I yielded to their request.

I pray the Lord to enlighten you more and more and to see that you enter completely into the sentiments that your last letter allows me to presume. Meanwhile, I grant you my blessing from the bottom of my heart, and ask you to believe me, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Completely yours...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, end of June? 1853)

Sent_0599

Sent_0599 - à M. Tesson - le 4 juillet 1853 -/1

Sent 0599 - to Mr Tesson - 4 July 1853 /1

Sent_0599 - à M. Tesson - le 4 juillet 1853 -/1

Sent 0599 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 98

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Still nothing on the subject of our accounts ! It's a very long time. Announced visit by Mgr Bonnand. Matters at Palghat.

Index : finances, friendly visit, difficulties

__________

Coimbatore, 4 July 1853

My dear Tesson,

We were all expecting this steamer to bring us our accounts, and even the notes from Messrs Arbuthnot. Several of these Gentlemen are waiting for money from their homes, and they are rightly impatient. I am writing these few lines to inform you that we still have not received anything. I have agreed to advance a certain sum to Mr Bonjean on the basis of a letter that he has received from Mr Barran ; but since the others have not received any certain news, they cannot enjoy the same favour.

One of these days I am expecting My Lord of Drusipare who, making his visit to the district of Salem, has promised me to push on as far as here to pay us a short visit.

There is nothing to add to the letters that I wrote a few days ago to the directors and which you will soon be sharing. Things are going badly at Palghat. I have sent Mr Ravel to try and calm spirits and prevent the Christians from passing over to the schism in large numbers and to Protestantism in part. His position is difficult, and I do not know how he can achieve his goal without offending his two confreres.

A Dieu, Pray for us and believe me, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Your affectionate confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 4 July 1853)

Sent_0600

Sent_0600 - à M. Lefeuvre - le 13 juillet 1853 -/1

Sent 0600 - to Mr Lefeuvre - 13 July 1853 /2

Sent_0600 - à M. Lefeuvre - le 13 juillet 1853 -/1

Sent 0600 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 25-26

(to Mr Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

At your request, I am sending you copy of my letter to the Christians of Palghat. I approve everything that Mr Ravel has done in Palghat. In order to obtain your final admission, I need to have solid and long proofs of a change in you. At the end of your two years in India, it is not very likely that I will be able to do so. What I will propose to you when the time comes.

Index : belonging to the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 13 July 1853

Sir,

Since you desire once more to have a copy of my letter to the Christians of Palghat which you refused to hand over to them, I hasten to send it to you ; all the more since, if your intention is to transmit it to the S.C., I cannot but be glad of that.

Mr Ravel has informed me of everything that has happened at Palghat and I completely approve all that this dear confrere has done.

As for the request you make to me, it is not my intention to decide on your exclusion from the congregation for the faults which you have recently make yourself guilty of, much as they deserve it. For you are young, you have qualities which could at last prevail and bring you back into the straight way ; I do not choose to despair yet of your conversion, and it is the best thing that I can desire for you. Only, I do not feel I could admit you finally into our congregation before you have given me solid and long proofs of such a desirable change.

Will the short time that separates us from the end of the two years of probation suffice for that ? God alone knows. In an instant, his all-powerful grace made an apostle of Paul the persecutor. But if we judge of the future on the basis of the past, not only during the sad month which has just elapsed, but for over a year now, it seems very unlikely that I will be able some time from now, to admit you definitively into our dear congregation.

Accordingly at that time (save an extraordinary change which would rejoice my heart as much as yours, and as much your heart as mine) at that time, as I was saying, I will offer you three things : either to withdraw purely and simply, or else to take steps to see whether another apostolic vicariate will accept you, or else to remain still without my undertaking in any way to admit you until you have given me incontestable proofs of change.

Praying the Lord to come to your aid,

I have the honour of being,

Sir,

Your very humble servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. It is with fresh grief that I have heard that you are habitually outside of your district. I hope to hear soon that from now on you habitually stay in your district.

(Coimbatore, 13 July 1853)

Sent_0601

Sent_0601 - à M. Lefeuvre - (mi-juillet ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0601 - to Mr Lefeuvre - (mid-July ?) 1853 /1

Sent_0601 - à M. Lefeuvre - (mi-juillet ?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0601 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 26

(to Mr Hyacinthe Lefeuvre)

(apostolic missionary)

If you return to France, the Society will pay your passage ; if you wish to change vicariate, I will remain neutral.

.

Index : renunciation of the MEP, regulations of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, (mid-July ?) 1853

Sir,

In answer to the two questions contained in your last letter, I have the honour of informing you as follows :

1) that if you choose to simply withdraw, the society will pay your passage, providing you return to France ;

2) that if you wish to take steps to be received in another vicariate, I will remain completely neutral, unless the superiors of the place where you wish to go ask me for information. In such case, I will answer their questions, however taking every possible opportunity of speaking well of you, without going beyond the limits of what is true. I will also give you a certificate showing that you have permission to leave my jurisdiction to enter into another one.

Praying that the Lord will give you his grace,

I have the honour of being,

Sir,

Your very humble servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, mid-July? 1853)

Sent_0602

Sent_0602 - à M. Leroux - (juillet?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0602 - to Mr Leroux - (July?) 1853 /2

Sent_0602 - à M. Leroux - (juillet?) 1853 -/1

Sent 0602 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 29

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

He has the intention of creating something to meet the need for education of Indian youth. Your exposition is too short for me to have a good idea of this project. But I approve it in the sense that Mgr Bonnand does.

Index : education, Indian youth

__________

Coimbatore, (July?) 1853

My dear Mr Leroux,

I have received your letter from Ravatanellour, with the brief exposition of the project that you have for establishing some means of meeting the need for instruction among Indian youth. I rejoice in the Lord at your perseverance for the purpose of achieving, from this point of view, a practical result which is certainly very much to be desired. And I hope that the good God, for whose sole glory you are working, will finally crown your efforts with success.

Now, as regards the last form of your project of institution, you will realise that it is impossible for me to appreciate it in itself on the basis of such a short exposition as you give in your letter. It even seems to me that this project, as I conceive it on the basis of these brief indications, contains impracticable conditions. But perhaps that is due to the fact that I cannot see the whole picture sufficiently clearly. Accordingly it is impossible for me to give it the formal and motivated approval that you desire.

However, I do not fear to approve it in the sense that it has been approved by My Lord of Drusipare, who has an explicit knowledge of all the details, and who is quite aware both of the urgent needs we have to take over the education of young Indians, and of the innumerable obstacles that we encounter in this work of regeneration. So that if this is of any use to you, I willingly authorise you to indicate my approval in the sense of the approval given by My Lord of Drusipare.

He conveys friendly greetings.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, ? July 1853)

Sent_0603

Sent_0603 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 juillet 1853 -/1

Sent 0603 - to Mgr Bonnand - 22 July 1853 /2

Sent_0603 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 22 juillet 1853 -/1

Sent 0603 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 541-544

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

There will be a small reception in your honour on your arrival at Carumattampatty, but nothing at Coimbatore where the Christians are not sufficient in number.

Index : friendly visit, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 22 July 1853 (

)

My Lord,

I am sending a man to Carumattampatty so that, in these deserts, you have at least a little fresh bread.

You cannot prevent yourself, My Lord, accepting a small reception at Carumattampatty. I know how very tiring all of this is, but I feel sure that, from all points of view, the good requires that the Christians of this church do not let you pass soumma(). I count on your patience for a short half hour of suffering. If Y.L. should wish to say mass, everything will be arranged for that on your arrival. If not, kindly give these good Christians a big blessing, and even the blessing of the very holy sacrament.

It seems to me that it will be very tiring for Y.L. to come here on Saturday evening. Besides that, you will have no reception here except that of the heart. I have not allowed the Christians to go on ahead of you, because they are so few in number that things would not be worthy of Y.L., nor sufficiently honourable for our holy religion, in a place where it is better not to do anything than to do it badly. Thus, you may arrive at whatever time you please, without letting it bother you in any way, the earlier the better for me, but I would not want you to tire yourself exceedingly.

If, on your way back, you once more pass by Carumattampatty, it would give me great pleasure to accompany you as far as there.

Awaiting the pleasure of seeing you, believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's,

Very humble and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 22 July 1853)

Sent_0604

Sent_0604 - à M. Malhaire - le 30 juillet 1853 -/2

Sent 0604 - to Mr Malhaire - 30 July 1853 /2

Sent_0604 - à M. Malhaire - le 30 juillet 1853 -/2

Sent 0604 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 99, 0-2

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 29-31

(to Mr Louis Malhaire)

(apostolic missionary)

If you persevere in the intentions of your last letter, I will not be long in entering you definitively on our registers. As far as Indian usages are concerned, it is my intention to remove all doubt from the minds of the evangelical workers. That is the reason for my journey to Rome. Pray that this may come about. Meanwhile let us follow the practice of our seniors.

Index : belonging to the MEP, Indian usages, journey to Rome, practice (our)

__________

Coimbatore, 30 July 1853 ()

My dear Mr Malhaire,

It would be difficult to tell you the joy that your letter of today gave me. It only remains for me to pray to the Lord to see that you persevere in such good inclinations, then very certainly the day will soon come when I will have the pleasure of confirming you, so far as it lies within my power, in the sublime calling that you have chosen, by God's grace, in receiving you definitively into our dear congregation.

I would do this today even if I did not wish first of all to speak to you personally regarding everything that had troubled, concerned and discouraged you, etc., so that by acting in full awareness of what you were doing and without conceding anything to imprudence, you should thereafter remain irrevocably affirmed in a vocation which certainly, in my opinion, has been granted you from on high.

As regards the manner of acting with regard to the usages, customs, ceremonies, etc., of the peoples of India, I do not think there can be any doubt, if you know me a little, that my clearly stated intention was to do everything in my power to deliver the evangelical workers from this state of doubt and practical contradiction which disturbs consciences, which ruins peace of the heart, which impedes our ministry by bringing about a real evil which becomes greater day by day, in place of the good that we could legitimately hope from such zealous confreres coming generously to sacrifice their talents, their health and their lives here.

For this reason I am proposing to undertake the journey to Rome despite the very great reluctance that I feel in doing so. But I do not wish it to be said that I have neglected anything in order for the question, being known from every possible point of view, to be clearly and irrevocably decided. Happy if, at the price of my life, I could procure this fundamental good for the peoples of India.

You will help me to achieve this result both by your prayers, and by your studies and by any other means that the Lord gives you, and I have the firm hope that, by seeking in all of this only the real good of our holy religion, the Lord will reward us for our efforts whatever the results may be.

Meanwhile, let us not ourselves prejudice such grave and dangerous questions by going openly against the practice which so many of our wise and pious predecessors decided to follow. However feeble the reasons for their condescendence may appear to some, the authority of their lives offsets the force of the opposite opinion, and lays on us the duty of putting aside our practical doubt while awaiting Rome's judgment.

It is in the hope that, together with so many excellent confreres of this vicariate and of the neighbouring vicariates, you will follow this line of behaviour, that I rejoice twofold at your generous resolution, and ask you to believe me, in union of prayers,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 30 July 1853)

Sent_0605

Sent_0605 - à M. Malhaire - le 2 août 1853 -/1

Sent 0605 - to Mr Malhaire - 2 August 1853 /2

Sent_0605 - à M. Malhaire - le 2 août 1853 -/1

Sent 0605 Brésillac copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 99, 2

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 33

(to Mr Louis Malhaire)

(apostolic missionary)

You are received definitively in the Society of MEP. Courage in your work on this unfruitful and sterile ground. Pray.

Index : belonging to the MEP, advice

__________

Coimbatore, 2 August 1853 ()

My dear Mr Malhaire,

The completely satisfactory way in which you have spoken to me on various occasions since the dispatch of your last letter gives me the certainty that it is entering into the ways of Providence to put an end to all tergiversation by authentically giving you the testimonial of acceptance into the associative body of the Foreign Missions.

May the Lord bless ever more your works and your person. He sent us into these regions, in truth unfruitful and sterile, but where there are men for whom Jesus Christ also shed his blood. Our divine Saviour will not require us to do the impossible, but only what lies within our power, planting and watering with equal merit, whether he chooses, or does not choose, in his impenetrable designs, to grant the growth that depends on him alone.

May this thought console you in the trials that the Lord still reserves to your zeal and which will be one of the causes of your glory, if you can say at the end, with the apostle of nations: bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi (), and the words that follow will then certainly come true : in reliquo reposita est mihi corona justitiae quam reddet mihi Dominus in illa die justus judex ().

Kindly do not forget a single day your unworthy apostolic vicar in your prayers and believe me, for life,

Very dear confrere,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 2 August 1853)

Sent_0606

Sent_0606 - à M. Tesson - le 3 août 1853 -/2

Sent 0606 - to Mr Tesson - 3 August 1853 /2

Sent_0606 - à M. Tesson - le 3 août 1853 -/2

Sent 0606 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 100

partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 33-35

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

At Madras, the disadvantageous exchange between the franc and the rupee : attention ! I have definitively accepted Mr Malhaire: his attitude has changed above all since he knows that I am going to Rome to reassure the troubled conscience of the missionaries. As for Mr Lefeuvre, he should go back to France. Various personal questions regarding my journey to Rome: I pose them to you in the intimacy and trust that I have in you. I have just welcomed Mgr Bonnand here.

Index : exchange, journey to Rome, friendly visit, Rome (authority), Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, 3 August 1853

Very dear Mr Tesson,

I have to acknowledge receipt of your letters of 7 June and of 24 June, in the first of which you announce the dispatch of 22,092.50 francs, consisting of 880.10.7 which, on the exchange of Madras, produced 8,411 rupees 43 annas and 0 calana ().

We will incur a further 7 to 8 rupees of expenses to come in possession of them, which reduces to 8,404 rupees the 22,092 francs sent. I am entering into these details so that, if you put into effect the thought of sending at different times of the year, when the exchange rate appears advantageous to you, you have something to go on. The other letter entrusts me with performing 200 masses at a fee of 1 franc each.

You will be pleased to hear that the way in which I acted in respect of Mr Malhaire has produced two good effects : that of making him respect a little more the congregation of Foreign Missions, and that of making him come to his senses, of recognising his faults and of seeming to wish to completely forget them, in order to follow up exclusively on his good qualities which are many.

But above all when he learned that I was to go to Rome and that I was firmly decided to make every effort to ensure that the troubled consciences of many excellent missionaries was effectively reassured, he wrote me a letter copy of which I will send to the directors by the next post, for I don't have time today, after which I gave him the attestation required by the regulations. I hope that he will not even ask to go to Pinang, providing I ensure that the S.C. makes a determination regarding Indian affairs which leaves nothing to be desired by those who are undoubtedly desirous of saving themselves by trying to save others.

As for Mr Lefeuvre, I think the best thing would be to send him to France without further delay.

I think that my journey to Rome will give great pleasure to my missionaries, many of whom are persuaded that we do not wish to make everything known to the S.C., and that my first report is stifled by the authority of those who feel it their duty to make their system prevail. The majority certainly desire, like me, the system that we follow to be true; they would be annoyed, for the feebleness of the Indians, to see it condemned, but much more angry still to continue if it is false, if it is unworthy of the sanctity of our ministry.

And now, I would like to ask you as a friend, and in the intimacy of the trust always inspired in me by your virtue and your broad and enlightened mind :

1) What do you think that I should try to avoid in order for the journey that I propose making to have some chance of producing good without admixture of evil ?

2) To achieve that, would there not be, not only something to avoid, but also something particular to observe ?

3) Would it be better for me not to go to Paris ?

4) If you think it could be useful to go to Paris also, would it be better to go there before or after Rome ?

5) Where is Mgr Luquet from whom I have not heard for a century now ? Could he be of help to me in Rome, or on the contrary, should I avoid all familiarity with him?

6) Will the cost of the journey be paid by the mission of Coimbatore, or does the permission of the cardinal prefect entitle me to the facilitations envisaged in Chap. XII, 6 of the regulations?

Dear Mr Tesson, kindly tell me frankly your opinion on these questions, and even that of Mr Voisin, from whom I received a short letter last month, but which I absolutely cannot answer in the next few days. I think I will only leave about December; so that I will have time to receive your answer that I herewith beg you not to delay. I also hope that Mr Bouchard will have arrived. Tell me when he leaves Paris and if he is due to come directly to India, or else to touch in at some intermediate port.

In the last few days I had the pleasure of a visit from Mgr Bonnand who pushed on here from Salem, where he went to make his visit. Unfortunately, when he left I still had not received the letter from Mr Barran giving me the cardinal prefect's permission.

If My Lord of Jassen is still in Paris, kindly convey my respects to him, and believe me, in union of prayers,

Very dear confrere,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 3 August 1853)

Sent_0607

Sent_0607 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 août 1853 -/2

Sent 0607 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 August 1853 /2

Sent_0607 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 août 1853 -/2

Sent 0607 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 513-516

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I only heard after you had left that the SC had authorised me to go to Rome. I am going there above all for the question of castes. Many of our missionaries believe that we are acting in an irregular manner. It is up to Rome to decide, but before that it must be perfectly informed. Help me to make my journey useful.

Index : journey to Rome, Indian usages, castes, Rome (authority), practice (our)

__________

Coimbatore, 8 August 1853 ()

My Lord,

I have at last finished transcribing the dissertation on the castes and hasten to pass it on to you.

I think that Y.L. will have arrived at Salem by this time, that you had a good journey, a happy stay at Idapady, etc., etc. When your occupations allow you the time, I hope that you will give us news of all of this.

I very much regret only having received after your departure a letter from Mr Barran which tells me that the cardinal prefect has granted me permission to make a journey to Rome. Although Y.L. will have seen, in my second letter to the S.C. on the matters of rites, ceremonies etc., that it was my desire to make this journey, we were not able to speak of that ex professo, in view of my uncertainty of being able to carry out that plan. I admit that I regret it sincerely. I would very much like Y.L. to help me to make this journey useful.

It is the question of castes which will lead me there first and foremost, a very regrettable fact in my eyes, for it is extremely unfortunate that this fundamental point has been challenged. But what to do? Our missionaries as a whole believe that our way of acting is irregular. Apart from Mr Métral and Mr de Gélis who do not deny entertaining grave doubts, all the others declare that we are off the straight line.

It is impossible for me to require that, while awaiting new decisions, they continue the practice which is still that of the older ones at least in Pondicherry and Madurai. They answer that I have not the right to demand it, and that they have not the power to act in such a way, at least on all points, because the bull of Benedict XIV is clear in their eyes, and this practice departs from it (in that, I find them excessive).

However, the more I examine these questions, the more I am frightened at our way of acting. The dissertation of which I have just picked up a copy astonishes me to a supreme degree. It seems to me that, when one is reduced to defending a cause in this way, it must be that this cause is not good. From all of this, I conclude the following:

1) if we cannot remain as we are, the question must be decided ;

2) we must do everything possible to ensure that the practice that we follow is declared innocent, and the only one practicable in the circumstances in which India still finds itself ;

3) it is up to us to defend this opinion forcefully, but also with entire good faith, without concealing anything, dissimulating anything, etc. It seems to me that Y.L. is of the same opinion.

On all the other points for which my journey could be of any use if the good God should bless it, it seems to me that I have the happiness of thinking almost exactly like Y.L. Thus, I hope that Y.L. will back me up with all your might and that you will kindly give me, both before, during and after, detailed opinions and a direction which I will do my best to follow, insofar as it lies in my power.

I still have not decided at all on the time of my departure, but I do not think that it will be before the month of December ; between now and then I hope that Y.L. will write to me often.

Kindly convey my friendly greetings to Mgr Serouque, as well as to the other confreres who are with Y.L., and believe me, in union of holy sacrifices,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 8 August 1853)

Sent_0608

Sent_0608 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 9 août 1853 -/2

Sent 0608 - circular to his missionaries - 9 August 1853 /2

Sent_0608 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 9 août 1853 -/2

Sent 0608 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 31-33

(circular to his missionaries)

The purpose of my journey to Rome is to make the Holy See aware of the urgent need to find a solution to the problems of the missions in India. We can be in peace by following the practice of our seniors, but it is also our duty to inform Rome as fully as possible of the Indian reality. Could you give me your opinion on what is tolerable and what is intolerable with the purity of the gospel in the practice that we follow. Do this work in prayer, but say nothing to the Christians of it.

Index : journey to Rome, Indian usages, Rome (authority), practice (our)

__________

Coimbatore, 9 August 1853 (

)

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

As all of you are well aware, a long time ago already I wrote to the S.C. to inform it of the doubts weighing on the conscience of several of us, regarding the usages that we tolerate in these parts, and the way in which we observe the decisions of the Holy See contained in the Constitution of Benedict XIV Omnium sollicitudinam. The S.C. answered me in such a way as to make me realise that in fact there might well be something legitimate in our fear, but however without ordering anything new, without making any new ordinances or new prohibitions.

It is natural to think that things will not remain there, and I feel sure that the Holy See is dealing with this question with that prudent slowness required by a question which does not concern ourselves alone, but in fact the greater part of the missions in India.

However, could not the incalculable number of matters assailing the court of Rome lead to these questions being put on one side for a long time still, if effective means are not taken to re-awaken remembrance of them? Now this is of extreme importance to us, for in the present state of things, certain of our dear confreres believe they can no longer continue in conscience to follow in all points the practice that our seniors followed without scruple, leading to an inequality of action the effects of which are already regrettable and which must necessarily be very prejudicial for the future, in any case.

Besides, although it would appear theologically indisputable that we can remain in peace and perfect certainty of conscience, if we follow the procedure adopted by our predecessors, while awaiting a solution from the Holy See to the doubts expressed to it, and although, in my opinion at least, it is just as theologically indisputable that we would have much to reproach ourselves with if, on our private authority, we changed this practice into something grave, however would this be true if we do not do our utmost to ensure that these doubts do not remain in suspense any longer than necessary ?

It seems as certain to me that we can be as tranquil, if we do everything in our power, as we would be culpable, if we should neglect the means that God gives us to dissipate the doubt, or if, heeding any passion, if, giving in to some natural inclination, if, allowing ourselves to be carried away by the force of some prejudice, we were to work imprudently to make one opinion prevail over another, only insofar as it is our opinion, by dissimulating and weakening the force of the reasons on which the contrary opinion is based.

It is in large measure in order to fulfil personally these grave obligations, insofar as is in my power, that I propose leaving for Rome in a few months' time, according to a permission that I have just received from the cardinal prefect of Propaganda. But, for that, I have come to ask you, Gentlemen and dear confreres, to help me with the contribution of your knowledge and of your experience. Accordingly kindly indicate to me everything that seems to you intolerable in the practice that we follow, by adding the reasons that lead you to regard certain practices or usages as incompatible with the purity of the holy Gospel and with the obedience that we owe to the Holy See.

Add to this the reasons that you have for thinking that our present practice is tolerable and compatible with the Gospel, if you believe it such as a whole or in part. In this way, it is a dissertation that I request from you and I promise to make known to Rome all that you may say in favour of one or the other opinion, as likewise all that you feel to be contrary to them.

I hope that you will in fact send me this little work as soon as possible, and at the latest within one a half months from now.

It is useless to urge you to carry out this work in the presence of the Lord, in conscience, without regretting the time and study, consulting the theological principles, the different authorities and everything liable to help you to seriously clarify the question.

Prudence requires that you let nothing be suspected by the Christians of this work, and that we should never innovate in any way on our private authority. Until fresh order, please do not forget that the only practice authorised in this apostolic vicariate is the former practice, that which we found established here on our arrival, with only the modifications established by usage for a long time already.

I commend myself to your good prayers and ask you to believe me, in union of holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 9 August 1853)

Sent_0609

Sent_0609 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 août 1853 -/4

Sent 0609 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 August 1853 /4

Sent_0609 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 août 1853 -/4

Sent 0609 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 517-524

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 35-40

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

My taste for peace will never be equal to that I feel for truth. I refuse to participate in any doubtful doctrine. That is why I am informing you that since 1849 I resolved to withdraw. At that time, the Gentlemen of Paris kept my letter. The following year, I wrote directly to the SC, which asked me for a report on everything that seemed irregular here. In 1852, I sent in my resignation; now, I have obtained permission to go to Rome. I am going to ask to resign, and yet I love India, I love Coimbatore, I love the MEP, but I love above all truth. He then explains what should be done: agreement should be reached between the bishops of India, and unity of action between them, more authority for the bishop, a better formation of aspirants, a true authority in the MEP. Yes, all of this will make me suffer. A few words on the bad way in which the Gentlemen of Paris receive the old missionaries that poor health obliges to return to France. Absolutely no-one here knows about my resignation.

Index : truth, resignation from Coimbatore, regulations of the MEP, reform of the MEP, Indian usages

__________

Coimbatore, 15 August 1853 ()

My Lord,

I thank Y.L. for the communication you were kind enough to make to me of the letters of the S.C. I would also be very pleased to receive the decision taken earlier by the S.C. on castes, above all if Y.L. could accompany it with the exposition on which this decision is based. For I would be very happy to be able to sustain an institution with which, alone, it seems to be possible to have Christians in these parts. But, above all, truth, the only and whole truth, truth known and solidly backed up, that we bishops may defend without tergiversation.

No-one detests dispute more than me, above all when the spirit of irritation, of distrust and rivalry is mixed with the discussion, but my taste for peace is never equal to that I feel for truth. If I cannot obtain this truth without difficulty, the love of peace will prompt me to withdraw, but never to participate voluntarily in any doubtful doctrine. Now such has long appeared to me to be the doctrine of caste in general, and above all of many points of detail that we tolerate in particular. What did I do then?

It seems to me that the time has come to notify you of a secret that no-one in India knows, unless the Gentlemen of Paris have let it transpire, which I do not think is the case. On 25 October 1849, foreseeing what has happened thus far, that with each one acting separately, it would never be possible to work on a solid basis, and despairing of seeing us enter into the only way liable to lead to unity, I resolved to retire.

I wrote of this to the S.C. and had my letter pass by Paris. I do not think that those Gentlemen handed over the letter; they wrote to me in such strong terms and with such benevolence, allowing me above all to perceive the hope of arriving at unity of action by means of which everything would be settled, that I consented to forego my project on condition that, working to the utmost of my power, and insofar as circumstances permitted, to arrive at this unity, without wounding anyone, respecting the different opinions, without concealing anything, seeking to inform myself in every way for the purpose of what is true and good, I would finally see the glimmer of dawn of the days of salvation.

One year passed like all the others, leaving me more and more persuaded that our whole life would pass in this way. Since then, I wrote directly to the S.C. to offer it my resignation, giving as principal reason the impossibility in which I found myself to voluntarily exercise the holy ministry in a country where grave doubts divided the evangelical workers, without it being possible for me to direct them to a uniform path for reasons which appeared to me without redress. Meanwhile, I declared that I would only authorise in my vicariate the former practice, that of the apostolic vicariates of Pondicherry and of Madurai.

The S.C. would have nothing of my resignation and ordered me to write to it what seemed to me to be irregular. I did so, I read this work out to you. I carried it out with a clear conscience, without increasing and without concealing anything, and warning of the imminent danger that there would be in not changing anything. However, nothing was decided, only the circular of the S.C. dated 18 October 1851 merely has the effect of increasing my doubts, without resolving anything decisively.

I waited further until 26 April 1852, when I no longer offered, but sent in my resignation. Since this resignation was not accepted, I insisted, and in this last instance, I said that, if they were not prepared to accept it, that I should be permitted to go to Rome where I would explain my position better face to face.

Thus, what I desire, My Lord, is not to dispute, but to withdraw in peace, leaving those who are certain of the legitimacy of the behaviour that we adopt to carry out the works which seem to be founded on sand, even if the system at present followed should be true, for as long as it is not clearly shown to be such.

I was forgetting to tell you that, fully aware that the position of a missionary, and above all of a bishop returning to his homeland, may have scandalous implications, I asked to retire somewhere other than France, either in a retreat that I would choose, or else in such a monastery as the S.C. should decide to assign to me.

My Lord, the circumstances have not changed. I am going to ask to withdraw. If my wish is granted, it is all finished, I desire nothing else personally. If it is not granted to me, I do not refuse the work; I have never loved my calling as much as at present; I love the missions, I love India, I love Coimbatore, I love the Society for Foreign Missions, but I love above all the truth, and my conscience which abhors the present ministry in India, when I see above all that discussion is dreaded, even when it is undertaken with the purest of intentions.

Do you know what disturbed my conscience above all ? it is that, in the first synod of Pondicherry, it was recognised that there were dubious practices in what we tolerate, and the wish was expressed that a commission of senior missionaries would be set up to study doubtful questions, etc., but nothing of all that was done. In the last meeting, the council was of the opinion, by a great majority, that work should be carried out, whereby the pros and cons of the different questions raised by several missionaries would be studied, discussed, etc., but nothing of that was done either.

We fear the evil that may result. But what evil if we are in the right? Let us refute the objections if we can do so; and if we cannot, let us help ourselves with the authority of our predecessors but, in the end, may every objection have its solid refutation. Finally, since a refutation will appear solid to some and not to others, let us lay them all together before the Holy See. No-one will be able to say then that we fear to make these difficulties known or that we have not solved them.

Eh, my God ! what do I want, or rather what do I desire? That a single one of my opinions prevails over the others? No, I assure you. I desire that it prevails if it is true, but that it succumbs if it is false.

What do I desire for India ? that our proceeding, whatever it may be, be undoubtedly upright, so as to be in a position to require of all our co-operators to follow it absolutely. That for the details, there is unity of action; that for this the bishops reach agreement and, in order for them to agree, for them to see one another and confer together, not in passing and as if out of civility. But in conscience and by duty. Whether this is called council, synod or anything else, whether we are bishops or apostolic vicars, all of that appears accessory to me, while the rest appears essential.

What do I want or desire for Coimbatore and thereafter for the other apostolic vicariates ? That the bishop, whether he is called such or apostolic vicar, has a more recognised and respected authority and, as a consequence, one easier to bear by our confreres.

What do I wish or desire for our dear Society ? That the aspirants are better formed for their future station, that the heads are heads, that they have some way of reaching agreement if they should remain multiple, and of acting for the good of the body, that the Seminary of Paris is not the supreme regulator and single interpreter of the law, that the regulations are susceptible to modifications as required by the diversity of the times and circumstances.

What then! We change in Paris one of the most long-standing usages with which the regulations are reasonable, that of only admitting as aspirants priests or at least mature and already formed men, in favour of receiving young clerics and even laymen, and the regulations remain as they were ! Does this mean that it is wrong to receive young people? I will not venture to say, however I would not dare deny it; but what I can assure you is, that such a grave modification in the usages requires at the same time a modification in the regulations. This was not done, and we are suffering from the consequences, and so also for the rest.

Do I have the vain pretension of wanting to make some change, some modification of my authority ? God forbid. What I do desire, is that everything is done by the heads and with the heads. But I will be told: the other heads do not want it. To that, I have nothing to reply. I have merely to withdraw, for I could not give my contribution to this imbroglio which produces such bitter fruits.

I quite realise all that this may cost me in troubles of the heart, physical pains, dishonour perhaps or at least humiliations ; but the day will come (and it in this day that I hope !), the day will come where everything will be manifest and we will see that with many difficulties without doubt, I do not have to reproach myself either with having ever disputed for the sake of dispute, or of having wanted to make a single one of my opinions prevail at the expense of truth, nor to have ceased for a single instant to want the good of our Society whose faults I recognise, but whose qualities I likewise know and which is entitled to all my efforts and to all my respects, since I had the honour of being incorporated in it.

This is a very long letter, My Lord, but I thought I had the duty of opening up my whole heart to you, after the severe letter that you saw fit to write to me. I hope that you will see at least that, if I am mistaken, it is at least in good faith. Now, Y.L. could render me a great service, and I take the liberty of asking you for it instantly: that is to write to the S.C. asking it purely and simply to accept my resignation.

Whatever happens, you see, things are too complicated, we do not understand one another sufficiently to even take the first step on the way leading to unity. If the good God should one day do this mercy to our missions, he will do it through others. As for me, I will be shattered at the first blow, as Mgr Luquet was. For it is almost impossible to do something without falling into certain involuntary faults.

If, at the first of these faults, we are overturned, instead of being sustained or raised up, we no longer get to our feet, we are happy not to sink down even deeper. Let me go and end my days in peace in an obscure retreat, where I will deal exclusively with my salvation, praying each day for the missions.

And a second grace that I ask of you is to kindly say a mass for me, so that if my journey should not be for God's glory, the Lord will not permit me to complete it.

I will write one of these days to the S.C. asking it once more to accept my resignation and to let me know the outcome in the course of my journey. In such case, I would not even go to Rome, but would direct my steps from Bombay or from Alexandria to the place of my retreat. In any case, I would not go to Paris except if the S.C. orders that of me or if the Gentlemen of the Seminary even advise me to. For these Gentlemen are our judges, and we should revere their tribunal.

However I would love them to respect a little more our venerable confreres who return to France in accordance with the regulations. That they blame the young missionaries, who go away renouncing their vocation, is all very well ; but a respectable old man like Mr Olagne. Do we not all know that he was infirm for long years! Do these Gentlemen not desire his infirmities to find some remedy in Europe? Because he seems more or less well there, does he have to be flouted ? In my eyes, it is unworthy, it means violating the regulations in his regard. These confreres have the right to be received and respected without doubt! But it is a scandal for the aspirants.

And why ? Because the directors are in their chambers or elsewhere, instead of being at their side in order to form them in the exercises of a holy retreat. What more? Because perhaps it is elsewhere than in the house of Paris that the retired missionaries or the young aspirants should be based. But the regulations are there! This is likewise one of the points that the change of circumstances should modify. This evil will necessarily grow with the number of missionaries, if we do not remedy it. Should we cancel the no 2, chapter III of the regulations ? I do not think so. But that is quite enough, perhaps too much, on this point.

No-one, absolutely no-one here knows the steps that I have taken for my resignation. I would ask Y.L. to make use of this knowledge with your ordinary prudence. Externally, I do not give that as the cause of my journey.

I hope that, if any further divergence should arise in our opinions, Y.L. will still keep a place for me in your friendship, as you may rest assured that I will always nurture the liveliest feelings of filial love and respect for you.

Finally I commend myself to your good prayers, and believe me, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 15 August 1853)

Sent_0610

Sent_0610 - aux directeurs - le 29 août 1853 -/1

Sent 0610 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 29 August 1853 /2

Sent_0610 - aux directeurs - le 29 août 1853 -/1

Sent 0610 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 101

(to the directors of the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for the allocation. I am awaiting Mr Bouchard. Attitude of Mr Malhaire who, having received some money from his family, wanted to leave India and come with me to Rome. Hesitation, discussion... ; at present, he seems to have calmed down.

Index : allocation, my missionaries, patience

__________

Coimbatore, 29 August 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I have to announce receipt of this year's allocation, thanking you for the zeal you show in providing for this essential part of our needs. I would like to be in a position to thank you likewise for the dispatch of some new confreres. I hope that the departure of Mr Bouchard, who should undoubtedly have left Paris by this time, will soon be followed by another.

If, before reading this letter you acquaint yourselves with the copies I am enclosing herewith, you will think that Mr Malhaire is definitively fixed in his determination. Alas! ten or twelve days after having written those letters and made such good resolutions, he had the misfortune to receive some money that he had asked of his family without saying anything to anyone, for the purpose of returning to France.

Immediately everything was overturned in his mind. He asked me to take him with me in my future journey to Rome. At my negative answer that I made him wait three or four days for, to give him time to calm down, he declared that in that case he would go alone, and that he was leaving the congregation. I attempted to calm him, by persuading him that before taking such an extraordinary resolution, after he had written to me such a short while before, he should do a good retreat.

OK for the retreat, but it had to be done immediately to let him leave in two days' time for Trichinopoly with the Jesuits. I allowed him to go and do his retreat with the Jesuits, but required him to wait for a fortnight until I could have him replaced. I saw that the time had come when he would leave for Madras.

OK for the fortnight, too. At the moment, he no longer speaks of this retreat and, to let me know that he has retracted these retractations, he asked me to read a letter that he was writing to Mr Métral and in which he spoke of his whole behaviour as temptation. I congratulated him on this, and he appears not to think overmuch of this unfortunate money and to be undecided if he should send it back to his family.

I commend myself to your good prayers and am in union of holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and very confreres,

Your very devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 29 August 1853)

Sent_0611

Sent 0611 - to Mgr Bonnand - 31 August 1853 /3

Sent 0611 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 525-528

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 40-44

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

No, My Lord, in my letter of 15 August I never intended to accuse you ; I have too much respect for you, but I have never concealed my way of thinking from you. Like me, you want the pure and simple truth. The determining reason for my resignation is the impossibility for me to shake off the doubt in which we are working; others cleverer than I will carry through this question. There are also the open and at times wounding accusations of certain of my missionaries who say that I am acting against my oaths. The impulsive reasons for my resignation are the impossibility of beginning a unity of action in the MEP and the immense difficulty of arriving at a unity of action in the administration of India. The future is very sombre. I will do all I can not to come back without a clear decision by Rome on our way of acting.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, reform of the MEP, ecclesiastic administration, regulations of the MEP, unity of action

__________

Coimbatore, 31 August 1853 ()

My Lord,

It rarely happens that I write a long letter without having thereafter something to reproach myself with. Y.L. knows this full well this and according to your good reply from Salem, which gave me extreme pleasure, you doubtless have a fresh proof in my missive of the 15th. Clearly, this is not in my favour! At least admit that, as well as a host of other faults that are clear, which will mean that we will certainly not have anything much to regret, if the S.C. finally grants me my request.

Accordingly it appears that I have expressed myself poorly on several points, for, certainly, I had no wish to accuse Y.L. I know too well all the difficulties that have surrounded you and more than once I have admired your patience and your courage. If certain measures at times appeared regrettable to me, I have said so frankly, and perhaps too freely, but I hope that you have never believed that I felt the slightest suspicion that Y.L. was not acting according to what he considered should be done before God.

Much more, and I tell you this very sincerely, when it seemed to me that we could do better, and expressed my thought to you, that did not mean that either I or others would have done better in your place, 1) because this particular good, if it had been real, would have been offset by a host of faults that Y.L. had managed to avoid ; and 2) because, in the bishops as a whole, this better was perhaps not possible.

God forbid above all that I should ever have thought that Y.L. did not want the pure and simple truth, that you refused to know it and defend it. Only, it happened that, in fact, doubts that appeared very grave to me arose, which could still not be resolved in a manner that appeared satisfactory. Circumstances arose whereby, in order to arrive at a solution satisfactory to everyone, it proved impossible thus far to reach agreement with a view to making, in common, a report which would leave nothing to be desired in the minds of anyone at all, and would assure the assent of everyone in the judgment to follow.

Meanwhile, I must be tranquil, you say, since I myself have reported what I believe to be true and have asked for an answer. To that I would perhaps agree (for it would be too long to distinguish), if I did not have grounds for thinking that a greater authority than mine can stop the S.C. and make it decline indefinitely a judgment that, in very good faith, would be represented to it as inopportune in the present circumstances. Some letters from Y.L. and from the Reverend Jesuit Fathers would very probably suffice for that.

However, I cannot prevent a real evil from arising and growing every day in my vicariate, where almost all the missionaries think that there are more or less irregularities in the exercise of our ministry and several believe that while waiting for the judgment of the S.C. I do not have the right to oblige them to follow the practice of Pondicherry and of Madurai.

In fact, they pass over my requests on this point, given in all forms ; they go further, they accuse me openly, and at times in a wounding manner, of going against my oaths. Y.L. knows that I have no force to see that my will is carried out and avoid the scandal which has begun, and which can merely increase until it is clearly decided whether our behaviour is legitimate or not.

Work at that then, you will say to me further, but do not seek to leave your post. To this I answer: I have not ceased to work at it since this doubt appeared to me to be really founded, and above all since it has been impossible for me to lay down my doubting conscience in the responsibility of my superior. I have worked on it absolutely with the same exactness as if I had not offered my resignation. I will work further on it until the day when I am discharged from the obligations of my station; but I have had no illusion and still have none such.

I offered my resignation before beginning the discussion, because I foresaw clearly that my work would not lead to anything much, that the only certain result would be to obtain distrust, to produce growing coolness, heartbreak, etc., and all of this would be nothing, if the evil did not follow from it in various forms, and if the good of all kinds were not in the meantime impeded. Today still, resigning appears to me the simplest.

Other cleverer persons than me will successfully deal with this difficult but inevitable question, unless they believe with a clear conscience, what is impossible for me, to possess the moral certainty that their system is free from all error and that they can avoid in this way a discussion irritating by nature.

So much for this question which is not the only one I have on my heart. It is true that, regarding my resolution, others are more impulsive than determining ; alone, isolated at least, they would not tell me that I must hand in my resignation. Perhaps they will tell me that I can, if besides this determination should not have indirectly negative results, as at this time, for of course I have to believe in the unanimity of prudent confreres who, except perhaps for two or three missionaries from this vicariate, all think that, in the present circumstances, this resignation is unfortunate.

Thus, these impulsive and not determining reasons are many, the main ones being:

1) the impossibility, which appears clear to me, but for an extraordinary touch of heavenly mercy, of taking the first step leading to unity of action in the Society of Foreign Missions, (for it is in this sense that I said it, or that I meant to say it, in my last letter, and not in the sense that Y.L. understood and which would have contained a sort of distrust of the good faith of certain evangelical workers, which was far from my thought), a lack of unity which must necessarily, in my eyes, lead to the forthcoming dissolution of a Society that I love and whose decadence I cannot witness without such a tightening of the heart that I would prefer not to see it;

2) the immense difficulty of arriving at a unity of action (quite apart from the question of rites) in the ecclesiastic administration of India, lack of unity which will prevent the little good we can do, each on his own, being solid and durable, and which is even capable, in my opinion, of making the remains of Christianity still existing disappear from these regions.

The day will come, and is perhaps not very distant, where a great storm will arise. Then all our works, built on shaky ground, and without being connected one to another, will collapse as by enchantment. No more Christians, and above all Catholics will remain except for a few old topas and some drunken pariahs. I admit that I would not wish to be counted among the number of labourers working in this desolate country, at a time where there might have been some means of avoiding these misfortunes, if we have not done so.

Y.L. will perhaps accuse me of harbouring too sombre ideas. However, I am not sad by character, yet cannot get rid of these ideas.

My Lord, being intimately convinced that I will have spoken and acted in vain without that leading to anything truly good, that perhaps even because of my personal faults I will merely make things worse, I will continue to insist on my pure and simple resignation.

If I cannot obtain it, I will attempt at least not to return to India until there is a clear decision on the legitimacy or illegitimacy of my behaviour regarding Indian ceremonies and rites, without wishing to make my opinion prevail, in the sense that I do not claim to have my own personal opinion adopted on these questions, that I do not wish to defend exclusively one or the other of the contrary opinions, but rather defend them both, by giving everything that one and the other have of strongest reasons, insofar as I know them, and insofar as the different evangelical workers in India may help me to know them.

I would believe it a sin not to make known a single one of the reasons that might be communicated to me by leaving the right to use these communications. If any of these reasons appear to me feeble, they may not be so, they may be very very strong unknown to me. But this does not mean that I am indifferent to whether the question is judged or not, since, if it cannot be judged, I do not think I can continue to exercise the holy ministry in these parts.

As for the other questions, I cannot be indifferent to the fact that we are working to solve them, since they appear to me to be such that the preservation of a failing life appears to me to depend on their solution.

But as far as our Society is concerned, I cannot claim to believe that my ideas alone are good. I recognise and admit that, in order for good to be achieved, this has to be done by the consent of the entitled parties, that we have to arrive there, by undergoing and observing, in the meantime, the present regulations, without arbitrary decisions and without trouble.

As regards India, the same conditions and the same difficulties, more or less, would have to be overcome by the heads of the missions in these regions.

I have nothing more to do with all of this once I am no longer entrusted with this vicariate and, if I am not relieved of it, I will do all I can, more or less according to whether I am backed up by my venerable confreres whose cause is my cause, since the nature of things is such that they cannot be separated.

May this letter, My Lord, by penetrating you further with the knowledge of my intentions, prove to you that they are good and worthy, if not of your approval, at least of your indulgence and of preserving for me your good friendship which I prize above the most precious things of this world.

Believe me always, in union of holy sacrifices,

Your Lordship's,

Very humble and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 31 August 1853)

Sent_0612

Sent 0612 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 10 September 1853 /2

Sent 0612 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, p 44-45

(translation: following page)

(to the Holy Congregation of Propaganda)

I have received your authorisation to go to Rome, but for me, today, it is much more important for my resignation to be accepted.

Index : journey to Rome, resignation from Coimbatore

__________

Coimbatore, 10 September 1853

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Mensi Julii, litteras accepi a R.D. Barran, uno ex Moderatoribus Seminarii nostri Missionum ad Exteros et ad tempus Superioris vices dicti Seminarii fungente, quibus mihi notam faciebat permissionem ab Eminentia Vestra mihi concessam petendi Romam. Proficiscar ergo statim ac omnia disposuero ut tempore abstentiae meae nihil deficiat, ita ut, Angelo Dei comitante, ad Urbem spero pervenire ad initium anni futuri.

Sed, Eminentissime Domine, hanc permissionem petiveram sub hypothesi qua meam recusaretis dismissionem, et, ingenue dicam, in statu praesenti rerum permissioni petendi Romam anteposuissem talem acceptationem. Nam firmum persuasum mihi remanet de mea imbecillitate ut cooperem ad mala sedanda bonaque promovenda in his regionibus.

Insuper, jam inceperunt quas ab initio praevideram et quas effugere desiderassem discussiones difficiles et periculosae nec non quae ex illis sequuntur refrigeratio Charitatis, cruciatus animi, divisiones mentium et contritio cordium.

Unde et etiam nunc si omnino inopportunum non videbatur Eminentiae Vestrae meam dismissionem acceptare notam mihi facite statim rescribendo vel ad Bombay, vel ad Alexandriam unde eo pergerem quo Eminentia Vestra indicaret, secundum meum petitum in praecedentibus epistolis. Irem, inquam, maximo certe dolore relinquendi opus missionum, sed maximo gaudio vitandi disputationes perturbantes pacem animae et cor triturantes.

Interea, Deum Omnipotentem et Misericordiosum oro, ut omnia dirigere dignetur ad majorem suam gloriam in proventu missionum.

Eminentiae Vestrae, Servus humillimus et obsequiosissimus.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 10 September 1853)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to Propaganda)

Coimbatore, 10 September 1853

Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

I have received your letter of the month of July through Mr Barran, one of the directors of our Seminary of Foreign Missions and exercising for a certain time the functions of Superior of the said Seminary, letter which informs me of the permission granted me by Your Eminence, to go to Rome. Accordingly I will go as soon as I have arranged everything so that nothing is lacking during my absence, in such a way that, with the help of God's Angel, I hope to arrive at Rome at the beginning of next year.

But, Most Eminent Lord, I had asked for this permission in the case that you should refuse my resignation and, to speak frankly, in the present state of things, I will place such an acceptance before the permission to go to Rome. For I still have the firm persuasion of my impotence to cooperate to remove the evil and to foster the good in these regions.

Moreover, difficult and dangerous blows, that I had foreseen at the beginning and that I would wish to avoid, as well as everything deriving therefrom, namely the cooling off of charity, the crucifixion of the soul, the division of spirits and the contrition of hearts, all of this has already begun.

That is why, and even now, if it does not appear completely inadvisable to Your Eminence to accept my resignation, let me know it immediately, by writing either to Bombay or to Alexandria whence I will leave for wherever Your Eminence indicates, according to the request made in my preceding letters.

I will go, I say, with a truly great sorrow at leaving the work of the missions, but with a very great joy at avoiding disputes that disturb the peace of the soul and that torture the heart.

Meanwhile, I pray the almighty and merciful God to deign to direct everything to his greatest glory, for the success of the missions.

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 10 September 1853)

Sent_0613

Sent_0613 - aux directeurs - le 4 octobre 1853 -/1

Sent 0613 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 4 October 1853 /2

Sent_0613 - aux directeurs - le 4 octobre 1853 -/1

Sent 0613 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 103

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Since Mr Malhaire now seems quiet, I refrain from putting your proposals to him and will not hand over your letter to him but send it back.

Index : prudence, change, Malhaire affair

__________

Coimbatore, 4 October 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I have just received your letter of 23 August, in which you ask me to offer Mr Malhaire the college of Pondicherry, or the seminary of Pinang, or Malaysia. I think that you will have written this letter before receiving the latest news on what happened regarding this dear confrere.

Now that he seems fairly tranquil, it would throw him into fresh perplexities, to speak to him of all that again. Accordingly I felt it was not going against your intention, not only not to speak to him of this, but also not to hand over to him a letter that I find addressed to him, and which, from the writing, clearly appears to be from one of you, so that, if you wish to speak to him of these things, you will be so kind as to modify your expressions regarding what has happened most recently.

Although I do not know what you say to him in your letter, I presume that you may regret not having received the packet that I put in the post last month before writing to him. Accordingly I take the liberty of sending it back to you. I hope that you will not consider this an indiscretion, but merely an act of prudence.

I commend myself to your prayers and am,

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 4 October 1853)

Sent_0614

Sent_0614 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 octobre 1853 -/2

Sent 0614 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 October 1853 /2

Sent_0614 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 octobre 1853 -/2

Sent 0614 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 529-530.532

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 45-47

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

You speak to me of a project for a meeting of bishops from the south of India. Things are far from being ready for that. He comes back to certain reasons for his decision that only the Gentlemen of Paris and Mgr Bonnand know of. Among the missionaries in my vicariate, certain will not be sorry not to see me come back. If I could know what certain of your missionaries think on Indian affairs! As regards Mgr Fourcade's affairs, today I am quite prepared to find excuses for him.

Index : general meeting, resignation from Coimbatore, my missionaries, reform of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 8 October 1853

My Lord,

A short journey to Codively, where I went to bless the new church, the confusion of the feast of Carumattampatty, and a thousand other small matters have prevented me from writing earlier to Y.L. However, it is a long time ago already since I received your letter of 16 September, with the extract from one of your communications to Rome, and I wished to thank you for it.

I have seen with pleasure the decisions given on the division of places in the church and the cemetery. I hope that the S.C. will find no need to modify them. Please God that it may clearly decide also on all doubtful cases still, and do this in such a way as to spare the weakness of the Indians. I will work at this if I cannot help taking part in these sorts of questions, which I would desire no longer to have to deal with any more in my life.

Y.L. speaks to me of a project of meeting. But who knows when Mgr Charbonnaux will be back? On his arrival, will he want any such? Will Mgr Canoz want it? Should not My Lord of Madras, at least be included in it? In what form will this meeting take place? Clearly things are not ready for it to take place for a long time yet. During that time, either I will have succeeded in my desire, or I will be back in India.

I have offered my resignation from the beginning, because I would have liked to avoid the pangs to the heart which have lasted for such a long time, and which are for me a kind of sorrow that the experience of my weakness makes it a duty for me to avoid as far as possible ; to give also a proof that I have no personal interest in the questions raised; finally for other reasons some of which you may suspect, for example the conduct that certain of my missionaries have unceasingly had, in my regard.

No-one else in India, except Y.L. has been let into the secret of my resignation. The confreres who have expressed their regret at this decision are Your Lordship, the Gentlemen of Paris and above all Messrs Langlois, Barran, Tesson and Voisin.

As regards the confreres of this vicariate, I can merely presume on their feelings, which I expressed poorly by the word perhaps. In fact I think that two or three will not be displeased at my departure, including the one who threatened to make me leave, as others drove out My Lord of Bide, and who has been working for a long time, alas with success, to indispose the hearts of his confreres. May God forgive him.

I admit to you, My Lord, that, if I was still obliged to deal with the affairs of India, I would very much regret not being able, for fear of offending you, to get in contact with the principal missionaries of your vicariate. However, I refrain from writing on these matters to others than my missionaries. I would receive with gratitude anything communicated to me spontaneously, and much better if it was with Y.L.'s consent, but I will not request it.

I have never known the last word on the affairs of Monsignor Forcade. The Gentlemen of Paris have promised to enlighten us on this subject, but they have not kept this promise any more than many others. Only, I have had word from a mission of the East () that the principal fault in all of this lies with the Gentlemen of Paris. Now that I know by experience what terrible trials an apostolic vicar may be subjected to in our congregation, I feel myself very inclined to presume legitimate excuses for the unfortunate prelates who appear more or less to blame. God will judge.

I commend myself to your good prayers, in the union of which believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 8 October 1853)

Sent_0615

Sent_0615 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 10 octobre 1853 -/1

Sent 0615 - circular to his missionaries - 10 October 1853 /2

Sent_0615 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 10 octobre 1853 -/1

Sent 0615 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 47-48

(circular to his missionaries)

To prescribe the jubilee requested by the Holy Father : prayers for the Church agitated on every side : the dates, modes and special prayers.

Index : jubilee

__________

Coimbatore, 10 October 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

A letter from the S.C., dated 13 July 1852, having informed me that the Holy Father authorised me to postpone the publication of the last jubilee until any time that I believed favourable, I have still not published it. However, I do not believe that I can wait any longer, above all as a result of my forthcoming journey to Rome.

Accordingly you are to make known to the Christians that this jubilee will open on 16 October and will last one month, as established by the Holy Father, that is to say until 15 November inclusive. You are to clearly explain what are the conditions required to win it, such as are indicated in the note in Tamoul that I enclose herewith, and which should be affixed in large characters at the entrance of the church during the whole period of the jubilee.

I urge you to make known to the people that the Holy Father grants this jubilee to bring Christians to join in the public prayers that he requires shall be made in all places, for the Church agitated on all sides in these difficult times. As the Holy Father himself does in the letter accompanying the brief on the jubilee, take as your comparison Peter's boat tossing on the waves and seemingly about to sink.

This boat, that is the Church, will never perish, since Jesus Christ has promised to be with it until the end of time ; but he wants us to have recourse to him to ask him to command the sea and the wind, to make the tempest cease.

Thus you will make known to the faithful that, during the time of the jubilee, public prayers will be held in the whole vicariate which will principally consist of the priests adding each day to mass the prayer Contra persecutores ecclesiae, and you will urge them to be more exact than at other times in attending mass on working days, in order to join in these prayers.

You will not fail to add this prayer, Gentlemen and dear confreres, except on those days when the rubric does not so permit and, in addition, in places where the very holy sacrament may be kept suitably, the people will receive the blessing each Sunday, throughout the jubilee, either after the mass, or at some other time of day, if it is easy to gather the people together once more.

During that holy time, more than ever, I commend myself to your good prayers, in the union of which kindly believe me,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 10 October 1853)

Sent_0616

Sent_0616 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 11 octobre 1853 -/2

Sent 0616 - to Mgr Bonnand - 11 October 1853 /2

Sent_0616 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 11 octobre 1853 -/2

Sent 0616 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 533-536

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I do not understand why you do not want me to show your letter in which you prove that our conduct is legitimate. I had shown it already to three of my missionaries ; there will be problems with the others. Explanation of the affair of Mr Malhaire who does not know that the college of Pondicherry was proposed to him. The division of Ceylon into two vicariates.

Index : Indian usages, my missionaries, Malhaire affair

__________

Coimbatore, 11 October 1853 ()

My Lord,

How could I imagine that Y.L. would disapprove of the reading of a dissertation made to show that the behaviour we adopt is legitimate ? Instead of sorrowing you by showing it, I would rather have feared to sorrow you by not making it known.

It is true that I told you that it does not appear to me to be conclusive, but not everyone necessarily thinks like me ; besides the reasons it contains have their validity which will not appear inconceivable to everyone, as they did not appear to Mr de Gélis, for example. However that may be, the terms of your letters are too strong for me to hope that you will share my opinion on this point.

Since your first one, I have strictly observed your so extraordinary prohibition, only I said nothing to anyone of a thing that I could not understand, and which was besides indirectly so painful, until Mr Barot, having become acquainted with the reading that three missionaries had had, asked me if he could read it too. Then I was obliged to declare what the situation was, to my profound grief. Y.L. confirmed my language to Mr Barot; the sad effect that this will produce could not be ascribed to me.

Mr Malhaire did not want to enter definitively into our congregation. He was set on leaving. With considerable difficulty, I managed to dissuade him by permitting him to request to go to Pinang that he seemed to desire. I never spoke to him of Pondicherry. Paris had decided in this sense. At this point, he decided to stay on, foregoing Pinang. The Gentlemen of Paris answered before knowing his second determination, offering him Pinang, Pondicherry or Malacca.

However, since this letter was addressed to me, I felt it should not be disclosed to Mr Malhaire who now appears fairly tranquil, and I sent back to Paris a letter addressed to him, asking the Gentlemen of Paris to see if they should not modify their language after taking note of this confrere's latest determinations. Things are now at this point. Mr Malhaire still knows nothing of the answer given to his first request, and above all he does not suspect that he has been offered the college of Pondicherry.

During my journey to Jaffna, there was talk of the difficulties raised by one side and the other on the division of the island between the two vicariates. But since I did not wish to seem to have come to examine any affair whatever, I took little interest in what was said to me, and above all I refrained from all questions and investigations which could have allowed me to perceive where reason lies.

I commend myself to your good prayers and holy sacrifices and am,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant (and confrere?).

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar.

(Coimbatore, 11 October 1853)

Sent_0617

Sent_0617 - au Père Pakianaden - le 13 octobre 1853 -/1

Sent 0617 - to Father Pakianaden - 13 October 1853 /2

Sent_0617 - au Père Pakianaden - le 13 octobre 1853 -/1

Sent 0617 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 48-49

(to Father Félix Pakianaden, Indian priest)

We do not have the letter of this Indian priest and thus we do not know the drift of his question. Mgr explains the conditions required in order for a true Indian Church to exist. Meanwhile, the missionaries are necessary and it is necessary for them to have authority and preponderance over the native priests.

Index : native clergy, Church of India

__________

Coimbatore, 13 October 1853

In fact, my dear Félix, it is a long time now since I have any news from you. I hope that, during the whole of this time, you have enjoyed good bodily and above all spiritual health, that the priesthood which you have received and that the holy ministry which you have exercised for a long time now have made of you one of those of whom the Apostle speaks when he says: in ministerium missi propter eos qui haereditatem capient salutis. ()

However, I cannot conceal from you, my dear Félix, that I would have expected quite a different question from you than the one you ask me. I am fully persuaded that it is neither pride or ambition that make you speak in this way, but believe me, it might contain some fatal and regrettable illusion which, if it entered into the minds of many, might singularly impede the work of the native clergy.

I will not answer today your question which is so delicate that it would require a whole dissertation in order to clearly develop the difficulties and arrive at the only conclusion which is veritable, to my mind, but which is of a nature not to be understood, practically above all, except by a very small number of minds whether European or Indian. Only, counting on the good mind that I knew you to possess in former times and which I hope has not been taken from you, here are some truths which outweigh other truths and prevent them from forming by themselves the practical conclusion, as follows.

Whatever the number of native priests, it will never form a complete clergy, and living its own life, until there is a true Church in the country. There will never be a Church in India or at least an Indian Church, until there is a mass of truly Christian faithful, who have adopted the gospel in all of its parts and not only in those which do not contradict their ageold prejudices.

Up to that point, it would be possible to have more or less numerous priests, themselves more or less stripped of these errors, but a clergy, a Church, that is impossible. And do not believe that this condition is the only one. There are many others, however this is the most visible one this side of the Ghats. For, look on the other side : there are many priests, certainly there is not a clergy ; there is still no matter for making a clergy that would subsist on its own and was capable of renewing itself while maintaining the honour of religion and of our order for 50 years.

Now, for as long as things are thus, it will be necessary for the Christians of these parts to remain under the system of the missions ; and, under this system, it is not only useful, but necessary for the missionaries to have an authority and a preponderance over these native priests without which everything would fall, for the mission would fall and the Church is still not possible. Doubtless, all of this should be arranged in such a way that the priests of the country are not humiliated in any way, but there is no humiliation in being governed by one's superiors, and in mission the missionaries are the natural superiors of the native priests.

With others, I would need to give more explanations in order to be understood, but I hope that you will understand me, and that you will not doubt the interest I have always taken in you and take today still more than ever.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 13 October 1853)

Sent_0618

Sent_0618 - à M. Pajean - le 19 octobre 1853 -/2

Sent 0618 - to Mr Pajean - 19 October 1853 /2

Sent_0618 - à M. Pajean - le 19 octobre 1853 -/2

Sent 0618 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 49-51

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

It is now almost two years since he asked to enter the Oblates and to establish himself in the vicariate of Jaffna. At the time, on Mgr de Brésillac's refusal, he asked to return to Europe. The question is whether he is entitled to a passage paid by the MEP. This question will be settled by the person entrusted with the administration of the vicariate during my absence.

Index : renunciation of the MEP, bishop (authority), regulations of the MEP

__________

Coimbatore, 19 October 1853

My dear Mr Pajean,

I very much regret that you saw fit to dispense with doing the work I asked of you, as well as the other missionaries, in my previous circular. It seems to me that, more than another, you would have been able to throw light on the question and than more than another you should perhaps have done so. Prior to my departure, you would still have time to fulfil this duty and I hope that you will do so.

You ask me, very dear confrere, if I have consulted the missionaries on your resolution to return to Europe. I have not consulted them and, so long as the question remains as it is now, I will not consult them, because I have nothing to ask of them. Even if they are all unanimous in refusing you a passage, you could force me to pass over their opinion. There is no doubt that, if you so demand, we are obliged to grant it to you, since you do not have the means of making the journey without this help, and that you would persevere for two years in wishing to resign.

It would be quite different if, for grave reasons, of prolonged infirmity for example, like Messrs Pouplin and Olagne, a missionary asked me, not to leave the Society, but to withdraw to the Seminary of Paris, in order to enjoy there the rights mentioned in the regulations. I could not judge alone of his reasons, I would be obliged to consult the missionaries, and if the reasons were approved by the majority that "he was entitled, etc.", and even if the reasons should not be found good, since we cannot hold him back against his will in a foreign country, we would pay his passage if he does not have the means to pay for it himself.

It is now almost two years since you asked me not to assert your reasons for such a withdrawal, but to leave the vicariate and the Society of Foreign Missions, in order to join the order of the Oblates and to go and work in the apostolic vicariate of Jaffna. On the refusal which I was obliged to make to you, you protested that, in that case, you were decided to return to Europe, that in two years' time, you would be entitled to a passage and that you understood that those two years should be counted as from that day.

To that, what could I say ? What could I ask the other confreres? I had only to try to dissuade you from such a sad idea and to feel sorry for you, praying the Lord to do you the grace, during those two years, of foregoing an unfortunate determination from all points of view; and, despite what you tell me in your last letter, I do not wish to cease hoping, until the day when you will have heaped our regrets to overflowing.

However, seeing the antecedents at least at Pondicherry, for I cannot see clearly spelled out in the regulations, if you should persevere to the end of the two years in your sad resolution, it would be necessary to consult with the missionaries to know whether there are really grounds to pay for your passage out of the common funds of the Society. The person entrusted with the administration of the vicariate in my absence will not fail to fulfil this formality in case it becomes necessary, and in the hope besides that that would give us a little longer to reflect.

In the hope that there will be no need to arrive at this point, believe me, in union of prayers,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 19 October 1853)

Sent_0619

Sent_0619 - à Mgr Luquet - le 1er novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0619 - to Mgr Luquet - 1 November 1853 /1

Sent_0619 - à Mgr Luquet - le 1er novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0619 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 795-796

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F7 verso, p 51

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I leave for Rome on 11 November. We will have the pleasure of meeting up.

Index : journey to Rome, friendship

__________

Coimbatore, 1 November 1853

My Lord and very dear friend,

It is a century since I last heard from you. It is also a very long time, it is true, that I have not written to you. Alas! I did not have very much good news to give you.

But today, you will learn with pleasure, I feel sure, if you did not know it already, that I propose to make a journey to Rome. I would have many things to say to you on this subject, however we will speak about it more usefully, I hope, os ad os..

I propose leaving here on the 12th of this month, but since I will go to Mangalore in short stages, hoping to find a boat leaving for Bombay, I can scarcely expect to leave this latter town until the month of January.

Pray a great deal for me, my very dear friend, during this long journey, for the moment I will say no more, since I hope to see you soon. A Dieu. A Dieu.

Your Lordship's

Very sincere friend

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 1 November 1853)

Sent_0620

Sent_0620 - à M. Tesson - le 1er novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0620 - to Mr Tesson - 1 November 1853 /2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0620 - à M. Tesson - le 1er novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0620 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 104

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F7 verso, p 51

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for your advice. If it is necessary to be a good politician to succeed in India, then I would be severely taken to account by God. If Rome takes a decision, I will follow its 'yes' with my eyes closed. Will the seminary of Paris pay for the cost of my journey? I hope so. I have given Mr de Gélis the title of second pro-vicar. Can we buy drafts at Pondicherry? Consolation of the retreat that I have just given in Latin at Carumattampatty to my seminarians.

Index : resignation, Rome (authority), journey to Rome, finances

__________

Coimbatore, 1 November 1853 ()

My very dear Mr Tesson,

I have just received your good letter of 23 September. Thank you very much for what you tell me, I will try to benefit thereby. Only, I hope that as soon as your arm allows, you will enter into some further details.

The excellent Mr Voisin would also, I hope, share his opinions with me.

I am writing to Mr Barran in whom, I must admit (quite confidentially) that I do not have as much trust as you recommend me to have. But what astonishes me is that you would appear to indicate to me that it is he who has the supreme authority. Is it not the Council of Directors? However that may be, I will write to him.

You speak to me of good politics. It really appears that that is needed in this world, even when one is fighting for God's glory alone! Now, I must say that in this kind of politics, I am not very good and, what is more, I really have no great desire to be so; and if the good that the Lord requires of me needs politics in order to succeed, I am very much afraid that he will take me severely to account. I do not know if I am under an illusion, but it seems to me that if I need to make use of that drug, I might believe that it is merely that the times of Providence are still not come.

As for you, I will tell you in three words my politics, which I am quite prepared to develop for you later if necessary. As far as the affairs of India are concerned, I am so persuaded that the present state of things does profound harm, and prevents all solid good, that I will never consent to return if I do not see that real means are being taken to get us out of such an imbroglio. I am not set on this or that means in particular, providing measures are taken that are not illusory. And if the Holy See comes to declare that it is perfectly enlightened and decides yes or no, oh! then, with my eyes closed, I will insist no more but will follow the yes or the no without tergiversation.

According to what you tell me about the travel expenses, I will keep an exact account of all those I incur, and will pass them on to you in the hope that you will get them reimbursed out of the common funds ; having no hope of collecting alms as certain confreres have been able to do, this would be an enormous expense for the poor mission of Coimbatore stripped of all local resources.

All that your charity has found by way of sweet reply to one of my questions, is that there would not be any great drawbacks if etc., consequently there is no use in your opinion, and really I cannot see any myself. Thus I have arranged my plan so as not to go to Paris, unless the circumstances change.

If this business keeps me in Rome for longer than I would wish, perhaps I will go and pay a little visit to my old father, but in the case of his sending me the money from home to undertake that small journey, for I would have scruples in using the precious money of the missions for a personal satisfaction.

I expect to leave here on the 12th of this month and to give confirmation on the 12th at Palghat as I pass by there. I will proceed by gradual stages to Mangalore, and from there to Bombay, where I will probably not embark before the month of January. Perhaps you could write to me there, or at least at Alexandria.

During my absence, the administration is entrusted to Mr Métral who, because of his infirmities, will be aided by Mr de Gélis. I have given Mr de Gélis the title of second pro-vicar, in case of accident. Besides this, he will continue to be entrusted with the bursar's office.

When My Lord of Drusipare passed by here, H.L. said that they could find at Pondicherry drafts at 2.50 francs, and take them for us, when they have exhausted their funds. The opportunity arose just recently, and Mr Gouyon gave his signature for 3,000 francs. I was reluctant to let him do this, seeing that I had not mentioned this possibility to you; I left the question to the judgment of My Lord of Drusipare who thought that there was no imprudence in doing so. I would be very glad if you would write to Mr de Gélis to let him know up to what sum you could, without fear, take over these drafts.

I am coming from Carumattampatty where I went to say my farewells, giving the annual retreat to our very dear seminarians. May the good God reward them for the consolations they have given me in the last four or five years! I spoke to them of perfection, and they seemed to me to understand and to savour the word of the Lord! I gave all the exercises in Latin and almost all followed me perfectly.

I assure you, I shed some tears of happiness. I would have wished to make a sub-deacon, that would have been good for the seminary, however we believed it was better to wait one more year. During that time, either it will be decided that I shall never more see my dear mission, or else (if God preserves me) I hope to be back.

A Dieu. For tears of another kind are welling up !!!

Your sincere friend.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. During my absence, I have asked Mr de Gélis to open any letters arriving for me, under the seal of secrecy.

(Coimbatore, 1 November 1853)

Sent_0621

Sent_0621 - aux directeurs - le 2 novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0621 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 2 November 1853 /1

Sent_0621 - aux directeurs - le 2 novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0621 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 105

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F7 verso, p 51

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

I plan to leave Bombay in January 1854. I do not intend to go to Paris. I have appointed Mr Métral pro- vicar and Mr de Gélis second pro-vicar.

Index : journey to Rome, my missionaries

__________

Coimbatore, 2 November 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

In accordance with the permission of the cardinal prefect of the S.C., that Mr Barran transmitted to me a few months ago, I propose to leave in a few days' time for Rome, since my departure from here is fixed for the 12th of this month. However I will probably not embark at Bombay until the month of January.

I do not plan to allow myself the pleasure of going to Paris ; of course I would like to see you all and speak with you, but I do not think that that is sufficient reason for prolonging my journey and increasing its cost.

During my absence, Mr Métral, this so highly commendable worthy confrere, is entrusted with the administration of the vicariate. However, since he has been ailing for a long time now, and could well go to heaven from one moment to the next, I have given Mr de Gélis, confrere worthy of the utmost trust, the title of second pro-vicar, both in order to help Mr Métral, and to take over in case of accident.

I commend myself in a very special way to your good prayers during this long journey, and believe me, in union of the formidable sacrifice,

Your very devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse

apostolic vicar

(Coimbatore, 2 November 1853)

Sent_0622

Sent_0622 - à M. Barran - le 2 novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0622 - to Mr Barran - 2 November 1853 /2

Sent_0622 - à M. Barran - le 2 novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0622 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 51-52

(to Mr Jean Barran)

(superior of the Seminary of Paris)

I plan to leave Bombay in January 1854. Save unforeseen circumstances, I will not go to France. I count on Providence. What I want is that Rome be informed, that it judges and that we all act in the same way in India.

Index : journey to Rome, Rome (authority), caste, Indian usages, unity of action

__________

Coimbatore, 2 November 1853 ()

Monsieur le Supérieur,

Taking advantage of the permission of the cardinal prefect of the S.C. that you made known to me some time ago, I am proposing to leave on the 12th of this month. But since I will go to Mangalore by short stages, planning to find there some boat bound for Bombay, it will be difficult for me to leave this latter town before the month of January.

Seeing no grave reason for going to France, my plan is set up in such a way as not to need to go there, unless some unforeseen circumstance should call me there.

I hope that you will be good enough to notify the S.C. of my forthcoming arrival in Rome, where I am going without other support than that of Providence, on which however I count greatly, for God knows that there is nothing in my heart, but that the truth may be integrally known, that our behaviour be in line with it and that good is done and remains : ut fructum afferatis et fructus vester maneat (), as our divine Saviour said.

Now, as for the state of our holy religion in these parts, for example, being intimately persuaded that on various points and above all as regards caste and the usages connected therewith, the ideas and practices are in such confusion that it is impossible for any solid good to be accomplished, while meanwhile real harm is being done, my priest's heart cannot remain indifferent to such a state of things. I would reproach myself with this indifference and this false peace which is not that which the Lord requires and loves.

I do not desire the Holy See to judge in such or such a way because it seems to me more or less true, but only that it deigns to see everything and declare that it has seen and that it judges. If I am wrong in requesting this, it is at least in good faith. I dare to hope that you have some trust in this good faith and I beg you to bear witness to it so that they deign to listen to me without prejudice.

I do not request any other favour except that I be permitted to withdraw, if it is thought that I am acting from a personal spirit, through a spirit of contention or other human sentiments without my being aware of it.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 2 November 1853)

Sent_0623

Sent_0623 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0623 - to Mgr Bonnand - 5 November 1853 /2

Sent_0623 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 5 novembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0623 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 545-548

Brésillac mention, AMA 2F7 verso, p 52

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for inviting me to pass through Pondicherry, but I am going via Mangalore and Bombay. He comes back to the letter that he asked his missionaries to read and that he should have kept to himself. I count on your prayers for my journey.

Index : journey to Rome, discretion

__________

Coimbatore, 5 November 1853

My Lord,

I thank Y.L. very much for the invitation you make me to pass by Pondicherry, but I had already arranged everything for passing via Bombay. My Lord of Mangalore and Mgr Hartmann had already answered my letters announcing my forthcoming passing to them.

I hope that Father Castanier will make no mystery of his dissertation in favour of caste. I only refer to this once more to apologise to Y.L. on what you seem to think that I did against your verbal request of not allowing this communication to be known. Since Y.L. says so, I have no doubt that this request was made to me aloud, but please believe me when I say that I did not hear it; I am becoming quite distracted these days. Without that distraction, the confreres who were with me, before your written request, would not have read a word, any more than those who only came afterwards.

My departure from here is fixed for the 12th of this month. On Sunday 13th I will be at Palghat where I will give confirmation, and I expect to leave again on the 14th for Calicut, whence I will proceed to Mangalore where I expect to find some boat for Bombay. I hope that Y.L. will write to me at one or other of these places.

It only remains for me to commend myself mightily to your prayers, as also to our dear confreres of Pondicherry. May the God of all goodness fill everyone with solace during my absence, and see that we all meet up again full of life, either here, or in heaven!... ()

A Dieu. A Dieu...

In union of prayers and of holy sacrifices, believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. Would Y.G. be so kind as to pass on at our expense the letters enclosed herewith?

(Coimbatore, 5 November 1853)

Sent_0624

Sent_0624 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 7 novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0624 - circular to his missionaraies - 7 November 1853 /2

Sent_0624 - circulaire aux missionnaires - le 7 novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0624 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 52-53

(circular to his missionaries)

Mr Métral and Mr de Gélis are entrusted with the administration of the vicariate in my absence. The only goal I seek in my journey, is God's glory. If I depart from this goal, may God do me the grace of not completing my journey. If what I am doing is right, may he give me his strength and his grace. Redouble in zeal and prudence and pray for me. I bless you.

Index : journey to Rome, advice

__________

Coimbatore, 7 November 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

At the time of taking to the road on a journey which will keep me for a long time far from you (and God alone knows if we will meet again on this earth), I feel the need to address to you a few further lines to bid you farewell, to commend myself to your prayers and to inform you that, during my absence, the entire administration of the vicariate is entrusted to our so worthy confrere, Mr Métral, my first pro-vicar, who will be aided by Mr de Gélis to whom I have given the title of second pro-vicar, with certain special powers and with the right to replace Mr Métral in all things if he should be taken from us.

As far as possible, one of these two dear confreres will always be in the town of Coimbatore. For all matters of the burse, you will continue to address yourselves to Mr de Gélis, to whom you may also have recourse for marriage dispensations.

Now, Gentlemen and dear confreres, I need to open up my heart on one of the things that sadden it in this circumstance : I know, without a doubt, that there are persons who do not view my journey with pleasure, because I have undoubtedly led them to think that a personal spirit impels me, and not the sole motive of God's glory. However, albeit I have examined my conscience, I can only see in it the desire to fulfil the obligations that the circumstances have imposed on me.

But since I may be mistaken, for one should always fear to delude oneself when one has grave, wise and holy men against one, I ask one thing of God, and I beg you instantly to ask it with me, and that is that, if my journey should not be for God's glory alone, if I should cease for an instant to defend the only and pure truth, if I should allow the good of the missions to take second place to my personal advantage, in a word, if I should say or do anything which departs from the spirit of God, whether knowingly or unknowingly, by imprudence or by ignorance, by spirit of contention (which God forbid) or by lack of judgment, whatever the cause, for the effect would always be disastrous to our missions, I ask, I say, and I beg you to ask that God does me the grace of not completing my journey.

That if, on the contrary, I have the happiness of working exclusively for his glory, if my conscience does not deceive me and if it is my conscience that lights it up, ask him to do me the grace of not retreating before any sacrifice and of accepting all the humiliations that may fall to me. "Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. () Bonum est Domine, quia humiliasti me." ()

As for you, Gentlemen, redouble during my absence in zeal and prudence, in the spirit of our Lord that I wish for you. May the almighty God bless your persons and your works, so that we meet up once more full of joy, here or in heaven, wherever God wishes. Give me your news from time to time, either directly, or through Mr de Gélis who will write to me each month.

Finally, receive my blessing that I give you with love, and believe me, in the innermost being of Jesus and the bosom of Mary our good Mother, completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Coimbatore, 7 November 1853)

Sent_0625

Sent_0625 - à M. de Gélis - le 7 novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0625 - to Mr de Gélis - 7 November 1853 /2

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0625 - à M. de Gélis - le 7 novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0625 copy, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, p 2195 ()

(translation: following page)

(to Mr Laurent de Gélis)

(apostolic missionary)

Letter of appointment as second pro-vicar during the bishop's absence, with all the powers granted to him.

Index : canon law, powers

__________

Coimbatore, 7 November 1853

Nos, Melchior Maria Joseph de Marion Brésillac, Miseratione divina et Sedis Apostolicae Gratia Episcopus Prusensis et Vicarius Apostolicus Coimbatorensis, universis praesentes litteras inspecturis salutem in Domino.

Notum facimus et testamur omnibus quibus competerit quod, praesentibus litteris, dilectum nobis in Christo Laurentium de Gélis, vicariatus nostri sacerdotem, secundum provicarium nostrum constituimus, et illi jus concedimus omnes facultates missionarii districtus in quocumque jurisdictionis nostrae loco in utroque foro exercendi, cum facultate etiam concedendi dispensationes matrimoniales in omnibus casibus nobis a Sancta Sede concessis, concorditer tamen cum primo provicario nostro, quocum confusione obvietur et insuper si forte ex aliquo improviso eventu primus provicarius noster deficeret, volumus ut illius vices in omnibus et quoad omnia gerat easdemque ac ille habeat facultates.

Datum Coimbatore sub signo sigilloque nostris, ac prosecretarii nostri subscriptione, anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo quinquagesimo tertio, die vero mensis novembris septem.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, Episcopus Prusensis,

Vicarius Apostolicus

De mandato illustrissimi ac reverendissimi D.D. Episcopi Prusensis,

Ravel, Missionarius Apostolicus,

Prosecretarius

(with the seal of the vicariate of Coimbatore)

(Coimbatore, 7 November 1853)

(There follow 4 lines that are absolutely illegible then after the signature of Mgr Bonnand and the seal of the vicariate of Pondicherry.)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING DOCUMENT

(to Mr Laurent de Gélis)

Coimbatore, 7 November 1853

We, Melchior Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by the mercy of God and the grace of the Apostolic See bishop of Pruse and apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, to all those who see the present letter, greetings in the Lord.

We make known and declare to all those that this concerns that, by the present letter we have appointed our dear son in Christ, Laurent de Gélis, priest of our vicariate, as our second pro-vicar, and we have granted him the right to exercise all the faculties of missionary of the district, in any place in our jurisdiction, in one or the other capacity, with even the faculty of granting marriage dispensations in those cases granted to us by the Holy See, however in agreement with our first pro-vicar, with whom he will be sheltered from all disorder, and moreover, if by any unforeseen event our first vicar should pass away, we wish him to take his place in everything and for everything and to have the same powers as him.

Issued at Coimbatore, under our signet and seal, and countersigned by our pro-secretary, in the year of the Lord eighteen fifty-three, on the seventh of the month of November.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

By order of the very illustrious and very reverend Lord Bishop of Pruse,

Ravel, apostolic missionary,

Pro-secretary

(Coimbatore, 7 November 1853)

Sent_0626

Sent_0626 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 30 novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0626 - to Propagation of the Faith - 30 November 1853 /2

Sent_0626 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 30 novembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0626 copy, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 106 ()

(to the Council of Propagation of the Faith)

Annual table of the administration, of resources and expenses of the vicariate for the year 1852.

Index : finances

__________

Carumattampatty, 30 November 1853 (

)

Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore

My Lord M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse

State of the Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore for the year 1852

Date of information: 30 December 1853

Extreme Unctions : 118

Marriages : 111

Population :

Catholics: 15,000

Heretics: 5,000

Infidels : 1,100,000

Baptisms of pagan children under the article of death: 27

Adult baptisms: 143

Annual confessions: 5,082

Last sacraments: 44

Communions : 4,948

The above figures are approximate only, since it was not possible to obtain the exact figures.

Clergy :

Missionaries: one bishop and 10 missionaries

From the country: 9 clerics in different orders; no priests as yet

Churches :

Churches: eight, seven of which are undergoing building or repair work

Chapels : about thirty huts serving as chapels

Schools, Seminaries, Hospitals:

1 seminary

4 small boys' schools

1 hospital

2 places where catechumens are received,

and where they are fed throughout their formation.

All of this is in germ only. The lack of resources prevents us from giving these works the development which would be desirable.

General observations

The mission of Coimbatore was elevated to the rank of apostolic vicariate four years ago. At that time it would have had need of a quite considerable particular sum in order to establish itself appropriately. Since it was never possible to grant it that sum, many things are dragging on, and we have the sorrow of being from all points of view well below the Protestants who have fine churches, flourishing schools, a large number of catechists, hospitals, etc., while we merely have the bare necessities for living, repairing very unworthy churches, building a few houses hastily, and laying the foundations of a few other more dignified churches, but which are still in the course of being built.

Resources of the Vicariate

None. The small collections that we have established in the churches do not even suffice to cover the indispensable necessities of worship. The other gifts of the faithful are almost nil, as a result of their poverty. No mass fees even, apart from a few sent to us from time to time by the directors of the Seminary for Foreign Missions.

Expenditures

1 For the bishop and 10 missionaries : 7,920 francs. This is what the Seminary allocates to us, however it is almost impossible for a European to live in India on 660 francs. It is not even the salary of an Englishman's butler.

2 Expenses for missionaries' passages : these are sustained by the Seminary of Foreign Missions.

3 Expenses for establishments already founded : impossible to assign this sum, since they are dragging on for lack of sufficient aid, seeing that Propagation of the Faith has never been able to grant us the necessary funds.

4 Expenses for establishments still to be founded : even more impossible to determine. We will do what we can on the basis of what we have.

5 Particular expenses of the mission. Same remarks as heretofore.

On behalf of My Lord Bishop who is absent:

Father Métral Charvet, Apostolic Pro-vicar

(Carumattampatty, 30 November 1853)

Sent_0627

Sent_0627 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0627 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 December 1853 /2

Sent_0627 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0627 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 557-561

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 54-55

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic pro-vicar of Pondicherry)

Mgr proposes some women religious for the vicariate of Coimbatore. Alas ! how would they react in the face of the insubordination of certain of my missionaries ? But My Lord of Mangalore is ready to accept them. He is writing to you on that subject as well as to Sister Benigna. An injurious letter from one of my missionaries has obliged me to reveal the secret of my resignation.

Index : women religious, resignation from Coimbatore, journey to Rome

__________

Mangalore, 1 December 1853 ()

My Lord,

I received yesterday at Mangalore your excellent letter of 10 November, with the enclosures from Mother Benigna, which I am sending back to you herewith.

Assuredly, My Lord, if I had been able to walk without impediment in the way opened up to me, if I had not had as obstacles those who should have been my co-operators, at the present time, a certain good would exist that does not exist ; and a great deal of harm would not exist that exists. The time has certainly come to set up an establishment in the Nilghiris of the kind which Y.L. proposes to me, and for which the sisters in question appear extremely suitable.

But, in the present state of things, it would be like throwing into the vicariate one more element of wretchedness and contradiction. Whatever the good spirit of these ladies, it would soon be upset at the sight of the insubordination of several of my poor missionaries and on hearing their pitiful talk. All of this imposes on me the ever stricter obligation of insisting on my resignation, and I would reproach myself with having committed my successor to a path which was, perhaps, not to his liking, by accepting these religious as from this moment.

However if, despite all the efforts that I am determined to make at Rome to ensure that my resignation is accepted, I were obliged to return to a mission that besides I love with all my soul, and from which our own men and not the things or the people of the country repulse me, and these good sisters should wish to wait for my return, I would willingly welcome them.

Nonetheless, that would mean leaving them in a state of uncertainty which could prove disastrous for them, so that I thought that divine Providence had permitted me to receive your letter here, in order to give me the opportunity of contributing to some good here in passing. Eh! What does it matter if we do good here or there, providing the holy name of Jesus is glorified ! Does not the whole earth belong to the Lord?

Accordingly I have proposed to the apostolic vicar of this place that he receives these good religious. There are two very advantageous positions for these sorts of establishments: Mangalore and Camanore whence I came here yesterday. I have shared your letter with H.L. who, on the good testimonial that you give of these sisters, appears very much inclined to receive them. This excellent bishop is a Carmelite, as you know, and it seems to me that these good sisters would have every reason to rejoice at the prospect of working under his crozier.

He is writing, I believe, a few words to Y.L. on this subject and, I believe, also to sister Benigna to offer to pay her travel expenses, if she does not have the means herself. May Our Lord ensure that some good comes out of all of this, and that his name is for ever blessed !

And I will finish there, My Lord, for it would be too painful for me to touch on the causes which fill my heart with bitterness. However, I have to tell you that an injurious letter that I have once more received from a missionary obliges me finally to disclose the secret of my resignation. If they do not want me, may the good God bless them ! but if I do not return, which is very probable, although I cannot think of it without shedding tears, it appears to me necessary, for the good, that the mischief-makers cannot boast that they have got rid of me, the proofs must exist that I forestalled them.

A Dieu, My Lord, A Dieu. I expect to embark Monday on a patamar for Bombay. I think it will not take more than five or six days for this crossing, and perhaps I will arrive before the departure of the steamer. Nevertheless, if I can easily do so, that is without fearing to abuse of Mgr Hartmann's hospitality, which I will assess once I am there, I would like not to leave India until January; and first of all I would like to make a good retreat, to review before God the time that I have spent in this country that I believed was to be my eternal homeland.

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Mangalore, 1 December 1853)

Sent_0628

Sent_0628 - à M. Métral - le 2 décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0628 - to Mr Métral - 2 December 1853 /3

Sent_0628 - à M. Métral - le 2 décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0628 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 55-58

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

An injurious letter from one of my missionaries (undoubtedly Jean-Louis Bruyère, see letter no. 0630) obliges me to reveal the secret of my resignation that I offered two years ago. I am going to Rome to present it to the Holy Father : this is the real reason for my journey, for I know very well what I would have to do if my missionaries were obedient. It is very improbable that I will even come back to India: the conditions necessary in order for me to come back. Why I refused the Sisters of Dacca that My Lord of Mangalore is preparing to accept. Ah! If all the missionaries had followed your example ! What use are brilliant qualities if there is no obedience. Poor seminary of Carumattampatty! Providing it does not suffer too much from my departure. I have asked to retire into a monastery outside of France.

Index : women religious, resignation from Coimbatore, obedience, seminary of Carumattampatty, difficulties

__________

Mangalore, 2 December 1853

My very dear Mr Métral,

Another very offensive letter that I have just received from a missionary, and the way in which several of them behaved towards me on the occasion of my departure, lead me to disclose finally a secret, that I had held hidden for over two years now in my heart, and that must finally be known.

Thus it is over two years now that, seeing that everything I did was misinterpreted by many, that the most serious errors passed from mouth to mouth as if they were incontestable truths, without anyone having any scruple in judging and condemning the person they should have obeyed, that it was impossible to repair the harm without scandal, to incite the good and to encourage the devotion of which a few of them, God be thanked, have constantly given proof, etc., etc., I offered the S.C. my resignation.

Since the Gentlemen of Paris had as it were begged me not to take it any further, I acceded to their requests, on condition that things would change, as they led me to hope ; but despite all I have done, nothing has changed or rather everything has become worse and accordingly I have sent them my formal resignation. The S.C. after consulting with the Gentlemen of Paris, the latter were strongly opposed and refused to accept it : I reiterated the dispatch and, on receiving a fresh refusal, asked for permission to go to Rome to lay it down personally at the Holy Father's feet. This is the principal reason that makes me go to Rome.

The one that I asserted is real and very true, but it is not the determining reason, for practically, I know very well what I have to do for the moment in my vicariate, what I have to order and what my missionaries would have to do if they were truly obedient.

To tell you all the trouble I have had to hide this secret from you, as well as from the excellent Messrs de Gélis and Ravel, who never ceased for an instant from walking in the path of duty, is quite impossible. It is only surpassed by the profound sorrow at leaving a mission that I love with all my soul and that I thought was to be my eternal homeland in this world.

Now, will I obtain what I implore: I hope so. However, if the Holy Father persists in his refusal, I think either that the missionaries who want to have nothing to do with me will evince their thought so clearly on this occasion that they will make my return impossible, or else recognising the path of destruction in which they have engaged, they will give me proofs by means of which I may judge that, from now on, they will occupy themselves with what concerns them, without interfering in my affairs, and will leave me freedom of action to do good as I understand it, while waiting for some other cleverer than I am to do so in another manner. Only on this condition would I return.

But I cannot count on this hypothesis, and I consider my departure from Coimbatore as perpetual. However, since I am still necessarily apostolic vicar, kindly direct everything as we agreed before I left, doing nothing which commits the future until a decision is taken by the Holy See.

For this reason I refused the women religious of Dacca (who) offer themselves to us with such generosity. Certainly, we have to set up in the Nilghiris some establishment of that kind, and others later. But what is to be done when it is impossible to direct things with unity, when each one believes himself permitted to think, to judge and to speak against his superiors? Would these poor girls not lose their heads on seeing and hearing all of this? Accordingly I refused these good sisters that I would have accepted with great pleasure, seeing that they only asked for lodging, if in the last three or four years each one went about his own business, without interfering with and impeding mine.

However, I regard it as a stroke of Providence that the letter from My Lord of Drusipare, enclosing those of sister Benigna, reached me here. Instead of a simple refusal, this provided me with the opportunity in passing of contributing to a good for the apostolic vicariate of Mangalore. Eh! What matter where good is done! Does not the whole earth belong to the Lord ?

Of course, I would have preferred being free to do so in my vicariate, as the order of charity requires ; but since my arms have been tied in Coimbatore, I am happy to have contributed to see these sisters welcomed in this place where, without doubt, they themselves will enjoy greater peace. On the communication that I have of these letters to the apostolic vicar of here, H.L. hastened to receive them on behalf of his vicariate, and he and I have written to this effect to My Lord of Drusipare.

And there, my dear Mr Métral are communications which will undoubtedly have sorrowed you, and I must admit that these are the greatest sacrifices that the Lord has yet required of me. May his will be done and not ours! Whatever happens, keep for me, I beg you, something of your precious friendship. Ah! If only our poor missionaries who have preferred their own spirit had followed your example even in part, how much good would have been done already, how much harm would have been avoided, how many probable scandals for the future would have been averted !

Lord, bless the seminary which very probably will have to suffer greatly from a new administration. It is dangerous for it to succumb; it is also dangerous for our young clerics to be scandalised on seeing that those who should have preached them the example of subordination to their superiors, are the very ones that have driven him away. For, it will be difficult indeed for them to know nothing of all that.

And yet, it is necessary to leave them in ignorance of it as much as possible. Poor India, where so much good would be possible by the practice of the most ordinary ecclesiastic virtues: subordination, obedience and others. Alas, where at times the most brilliant virtues are to be found, these others are lacking! When will the day of salvation dawn? Let us pray that the Lord shortens the days of his wrath.

I forgot to tell you that I have asked the S.C. to retire into a monastery outside France. There, I will pray every day for India, for Coimbatore, for our dear ecclesiastics, for this people much less bad and above all much less wicked than they are often made out to be, for all my friends, and I hope that you will always be among that number, very dear Mr Métral, finally I do not dare say for my enemies, for I refuse to believe that I have any real enemies, but for all those who have so pierced my heart and hurt me so sorely.

And you will also pray for me too, I hope, and we will rejoice one day together in heaven. A Dieu. It is doubtful if we shall ever see each other on earth, but we will see each other there certainly, insofar as we may regard as certain (despite the wretchedness of our nature, which always gives us ground for fear) a hope founded on Our Lord and on the witness of our conscience which tells us that we have never wanted any other than God's glory and the salvation of souls. A Dieu!

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Mangalore, 2 December 1853)

Sent_0629

Sent_0629 - aux directeurs - le 3 décembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0629 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 3 December 1853 /1

Sent_0629 - aux directeurs - le 3 décembre 1853 -/1

Sent 0629 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 107

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 58-59

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

Mr Malhaire has left without warning and without permission for Malaysia ; he had received a letter from Mgr Boucho who wrote nothing to me. I make no comment.

Index : Malhaire affair

__________

Mangalore, 3 December 1853

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

I have to inform you that at the time of my departure, and when I thought that everything was being readied for the confirmation that I was to give in passing, Mr Malhaire left all of a sudden, without warning me and without asking me for either authorisation or certificate.

He has left for Malaysia, after receiving a letter from Mgr Boucho, without this prelate having written a single word to me to obtain information, or even to inform me.

Mr Malhaire would very probably not even have passed by Coimbatore if he had not come to collect his little hoard there. Besides, he only stayed for a few hours, and all that I, as well as Mr Métral and Mr Ravel, who were with me, having come to say their last farewell to me, could say to him failed to keep him an hour longer.

I add no comment and ask you to believe me, in union of prayers and of holy sacrifices,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Mangalore, 3 December 1853)

Sent_0630

Sent_0630 - à M. Bruyère - le 3 décembre 1853 -/3

Sent_0630 - à M. Bruyère - le 3 décembre 1853 -/3

Sent 0630 - to Mr Bruyère - 3 December 1853 /5

Sent 0630 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 59-62

(to Mr Jean-Claude Bruyère)

(apostolic missionary)

Firm reply, but full of charity, to a very disrespectful and offensive letter. I do not accept lessons and injurious reproaches. I refuse to believe what you tell me of Mr Bonjean. I take exception to the offences you make against certain missionaries whom I consider excellent. You make me regret the building I had put up in the Nilghiris. I have sent the sisters who could have come to work with us, to Mangalore. Finally, I hereby inform you that two years ago I handed in my resignation and that is the principal reason for my journey to Rome. Your letter and that of Mr Bonjean would suffice to prove to the Holy Father that it is impossible to govern such a family. I am going to withdraw into a monastery outside France.

Index : delicate charity, journey to Rome, obedience, resignation from Coimbatore, women religious

__________

Mangalore, 3 December 1853

Sir,

To your very disrespectful and exceedingly offensive letter of 14 November, I will answer very briefly.

What hurt me above all else, in reading these culpable lines, is that it was you who had written them. Thus far, I had always believed in your sincere devotion and when you at times happened to write certain misplaced words, I attributed them to some quite other fault than that of subordination.()

But this time, you force me to put on one side the excuses of charity, your words are inexcusable, as is your style. But perhaps you have been merely the imprudent echo of persons more culpable but cleverer than you. That is all I can find to excuse you, and it is little, I admit, and all of this is not much of a solace.

It remains for me to say that, as for the lessons that you attempt to give me, I am not prepared to receive them ; charitable and respectful opinions, always ; but lessons and injurious reproaches, never.

Although, in your opinion, I am the minus habens of all samy, I beg you to believe that I had already understood the half-words and the very misplaced criticisms with which you see fit to give me a commentary, and if I pretended not to understand, kindly have the good nature to believe that, for that at least, it is not through lack of intelligence. However there is one case where I really have not understood and, despite your very unflattering assertion for the missionary who was said, when preaching, to have made such allusions, I still do not understand, I do not believe and what is more, I do not choose to believe.

No, I choose not to believe that a missionary, to whom I did the honour of allowing him to preach a retreat in my presence, wished, in the presence of all his confreres, and in such a way that all his confreres should understand him, to give me a lesson directly and personally. Although this missionary has many things to reproach himself with as far as I am concerned, and has largely failed to live up to the hopes that I had placed in him, however never, unless the case were not clearer than daylight, would I believe in such a proceeding on his part.

I do not think either that some other missionaries accept the compliments that you make them, which are really offences, among others the excellent Mr Ravel who thus far has given me nothing but consolations, and who has offered constant proof of a more than ordinary common sense.

I must say that, if I had foreseen what has happened, if I had been able to foresee that those who should have been my co-operators persevered in wanting to be my contradictors and my judges, I would not have built the bungalow that you complain so much about . The part of my mission in the Nilghiris would perhaps be otherwise well shared, if you had not made a point of crossing my plans. This bungalow was merely the beginning of what I wanted to do if others had not attempted to do my work by insinuating that I should do theirs.

Among other things, at the present time some European Sisters would have come offering to work in our vicariate, at practically no charge for the mission except their lodging. But God preserve me from receiving these holy daughters in the midst of this chaos where everyone believes himself permitted to think anything of his superiors, and to say all that he thinks!

The good which has been made impossible for me in my own vicariate, I will try to do it here, for the whole earth is the Lord's, and what do I care providing the holy name of Jesus is blessed ! I hope that My Lord of Mangalore who, with other difficulties without doubt, has at least the consolation of having truly obedient and submissive collaborators, only interfering in his affairs insofar as he deems fit to consult them, and that is rare, will receive them in his vicariate and they will do here or at Camanore the good which I would have preferred they came to do at Ootacamund, if I had been master of my own house.

I doubt a little that my life has been softer than that of certain missionaries, even in my vicariate ; and as for Lordship, I have at least the consolation of being able to bear witness that my life style has always been very well below that of all the apostolic vicars of India whom I have seen in their own vicariates, of which I have already seen several.

None of which I am saying to blame them, for I have not known a single one who was outside of the limits of a simplicity in relation to their calling. I do not say this either to boast, for my opinion is that I should do like them, above all for outward appearances, and I have sacrificed my opinion to the weakness of several and to my personal taste. It is true that I have never earned anything and, if even I return to Coimbatore, it is very possible that I will do otherwise, as for many other things.

This last word discloses a secret to you that it is finally time to make known. I have written it likewise to Mr Métral and you can communicate it to whoever you wish. Know then that over two years ago, seeing that everything that I wanted to do was misinterpreted by many, that it was impossible for me to encourage the good and to repress the evil to which it is my duty to oppose myself, that my missionaries (except for a few, in whose number I believed you were included) would be quite glad to see me leave, etc., I sent in my resignation to Rome.

The Gentlemen of Paris insisted with the S.C. that it should not be accepted and, in fact, the latter refused to accept it. I consented for my part to practice patience even further, hoping that at least they would understand. But it was in vain and, this time, I renewed my resignation sending it in due form. Once more refusal of the S.C. to whom I asked, in a third request, for permission to go to Rome to lay my resignation at the feet of the Holy Father and beg him to accept it.

This is the principal reason that takes me to Rome. The one that I put to the fore is real and true enough, but it is not the determining reason, for I could have dispensed with it for the moment, knowing full well what I have to do in practice in my vicariate, until some fresh decision has been taken by the Holy See.

I hope that those who want to have nothing to do with me will see at least that it does not depend on me that their desires are satisfied and, if my reasons are not sufficient still for the S.C. to finally accept my resignation, I hope that by showing it your letter, and the sermon written by Mr Bonjean instead of the answers that I asked him to give me in my last circular, it will be fully convinced that it is impossible for me to govern such a family.

Nonetheless, I will only use your letter in the last extremity, for outside I would avoid making known, as far as possible, all that is dishonourable for the Society of Foreign Missions, a Society that I esteem more than I can say, and that I pity for not having the means to hold its members within the limits of a salutary subordination and within the rules of a true obedience.

I have asked the S.C. to allow me to retire in a monastery outside of France. There, I will pray continually for the poor missions, and in particular for our dear mission of Coimbatore, and for all those who have given me real consolations, and for all those who have mixed some consolation with a great deal of bitterness. May the good God lead them all into the sojourn of his glory. Amen!

Since the terms of your letter are incompatible with the personal friendship that I had never ceased to feel for you, I will limit myself to greeting you in the Lord, asking you to believe me,

Sir,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Mangalore, 3 December 1853)

Sent_0631

Sent_0631 - à M. Barrot - le 6 décembre 1853 -/3

Sent 0631 - to Mr Barot - 6 December 1853 /3

Sent_0631 - à M. Barrot - le 6 décembre 1853 -/3

Sent 0631 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 62-65

(to Mr Jean-Baptiste Barot)

(apostolic missionary)

In seven notebooks, Mr Barot has just completed a work entitled "Mirror of India". With all the necessary charity, Mgr shows him how culpable he is of having written such lines : offences to truth, to charity, lack of logic, contradictions, calumnies... In short, destroy your writing and give me a note in which you retract everything your work contains of erroneous and uncharitable. I really hope not to have to deal any more with such questions.

Index : delicate charity, Indian usages, truth, controversy

__________

Mangalore, 6 December 1853

My dear Mr Barot,

I owe you a truth which will perhaps be painful to you, but I owe it to you, and I hope that you will do me justice, and that you will do it to yourself, in thinking that it is exclusively for your good that I express it without tergiversation.

I have read to the end, not without considerable effort, I assure you, but with great attention, your work entitled Mirror of India etc. It pains me to tell you that this work is radically bad from all points of view. The worst of all is that it gravely offends charity, being full of gratuitous and often unjust accusations against venerable persons and who, if they were wrong, would deserve some consideration for their good faith; whose character or authority is so superior that, were their error refutable by you, you should only do this with great modesty, instead of trying to crush them with the weight of your anathemas, which inevitably turn into weapons against yourself.

From this point of view, any reader who does not know you personally will not be able to prevent himself from finding you very much to blame. I who know you, seek excuses in your seething imagination, but however delirious this imagination, how could you have re-read this work, indeed, have transcribed it twice, without throwing it into the fire ? For me it is an inexplicable mystery.

As for the question you aim to deal with, you are almost always off target, and when you come back to it, it is to state the same thing in all sorts of different ways, without ever, I say ever, proving it. Then, when you have repeated your statement to satiety, you cry out that it is proved, which naturally brings a smile to the reader's lips ; and when one has been caught out in this way five or six times, one does not have the courage to go any further for, what's the use, one says, of wasting one's time in reading such an eccentricity. Thus, I assure you I needed to remind myself often of the promise I had made you to read everything carefully, in order not to put down the notebook at that point.

This temptation not to go any further comes very soon. For, before having finished the first notebook, quite apart from the malaise one feels at the lack of charity, one sees that you do not know what you are saying, since you confuse things and words: admire, for example, with approve, tolerate with authorise, marvellous (grammatical) with admirable or sublime, allegory with altered truth, doubt with error, essential with grave, prove with affirm, etc.

Then, after all that, you invoke logic ! Oh, as for logic! My dear Mr Barot, let us not speak about that. You may be right to affirm that caste is bad, but you completely fail to prove it and the enormous faults in your work make the reader propend inevitably to the opinion of those who maintain the contrary.

What will it be if the reader could get hold of the authors over whom you pour such black accusations, that you even condemn pitilessly and in offensive terms as gravely culpable ? Never did Mr Dubois appear more respectable than on the fresh reading that I have just made of his work of the Mœurs etc. des peoples de l'Inde, at the same time as your work. When one sees so much good sense, so much learning compared to this poverty of reasoning and of facts, one is dumb-founded at your language.

Without doubt, there are in the works of the venerable Mr Dubois and of the Reverend Father Bertrand things which, in my opinion, are regrettable ; but I would hesitate to condemn them and, even were their error proved, they would certainly not deserve the thousandth part of your ill treatment of them, but which does not touch them, believe me.

Finally, I who would have very ardently desired to find in this work reasons in favour of the opinion which condemns caste, as I would desire to find reasons elsewhere in favour of that which defends its legitimacy, I found nothing of all this, but nothing, absolutely nothing ; I found statements, but not even the beginning of a proof. The article of charity which becomes such a terrible weapon in the hands of certain adversaries of caste, with you loses all its force by the way in which you present it.

But, in its place, I have found 822 slanderous or rash or relatively erroneous propositions ; 809 doubtful ones, some of which very certainly will be found to be false on submitting them to the crucible of logic ; 132 contradictions with yourself, not in your principal assertions, which are always the same, but in their development ; finally 186 which deserve some attention, and appear to me true, although very probably they are not all so, and besides, in general they contain nothing very extraordinary once they are stripped of their Original form.

I have to note that, among these propositions, a very large number are merely repetitions the form of which varies more or less, but which essentially are the same, so that they could be reduced to a much smaller number. And this applies to the false propositions as well as to the true and doubtful propositions.

In conclusion, my dear Mr Barot, this work is unworthy of you. You are not such an enemy of yourself as to allow such a writing to continue to exist. You should destroy it, annihilate it, burn it. At the very most, though it would be more or less useless effort, you could re-read this work with a confrere, in cold blood and with a clear head, Mr Métral for example or Mr de Gélis, and pitilessly cancel, without asking why, everything that they tell you to get rid of.

Now, after you have cut out the rash or arbitrary accusations, the insults which never prove anything, and the useless repetitions, your seven notebooks will be reduced to one, at the most. Then by reducing a little what remains to eliminate everything extraneous to the question, you will be left with some twelve or so tolerable pages, but which say very little apart from what everyone who has passed through India already knows. But at least, it will not be condemnable.

I hope that you will not hesitate to follow one or the other of these two counsels ; and, furthermore, you should send me immediately a note signed in your hand, whereby you retract everything this writing contains of erroneous and uncharitable, so that I can attach it to these notebooks and, if I come to die and others see this writing, they do not believe you guilty. The retractation will wipe our the error.

If you believe me, and I think that it is charity speaking to you here, you will do all that immediately, for one can go to heaven making false syllogisms, but its doors would be closed to lack of charity and to perseverance in error.

Apart from that, I hope there will be no need to deal with these questions at Rome. Mr Métral will have informed you of my determination which I felt I had to keep secret until now, but which I revealed to him in a letter written quite recently, so that all the missionaries were notified of it. The reason that I gave for my departure was real and true, but was not decisive at the present time.

It could have led me later to Rome, but not immediately ; for I know very well what, practically, I have to do in my vicariate, and what my missionaries should do under my direction. This is not to say that there is nothing doubtful, but this doubt is regularly submitted to Rome and, while awaiting a decision from the Holy See, we have theology to refer to in order to know how we should behave in doubtful matters.

In the hope of meeting you again in heaven, believe me, in union of your prayers,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Mangalore, 6 December 1853)

Sent_0632

Sent_0632 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 24 décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0632 - to Mgr Bonnand - 24 December 1853 /2

Sent_0632 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 24 décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0632 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 567-572

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for your news ; continue to give me them often. How remarkable I find this sentence in your last letter: "It seems to me that we were too hard on the people of the castes when they converted", and why. It is absolutely necessary for all the questions dealing with the Catholic administration to be settled. A word on the local customs which shock here and not there. We would need a great saint for the salvation of India.

Index : news, requirements, Rome (authority), Indian usages

__________

Bombay, 24 December 1853 ()

My Lord,

I had the pleasure of receiving your good letter of 15 November some days before leaving Mangalore, and that of 11 December here on my arrival, after a long and trying crossing.

Y.L. asks me if I am alone or in company. I am alone. In other circumstances, I would have taken one or two Indian clerics, but...

I will make a point of seeing to the pious errands that Y.L. has given me and will not fail to continue to write to Y.L. hoping that on your side, you will be kind enough to give me your news often. Going directly to Rome, I think that your letters would reach me if you wrote through Propaganda, or else making them pass through Paris, for I cannot here and now give you any exact address.

Y.L. says to me in your last letter : "It seems to me that we were too hard on the people of the castes when they converted". These words are quite remarkable. It is after a pious retreat which was preceded by a host of others during your life which in itself has been one long retreat; it is after long years of exercise of the holy ministry in this country; it is in the presence of God, and without it being possible that any human reason inclines the mind to such a conclusion, that Y.L. gives such a judgment.

Of course, this deserves many arguments. What can we say now when on the other side we find, together with some undoubtedly respectable missionaries, all of those who seek more or less themselves, who will not accept mortification and consequently the big mortification that a closer observance of the Indian usages would require, who treat the poor Indians with excessive despotism, which has nothing more excessive than their own susceptibility, such that they cannot bear I will not say a reproach, but a mere opinion, who place anger among the apostolic virtues, for whom the dictionary has insufficient terms to insult this poor people and who, no longer content with applying from time to time slight corporal punishments (which could be useful sometimes if applied always with moderation, calm and gravity), themselves take the rope in their hand and.. their shoes!

O poor India ! poor India ! It is high time that all theological questions dealing with the Catholic administration be clearly settled, and then that a respectable authority, like Y.L. for example, should be given the necessary strength and power to make all the missionaries proceed in the same way of peace and charity, in that spirit which a fine usque ad finem vult fortiter, disponit omnia suaviter. ()

Forgive me these reflections, My Lord, they escaped my pen. However, I will add that I have just seen here an engraving that represents the triumphal march of a statue of Saint Rose of Viterbo, passably similar to the ter() of the Indians, above all when they are carried by men as at Pondicherry and as at Viterbo. It is true that instead of being called ter, it is called a mole trionfale, and the ornaments, instead of being in the Indian style are in the Italian style. But really, is this essential? It is carried by I don't know how many hercules and it is at least forty-five feet high, etc.

How many other things, in my opinion, which only shock certain persons because they are far removed from their customs or they have never seen anything of the sort and above all as a result of the little natural liking we have for a people whose habits we abhor.

In these countries here, how many hardships also, but all different from those of our India. Meanwhile there is one point in common and truly painful, and that is that the cause of our holy religion in India (and perhaps one could say in the missions of Asia) is in such an abnormal state that it is absolutely impossible for us to advance very far in good.

May the Lord send an apostle to India. For we have many apostolic workers, but apostles..., it would appear that the Holy Church does not produce even one every century. A saint Augustine of England, a Saint Boniface of Germany, another Saint Francis Xavier, it needs no less than some such for the India of our days. Let us seek to obtain this apostle by our prayers, you above all, My Lord, whose prayers are powerful before God and to which I commend myself, begging you to believe me,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

P.S. I plan to leave by the mid-January steamer.

(Bombay, 24 December 1853)

Sent_0633

Sent_0633 - à M. Bonjean - le 28 décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0633 - to Mr Bonjean - 28 December 1853 /2

Sent_0633 - à M. Bonjean - le 28 décembre 1853 -/2

Sent 0633 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 65-68

(to Mr Ernest Bonjean)

(apostolic missionary)

He returns to the attitude of Mr Bonjean in the vicariate and on the statements contained in the letter from Mr Bruyère (see letter no. 0630). The time of discussions is over. The satisfactions that you have given me, the troubles that you have caused. Put all your qualities at the service of the vicariate and do not think of going elsewhere. Continue to give me your news; for me it will be like the poor man's bread.

Index : satisfactions, troubles, news, advice

__________

Bombay, 28 December 1853

My dear Mr Bonjean,

On my arrival at Bombay, I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 7th of this month.

I can imagine the pain caused by the report that Mr Bruyère has given you of what I was obliged to write to him, in reply to the strange missive that I had received from him at Mangalore. But, believing the time had finally come to reveal my secret at last, it was inevitable. I will not enter here into any discussion on what you say with regard to the expressions corresponding, in this letter, to what Mr Bruyère had said about you either directly, or indirectly.

The time for discussion is over and I truly hope that it will not return, whatever future the good God destines for me. Accordingly I will only answer some of your questions. I say some, and not all, because there are some which were suggested to you by certain terms of my letter which did not allude to you in any way. Since in his letter Mr Bruyère placed almost all the missionaries of Coimbatore on the carpet, you must not take it all as intended for yourself.

That at times you have caused me pain, is unquestionable, and you cannot but recognise that it was impossible for this to be otherwise, if you search in your memory for everything that you said and that you wrote both inside and outside the vicariate. However I realise that there was always, in these regrettable communications, more error of imagination than of heart, and above all of will, and I would not have paid attention to them, if the answers that you received did not almost always have the effect of keeping you in a state of great distrust of me, which was evident in any case, and which must very often have impeded your ministry, by preventing you joining up frankly with me.

Whence it followed that what you managed to do (without) my consent you considered as a victory won over me, what I could not approve of or that I thought should be postponed until later, you considered as a defeat and, thus, a sort of strategy which is quite out of place with my character.

Then, by a sort of politics, doubtless pious, but which practically never achieves its goal, you did not fear to allow me to believe that you approved, or at least that you did not disapprove, certain acts formally in opposition to my will, which I was obliged in conscience to blame and to stop, that besides I should have effectively punished, if I did not fear, as in these parts of the country, more scandal in the punishment than in the fault.

In such a case, if a bishop who has in hand no material force, since he has neither rewards to offer or punishments to inflict, is not sustained frankly and without tergiversation by the great majority of his collaborators, there is only one course open to him, and that is to withdraw, which is what I did. For here it is really a case of saying : he who is not for me is against me.

Add to all of that (this is painful for me to say, but finally I have to tell you all), add to this, I say, that on occasion you betrayed my trust by making public what should have remained in your memory as in a sanctuary, and you will have all the causes of the troubles that you have given me and of that which I had, above all, of seeing in this way greatly diminished the fruits of salvation that I hoped would necessarily flow from the fine natural and supernatural qualities with which the Lord has endowed you.

However everything is not lost. You are young and everything sad that has happened between us in the last few years will serve to make you more prudent, if that is the right word, for it is less prudence properly speaking that you need, and more abandon to your superiors. With that, not only do I think that you should not plan to go and work in some other portion of the Lord's vineyard, but I would regard it as a great misfortune for you to leave Coimbatore.

I hope that circumstances will permit that, sooner or later, you may be allowed to exercise the holy ministry on the plain. It would be desirable for you to acquire a better practical knowledge of India than in the Nilghiris alone. But, however that may be, you are certain to do great good once, without afterthought, you remain closely united with your apostolic vicar. For the rest, I must acknowledge that, with all of the foregoing, you have often given me consolations and that you have done good; and, very certainly, will continue to do good, only try to ensure that it is without admixture.

Useless to revert to the question of the retreat, and I do not know why, after what I said about it to Mr Bruyère, you speak to me of it at such length. For me, that retreat was like an oasis in the desert, a moment of happiness in the midst of my troubles, it almost gave me the hope that I could halt the first steps that I had already taken at that time for my resignation. Everything that you said in that circumstance was well said, and appropriate; you did very well not to add anything to your instructions nor to remove anything from them. The Lord blessed them, and perhaps more than anything else, because clearly, on that occasion, you acted in the simplicity of a true obedience.

I cannot see why you should not give me your news any longer. For as long as there is still a breath of life in me, I will turn my eyes towards Coimbatore, I will pray for this mission, for those who work in it, and for you in particular. Whatever happens, no news could be more agreeable to me than those which I receive from there, so that if you do me the charity of giving me some from time to time, I would appreciate that as the poor man his bread.

May the good and almighty God, whose infinite justice must make me fear, but in which however I hope more than I fear, from the point of view of my administration in Coimbatore, may the almighty God, I say, pour over you his most precious blessings, and believe me, in the union of prayers that we address to him every day,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

P.S. I return from the bottom of my heart your new year's wishes, and ask you to kindly convey to all the confreres whom you have the opportunity of seeing that I address to heaven fervent wishes for all of them, on the occasion of this new year, for this year which is just beginning and for many more. Above all, kindly do this good office in respect of Mr Bruyère, who I regret having been obliged to sadden by my last letter. A Dieu.

I will be leaving Bombay on 14 January.

(Bombay, 28 December 1853)

Sent_0634

Sent_0634 - à M. Leroux - le 14 janvier 1854 -/2

Sent 0634 - to Mr Leroux - 14 January 1854 /2

Sent_0634 - à M. Leroux - le 14 janvier 1854 -/2

Sent 0634 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 68-70

(to Mr Jean-Marie Leroux)

(apostolic missionary)

He explains the reasons for his resignation, states that he would come back if ordered to do so ; he returns to the need for a meeting of the bishops of India. As regards the MEP, he re-affirms that apostolic vicars have their word to say in the administration.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, obedience, general meeting, reform of the MEP

__________

Bombay, 14 January 1854

Very dear friend,

Having only a few short minutes to reply to your friendly and so pious letter of the 2nd of this month, excuse me if I am shorter than I would like to be, for I wish to destroy some exaggerated interpretations which, according to what you let me infer from your letter, are circulating on my departure.

Thus I will tell you simply that, the sum-total of the reasons that led me to offer my resignation being very complex, there is no one of them that, alone, is absolutely the cause of my decision. But, taken together, I am so persuaded that they make any truly durable good impossible in India that I feel I cannot, with this conviction, continue my ministry of apostolic vicar, except if forced to do so by obedience.

Accordingly I believe it my duty to withdraw, if I can, and not to flinch in the face of the greatest sacrifice yet to have been presented to me : that of leaving a mission that I love above everything that constitutes a priest's occupation on earth. As a simple missionary, I would not do so, because the responsibility for my acts would clearly fall on my apostolic vicar and priests are necessary for the small accidental good of detail arising day by day.

But I do not believe I can use the same argument regarding the S.C. of Propaganda because it is too distant to be able to answer for the details. It is clearly we who will render account to God for the good and the evil of religion in the missions, unless the Holy See, despite our conviction, gives us formal orders.

I blame no-one, and even less do I condemn those who do not think like me. Each to his conscience on which alone he will be judged.

Thus, in the present state of things, I merely ask for permission to retire purely and simply. I have no other reason to give except that, according to my intimate conviction, the way in which I am obliged to walk by dint of things is incompatible with the good that we are obliged to do: ut fructum afferatis et fructus vester maneat. ()

I do not even have the pretension of saying what is lacking, in my opinion, in order for the "fructus maneat". This should be asked of the bishops gathered in the Holy Spirit, it will be my last word if I am permitted to withdraw. If they are not yet prepared to receive my resignation, and require that I say on what condition I would come back willingly to the mission (for I would return in all cases if I was ordered, although with reluctance), I will speak out frankly, but without claiming to stand alone.

As regards the modifications that I would desire for our dear Society, not only would I not require, in order to come back willingly, everything I believe should be done to be done, but my principal and first desire would be that nothing would be done except according to the opinion of the majority of apostolic vicars, providing however that they were put in a position to get a clear idea of their opinions and to speak of them only with maturity and full knowledge of the implications Which could not take place by means of a few hastily written letters, on particular points and without encompassing all of the difficulties to be overcome and the most appropriate means for achieving that goal.

And I will stop here, for the steamer is going to leave in a few hours' time, meanwhile I return with all my heart the good wishes you send me at the beginning of this year. May the good God grant us the grace of doing something for his glory. That is our only desire. A Dieu.

I have no knowledge of Mgr Luquet's latest writing.

Once more A Dieu, and pray mightily for me, who will never cease praying for you, for the missions, for India and for Coimbatore. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Bombay, 14 January 1854)

Sent_0635

Sent_0635 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 février 1854 -/2

Sent 0635 - to Mgr Bonnand - 3 February 1854 /2

Sent_0635 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 3 février 1854 -/2

Sent 0635 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 573-576

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I am writing to you from Aden where I am making a veritable missionary tour among the Indian military speaking Tamoul. I have nothing special to tell you. Write to me as from now to Rome.

Index : news

__________

Aden, 3 February 1854

My Lord,

I promised to write to you whenever I had something to say that might interest you. I can certainly not see anything today which would press me to fulfil my promise; and I am merely writing you these few short lines as a sign of remembrance and a proof that Y.L. is very often present in my mind.

You will doubtless be astonished to see me in Aden still. The reason is that, owing to a series of circumstances that it would be useless to explain, the steamer from Calcutta which was supposed to take on the passengers from the Bombay steamer, was full to overflowing already. In order to continue my journey immediately, I would have been obliged to remain night and day on the bridge and to pay all the same.

Apart from that, the missionary here offered me gracious hospitality and was very pleased for me to help him to administer the Indian Christians who are living here, of whom a large number speak Tamoul. Thus, I am making a veritable pastoral visit. Almost every day I give confirmation, I confess, I judge disputes; in a word, it is the vissarané

.

Many white soldiers and others likewise take advantage of the occasion to receive confirmation. Thus, I am not wasting my time completely, and perhaps the mishap that detained me here is a measure of divine Providence enabling the poor Indian Christians, so deprived of spiritual succour in this place, to receive this little help. It is not that the missionary here is lacking in zeal, but he would need to be a polyglot in order to speak all the languages required to deal with all the individuals of the singular population which inhabits this crater.

Most of the Indians who are posted here are soldiers or servants who have left their wives in India. This circumstance is not one liable to diminish the difficulties implied by their administration.

Here I met a French steamer frigate bound for the Red Sea. It was coming from Bourbon and carried My Lord of Bourbon who is going on a journey to France. I only saw this prelate for an instant. I intend to leave at the beginning of next week. However, I am sending my letter off today, because the steamer could, absolutely speaking, arrive tomorrow, which would put me out a little, for there still remain about fifty sepoys to be confessed, who can only come on Sundays.

A Dieu, kindly continue to pray for me, and believe me, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant and confrere.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

P.S. Kind regards and friendly greetings, please, to all our confreres of Pondicherry.

I hope to receive your news on arriving in Rome.

(Aden, 3 February 1854)

Sent_0636

Sent_0636 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 mai 1854 -/1

Sent 0636 - to Mgr Bonnand - 8 May 1854 /2

Sent_0636 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 8 mai 1854 -/1

Sent 0636 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, p 589

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I have just met the Holy Father. He will still not accept my resignation, but asks me to write what I have to say to him. The occupations and poor health of Mgr Luquet; beatification of Germaine Cousin. Write to me at Propaganda.

Index : audience, resignation from Coimbatore, news, relations at Rome

__________

Rome, 8 May 1854

My Lord,

It is now close on three weeks that I am in Rome but still have not written to you, because I wanted to see the Holy Father first of all. His Holiness having been somewhat indisposed, I was not able to obtain an audience until this morning, and now I am writing to you on coming out of his cabinet where I had a conference of half an hour with Him.

I asked him for a special blessing for Y.L., as you had asked me. I asked for another for the missions, and more specially for those entrusted to our Congregation, more specially still for those of India, and more specially still for that of Coimbatore, as is only right. His Holiness was still disinclined to accept my resignation. He ordered me to write what I had to say to him, which will oblige me to remain some time still in Rome, where for the slightest things an infinite time is required.

I have often seen Mgr Luquet who is completely dead to the world, and almost completely dead physically. I think he will not go far, for he is all

\- here, two lines quite illegible in the Original -

of all sorts of good works, but of hidden good works. However, since he cannot prevent himself from writing, he is working on a great collection of souvenirs of the saints, and it is in this work that he hopes to go and rejoin them, for I do not doubt but that, with all his faults, he will one day be a great saint in heaven.

I hope that Y.L. will have received the letters I wrote to you from various points in my journey. I counted on some letters from you on my arrival here, but have received nothing. I stopped off at Naples for one month, where I preached an (octave ?) in French. That prevented me being here for Holy Week. (Yesterday?) I attended the beatification of the blessed Germaine Cousin, who could be a relative of mine.

If Y.L. does me the kindness of writing to me, I believe that it would be best to put the letters inside those you address to Propaganda. My address is in fact in the French Seminary, Via degli Ibernesi no. 20.

Kindly convey my friendly greetings to all our dear confreres and believe me in the union of your good prayers

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Rome, 8 May 1854)

Sent_0637

Sent_0637 - à sa mère - le 8 mai 1854 -/1

Sent 0637 - to his mother - 8 May 1854 /2

Sent_0637 - à sa mère - le 8 mai 1854 -/1

Sent 0637 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 36

(to his mother)

I have just come out from seeing the Holy Father. Yesterday I attended the beatification of Germaine Cousin (a relative?). I will almost certainly have to prolong my stay in Rome, but as soon as I can, I am going to pay you a little visit.

Index : audience, attachment (family)

__________

Rome, 8 May 1854

My very dear Mamma,

I have just come out of the cabinet of the Holy Father from whom I asked for a very special blessing for you and for my father, and another for my entire family.

I have no other news to announce to you, except that, yesterday, I attended the ceremony of beatification of the blessed Germaine Cousin, who might well be from the family of Cousin de Nailloux, and consequently part of our family, through my paternal grandmother. This circumstance led me to take part as a bishop. In the evening, I went, as a private citizen, to join in the prayer that the Holy Father just made before the image of the Blessed Germaine.

This is the first time I have seen the Holy Father. For, since he was slightly indisposed a few days after my arrival, I had still not been able to have an audience. I had it this morning and spent a good half hour with His Holiness. I think that it will not be the last time, for the Holy Father having strongly urged me to deal with certain questions regarding the work of the Missions, this will very probably require me to stay in Rome for some time.

In order not to delay too much the pleasure of seeing you, I hope to be able to take advantage of some interval which my work allows me, to escape for an instant and pay you a visit.

It appears that my father has not received several letters that I addressed to him from Malta and from Naples. From here, I wrote to him on 21 April and 1 May. I am very astonished that he has not answered me. In fact I have not received any letter from you here. I am handing this one over to Mr de Fiquery from Toulouse, for I do not know really if the ignorance of postal regulations in these parts is not the cause of my letters going astray.

Quite apart from what I said to my father in other letters, you may address them to the French Seminary, Via degli Ibernesi no. 20, where I am now living and where I will stay until I leave, I think.

It is impossible as yet to fix a date for my visit, but I think that it will not be before too long, at least I hope so.

A Dieu. I have no paper left for compliments, but they are the same and for the same persons as in my other letters. Once more A Dieu.

Your very respectful child.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar

(Rome, 8 May 1854)

Sent_0638

Sent_0638 - aux directeurs - le 10 mai 1854 -/3

Sent 0638 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 10 May 1854 /3

Sent_0638 - aux directeurs - le 10 mai 1854 -/2

Sent 0638 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 110

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 70-73

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

I have just seen the Holy Father. Mgr Barnabò urges me to write what I think on the measures to be taken in favour of the missions of India; the Holy Father is of the same opinion. I will speak also of the faults of administration in the MEP. I will do this with great reluctance; but Propaganda should not hear my voice alone. I hope that you will help me and support me in this work, for we all want only what is good and true.

Index : audience, report to Rome, reform of the MEP

__________

Rome, 10 May 1854

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Since my arrival in Rome, I have done very few things. Since the Holy Father was slightly indisposed for a few days after my arrival. I only had an audience with him on 8 May. His Holiness is happily fully recovered now, and received me with the benevolence which is known the world over, and I had the consolation of asking him for a personal blessing for the missions entrusted to our dear congregation.

However, since my arrival, I have had several conferences with Mgr Barnabò who is perfectly acquainted with all of our business. This prelate urged me strongly to make known my thoughts to the S.C. in writing, on what could be done in order for the work of the missions to develop in proportion to the sacrifices and zeal deployed on them. On another side, you know that questions have been raised in India which are far from being resolved and which are such, as far as I am concerned, that it is impossible for me to continue my ministry in that country, if things are not more clearly defined.

The S.C. is quite prepared to deal with these questions, but it must necessarily proceed with great prudence, and Mgr Barnabò also urged me to outline my thoughts on the ways to be taken to arrive without danger at this goal. That meant forcing me to deal with such delicate questions as rites in India, caste, etc., and indirectly everything affecting the missions in India.

Finally, you know, Gentlemen, that one of the causes, not decisive but impulsive, which made me ask to withdraw is the persuasion I have that there exist in our beloved congregation faults, doubtless accidental, but which prevent it allowing the development of all the good it potentially contains within it.

These faults (or what I regard as such), together with certain prejudices against my person, have been the cause of very painful disagreements for me, of serious troubles in my mission, and of profound sorrow at seeing in certain confreres an admirable zeal and distinguished talents evaporating in vain and contradictory efforts.

In view of this, I resolved to yield my place to another who would perhaps be happier than me, and to leave a mission that I love with all my heart, but in which the good that we could and should expect from so much goodwill is not being done merely for lack of a firmer and more regular direction. Quite apart from what happened in my vicariate, I was at the same time aware of the difficulties of the other missions, difficulties that you know in extenso more than I do ; now, as I see it, the main cause in all these cases is the shortcoming of our administration.

For all of these causes, and without hope of being able to contribute effectively to a better state of things, you know that I sent in my resignation to Rome. It was refused; I insisted, asking to come and explain myself to Rome if the S.C. believes it should once more refuse my resignation. However Mgr Barnabò thinks that a sincere exposition of what I consider as possible, to arrive at a better state of things, might be useful.

I must say that I feel great reluctance in dealing with such a vast and delicate subject, without great hope of anything really useful to our holy religion coming out of it. This reluctance has prevented my adhering to Mgr Barnabò's desires before having consulted with the Holy Father himself. If the Holy Father had consented to accept my resignation, by this single fact, this work became useless or inappropriate, and it would have been finished.

Unfortunately for me, His Holiness was of the same opinion as Mgr Barnabò. He wants me to make my thought known in writing. It goes without saying that these writings are not to be published, but are merely to help the S.C. in the study of these grave questions; for it is impossible to deal with them by word of mouth alone, above all when it is a congregation and not a single man who has to deal with them.

Please God that, in the expositions that I have to make, the truth alone is defended and that prudence directs my pen. Now since it is the truth alone on which I am bent, I would not be annoyed in any way if others, if they think differently from me, also outline their opinions to me. It is even from this charitable conflict that pure light would be born. There where we are in agreement (and I am persuaded that that would be on most questions, if we could understand one another), this agreement would make the truth appear in all its splendour. If sometimes we think differently, the S.C. will be able to disentangle truth from error and if the error is on my side, albeit involuntary, I would be happy for it to be made known to me.

I do not expect anyone to listen to my opinion alone, or to believe my word alone which could be involuntarily erroneous, or even all my reasonings, among which there could be some false ones unknown to me. If I succeed in my plans, my efforts will aim at ensuring, if the S.C. decides something on the Malabar rites for example, that this is only with the contribution of the various apostolic vicars of India whom this question affects closely and that, if it thinks it has to settle something in our congregation, this is only with the help of all the superiors at least.

This is my desire, even regarding what appears to me most apparent, both because, even in what appears clear to me, I may be wrong, and because I believe that this means is much more effective in practice.

Accordingly I hope, very dear confreres, that, far from judging me rash for trying to deal with these questions insofar as I am able, you will on the contrary help me in this work, by informing me of any knowledge that you believe could be useful for me, or else by yourselves communicating your thought to the S.C. For this is the centre where all the rays should converge in order for light to appear.

We all wish for the good and the true, and we want that only; let us lend each other mutual succour, and the Lord, I feel sure, will bless our efforts. If the moments of his Providence have still not come in order for an even greater good to take place in the missions, at least the Lord will take account of our goodwill, and that is enough for each of us individually.

I commend myself to your good prayers, asking you for a Veni Creator, and believe me, in the union of the very holy sacrifice,

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

Your very humble and completely devoted servant,

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

P.S. The dispatch of this letter was delayed by several days because of a pilgrimage that I have just made to Our Lady of Loreto.

(Rome, 22 May 1854)

Sent_0639

Sent_0639 - aux vicaires apostoliques MEP - mai 1854 -/2

Sent 0639 - to the MEP apostolic vicars - May 1854 /2

Sent_0639 - aux vicaires apostoliques MEP - mai 1854 -/2

Sent 0639 partial Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, pp 489-490

(to the apostolic vicars of the MEP)

Regarding the need for a reform of the regulations of the MEP. If the majority of us agrees on a possible improvement, we must absolutely meet up, for example at Pinang or at Hongkong. What do you think?

Index : reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP, general meeting, report to Rome

__________

(Rome, May 1854 ?) (

)

My Lord,

It is a long time ago now since I wrote to some of our A.V.s to notify them of a plan that I believed might enable us to arrive, in common agreement, at this improvement that we all, I think, desire of the regulations governing us.

In case these C.V.s had shared my opinion, I should have written officially to all of our missions. But opinions were contrary, in the sense that my project was impracticable, but from another point of view they confirmed the malaise that we all feel on several points; the different answers that I received all agree in saying that it is very much to be desired, but we do not know how to proceed in order to arrive at this desired improvement.

However, some strongly urged me to persevere in the views of improvement which, not desiring anything except through the contribution of all the superiors of associative bodies, and by following the rules laid down by the present regulations as they are, could not seriously displease anyone. At the most some parties might think that everything is for the best and that nothing needs to be changed in the present state of things.

But if the majority thought the contrary, there is not one in favour of the status quo who would not be pleased to contribute with them to the desired improvement. Now, having been obliged to come to Rome for other business, I would have considered myself as failing towards our dear congregation if I had not said to the S.C. that, in my opinion, and I thought I might venture to add, according to other bishops of the Society, there were things that were paralysing in part what I consider to be the immense good that our dear congregation could do in the missions, and I begged it to see what means there might be of dividing up our strength, and making all that zeal eminently present in our confreres of all ranks yield more abundant fruits.

Now the custom of the S.C. is not to impose the best in place of any good, however minimal it may be, unless it is asked to do so ; and in our Society, since the superior represents all the various bishops with the Seminary of Paris, a request would only be such in the eyes of the S.C. if the majority met to make it. For this reason the various requests that it has received at times from certain of us separately have remained ineffective.

Accordingly if the majority of us desires for the greatest glory of God a possible improvement, let us gather our wishes calmly without seeking to make our personal ideas prevail, but with a view to the good only ; les us gather them together to say once clearly : no, there is nothing to be done, nothing to be modified, nothing to be changed ; or else : yes, a change is required and let us take the means most likely to produce the good we desire, without compromising what exists by the grace of God.

Now, this is what I make bold to propose to you. It would be: 1) to ask the S.C. for our regulations to be approved by the Holy See. This is a condition that every well ordered religious Society must fulfil ; 2) to ask meanwhile that before approving it, it will provide us with the means of understanding one another, in order to introduce into it what the majority believes necessary by way of modifications ; and 3) the simplest means, in my eyes, of coming to an agreement would be the very simple one at the present time, and easy for all, except perhaps for two or three of us, of meeting either at Pinang, or at Hong-Kong.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Rome, May 1854 ?)

Sent_0640

Sent_0640 - à Mgr Luquet - le 27 juin 1854 -/1

Sent 0640 - to Mgr Luquet - 27 June 1854 /2

Sent_0640 - à Mgr Luquet - le 27 juin 1854 -/1

Sent 0640 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 150-152

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

I have just re-read your life of Saint Benedict the Moor: some passages that I would have liked not to see in it. I have handed over my report to Mgr Barnabò. He will not read it as it is to the S.C. but will make a commentary on it, for Mr Barran has put him on his guard against me. The Gentlemen of Paris have not answered my letter and are taking their distances from me.

Index : report to Rome, coolness (of the directors towards me)

__________

Rome, 27 June 1854

Very dear friend,

I should have answered your note a long time ago. I am anxious to know the state of your fever. I fear, since you did not come to see us, that it has increased, or at least not abated.

I have just re-read your Life of Saint Benedict the Moor. I found nothing in it that is not very edifying, except for certain propositions on virginity in marriage, perhaps a little exaggerated, and some reflections on the vices of marriage which I would prefer not to find in a book naturally made for persons whom these passages may disturb. But I do not think that there is anything in it that departs from truth.

I would have liked to read you my report to the S.C. Not hoping to see you soon, I handed it over yesterday. But I have kept a copy that I will let you read, as soon as the good God permits us to see each other. Apart from that, everything makes me think that no good effects will come of it.

This morning I saw Mgr Barnabò, who appears disinclined to make it known as it is to the S.C., but only by himself making either the extract or the commentary. The Gentlemen of Paris, or Mr Barran at least, appear to have written to him in such a way as to impress him more or less against me. These Gentlemen have not answered one word to my letter; they have not even written to me at all since then. Thus I think that my road towards Jerusalem is smoothing out. May we live and die on Calvary. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

P.S. Kindly pay my respects to Mr and Mrs de Lestauville.

(Rome, 27 June 1854)

Sent_0641

Sent_0641 - à M. Arnal - le 22 août 1854 -/1

Sent 0641 - to Mr Arnal - 22 August 1854 /1

Sent_0641 - à M. Arnal - le 22 août 1854 -/1

Sent 0641 Original, envelope at the beginning of 2F1

(to Mr Etienne Arnal)

(superior in the minor seminary of Carcassonne)

May I stay for a few days in the minor seminary of Carcassonne ?

Index : seminary (minor of Carcassonne), attachment (to the teachers in the seminary)

__________

Toulon, 22 August 1854

Monsieur le Supérieur,

I have just arrived at Toulon, quite astonished to have my feet on French soil.

I hope that there will be no indiscretion in asking for your hospitality for one or two days that I propose spending at Carcassonne, where I intend to arrive Thursday or Friday. You know how much I have always loved our good minor seminary.

Looking forward to the pleasure of seeing you again, kindly believe me, in the union of your prayers,

Monsieur le Supérieur,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Toulon, 22 August 1854)

Sent_0642

Sent_0642 - à M. Vian - le 30 août 1854 -/1

Sent 0642 - to Mr Vian - 30 August 1854 /1

Sent_0642 - à M. Vian - le 30 août 1854 -/1

Sent 0642 Original, AMA 2F1, p 272-273

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I am at Castelnaudary ; as your letter allows me to hope, I await your visit.

Index : friendship, attachment (to the teachers in the seminary)

__________

Castelnaudary, 30 August 1854

My very dear Mr Vian,

You cannot believe what pleasure I would have in seeing you. In passing by Toulon, I asked for news of you; and yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving your good missive, to which I answer only a few words, for you can imagine that my presence here produces a certain stir in the household. But since you allow me to hope that you will pay me a visit, we will reserve many things of God for that happy moment.

I am here until the end of September, here or in the neighbourhood ; but if you were to arrive while I was in these parts, either you should come to find me, or wait for me c/o the parish priest of Saint-Michel, Mr Sonière, who knows you well and would be delighted to see you.

Do not say that you don't have time. I have come here from Rome in less than three times 24 hours of journey. Ergo! If you were not a doctor of the noble faculty of Montpellier, I would add: do not fear the cholera. It has never been anything much here ; and now it is nothing, absolutely nothing. A Dieu; Au revoir.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Castelnaudary, 30 August 1854)

Sent_0643

Sent_0643 - à son cousin Louis - le 27 septembre 1854 -/1

Sent 0643 - to his cousin Louis - 27 September 1854 /1

Sent_0643 - à son cousin Louis - le 27 septembre 1854 -/1

Sent 0643 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 20

(to his cousin Louis)

I will come and see you soon passing by Toulouse ; I will stay with my brother Henri.

Index : attachment (family), friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 27 September 1854

Very dear friend,

I have received your letter this very minute, and hasten to answer you, assuring you that I am as desirous of making the acquaintance of your family as you are to present it to me. I will certainly pass by Toulouse, very probably at the end of next week or at the beginning of the the one after. I cannot fix the day now; for as you will appreciate I need to spy out a little the moment so as to make this second separation a little less painful to my father.

In any case, I will go to Toulouse with my brother Henri, and will go to stay with him. I would like also on this occasion to see my uncle Auguste.

Allow me to stop here, for having undertaken to preach an octave the whole of this week, and since my father is taking advantage of my presence to arrange family affairs, I don't have a moment to myself.

So until a few days' time, when we will have the pleasure of a good long chat. Meanwhile present my respects to your wife, and a thousand friendly greetings to your children and believe me, for life,

Your devoted cousin.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Castelnaudary, 27 September 1854)

Sent_0644

Sent_0644 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 21 octobre 1854 -/1

Sent 0644 - to Mgr Barnabò - 21 October 1854 /1

Sent_0644 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 21 octobre 1854 -/1

Sent 0644 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F7 verso, pp 73-74

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

I have just arrived in Paris where I have been warmly welcomed by the directors of the seminary. Let me know what is the position regarding Indian affairs.

Index : Rome (authority), religion in India

__________

Paris, 21 October 1854

My Lord,

After having spent a month and a half in my family, I arrived at Paris two days ago. I hasten to write you these few lines in order to keep my promise to inform you of my arrival here. Mr Barran, as well as the directors of the Seminary, have received me as the good confreres they are; I have nothing but praise for their welcome. No business has been spoken yet, but that will soon come.

I would be happy to learn that the S.C. has considered the means to be taken in order to become perfectly acquainted with the facts that I outlined and over which it seems that certain doubts still linger. That would be the first step towards the solution of the grave difficulties impeding the missions in India in particular, quite apart from a host of others that block the progress of the missions in the universe.

May I be permitted to ask you to offer my respectful homage to the very venerable cardinal prefect, at the same time as I beg you to accept the expression of the respectful sentiments with which, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 21 October 1854)

Sent_0645

Sent_0645 - à M. Vian - le 24 octobre 1854 -/1

Sent 0645 - to Mr Vian - 24 October 1854 /1

Sent_0645 - à M. Vian - le 24 octobre 1854 -/1

Sent 0645 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 170-171

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

A letter from you has come back to me from Coimbatore. I did not see you at Castelnaudary, but you can easily come to Paris. We would have many things to share.

Index : friendship, attachment (to the teachers of the seminary)

__________

Paris, 24 October 1854

My dear Mr Vian,

I have just received your letter of 3 June that has been sent back to me from Coimbatore. On passing by Castelnaudary, I have received another one from you which gave me the hope of seeing you; I immediately answered it, but my sister Anne saw nothing arrive. We would have said things face to face difficult to entrust to paper.

I have been in Paris for four or five days now, but cannot tell you for how long I will be here still, for a month at least, I think. Communications are now so easy that you could easily, it seems to me, come and spend a few days here, we would have plenty of things to say.

In order to go out to Coimbatore, you would need first of all to be received in the Society of Foreign Missions. I fear that your age might be an obstacle. However, if you are really set on it, and above all if you came to see us, perhaps we could get over that difficulty. In any case, give me your news, and above all pray for me. A Dieu. And believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Paris, 24 October 1854)

Sent_0646

Sent_0646 - aux directeurs - le 22 novembre 1854 -/2

Sent 0646 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 22 November 1854 /2

Sent_0646 - aux directeurs - le 22 novembre 1854 -/2

Sent 0646 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 172-173

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

You take coldly my initiatives to foster religion in India, to provide an impulsion to our missions in general and to improve the conduct of our congregation. For the first two points, you could back me up with Propaganda. For the third point, it is up to you and you alone to go in the direction of the thought of many of our apostolic vicars or else to stop this movement. Tell me if you agree to the holding of a meeting of superiors of the Society of MEP and if I would still have a place among the MEP once my resignation has been accepted.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, religion in India, thought on the missions, reform of the MEP, general meeting, coolness

Paris, 22 November 1854

Gentlemen and dear confreres,

The coolness with which you saw fit to take the communications which I shared with you, confirms me in the little hope I had of seeing you contribute to the efforts I have felt it my duty to undertake :

1) to try to get India out of the deplorable state in which it has been dragging on from the point of view of religion for centuries now ;

2) to finally give our missions an impulsion and direction capable of making them bear fruits proportionate to the immense sacrifices made for them ;

3) to make our pious congregation enter into the way where many and perhaps the majority of my venerated fellow bishops would like to see it walking.

With regard to the first and second points, you will say quite rightly that it is much less up to you than to the S.C. of Propaganda that we should address ourselves. I admit it, but admit also that you could back me up in respect of the S.C. However that may be, the more I reflect before the Lord, the more I remain convinced that it is impossible for me to personally do any good in India, if the difficulties that I have outlined to the S.C. are not smoothed out.

I respect the reasons, assuredly very grave, which seem to make the S.C. believe that it would be dangerous to go to the bottom of these questions at the present time ; but all the same the way in which I have been forced to put myself forward prevents me from continuing to exercise personally the holy ministry in those parts, if these questions remain as they are. I cannot do so in honour and conscience.

Accordingly, more than ever I am decided to insist that the S.C. deign to accept my resignation, if it considers it appropriate to leave things as they are. I hope that it will not judge that it is out of spite or pride, or some other human reason that I am leaving my post, but by obligation, I repeat, of honour and conscience, and certainly with great regret.

As for the third point, whatever the cause giving you the power, it depends almost absolutely on you to powerfully back up or else stop the efforts of the apostolic vicars. It is true that, in my work for the S.C., I have only quoted two or three testimonies establishing the malaise reigning in our congregation. For there, I had to speak as little as possible of the complaints made in various directions, above all because of the relations existing between the Seminary of Paris and the Missions and vice versa.

But I am enclosing here the extracts from several letters that I have found, in which you can see that it is not only one or two apostolic vicars, but many of them who complain and who wish to see an improvement.

Should we be wrong in our complaints, it would be up to you, it seems to me, to foster any means we may have of judging by ourselves, since we are the superiors of the congregation, of the state of things as a whole and in detail, of applying appropriate remedies if any such are to be desired, desirable improvements if any such are possible, and finally to approve what exists already in full knowledge of the whole situation, if everything in it matches up to perfection.

Various means have been proposed ; myself, I had proposed to some that of a visitor with details which it is useless to outline here, for I abandon it willingly given that it does not appear to have had the assent of various of our venerated confreres whom I consulted, whereas many agree in desiring a meeting of the superiors of the Society, either in person, or through their delegates. Accordingly, before sending my last resolutions to the S.C., I am asking you to kindly let me know :

1) if when the S.C. has accepted my resignation as apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, I can still render some services to the Society of Foreign Missions, and which ?

2) if you would favour frankly, or if you would believe it your duty to oppose the meeting of the superiors of the Society in case the majority should desire it ?

I have the honour of being, in union of prayers and of good works,

Very dear confreres,

Your completely devoted servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 22 November 1854)

Sent_0647

Sent_0647 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 14 décembre 1854 -/2

Sent 0647 - to Mgr Barnabò - 14 December 1854 /2

Sent_0647 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 14 décembre 1854 -/2

Sent 0647 Original, APF, Congressi, Indie Orientali,

vol. 15, 1855-1856, pp 322-323

Rough copy no. 1 Brésillac, AMA 2F11, pp 467-470

Rough copy no. 2 Brésillac, AMA 2F11, pp 463-466 ()

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

I realise that there is nothing to be hoped for from the Gentlemen of Paris by way of sustaining me in the reforms that I continue to consider necessary. I give up the struggle. I am very much afraid that in India we are not frankly in the line of the Holy Gospel. Let me obtain my resignation as soon as possible. I am rendering some services in France, but am still looking towards Jerusalem or Syria. There are many young people in the Seminary of Paris.

Index : religion in India, reform of the MEP, resignation from Coimbatore, coolness

__________

Paris, 14 December 1854 (

)

My Lord,

I hope that you received a long time ago the letter I wrote you on 21 October, in which I informed you of my arrival in Paris.

Since then, I have attempted to sound out the land, to see if there is anything to be hoped from the help of the Gentlemen of our Seminary, to arrive at something truly consoling for the missions.

Not only is there nothing to be expected from them, in the sense of the reforms that I consider as indispensably necessary to the missions, but it is to be feared that they will resist with all the power they have acquired, if the apostolic vicars tried to come out with something other than complaints and wishes.

Thus, we have to continue to drag along in the work of the missions, without hope (at least for me) of doing anything solid, or else to undertake a struggle in which everything suggests that I will be beaten, and which would compromise the little good that is done individually.

I forego this struggle, but I cannot consent to allow myself to drag along still in this humiliating way ; all the more since, in our missions of India in particular, the difficulties of caste and others that I have outlined to you make me seriously fear, above all since I have talked with you, that we are not frankly in the line of the Holy Gospel.

Accordingly I hope that the Holy Father will not condemn me to be any longer the sad witness of this state of things ; and that he will at last deign to accept my resignation that I beg you be so kind as to obtain for me as soon as possible.

Since I have been back in France, I have tried not to waste my time, and to make myself useful through the means above all of preaching. The Lord seems to bless my words, which makes me think at times that I could still do some good in France. But, the more I reflect before God, the more I am confirmed in the thought that a bishop, without a position suited to his character, is out of place in his country.

My idea is thus still to retire outside of France, to Jerusalem, or at least in Syria ; and I desire, if it is possible, to take advantage of the departure of His Lordship the Patriarch of the Syrians to make this journey.

Despite the faults of our Seminary, a large number of young people animated by a holy zeal for the missions are flocking to it. They are close on forty at this moment, most of whom are gratified by an admirable vocation.

Why does it have to happen that all of this is thereafter dissipated in the mission, for lack of organisation and order !

May God have pity on the missions !

Kindly believe me, in union or prayers, and in the venerated heart of the Immaculate Queen of heaven,

My Lord,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Paris, 14 December 1854) (

  * )
  *

Sent_0648

Sent_0648 - à M. Vian - le 6 janvier 1855 -/1

Sent 0648 - to Mr Vian - 6 January 1855 /2

Sent_0648 - à M. Vian - le 6 janvier 1855 -/1

Sent 0648 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 242-243

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I doubt that I shall return to India. Once my resignation is accepted, I shall go in the direction of the Holy Land. Even if I returned to Coimbatore, you would not be accepted by the MEP because of your age. Our life will be a life of sacrifice, but hidden.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, friendship, withdrawal (place of)

__________

Paris, 6 January 1855

My dear Mr Vian,

When I received your good letter of 18 December, I was in bed, quite ill. Now I am much better, and hasten to answer you that in fact I am still here, I do not know for how long still.

Besides, you should know that I very much doubt that I will be returning to India, and even to the missions. For a great many causes that it would be too long and useless to enumerate here, I have offered my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore; it has been refused thus far, but I feel sure that in the end it will be accepted.

And since a bishop without jurisdiction can hardly do good in France, and since he is even liable to become a subject of scandal for the feeble, I am resolved to leave France and go and retire into some hermitage, somewhere near the Holy Land, I think. Thus you see that it would be impossible for you to attach yourself to me as missionary, and to enter into the Society of Foreign Missions, I think that you would be considered too old.

Thus, very dear friend, our life will continue to be, with God's grace, a life of sacrifice, but hidden ; may we disarm the Lord's arm and draw some blessings on our brothers by our prayers.

Would you kindly renew me to the good souvenir of your excellent brother and the other members of your family.

You do not tell me what your position is now ; I suspect that it is a little like ours, a life of desire, that it does not seem at first that the Lord deigns to grant, but who knows ? and who has read in God's secrets!

A Dieu. Pray for me and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Paris, 6 January 1855)

Sent_0649

Sent_0649 - à un Ministère - le 11 janvier 1855 -/2

Sent 0649 - to the Minister of Public Education and Worship - 11 January 1855 /2

Sent_0649 - à un Ministère - le 11 janvier 1855 -/2

Sent 0649 photo copy, AMA 2F1A

(to the Minister of Public Education and Cults)

You were to have written to tell me if, being a bishop, I could render any services to my homeland. Your silence shows me that it is very difficult. Since I do not wish to be an object of scandal for the feeble by staying in France, I am going to leave my homeland for a place of retreat abroad, persuaded of being in God's will.

Index : Scandal, retreat (place of), will of God

__________

Paris, 11 January 1855

Mr Minister,

Your Excellency has not forgotten the benevolent promise you made me, some time ago already, of informing me if I am capable of rendering some services to my homeland, and if it is possible for His Majesty's Government to put me in a position to render them.

Your Excellency's silence in my regard, since that time, leads me to think that the matter is, I will not say impossible, but very difficult.

I am not astonished at all, Mr Minister, and do not complain ; for I realise all the drawbacks of my false position. That the Government does not want to have anything to do with us, is natural, as a general principle it is right, and it would be senseless to complain of not being the object of an exception.

However I do not know why I still hope against hope, and for that reason I take the liberty of informing myself from Your Excellency, even if this shadow of hope is a vain illusion without foundation.

The liberty of this request is motivated by the impossibility of prolonging very much longer my stay in Paris, and by the firm resolution of not remaining in France, if I have no legal position, in the persuasion that a bishop, in the prime of life, cannot without that render any important service to the Church, whereas he exposes himself to becoming an object of scandal for the feeble.

Accordingly I will expatriate once more, no longer in a mission, that particular circumstances oblige me to leave, but to a place of profound retreat, where I can, without danger to anyone, pray at least for the France that I cannot serve.

This time I will leave my homeland, assuredly with sorrow, for it seems to me that I could do something for the good of religion in our France, but without a murmur, persuaded that the difficulties inherent in my position alone prevent His Majesty's Government from having anything to do with me.

If there is a moment in life when one may regret being a bishop, it is certainly this one for me ; for, as a simple priest, it would be easy for me still to serve the Church in my homeland. However, I have nothing to regret, everything that has been done having been, I have the sweet assurance, according to God's will.

If it had been his holy will, that obliged to leave my mission, I should serve religion in France, I would have rejoiced ; since it is not, I suffer, but do not complain.

May heaven permit that, far from my homeland, I still find the means of being useful to it !

Forgive me this long letter, Mr Minister, I believed it necessary to let you know all of my feelings.

I dare to presume on your kindness for an answer; and ask you to kindly accept, Mr Minister, the assurance of my very respectful sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Paris 11 January 1855)

Sent_0650

Sent_0650 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 17 janvier 1855 -/1

Sent 0650 - to Mgr Barnabò - 17 January 1855 /1

Sent_0650 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 17 janvier 1855 -/1

Sent 0650 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, p 461

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

A pilgrimage is organised to Jerusalem for the beginning of March. Before entering my name, I would like to be sure that my resignation is accepted.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, retreat (place of)

__________

(Paris ?) 17 January 1855 ()

My Lord,

In the impossibility in which I find myself of remaining for much longer in Paris, you will not be astonished if I am most eager to receive the answer to the letter which I had the honour of writing to you on 14 December. ()

I told you that my desire was to leave with the Patriarch of the Syrians, who would have guided me in the project that I have of choosing a place of profound retreat in the East, but I don't know at all when the Patriarch will leave and he may besides be obliged to make a number of stops on the way.

Now, a pilgrimage is being prepared for Jerusalem for the beginning of the month of March. I intend to take advantage of this occasion, but before entering my name definitively among the number of passengers, I would need to be sure that the Holy See has accepted my resignation and I beg you, My Lord, to let me know the position as soon as possible.

My stay here merely confirms me in the resolution of withdrawing and no longer dealing with the affairs of the missions.

I have the honour of being, with profound respect, My Lord, etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris ? 17 January 1855)

Sent_0651

Sent_0651 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 20 janvier 1855 -/1

Sent 0651 - to Mgr Bonnand - 20 January 1855 /1

Sent_0651 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 20 janvier 1855 -/1

Sent 0651 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 793-796

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Being practically certain of not going back to India, I will refrain from writing to Mr Métral for questions regarding the administration of Coimbatore. I am waiting for my resignation to be accepted to withdraw somewhere in the East.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, administration, retreat (place of)

__________

Paris, 20 January 1855

My Lord,

The fear or rather the moral certainty of never returning to India prevents me from dealing actively with anything regarding the administration of Coimbatore that I have left unreservedly to Mr Métral. What I would do might, and very probably would, displease my successor. Accordingly do not blame me, My Lord, if I write nothing to Mr Métral regarding the women religious that Y.L. has spoken to me about.

I am expecting any day now the definitive acceptance of my resignation to withdraw to the East, where I wish to live in the most profound retreat. I will say no more to you, because my heart is too full and my soul too sad.

Kindly remember me to our confreres and believe me, My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Completely devoted servant.

M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Paris, 20 January 1855)

Sent_0652

Sent_0652 - aux directeurs - le 4 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0652 - to the Directors of the Seminary of Paris - 4 February 1855 /1

Sent_0652 - aux directeurs - le 4 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0652Rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 244

(to the directors in the Seminary of Paris)

My resignation from Coimbatore does not imply, to my mind, the abandonment of our congregation. As long as I remain a member, may I count on my viaticum? If I am excluded from it, what would my pension be?

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, pension, viaticum, belonging to the MEP

__________

Paris, 4 February 1855

Gentlemen and very dear confreres,

By notifying you of the two letters enclosed herewith from Mgr Barnabò, I feel the need to let you know that my resignation from the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore does not imply, to my mind, the abandonment of our dear congregation. So that, unless the Superiors decide that I am excluded from it, I will consider myself as continuing to be a member of it, hoping that, sooner or later, divine Providence will put me in a position to render some service to it.

However, in order to avoid fresh delays in my answer to what Mgr Barnabò asks me, would you be so kind as to let me know :

1) if, so long as I am not declared excluded from our dear congregation, I may count on my viaticum ;

2) in the case of an exclusion, what would be the pension that the congregation would assure for me for as long as I might need it.

Kindly receive, Gentlemen and dear confreres, in the union of the most perfect charity, the assurance of my completely devoted sentiments.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 4 February 1855)

Sent_0653

Sent_0653 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 5 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0653 - to his sister Bathilde - 5 February 1855 /1

Sent_0653 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 5 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0653 photo copy, AMA 2F17/1855

(to his sister Bathilde)

Here, in Paris, I lack for nothing. I do not know where I will go once my resignation is accepted.

Index : withdrawal (place of)

__________

Paris, 5 February 1855

Very dear friend,

You are going to scold me, for only answering a few short words to your last letter. But what can I tell you? I see nothing and I know nothing. My position here is very pleasant, always beside a good fire, well lodged, well fed, and nothing to do. There are many who would envy me my good fortune.

Here we are all the best friends in the world, only we do not have the same opinions on the question of the missions, which makes me consider as certain, today, that I will not be going back to Coimbatore. But then, where will you go? Oh how curious you are! Besides, I really don't know. But after all, what does it matter? Do you think that only Coimbatore is pleasant in the whole wide world? Don't bother about that, but love me always and pray the good God for me. A Dieu.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 5 February 1855)

Sent_0654

Sent_0654 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 10 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0654 - to Mgr Barnabò - 10 February 1855 /2

Sent_0654 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 10 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0654 Original, APF, Congressi, Indie Orientali,

vol. 15, 1855-1856, pp 372-373

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, pp 447-448

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

He insists still on obtaining his resignation. Yes, in that case, I will have a pension of one thousand five hundred francs. I still intend to withdraw to the East.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, pension, retreat (place of)

__________

Paris, 10 February 1855 (

)

My Lord,

I have received the two letters that you have done me the honour of writing to me on the 13 January and on the 27th of that same month.

Whatever the sorrow in my heart, I believe more than ever, before God, that it is my duty to abdicate from the post of apostolic vicar of Coimbatore. Accordingly I beg you, My Lord, to kindly insist in respect of the Holy Father, that he deigns to accept my resignation.

After having communicated your two letters to the Council of the Seminary, those Gentlemen have undertaken to make me a pension of one thousand five hundred francs, unless I have some other means of keeping myself.

As regards the resolution that I have made to withdraw in the East, I think that there will be no drawback, seeing that I do not propose to attach myself to any mission, but merely to live there in retreat. It would be much pleasanter for me to remain in France, but I have no illusions on the false position of a bishop, former missionary and without duties, in this country. I prefer to go and bury myself close to the tomb of our divine Master.

It would be desirable for my stay in Paris to be prolonged as little as possible, which leads me to hope that you will not delay in sending me the Holy Father's assent.

I have the honour of being, with respect,

My Lord,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 10 February 1855) (

)

Sent_0655

Sent_0655 - à M. Vian - le 17 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0655 - to Mr Vian - 17 February 1855 /1

Sent_0655 - à M. Vian - le 17 février 1855 -/1

Sent 0655 Original, AMA 2F1, p 245

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Grave reasons oblige me to resign. I am going to withdraw to Jerusalem. Pray.

Index : resignation from, retreat (place of)

__________

Paris, 17 February 1855

My dear Mr Vian,

Mr Albrand, at present superior of the seminary, tells me that by now you should have received the information required on the business in question. Thus, I will say no more about that.

As for me, I am making my preparations to leave soon for Jerusalem, where I desire to fix the place of my retreat, for grave reasons, that it would be too long to explain to you, leading me to abdicate from my apostolic vicariate.

From another point of view, I do not wish, in my position, to remain in France, where I could only do any good on impracticable conditions. What better then, than to go and bury myself beside our good Master's tomb. Pray always for me, dear friend, and count on my inviolable affection.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Paris, 17 February 1855)

Sent_0656

Sent_0656 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 14 mars 1855 -/1

Sent 0656 - to Mgr Barnabò - 14 March 1855 /1

Sent_0656 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 14 mars 1855 -/1

Sent 0656 Original, APF, Congressi, Indie Orientali,

vol. 15, 1855-1856, pp 370

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, p 471

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

As apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, someone from the mission of Pondicherry should be taken. The Holy Father is not in favour of my withdrawal to Jerusalem? I abandon the project.

Index : obedience, retreat (place of)

__________

(Paris) 14 March 1855 (

)

My Lord,

I had the honour of receiving, four days ago, your letter of 28 February.

Y.L. asks me my opinion on how best to provide for the administration of the vicariate of Coimbatore. I have often reflected on this before the Lord, and it seems to me that, things being as they are, the simplest and surest solution would be to appoint, as soon as possible, an apostolic vicar from the mission of Pondicherry.

What you tell me regarding the insinuation of the Holy Father, who would seem not to consider with pleasure my retreat to Jerusalem, causes me to instantly forego that project and my preparations for the journey. God forbid that I cause the Holy Father the slightest grief.

I have the honour of being, with great respect,

My Lord,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris 14 March 1855)

Sent_0657

Sent_0657 - à un ami - mi-mars 1855 -/1

Sent 0657 - to a friend - mid-March 1855 /1

Sent_0657 - à un ami - mi-mars 1855 -/1

Sent 0657 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, pp 471-472

(to a friend)

The acceptance of my resignation is dragging on. I forego leaving for Syria, since this would displease the Holy Father.

Index : obedience, retreat (place of), resignation from Coimbatore

__________

(Paris, mid-March 1855) (

)

Dear Friend,

A long time ago I received your letter from the Holy Innocents. I was still waiting, hoping to be able to tell you that at last my resignation was accepted, and to indicate to you where I would pitch my hermit's tent. All of this is still dragging on, and Mgr Barnabò has given me to understand that the Holy Father would not see with pleasure my retreat in Syria. It needs no more than that for me to forego the whole project.

Meanwhile, I do not really know what will become of me, for I should not stay on here. Per patientiam curramus...()

You can imagine that my existence is very sad. Would that, like you, I could turn all of these afflictions of the heart to my spiritual advancement.

A Dieu. Pray for me, and believe me completely yours in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, mid-March 1855)

Sent_0658

Sent_0658 - à Mgr Luquet - le 30 mars 1855 -/2

Sent 0658 - to Mgr Luquet - 30 March 1855 /2

Sent_0658 - à Mgr Luquet - le 30 mars 1855 -/2

Sent 0658 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 185-188

(to Mgr Luquet)

I have not succeeded in making myself understood by Propaganda. Were we mistaken? I abandon my retreat in the East, for that does not please the Holy Father. I will go to the Capuchins of Versailles. I have just had printed the octave that I preached at Notre-Dame des Victoires. I would have liked to write on the missions, but I was told : keep quiet!

Index : my thoughts on the missions, retreat (place of), octave, silence

__________

Paris, 30 March 1855

Very often, I have been on the point of writing to you, very dear friend, only to let my pen fall, hoping to tell you soon what my plans were, and thus from one day to the next several months have passed.

First of all, there is nothing consoling to tell you. To express my suffering here would be difficult. Please God it is for the good of my soul, since I cannot hope that it is for the good of the missions. To try to obtain something here, is like beating water with a stick; all my hope was in Propaganda, and I was unable to make them understand me, since that is the only way I can explain its way of acting as far as I am concerned.

And then, a mystery is hidden in all of this. Is what appears so evident to us, in fact an error? Or have the times not come for the truth to dawn on the work of the missions ? Let us adore and maintain silence. Let us keep silence, since everyone I consult on the expediency of speaking or keeping quiet says to me: keep quiet. Another mystery for me which removes even the appearance of a hope.

More than ever decided no longer to continue with a ministry that requires the sacrifice of profound convictions, I had resolved, as you know, to withdraw to the East, in Jerusalem, or one of the places sanctified by the presence of our divine Saviour. It appears that this project did not please the Holy Father, and consequently without further ado I forego it.

I think that the reasons which have led the Holy Father not to approve of this place of retreat would exist for any other place of mission. Now, in other places in Europe, not knowing the languages, what could I do? Accordingly I am almost resolved to stay in France and to withdraw, for the moment at least, with the Capuchins of Versailles. What do you say?

Meanwhile, I am trying not to waste my time completely, and to make people love Our Lord a little by my preaching. Believing myself on the point of departing from France, I wished to leave a small souvenir at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, and I had a small octave that I preached in that church printed. It would have appeared if I had left. Since it is printed, it will be necessary for it to appear a little later; I will pass a copy of it on to you, as soon as it is published.

I wanted to take advantage of all this to say a word, in the form of a note, on the work for which it seems to me the Lord has put us on this earth. But people said to me: keep quiet. Let us be silent then. If the Holy Spirit wanted me to speak, it would arouse some voices in harmony with what the heart says, but it does not. Patience and sorrow.

I have received nothing from you since your letter written on Holy Innocents day. It is a long time. If I have done you the wrong of neglecting you, it is not, I assure you, the fault of the heart, so do not take your revenge by doing likewise.

It has not been possible to find the Voyage en Espagne etc. that you desire.

I hope that you will soon answer this letter, and that in union of prayers you will believe me, for life,

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 30 March 1855)

Sent_0659

Sent_0659 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 31 mars 1855 -/1

Sent 0659 - to Mgr Barnabò - 31 March 1855 /2

Sent_0659 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 31 mars 1855 -/1

Sent 0659 Original, APF, Congressi, Indie Orientali,

vol. 15, 1855-1856, p 384

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

I am going to withdraw to the monastery of the Capuchins in Versailles. Accordingly I will only go to Rome if that is necessary.

Index : retreat (place of)

__________

Paris, 31 March 1855

My Lord,

A few days ago I had the honour of letting you know that I was giving up my project of going to the East and that nevertheless it was morally impossible for me to remain here. I then asked you if I could go and wait in Rome for the Lord to indicate to me some other place of retreat. But since then, I believe I have found one which, for the moment at least, is appropriate, and that is the monastery of the Capuchins in Versailles. These good Fathers will give me a small lodging separate from the monastery, but within their precincts.

Accordingly, My Lord, I will only go to Rome if that could be of some use, however I forego for the moment my request. I hope to be with the Capuchins in about fifteen days' time. But if you deign to honour me with some letters, you can still address them here(

), for I hope to leave these Gentlemen in very good relations, though without having gained anything for our dear work of the Missions.

I have the honour of being, with great respect,

My Lord,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Coimbatore

(Paris, 31 March 1855)

Sent_0660

Sent_0660 - aux vicaires apostoliques MEP - le 17 avril 1855 -/1

Sent 0660 - to the MEP apostolic vicars - 17 April 1855 /1

Sent_0660 - aux vicaires apostoliques MEP - le 17 avril 1855 -/1

Sent 0660 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, p 449

(to the apostolic vicars of the MEP)

My resignation is accepted. I am withdrawing to the Capuchins of Versailles, but, save a declaration to the contrary, I still consider myself a member of the MEP.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, retreat (place of), belonging to the MEP

__________

Paris, 17 April 1855

My Lord,

It would be useless to go into the details of the causes which have led me to hand in my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore. God alone knows the heartbreak I have suffered and the sorrows of my soul. Today that this resignation is accepted, I feel the need to ask you to continue your friendship and your prayers for me.

For the rest, it seems to me that this resignation does not imply my exclusion from our dear society. Accordingly I will continue to consider myself as belonging to it, unless the majority of the superiors should declare that I am wrong, and in any case I will always be prepared to render any service that is within my power.

Is there not, in all the missions, a position where a retired apostolic vicar could do something ? Until such time as you should declare it, I am going to withdraw to the monastery of the Capuchins, in Versailles.

In union of prayers and of sacrifices, kindly believe me,

My Lord,

Your very respectful and completely devoted servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 17 April 1855)

Sent_0661

Sent_0661 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 17 avril 1855 -/1

Sent 0661 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 17 avril 1855 -/2

Sent_0661 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 17 avril 1855 -/1

Sent 0661 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, p 449-450

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, bishop of Jassen)

(apostolic vicar of Mysore or Bangalore)

In order for me to remain in Coimbatore, it was necessary for Rome to decide regarding our practice. My resignation is accepted; I am about to withdraw to the Capuchins in Versailles. I still consider myself as a member of our Society.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, retreat (place of), belonging to the MEP, Rome (authority)

__________

Paris, 17 April 1855

My Lord,

It would be useless to enter into the details of the causes that have led me to insist more than ever on the acceptance of my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore. While desiring as much and more tolerance than we have had for the usages of the Indians, my conscience is absolutely reluctant to proceed in the path that I have followed, until the Holy See declares that it is perfectly acquainted with everything that is practised and that this practice is tolerable. This is the real reason for my resignation. Today that it is accepted, I feel the need to ask you to continue to offer me your friendship and your prayers.

Besides, it seems to me that this resignation does not imply exclusion from our dear society. Accordingly I will continue to consider myself as belonging to it, unless the majority of the superiors should declare that I am wrong, and in any case I will always be ready to render it any services that are within my power.

Is there not, in all the missions, a position where a retired apostolic vicar could do something ? While waiting for you to declare it, I am going to withdraw to the monastery of the Capuchins, in Versailles.

In union of prayers and of sacrifices, kindly believe me,

My Lord,

Your very respectful and completely devoted servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 17 April 1855)

Sent_0662

Sent_0662 - à M. Métral - le 19 avril 1855 -/2

Sent 0662 - à M. Métral - le 19 avril 1855 -/2

Sent_0662 - à M. Métral - le 19 avril 1855 -/2

Sent 0662 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, p 1131

copy, AMA 2F11, pp 473-474

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

My resignation is accepted. Rome confirms the powers that I left you on leaving. Thank you for the good that you have done for me. Let me have your news from time to time. I am withdrawing to the Capuchins at Versailles. May some other than I do the good that I was unable to do and which was my sole ambition. My tears flow as I am writing to you.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, powers, retreat (place of), emotion

__________

Paris, 19 April 1855 (

)

My dear Mr Métral,

You must have believed that I had forgotten you, while I have not spent one single day without thinking of you and of our so dear mission as was. I did not write to you because my heart was so broken and my soul so afflicted, that it seemed impossible for me to pick up my pen.

Even today, I will not enter into any details. Suffice it to say to you that I felt I could not, in conscience, hold the responsibility for the post of apostolic vicar in India, things being what they are. Finally my resignation has been accepted; perhaps they have already written to you about this from Rome?

In any case, I am transcribing this passage from the last letter addressed to me, regarding your powers () : Interim porro, et donec aliter statutum fuerit, missionem administrandam reliquet (Sanctissimus Dominus) eidem provicario ab Amplitudine Sua delegato, confirmatis facultatibus necessariis et opportunis. () I think that Mgr of Drusipare will be consulted for the choice of a new apostolic vicar, perhaps taken from his mission.

Thus, we no longer have any hope of meeting again on this earth, very dear Mr Métral. May the Lord turn all of this to his greatest glory, to the salvation of the poor Indians whom we loved and whom we love so much, and to our own sanctification.

Thank you, very dear friend, for all the good you have done me. Thank also on my behalf all of those who were my collaborators, and especially Messrs de Gélis and Ravel, for it is only right that I distinguish those who have given me nothing but consolations. I wanted to write to these last two, but did not have the courage. I will be happy if you continue to remember me in your prayers, and you will do me a charity, you and the others, if from time to time, you let me have your news.

As for me, I assure you that I will not let a single day pass without praying for Coimbatore. May some other do the good that it was impossible for me to do, and that which would have been possible (I cannot help thinking) if people had understood me. You know the bottom of my heart; you know that it was the only ambition of my soul. But who knows if God will not grant to sacrifice what he has not granted to action?

I do not know if the superiors of the Society will consider my resignation as excluding me from the congregation. Meanwhile, I am going to withdraw to the monastery of the Capuchins, in Versailles.

Perhaps you will feel some pain on reading this letter, however you will certainly not have any such as I have in writing it. Twenty times already I have been interrupted by my tears. I can feel them flowing at this moment; I place them at the foot of the crucifix for Coimbatore. Farewell.

A thousand kind regards to your seminarians, to your Christians. I send them tears instead of a blessing; as from now it is from some other that they will have to implore it. Farewell, Farewell.

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 19 April 1855)

Sent_0663

Sent_0663 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 avril 1855 -/1

Sent 0663 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 avril 1855 -/2

Sent_0663 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 19 avril 1855 -/1

Sent 0663 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 813-814

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F11, pp 449-450

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

My resignation is accepted ; in order for me to remain, Rome would have had to rule on our practice. I withdraw to Versailles in the monastery of the Capuchins. I still consider myself a member of Our Society. Kindly continue your friendship and your prayers.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, retreat (place of), belonging to the MEP, Rome (authority)

__________

Paris, 19 April 1855

My Lord,

It would be useless to go into the details of the causes that have made me decide on insisting more than ever for the acceptance of my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore. While desiring as much and more tolerance than we have had for the usages of the Indians, my conscience abhors absolutely proceeding in the way that I have followed thus far, until the Holy See has declared that it is perfectly acquainted with everything that is practised and that this practice is tolerable. This is the true cause of my resignation.

Today that it is accepted, I feel the need to ask you to continue with your friendship and your prayers. In fact, it seems to me that this resignation does not imply my exclusion from our dear Society. Accordingly I will consider myself as continuing to belong to it, unless the majority of the superiors declares that I am mistaken, while I will always be ready to render it all the services that depend on me. Now is there not in all of our missions a position where a retired apostolic vicar could do something ? While waiting for you to declare it, I am going to withdraw to the monastery of the Capuchins in Versailles.

In union of prayers and of sacrifices, kindly believe me,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Very respectful and completely devoted servant.

M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 19 April 1855)

Sent_0664

Sent_0664 - à son cousin Louis - le 4 mai 1855 -/1

Sent 0664 - à son cousin Louis - le 4 mai 1855 -/2

Sent_0664 - à son cousin Louis - le 4 mai 1855 -/1

Sent 0664 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 21

Handwritten copy of J. de Brésillac (), AMA 2F1A

(to his cousin Louis)

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter Amélie. I have resigned from my post in India. At present I am with the Capuchins at Versailles.

Index : resignation from Coimbatore, retreat (place of), attachment (family)

__________

Versailles, 4 May 1855

My dear Louis,

I should have answered before now to your letter of the 14th and congratulated you, and your wife, on the happy event which gives us a new cousin. Your father-in-law was kind enough to send me a telephonic dispatch on the evening of the birth itself. I hope that your wife's health is as good as ever; make her my compliments and convey my best wishes.

I am writing to you from Versailles, or rather from the hermitage which I have chosen for myself outside the town, in the monastery of the Capuchins. Different ways of seeing from my confreres on things that I believe fundamental for the work of the missions forced me to hand in my resignation; and since it is not easy to find a position where a bishop without jurisdiction can do good, I had thought of withdrawing in the East. Since this project did not meet with Rome's approval, I gave it up and have placed myself here in an indefinite provisional state, living in complete withdrawal where I will have at least all the leisure to work for my own sanctification.

I saw Mr Dufay () a few days before leaving Paris. For a long time now he has been quite ill ; I find him much aged.

A Dieu. A thousand regards to your wife, a kiss to your children, without forgetting Jeanne – Marie – Amélie – Clarisse... It really is long. A Dieu. How will you call her simply ? You can tell me in your next missive, for I hope that you will write to me from time to time. Once more A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. My address is: c/o the Reverend Capuchin Fathers, Boulevard de la Reine, Versailles.

(Versailles, 4 May 1855)

Sent_0665

Sent_0665 - à M. Métral - le 20 mai 1855 -/2

Sent 0665 - à M. Métral - le 20 mai 1855 -/2

Sent_0665 - à M. Métral - le 20 mai 1855 -/2

Sent 0665 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 1130-1131

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(Pro-vicar of Coimbatore)

Letter full of emotion, sadness and tears... My resignation is accepted ; I have even left the seminary of Paris where the directors failed to support me and allowed Rome to believe that I was departing from the pure truth. Ah, if all the apostolic vicars of India only said what is happening, and if Rome only took a decision! A single word from Mgr Bonnand could have changed everything. A very hard passage against the directors of the congregation of MEP : I still consider myself a member of it. Today I am trying to render service to the Church and am ready to seize the first opportunity to place myself once more at the service of the missions.

Index : emotion, resignation from Coimbatore, reform of the MEP, general meeting, belonging to the MEP, leaving once more on mission, coolness

__________

Versailles, 20 May 1855 ()

Yesterday I received the burning reproaches of your friendship. Ah! Believe me, my heart still understands yours, and how many tears have flowed, that I do not know if I should call sweet or cruel.

If I love the missions still ? I wish you could read in my soul to see if I breathe other than for them. If I remember Coimbatore? But I do not think that an hour in the day passes without my sighs recalling it and were you there, very dear friend, to soften all my troubles? But did I shrink in the face of trouble? I believe I may say no.

Why then did I leave a mission that I love more than life ? You must have received some letters that have explained it to you. Let us not return to these sad memories. Today it is all over; my resignation was accepted long ago. They must have written to My Lord of Drusipare for a successor. I have even left the Seminary of Paris where I have done nothing, since these Gentlemen left me without support. I had merely to await the acceptance of my resignation, necessarily offered, once they believed at Rome that I had departed from the pure truth in my reports.

Today I can no longer understand how one can in conscience be an apostolic vicar in India, whereas it would be so easy to regularise our behaviour and to place our conscience in safety, by together outlining all the facts, as they actually are, and by defending legitimacy, as far as possible, and by basing ourselves frankly on the decisions of authority. They thought they had seen in the different answers of the (... ?...) a contradiction in facts. And since it was impossible for me to doubt what my eyes have seen and what my ears have heard for twelve years, it only remained for me to resign.

Besides, this contradiction, at least with the accounts given by My Lord of Drusipare, is much less real than apparent. But it does not appear so to the S.C. My Lord of Drusipare for whom I will always have the utmost respect is, nonetheless without realising it certainly, one of the principal causes for what is happening. A written word on his part would have had the effect of changing everything and perhaps putting us in a position to exercise finally our mission freely with unity, without (worrying?) more than necessary this poor people, and in any case in full security for us. As for all the rest, I would have passed over it all.

Some sorrows that I feel on seeing a congregation dragging along which contained so many elements of success, of seeing the apostolic vicars in the practical impossibility of understanding one another, they who are the superiors of the congregation, and allow themselves to be towed along by six or seven directors who seem practically not to deal with missions. To see a large number of aspirants, full of virtues and animated by a vocation in most cases very genuine come out of the Seminary of Missions less missionaries than they entered it, at the risk of being even less so after a few years spent in a vicariate which has almost no power over them: despite all of these wretched conditions, I say, I would not have handed in my resignation.

I had offered my services for working at a reform in agreement with all the apostolic vicars. We had almost everywhere kept silence. The Gentlemen of Paris, as that must naturally be, did their best to oppose it, so that there was nothing I could do but await the moment of divine Providence, if one day it should deign to bring our congregation out of its torpor.

I said "our " congregation, for I have noted how, in handing in my resignation from apostolic vicar, I did not in any way intend to leave the congregation. The directors of Paris have divided opinions on this point, as on many others. I proposed accepting any job there was in the congregation, in whatever mission it should be. Impossible, they said. Nevertheless, until the apostolic vicars speak like them I will consider myself as belonging to the congregation ; and it seems to me that, if they so wish, I could render them some services.

Apart from that, bonum est Domine, quia humiliasti me. () Certainly, my heart is pierced through and through, and my sadness instead of diminishing, grows daily, but I would not die content if I had not done what I have done. I wanted the pure, simple, straight and entire truth, and nothing else. Perhaps God will grant to sacrifice what he has not granted to action.

I live completely withdrawn in the monastery of the Capuchins, going nowhere, seeing no-one ; it is now a month that I have been here and without having gone outside of the precincts. When I was in Paris, I tried to spend part of my time in preaching. Here, I will try to do the same, in order not to cease working in the Lord's vineyard. If I can find some way of picking up the ministry of the missions, or else in the world, I will seize the first opportunity. But I will never forget you, very dear friend, either you, or my other former confreres, or your dear pupils of the seminary, or your poor Christians; each day I will say a separate prayer for them.

Would you kindly also remember me a little, very dear Mr Métral ; pray for me, write to me from time to time, and believe me, until death,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Versailles. 20 May 1855)

Sent_0666

Sent_0666 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 26 mai 1855 -/2

Sent 0666 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 26 mai 1855 -/2

Sent_0666 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 26 mai 1855 -/2

Sent 0666 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 246

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

I have withdrawn to the community of the Capuchins of Versailles, but I offer myself to the Holy Father to go anywhere, even to somewhere in the heart of Africa, where no-one has ever penetrated. I would like to go there apostolic style, straight to those peoples... I have no illusion on the difficulties that I might encounter and on the undoubtedly fatal outcome of such an undertaking. I offer my life to God.

Index : leaving again in mission

__________

(Versailles ?) 26 May 1855

My Lord,

After having received the letter of 27 March (

), in which the Sacred Congregation notified me that the Holy Father had deigned to accept my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, I left the seminary of Foreign Missions, and have now withdrawn, into the most profound retreat, with the Reverend Capuchin Fathers at Versailles. There, I adore God's impenetrable designs, and wonder whether it could be through my fault that I am no longer in the missions, despite the ardent love that God has never ceased to inspire in me for them !

But finally, since all hope is lost of my seeing once more the missions of India so dear to me, is there not some other place, out of all the earth, where I could be a missionary ? Still young, is it God's will that I remain in inaction? I cannot believe it, and I now beg you, My Lord, to present to the Holy Father, the offering that I make of myself for anywhere in the universe.

If the episcopal character I hold absolutely prevents me from working in an already existing mission, is there not some place in the world still where the missionaries have not yet turned their steps ? for example, in the centre of Africa ?

So that this, My Lord, is what I am requesting you to ask of the Holy Father : either any mission, according to his good pleasure, or else the authorisation to go and attempt a mission in the interior of Africa, where missionaries of the existing apostolic vicariates have not yet penetrated.

I have no illusion as to the difficulties, even the apparent impossibility of succeeding. But everything is possible to God and we place all our hope in him. It would be my desire to place myself blindly between the arms of divine Providence, and to go in an absolutely apostolic way straight to these people, either alone, or else with one or two companions, if I find any such who would wish to follow me in this life where, of course, we must soon find death and then heaven.

But I offer my life to God and to the Holy Father, with whose blessing God will not refuse us his, and perhaps will permit that, by this death, or by a success which would be visibly the work of his grace, we would make known to some poor peoples the holy name of Jesus Christ.

I beg you, My Lord, to kindly speak as soon as possible of this offer to the Holy Father, asking of him on my behalf his paternal blessing, and to let me know what his orders are.

Meanwhile, kindly believe in the respectful sentiments with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Versailles ? 26 May 1855)

Sent_0667

Sent_0667 - à M. Roudière - le 10 juin 1855 -/1

Sent 0667 - à M. Roudière - le 10 juin 1855 -/2

Sent_0667 - à M. Roudière - le 10 juin 1855 -/1

Sent 0667 copy, AMA 2F30

(to Mr Jacques Roudière)

(deacon at the time)

He has just been ordained deacon. You can count on my prayers. He goes on to speak of his resignation and says that he is ready to leave again for somewhere else if the occasion arises. All of this so that this young man is not scandalised by this return to France.

Index : scandal, resignation from Coimbatore, leaving again on mission

__________

Versailles, 10 June 1855 ()

It was not until yesterday, very dear Mr Roudière, that I received your pious letter of 27 May, on my return from Soissons, where I went to preach the retreat of ordination in the major seminary.

Thus, while I was working to bring these fortunate young people to correspond to the graces of the Holy Spirit, to worthily receive the orders that were about to be given to them, on your side, you were preparing your soul to receive the strength of the Etiennes and the Laurents. God will have showered over you his graces in abundance, I have no doubt, and if it only required my feeble prayers to obtain for you the perseverance that we have to ask for each day, believe me they will not fail you.

Perhaps you know that my resignation was finally accepted. It required no less than the voice of conscience to make me decide to leave a mission that I will always love more than life. It is a sacrifice that was more painful to me than that of leaving my country earlier on.

But how is it a sacrifice, and how could conscience have dictated this duty to me ? It would take too long to explain here, and few persons would understand the explanation; besides, very few missionaries are forced to enter into the way where circumstances have pushed me, and in other missions, and even in the same missions, they will not find the difficulties that I personally have experienced.

I am telling you this so that, if you know anyone filled with zeal for the missions, you should not discourage them through my example. Perhaps in fact I myself will still find the means of returning to the work of the missions, that is my only ambition.

If I was not a bishop, I would leave tomorrow for some other point on the globe, for as you know I consider the whole earth as my dwelling place, while awaiting my permanent abode in heaven ; being a bishop, it is much more difficult. The Holy See did not appear to approve of my departure for the missions of Syria, as I had first of all planned. Let us seek elsewhere and, meanwhile, be in peace in our hermitage with the Reverend Capuchin Fathers of Versailles.

That is the long and the short of it, dear Mr Roudière, but I wanted to say all of that so as not to scandalise you by my stay in France, and to urge you to pray to the Lord for me, that I may never wish for and never do anything other than his very holy will.

A Dieu, very dear Mr Roudière, persevere in your good intentions and grow in virtue before the Lord, it is the only good that I wish for you.

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Versailles, 10 June 1855)

Sent_0668

Sent_0668 - à Mgr Luquet - le 11 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0668 - à Mgr Luquet - le 11 juin 1855 -/2

Sent_0668 - à Mgr Luquet - le 11 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0668 Original, Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, 658 A I

copy, AMA 2F1A et 2F17/1855

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Sad letter of a man who has nothing to do and who wants to work in the Lord's vineyard. I have written to Rome to go and work in any other mission. I accept all your advice. Pray that I may obtain the grace of finding myself where the Lord wants me. No, I do not regret the past, for I have always sought God's glory alone.

Index : leaving once more in mission, friendship, sadness, will of God

__________

Versailles, 11 June 1855

For a long while now I have wanted to write to you, very dear friend, and I do not know why I delay doing so day by day.

When I received your little note of the month of April, I was on the point of leaving the seminary of the missions. There I spent several very sad months, I assure you, while the days I have spent since then are even sadder.

A complete inaction at my age, loving work as I do, the work of the missions so dear to my heart, and for which I cannot do anything after having given up everything for that, the intimate feeling that I was only working for the advancement of this work, whereas now I see myself abandoned or even rejected with distrust by those who should be, it seems to me, most interested in backing me up, these are the crosses that I accept with God's grace. But which at times seem to exceed my strength. Pray the good God to increase his graces in proportion to the trials.

As you know, I have withdrawn to Versailles with the Reverend Capuchin Fathers. All of this would be good if only I had something to do. But, without any occupation, and unable besides to suffer the distractions of the world, not being a man to seek to produce myself, I live completely alone, to the point of not having gone outside the precincts of the monastery; I have not even made the acquaintance of a single priest in the town, and even have no desire to get to know anyone. I admit that this retreat is excessive, dangerous even, but I must tell you that I do not know what to do in order to live some other sort of life here.

As you know, I had conceived the plan of going to the East. I hoped that there I could indirectly render some services still to the missions, if only in certain colleges or seminaries where I could have taught some pupils. Here nothing like that is possible for me.

I wrote, a few days ago, to Mgr Barnabò to ask him if it would be possible for me to go and work in some other mission ; I do not know what his reply will be. If you could give me some good advice, you would be doing me a service. You cannot believe how this state of inner sadness, which has lasted for over a year now is weakening my intellectual faculties.

By chance, I was invited to go and give the retreat for the ordinations in a seminary in the neighbourhood of Paris. I assure you that I did not know too well what I was saying. However, these are the most precious years in life which are passing, without having done anything for God's glory, without having established anything solid in our dear missions, and without finding a place in which to cultivate the Lord's vineyard. Once a few more years have passed in this way, we will be able to say doubly in truth : servi inutiles sumus, without being able to add: quod debuimus facere, fecimus.

You, at least, when the gates of the missions were closed against you, were able to turn your zeal in some other direction ; you managed to find your place. Whereas I have not found mine. Certainly, it is not here. Pray the good God to let me know where it is. I do not ask for it to be in Europe, or in Asia, or in America, or in Africa. The whole earth is the Lord's and, from anywhere in it, the way leads to heaven. I only ask him to let me be where he wishes me to be, and to grant me that peace of the soul that he ordinarily gives to those who are in the place that he himself has fixed for them.

However this trouble of the soul does not derive from regret for the past. Apart from certain faults of form, I believe I have done nothing but my duty. I adore as mysteries what happened outside of me; certainly, for I have invincible proofs of this, most of those who are the cause of my no longer being in the mission are men of goodwill; apart from that, I have the illusion even if it is not true that only the good of the missions has guided me in my proceedings. And yet!...

I repeat, very dear friend, if you should find some means of opening up for me a door in some mission, I believe you would help me to find my place. A Dieu. You will see clearly enough from this letter how much I need you to pray for me.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. As I am poorer than you, I will not stamp this letter. Let me know what can be done to spend less on postage.

(Versailles, 11 June 1855)

Sent_0669

Sent_0669 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 13 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0669 - to Mgr Bonnand - 13 June 1855 /2

Sent_0669 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 13 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0669 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 817b-820

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

I would never have believed possible what has happened to me : to leave India, to resign, to be treated as I have been by the directors of Paris ! But I am aware of having done nothing but my duty. I have also lost the hope of working for the good of the MEP through an internal reform. If one of the bishops of our congregation were to ask me, I would go and work with him; but the directors will doubtless do all they can to oppose that. In any case I am trying to find the means of entering some mission.

Index : sadness, leaving again, friendship, reform of the MEP, coolness

__________

Versailles, 13 June 1855

My Lord,

In my retreat, with the Reverend Capuchin Fathers of Versailles I have received your letter of 23 March.

Your Lordship tells me that you would never have believed etc. I assure you that I would never have believed myself. Never would I have believed that I would be obliged to leave a mission that I loved and that I will always love more than life itself. Never would I have believed that the Society of Foreign Missions, to which I am completely devoted, would treat me as it has done, at least through its representatives in Paris. I assure you that everything that has happened in the last two years is a profound mystery to me.

My sorrow would be overflowing if I did not have the firm conviction that I have merely done my duty. Without doubt, I have committed some faults, unknown to myself, and I recognise clearly some defects of form. But, basically, I would reproach myself much more for not having done what I have done, out of fear of being cast off as I have been, and perhaps more than that.

However all this may be, all hope is lost today of returning to India, where I believed I would have left my mortal remains, where I had already dug my tomb, and it is practically lost of working for the good of the Society for Foreign Missions whose heads are too dispersed to understand that I have fought for their interests, who are essentially bound to the interests of a Society capable, by its very nature, of the greatest good in the missions, but which will drag along within the narrow limits of a few vicariates, so long as the heads are no more than the very humble servants of the Gentlemen of Paris.

Vain regrets ! By this time, Y.L. must already have chosen a new apostolic vicar of Coimbatore. May he be happy there, may he do good, and my desires must of necessity be limited to that much.

As for me, if the apostolic vicars of the Society wish to keep for me and give me any of our missions, I do not refuse the work, and am extremely indifferent as to the places, apart from India, for as long as the questions of caste and of usages have not been clearly settled, so as to enable me to render sincere testimony that we do not make heavier than need be the yoke of Jesus Christ, but without tergiversation in the account given of our behaviour.

If I am no longer wanted, as it seems very likely, above all as a result of the influence of the Gentlemen of Paris, I will try to find the means of entering into some other mission.

In any case, I will always keep the memory of the personal kindnesses that Y.L. has had for me, regretting for my whole life that the Lord has not permitted that our efforts should remain united when, essentially, you and I wanted the same thing, of course. I will say no more, my tears flow when I think of it, and I adore the incomprehensible designs of God. My kind souvenir, please, to all of our dear confreres, and kindly do not forget me in your prayers.

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Versailles, 13 June 1855)

Sent_0670

Sent_0670 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 1 - le 23 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0670 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 1 - le 23 juin 1855 -/2

Sent_0670 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 1 - le 23 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0670 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 350-351

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

(rough copy no. 1)

He explains why it is not through lightness of mind and inconstancy that he requests once more to leave in mission for anywhere at all. The circumstances speak against him, but his conscience does not accuse him. One day it will be recognised that if I was mistaken, it was in form alone. Leaving once more for me means persevering in my vocation, and that without any danger for the Church. The Holy Father will recognise that in me he has a son full of obedience and completely devoted to the missions.

Index : leaving once more in mission, conscience, vocation

__________

(Versailles, 23 June 1855) (

)

My Lord,

I have received your honoured letter of 9 June, and begin by recognising with you that there is in fact need for prudence, in order for the Holy Father not to think that my proceeding is the effect of an inconstant and light spirit. But allow me to open up my heart to you, to try to persuade you that my intentions are upright and pure, so that when you come judge the moment to be appropriate, you may recommend me to the Holy Father's benevolence.

I will not revert to the past, the good God has permitted that my pen reproduced poorly the sentiments of my soul, so that it was quite rightly considered that I was impelled by a spirit of system, of opposition and exaggeration, whereas it seems to me that my conscience makes me the certain testimony that it was not like that but, of course, that my intentions have always been exclusively for God's greatest glory and the advancement of the work of the missions that the Lord did me the grace of loving with all my soul, from the first moment when it did me that of leaving everything for this work.

I had principally concentrated this affection for the missions on the one which had been entrusted to me, and when troubles that I was unable to avoid made me believe that I was morally obliged to offer my resignation, I resigned with a sorrow that God alone knows.

This sorrow has come to pass ; doubtless it will last as long as I live. However, I cannot prevent myself from hoping that it will be recognised one day that I had the misfortune to express true things poorly, but that the substance of my thought was for the good of the missions, and completely in line with the spirit of the Holy See, for which I profess a profound veneration and a filial love.

However, why should I not continue the work of the Missions ? The Lord has not taken away any of the spirit of zeal which he gave me for them fifteen years ago. Did I deserve to lose all trust on the part of the Holy Father? Doubtless I was not able to do the good that my heart desired; I was perhaps imprudent; but I hope that I was not culpable. Ah! If I committed some formal fault, deign to tell me so and punish me for it, I accept any punishment in advance.

Thus far, my conscience tells me that I have only done what I believed it was my duty to do before God, but that I did it without prudence. As a simple priest, that would be easy for me. The episcopal character with which I have been honoured, despite my unworthiness, but without regret, because I hope that everything has happened through God's will, is undoubtedly a great obstacle to my being sent to missions that are already formed. Now, it seems to me that by asking for the Holy Father's blessing to go and try to open up a mission in places until now inaccessible, I am persevering in my vocation, without danger for the Church.

As for me, by consenting to such a mission, my only purpose is to remain faithful to my vocation and to give witness to the Holy Father of my devotion for the missions even to the furthest limits. I hope that he will construe it as that, and not as a lightness of spirit.

I hope that the Holy Father will soon recognise that he has in me a son filled with respect, obedience, love and completely devoted to the missions.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles, 23 June 1855)

Sent_0671

Sent_0671 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 2 - le 23 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0671 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 2 - le 23 juin 1855 -/2

Sent_0671 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 2 - le 23 juin 1855 -/2

Sent 0671 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 248 puis 247

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

(rough copy no. 2)

He explains why it is not out of lightness of spirit or by inconstancy that he is once more asking to leave on a mission anywhere. The circumstances speak against him, but his conscience does not condemn him. For me, leaving on a mission once more means persevering in my vocation: with one or two companions, I will go willingly to Guinea, then into the interior. The Holy Father will recognise that in me he has a son full of obedience and completely devoted to the missions.

Index : leaving on a mission once more, conscience, vocation, Africa

__________

Versailles, 23 June 1855 (

)

My Lord,

I have received your honoured letter of the 9th of this month, and I begin by recognising with you that there is need of prudence, so that the Holy Father does not think that my request is the effect of an inconstant and light spirit.

The misfortune I have had of finding myself engaged in the affairs on which it is useless to return, must have given people a bad opinion of me. The good God has permitted that my pen reproduced poorly the sentiments of my soul ; I wanted to spare the different opinions and above all the intention of persons whom I venerate, and I may have seemed to fall into contradiction; I undoubtedly lacked prudence. But do me the favour of believing, My Lord, that my intentions were pure and upright, that my only goal was God's glory and the advancement of the missions that the Lord has given me the grace of loving with all my soul, from the instant when he gave me that of leaving everything for it.

This affection for the missions was mainly concentrated on the one which was entrusted to me. It is true that I felt I had to allow it to give way to reluctance, for my conscience, to continue in the exercise of the holy ministry with the system of castes at present applying and its consequences. But do not be offended, please, if I feel all the sorrow of the sacrifice that I have felt myself morally obliged to make , and deign to see in it some zeal for the work of the missions.

Allow me to hope, My Lord, that the day will come when it will be recognised that I merely expressed poorly true things. I am not saying that I was not mistaken at all, omnis homo mendax () ; but I cannot prevent myself from thinking that the substance of my thought was in conformity with the present needs of the missions in India, and above all with the spirit of the Holy See for which I have always professed and will continue to profess throughout my life, a profound veneration and a filial love. Allow me to hope that the Holy Father will himself recognise that he has in me a son full of respect, obedience, love and completely devoted to the missions.

It is in this hope that I dare ask him to kindly allow me to continue this work. And if the episcopal character with which I am vested (though unworthy, but without regret, since I hope that everything has happened according to God's will) is an obstacle to my being sent out to an already established mission, why would H.H. not allow me to go and try to open one up in places thus far inaccessible? If I do not succeed, what is lost? If I succeed, God will have made the evil turn to good.

With the Holy Father's blessing, I would go to the mission of Guinea. There, I would gather all the information possible from the good Fathers of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and from the natives of the interior who come out to the coast to trade; then I would fling myself in the arms of Providence into the interior.

I would take with me one or two devoted companions, it need be no more, it seems to me at the beginning, and if our zeal were crowned with success, it would not be difficult to attract the interest of some congregation. For the rest, this plan would be modified according to the wishes of the Sacred Congregation, whose intentions I would follow scrupulously.

I hope that the Holy Father will see in this offer not any lightness of spirit, or worse than that, as you lead me to fear, My Lord, but rather the desire that I have to remain faithful to my vocation and to use my whole life for the work of the missions.

Accordingly I renew to you, My Lord, the prayer that I made you to speak of this to the Holy Father as soon as you consider it appropriate, assuring him that I respectfully kiss his holy feet.

Meanwhile I ask you to yourself believe the respectful sentiments, with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your very humble and completely devoted servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles, 23 June 1855)

Sent_0672

Sent_0672 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 1 - le 16 juillet 1855 -/2

Sent 0672 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 1 - le 16 juillet 1855 -/2

Sent_0672 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 1 - le 16 juillet 1855 -/2

Sent 0672 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 414-415

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

(rough copy no. 1)

To clearly explain the reason for his request in letter 0671. He has given up Coimbatore, but he has never given up the missions. Because of his episcopal character, in order not to cast umbrage on anyone, he would go willingly where no missionaries have yet arrived, in the heart of Guinea, for example. Of course, he has no illusion on the difficulties awaiting him.

Index : leaving on mission again, vocation, Africa

__________

(Versailles ?) 16 June 1855 ()

My Lord,

It is a great solace to me to receive your good letter of the 7th of this month, for it gives me the hope of resuming, in the time allotted by Providence, the ministry of the missions which are always so dear to me. However I seemed to note in that letter () certain expressions that make me believe that I still have not explained my thought clearly. Forgive me, then, My Lord, for adding some words which will lead you, I feel sure, to back me up in respect of the Holy Father with all the means in your power.

Aliqualem porro [...] Sanctitati Suae peperit admirationem tam subita post oblatam, ac toties expetitam obtentamque dimissionem a priori sententia immutatio [...]. () It seems to me, Monsignore, that there is not on my part a priori sententia immutatio. I felt myself obliged to hand in my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, for reasons on which it is useless to return, but I have not given up consecrating my life to the service of the missions. This is so true that immediately after my resignation was accepted by the Holy See, I offered myself to the Gentlemen of Paris to fill any post in our Society's other missions. It seemed to them that the episcopal character was against this, and besides they were not able to assign any to me since they are not the Superiors of the Society.

Thus it is the episcopal character which makes my position more difficult, both in our missions and in others. Then, I have searched for a place where, despite this character I may not cast umbrage on anyone. Now, it seems to me that in the interior of Africa, there are places where, de facto, there are no missionaries.

Thus, I would be infinitely obliged to you to assure the Holy Father that, after the grace that God has done me, as I hope, to call me to the ministry of the missions, he does me thus far that of persevering in this vocation in which I desire to live and die.

In the second place, My Lord, you say in speaking of Africa : in locis memoratis ubi jam Episcopi, Praesulesque Apostolici constituti sunt. () I do not know if the whole extent of Africa is comprised within the limits allotted to the different apostolic workers who exercise their zeal there ; but it seems to me that, either because of the small number of the workers, or because of the thus far insurmountable difficulties, there are many places where, in actual fact, there are no missionaries, and it in those places that I request to be sent, unless the Holy Father deigns to assign me some other.

In speaking of Guinea, I by no means meant that I requested a mission in that place, where already there are workers full of zeal ; only, I am certain that their charity would receive me for the time necessary to obtain the information and the means required by prudence for passing to the east, beyond the limits that they themselves have evangelised. It seems to me that, on this clear understanding, the Holy Father would place no obstacles in the way of letting me go, unless he wished to employ me elsewhere.

As regards the enormous difficulties that I would encounter in the character of the peoples, the languages, etc., and on which I have no illusion, it seems to me worthy of note that, since no-one has yet exploited the countries where I request to go, no-one knows their language. This is a difficulty that the trailblazer will necessarily encounter, but he may hope to find on the frontiers or on the coasts some individuals with whom he will first of all get in contact.

And let it not be said that the missionaries who are already on the frontiers can more easily penetrate than I could do myself, for these Gentlemen already have more than they can do in their missions. On the contrary, once in Guinea, I would not have to deal with the interests of the mission of Guinea, but only to prepare the ways and to seize the first favourable opportunity of penetrating to peoples to whom perhaps the name of Jesus Christ has never been carried.

Thus, My Lord, I summarise very briefly : it seems to me that, according to what I have taken the liberty of outlining to you, you could plead my cause in respect of the Holy Father, showing him that: 1) there is no inconstancy ; 2) that I am not asking to work on the field of others ; and 3) that perhaps it needs someone useless, as I am at this moment, for a quite different mission, to undertake the work that I am requesting to go and try out.

For the rest, if the Holy Father replied favourably to my request, as I hope, my plan would be not to leave before going to Rome to come to an agreement with Propaganda and take down its detailed instructions. Only it would be extremely advantageous to obtain the Holy Father's certain assent before making such a journey to Rome, so as not to be obliged to return to France and waste more time in coming to an understanding with Propagation of the Faith, etc.

Your letter fills me with hope, My Lord; I lay this hope before the Immaculate Virgin Mary, and entrust it to your zeal, begging you to believe me...

(Versailles ? 16 July 1855)

Sent_0673

Sent_0673 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 2 - le 16 juillet 1855 -/2

Sent 0673 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 2 - le 16 juillet 1855 -/2

Sent_0673 - à Mgr Barnabò, n° 2 - le 16 juillet 1855 -/2

Sent 0673 Original, APF, Francia, vol. 3, 1848-1856, pp 913-914

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 368

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

(rough copy no. 2) ()

In order to clearly explain the reason behind his request in letter 0671. He has given up Coimbatore, but he has never given up the missions. Because of his episcopal character, in order not to cast umbrage on anyone, he would willingly go where there are no missionaries, to the heart of Guinea, for example. Of course, he has no illusion as to the difficulties awaiting him.

Index : leaving again on mission, vocation, Africa

__________

(Versailles ?) 16 July 1855 (

  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * )
  * My Lord,

It is with great solace that I received your good letter of 7th of this month, because it gives me the hope of resuming, in the time marked out by Providence, the ministry of the missions, in the exercise of which it is my desire to continue to live and to die.

Allow me meanwhile, My Lord, to add some words to what I have written to you (I have already written to you), for I note in your letter some expressions which lead me to believe that I still have not clearly explained all my thought. (I have not clearly explained all of my thought).

It seems to me, My Lord, that on my part there is not (there is no) a priori sententia immutatio. () I believed I was obliged, it is true, to offer my resignation as apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, but I have not given up devoting my life to the service of the missions. This is so true that immediately after it was accepted by the Holy See, I offered myself to fill any post in our Society. The Gentlemen of the Seminary of Paris were of the opinion that the episcopal character was against this, and besides they could not assign me any such ex officio, since they alone are not the superiors of the Society.

Since then, I have been seeking a place where, with the character with which I am vested, I may work on God's task and on the propagation of the Gospel, without casting umbrage on anyone. Now, it seems to me (it seemed to me that) in Africa there are countries where, de facto, there are no evangelical workers, and where I could, without any drawback to anyone, go and try to penetrate.

But you add, My Lord: in locis memoratis ubi jam Episcopi Praesulesque Apostolici constituti sunt. ()

I do not know if the whole extent of Africa is included in the limits apportioned to the different apostolic workers, but it seems to me that, either because of the small number of workers, or because of the difficulties that they have not been able to overcome, there are many places where, in actual fact, there are still no missionaries. Now it is in these places that I request to be sent, unless the Holy Father should deign to assign me some other.

In speaking of Guinea, I by no means meant to say that I requested to be sent to that mission where there are already workers filled with zeal. I was merely expressing the confidence that those Gentlemen would have the charity to let me spend with them the time required, to obtain the necessary information and the other means required by prudence, before pressing on further to the east, beyond the limits that they themselves have evangelised. It seems to me that, on such a clear understanding, the Holy Father would not place any obstacle in allowing me to go, unless he wished to employ me elsewhere.

As to the enormous obstacles that I would find in the character of the peoples, the language (the languages) etc., I have no illusion, but it seems to me that, since no-one has yet explored the countries where I am requesting to go and no-one knows the languages, these are difficulties that the first pioneer will necessarily encounter. However may one not hope to find on the coasts, or at the frontiers of these countries, certain individuals from the interior with whom contact would first of all be established ?

Neither, it seems to me, should we stop at the thought that the zealous missionaries already present in Guinea, could more easily than me penetrate into the interior, for these Gentlemen have already more than they can do in their mission. On the contrary, I will not have to deal at all with the interests of the mission of Guinea, but merely to prepare the ways or to seize the first favourable opportunity of penetrating to the peoples to whom the holy name of Jesus Christ has perhaps never yet been carried.

Thus, My Lord, I summarise : it seems to me that you could plead my cause in respect of the Holy Father, by showing : 1) that there is no inconstancy ; 2) that I am not asking to work in the field of others ; and 3) that in order to undertake this work that I am asking to go and try out, perhaps someone useless, as I am at the present time, is required for quite another mission.

Besides, if the Holy Father answers my request favourably, as I hope, my plan would be not to set out without first going to Rome to reach an understanding with Propaganda and take down its detailed instructions. Only before going to Rome, it would be very advantageous to have the Holy Father's certain assent, so as not to be obliged to return to France and waste more time in coming to an agreement with Propagation of the Faith, etc.

I repeat, My Lord, your letter has filled me with hope. I am laying this hope before the Immaculate Virgin Mary and entrusting it to your benevolent zeal, begging you to believe me,

My Lord,

Your...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles 16 June 1855)

Sent_0674

Sent_0674 - à un séminariste indien - juillet 1855 -/2

Sent 0674 - to an Indian seminarian - July 1855 /2

Sent_0674 - à un séminariste indien - juillet 1855 -/2

Sent 0674 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F10, p 351

(translation: following page)

(to a seminarian of India?)

advice for his future life as a priest. My resignation from Coimbatore is accepted. I hope to go out somewhere else.

Index : advice, resignation from Coimbatore, leaving once more in mission

__________

(Versailles ?), (July 1855 ?) (

)

Carissime,

Tuas heri recepi litteras, non minori admiratione quam gaudio, nec non et praesertim cum gratiarum actione pro beneficiis divinae Providentiae erga te. Age, carissime, et vide ne unquam deficias gratiis quibus Dominus Noster Jesus Christus prosecutus est juventutem tuam, ut, probatus tentationibus et difficultatibus plurimis, sacerdos fias secundum cor suum, pius et paratus denuo pati cum Christo, si (optimus ?) Dominus, qui eos castigat quos diligit, per viam dolorosam ducere te vult ad vitam aeternam.

Ab aliquibus mensibus jam Sancta Sedes acceptavit dimissionem meam a Vicariatu apostolico Coimbatorensi quem dereliqui propter miserias Indiae quas bene cognoscis, et quibus nullum remedium inoriri potui. Maxima pœna est pro me has reliquisse missiones quas toto corde diligo. Spero aliam missionem inire, sed quando ? Nescio.

Ora pro me ut nihil aliud desiderem et faciam nisi sanctissimi Dei voluntatem. Vale.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles ? July 1855 ?)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING LETTER

(to a seminarian of India ?)

(Versailles ?) (July 1855 ?)

Very dear friend,

Yesterday I received your letter with as much admiration as joy, but also and above all giving thanks for the blessings of divine Providence towards you. Act and live in such a way as never to fail in the graces with which Our Lord Jesus Christ has filled your youth; thus, already well tried by a host of temptations and difficulties, you will be a priest according to his heart, pious and ready to suffer once more with Christ, if our Lord, who punishes the person he loves, wishes to lead you to eternal life by a way of sufferings.

It is already several months since the Holy See accepted my resignation from the Apostolic Vicariate of Coimbatore, that I have left because of the troubles of India with which you are well acquainted and for which I was unable to bring any remedy. It is a great sorrow to me to have left these missions that I love with my whole heart. I hope soon to leave again on another mission, but when? I have no idea.

Pray for me that I never desire or do ever any other than the will of God the all-holy. Farewell.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles ?, July 1855 ?)

Sent_0675

Sent_0675 - à M. de Gélis - le 10 août 1855 -/1

Sent 0675 - à M. de Gélis - le 10 août 1855 -/2

Sent_0675 - à M. de Gélis - le 10 août 1855 -/1

Sent 0675 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 174-175

(to Mr Laurent de Gélis)

(apostolic missionary)

Good Saint Laurent's day. I live like a hermit, but I am eager to leave again for the missions. Coolness of the Gentlemen of Paris towards me: they give me no news and have certainly indisposed the apostolic vicars of our congregation against me. I am ready to leave for somewhere else. Give me your news.

Index : friendship, coolness, leaving again on mission, news

__________

Versailles, Saint Laurent's day (10 August) 1855

Very dear Mr de Gélis,

Today more than ever, although not a day passes without my thinking of you all and of Coimbatore, you were present in my mind during the very holy sacrifice of mass ; and I wish to tell you so, having unfortunately nothing new to communicate to you.

I am living here not only as a hermit, but as a recluse, saying mass alone in my apartment, and almost never going outside the precincts of the monastery of the Capuchins. It is always my desire to return to the missions, somewhere else than in India, for as long as no measures have been taken to decide on the doubts regarding caste and the practices consequent on it.

Thus far, the episcopal character seems to be an invincible obstacle to my returning to the missions. It seems to me that if the Gentlemen of Paris had wished, I could have rendered some further services either to the college of Pinang, or to Hong-Kong, or to the Seminary of Paris. I would never have believed that those Gentlemen could have behaved towards me as they have done.

Since I have been at Versailles, I have gone two or three times to visit them. None of them has thus far appeared here. They give me no news. I learn of the aspirants' departure through the gazettes. Thus, there was a departure for Pondicherry of which I knew nothing ; and by chance I heard of the death of a missionary of Pondicherry, whose name I do not know.

This is the present situation ; as you see, it is not rosy. Patience. I can hardly hope that the apostolic vicars will give me a position in the congregation. Even if they were willing to, how could they reach agreement? Besides, the Gentlemen of Paris have certainly indisposed them against me; patience once more. I do not hold it against them, for they believe they are acting for the best! Only, if another mission was open to me, I would enter like a shot, for it is my desire to die in the missions.

For the last three months I have received no news either of Pondicherry, or of Coimbatore. Then, I received a letter from you and another from Mr Métral which I answered. Who are they giving you as apostolic vicar? Will it be one of you, or else will he be chosen from among the missionaries of Pondicherry, as it appears was at first intended? If you want me to know anything, write and tell me.

A Dieu, very dear Mr de Gélis. Pray for the afflicted. A thousand kind greetings to all those who have not forgotten me, and above all to Mr Métral. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Versailles, Saint Laurent's day, 10 August 1855)

Sent_0676

Sent_0676 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 20 août 1855 -/1

Sent 0676 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 20 août 1855 -/1

Sent_0676 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 20 août 1855 -/1

Sent 0676 photo copy, AMA 2F17/1855

(to his sister Bathilde)

The address of a doctor who removed a cyst for him. My episcopal character makes it more difficult to leave for some other mission. I maintain hope.

Index : leaving again in mission

__________

Versailles, 20 August 1855

It was not until yesterday, my dear friend, that I was able to obtain the address of the doctor who removed the cyst: it is doctor Courrant, Rue du Bac 37 or close to that number. He merely made a single application of cosmetic ointment. There was practically no pain. Immediately, it turned black then, a few days later, dried up and fell.

As regards your other questions, I will tell you that, if I were not a bishop, I would already have left again for the missions, because it is not right that I eat without doing anything. Thus far the episcopal character has proved an impediment and it is still so. However that may be, I plan to go to Rome at the end of the year, then we will see.

A long letter from our good father crossed with the one I wrote to him just recently. I was very pleased to receive it, because his long diction and his minute writing prove to me that he is in good health. Please pass on to him my respectful friendship, as also to Mamma. A Dieu.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Versailles, 20 August 1855)

Sent_0677

Sent_0677 - au Père Lazare - le 10 octobre 1855 -/2

Sent 0677 - au Père Lazare - le 10 octobre 1855 -/2

Sent_0677 - au Père Lazare - le 10 octobre 1855 -/2

Sent 0677 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, 250-251

(to Father Lazare, Indian priest)

The three fundamental things that were necessary for India : 1) make priests from the country : I saw that it was possible ; 2) organise the clergy as between the European missionaries and the native priests : for me, the solution is clear, but not so for the others ; I had to yield; 3) establish a uniform procedure regarding the usages of the country with a clear decision by Rome. I do not understand why they did not follow me. A few words on the catechisate.

Index : native clergy, ecclesiastic administration, Indian usages, Rome (authority), catechisate

__________

Versailles, 10 October 1855

Very dear Father Lazare,

Thank you for thinking of me sometimes, above all in your prayers during the very holy sacrifice of mass ; as for me, I will never forget a country which had become my new homeland, and in which I wanted to die. But that was on condition that I had lived there working on a way that, according to my convictions, could within a certain time, have brought about its regeneration. I had to yield to powerful obstacles. It is with the utmost sorrow, but also through the testimony of my conscience, that I have done my duty.

As soon as I got to know India, I formed the conviction that three things were necessary, in order to arrive at something fundamental : to make priests from the country, to organise the clergy and, as regards the usages of the country, to adopt a uniform attitude and one which would leave no doubt as to its legitimacy. Until all of this is achieved, even if there were twice as many missionaries as at present, and twice as many Christians, the Church of India will be in the air, except on the Malabar coast, where there are many things to be desired regarding education and the organisation of the clergy, but where the Church is in a less abnormal and consequently a more solid state.

The possibility of forming good priests was soon demonstrated to me, providing we did not require from all of them a perfection not to be found anywhere. I saw that, with good direction, they were capable of acquiring the priestly virtues and of rising above the prejudices of their country. Certainly my ecclesiastics, if I had wished, if it had been useful for religion, would have eaten beef. Thus they no longer respected these observances (which are certainly far removed from the spirit of the gospel) except like us, out of a condescendence that we felt we could show towards the feebleness of the people.

The Lord has permitted that I have done enough for this work for the possibility to appear clearly ; but in order for it to bear abundant fruits, it needed to have been put into practice in our three vicariates, and in those of Madras and of Madurai.

That was not all. What was done or was not done in the other vicariates no longer concerned me directly, since I was entrusted with Coimbatore; but it was necessary, in order to foresee a numerous native clergy, to arrange things in such a way that these priests were in their place, without being ruffled in their natural susceptibility, and without themselves ruffling the natural susceptibility of the European priests. For, it might quite easily have come to the point of no longer needing such a large number of European missionaries, but it would be an illusion to think of doing without European evangelical workers altogether in India.

Now, the organisation of these two clergies is really very difficult, and the Lord did not permit me to be sufficiently upheld in this work. I desire with all my heart that others prove more capable than me of solving the problem. The solution appears clear to me, but did not appear so to the others. I had to give way. Very likely it will be solved by giving up the idea of the native clergy and adopting the system of Madurai. I pray God to bless it if it is veritable, but I cannot believe it so.

Finally, all of this would be nothing, or at least would still be relatively unimportant if, at the head of a respectable clergy, we could not attack the mass of pagan people. Now, for this, it was vital, to my mind, to put an end to the diversity of behaviour of the evangelical workers and by so doing destroy any uncertainty on the legitimacy of our conduct with regard to certain usages.

It was necessary to try and obtain from Rome the utmost tolerance possible for this poor people, and accordingly tolerate these usages uniformly and in full knowledge of the implications. Whereas, on the contrary, if it is proved that certain of these usages are contrary to the gospel, we should no longer tolerate them, but once more on a basis of uniformity of language and of conduct. I do not understand how on this point people could have put up an invincible resistance, and doubtless I will die without having understood it.

While waiting for some other more fortunate than me to obtain from heaven the achievement of the wishes of my heart, some goodwill undoubtedly be done, and you for your part will undoubtedly contribute to it. The zeal of the excellent bishop of Drusipare, and of his numerous missionaries, cannot fail to bear some fruits. The accessory works of which you speak to me will prosper with heaven's blessing, and they are good in themselves ; they could only become regrettable, if they impeded the essential works.

On this point, I can only share your fear as regards the catechisate. Excellent and numerous catechists appear to me incompatible with a local clergy, at least in the peaceful missions of India. To my mind, it is certain that the practice of catechists will be abandoned before the ones we are about to form have grandchildren, or else that the seminary will have reverted to what is was in 1842, a seminary for the form.

I am telling you all of this, dear Father Lazare, so that, if my former and very dear pupils should ask you why I have abandoned them, you can tell them that I yielded neither to fatigue, nor to sorrow, but to necessity and to conviction.

A Dieu.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles, 10 October 1855)

Sent_0678

Sent_0678 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 13 octobre 1855 -/1

Sent 0678 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 13 octobre 1855 -/1

Sent_0678 - à Mgr Barnabò - le 13 octobre 1855 -/1

Sent 0678 Original, APF, Francia, vol. 3, 1848-1856, pp 931

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 249

(to Mgr Barnabò)

(Secretary of Propaganda)

I am leaving Versailles and going to spend a few days with my family ; then I will go to Rome where I hope that the Holy Father will give me his blessing for some point on the globe.

Index : leaving on mission again

__________

Versailles, 13 October 1855 (

  * 
  * 
  * 
  * )
  * My Lord,

The last letter that I had the honour of receiving from you was dated 27 July. I take the liberty of addressing to you today these few short lines to tell you that I am leaving Versailles, with the intention of going to spend a few days in my family, and thereafter to make my way to Rome. I expect to arrive in the Eternal City some time during the month of December.

I continue to hope that the Holy Father will grant me his blessing for some point on the globe where there are no evangelical workers, since every other mission seems closed to me. The moderation of my request, and the purity of my intentions, insofar as I can bear witness to them myself, sustain me in my hope.

While awaiting the opportunity of speaking with you, kindly believe in the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

My Lord...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Versailles, 13 October 1855)

Sent_0679

Sent_0679 - à M. Arnal - le 20 novembre 1855 -/1

Sent 0679 - à M. Arnal - le 20 novembre 1855 -/1

Sent_0679 - à M. Arnal - le 20 novembre 1855 -/1

Sent 0679 Original, envelope at the beginning of 2F1

(to Mr Etienne Arnal)

(superior of the minor seminary of Carcassonne)

How I regret that you were unable to come.

Index : friendship

__________

Garric, 20 November 1855 ()

You will not believe, my dear Mr Arnal, how disappointed and above all distressed I was on learning the cause which deprived us of the opportunity of seeing you this evening. Mr Marquier has just arrived, and left again for Villemagne with his children. We are going to visit him tomorrow, and we hoped to be there with you; the feast will not be complete as a result of your absence.

Nevertheless I hope that, as soon as possible, you will repay us for the deprivation that you are necessarily occasioning us, and ask you, while awaiting the pleasure of seeing you, to kindly remember me in your good prayers, and to believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Garric 20 November 1855)

Sent_0680

Sent_0680 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1855 -/1

Sent 0680 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1855 -/1

Sent_0680 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 23 novembre 1855 -/1

Sent 0680 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 859-862

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Good Saint Clément's day. I could never forget a prelate that I loved so much. I sign "your confrere", for as long as I am not excluded from the MEP.

Index : friendship, belonging to the MEP

__________

Near Castelnaudary, 23 November 1855

My Lord,

God has permitted us to be separated, when it seemed that his Providence had spared nothing in order to keep us for ever united. May his will be done in everything. May he accept from me this fresh sacrifice! But what his goodness will certainly not require is that our hearts are not united. Mine would never be able to forget a prelate that I have loved so dearly and that I will always love, whatever happens. This is a daily memory of the heart, I assure you, but it receives as it were an additional vigour today, your patron saint's day, and it is exclusively to wish you a good saint's day that I take up my pen.

I have come to spend two months with my family, before leaving for Rome, where I expect to arrive towards the middle of next month. Kindly keep a memory and a prayer for me, and believe me, in Our Lord, your completely devoted confrere, for as long as I am not formally excluded from the Society of Foreign Missions, and always,

Your Lordship's

Very humble and completely devoted servant.

M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Near Castelnaudary, 23 November 1855)

Sent_0681

Sent_0681 - à la Propagande - le 4 janvier 1856 -/5

Sent 0681 - à la Propagande - le 4 janvier 1856 -/5

Sent_0681 - à la Propagande - le 4 janvier 1856 -/5

Sent 0681 Original, APF, Congressi, Africa Centrale,

1848-1857, pp 1170ss

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F5, pp 98-121

copy, AMA 2C19, pp 1-7

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

This is the report asking for the opening of a mission in Dahomey It consists of six parts: 1) From the acceptance of my resignation from Coimbatore, I offered myself to the Holy See to leave for elsewhere, alone or with a few companions, in Africa for example, for, being a bishop, I cannot go into an organised mission; 2) Providence led me to meet Mr Régis, a shipowner who trades on the coasts of Guinea, and who is prepared to favour the action of missionaries in those parts. 3) Summary of what Mr Régis has told him on Dahomey: king Guézo, the treaty with France, the presence of some Christians, the help he could give to the missionaries at least at the outset, the climate...4) Action needs to be quite prompt, for the Protestant missionaries could take advantage of the opportunity and the inclinations of the firm of Régis might change. 5) Some questions with relative answers: we are there in a mission of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit; it would need a whole congregation to take on such a task; how could such an undertaking be financed? 6) I am at your disposal to try to go and plant the faith in that country.

Index : leaving once more on mission, Dahomey, finances, report

__________

Rome, 4 January 1856 ()

Most Eminent Lords,

1) When, because of the state of the missions in India, and in particular that of Coimbatore, I felt myself obliged to hand in my resignation, and to leave an Apostolic Vicariate the memory of which will always be dear to my heart, I was not led to this decision by any disgust for the work of evangelisation of the peoples still plunged in the shadows of idolatry, nor by the desire to rest after twelve years of difficult work, doubtless, but which grace makes lovable. Still young, and full of strength, my desire is not to cease to work in the Lord's vineyard.

Thus, as soon as my resignation, which I had offered a long time earlier, was accepted by the Holy See, I retired into the retreat, in the precincts of the Reverend Capuchin Fathers of Versailles, to examine in calm, how I could still make myself useful to the missions. Now, after several fruitless attempts, I seem to perceive that the episcopal character, with which I have the honour of being vested, would for a long time prove an obstacle to my entering into an already organised mission.

Since then, after having reflected maturely before God, and having renewed to him the offering of the sacrifice of my homeland, of my relatives, of my family, of my time, of my days and of my life if need be, I wondered why I should not pray the Holy Father to bless me and to permit me to penetrate, alone even, if I did not find companions, into some place where, by dint of circumstances or difficulties, there are not at this moment any evangelical workers. In certain, for example of the internal regions of the vastness of Africa. Apart from that, I was morally certain that, once authorised by the Holy Father to attach several worthy cooperators to myself, I would find some in France, who would be filled with zeal and devotion.

On 26 May of last year, I wrote a letter in these terms to Mgr Barnabò, secretary of the S.C. of Propaganda. A correspondence developed, according to which I thought it best to come to Rome to explain myself my request to the S.C. , and if it approves me, to ask the Holy Father for a blessing that will make my wishes bear fruit.

Now, it happened that, during the interval separating my resolution to come to Rome from its carrying out, divine Providence seems to have provided me with the means of fixing, on a given point, the general and still vague views that I had of undertaking a mission in as yet unexplored countries, or else at present empty of missionaries.

2) The Rev. Father Ambroise, warden of the monastery of the Capuchins at Versailles, as well as Rev. Father Dominique, master of the novices, knew my intentions. Now it happened that the first of these two Fathers, having gone to Eaux-Bonnes, made the acquaintance of Mr Régis the elder, from Marseilles, a very good Christian man, it is said, very rich, a shipowner, doing trade on the coasts of Guinea. This gentleman spoke to him of the complete lack of missionaries in the Kingdom of Africa, where he principally carries out his trade, adding that he would be personally prepared to facilitate the action of the missionaries, in a country where he has some influence, although the inhabitants are extremely barbarous, but happily disposed, at the present time, towards the French.

On his return from the Waters, the Rev, Father Ambroise notified me of this opening on the part of Mr Régis, but at first I attached little importance to this communication. However, I left Versailles with the intention of spending two months with my family, before going on to Rome. Already these two months had almost elapsed, when I received a letter from the Rev. Father Dominique who had gone to Marseilles for some business of his order, and had had the opportunity of speaking with Mr Régis. He sung the praises of this shipowner to me and urged me strongly to see him when I passed by there, for he was persuaded that something could be done with him, for the glory of God, in the propagation of the Holy Gospel.

Since I had only one day to spend in Marseilles, and was desirous of speaking with Mr Régis, I wrote him a note in advance, asking him to find himself at home the day I was due to pass through. In fact he was waiting for me, and I could not but praise his good graces and his happy intentions to back up the establishment of a mission in the Kingdom of Dahomey, where his trading establishment exercises, as I said, a great influence. Hereafter is a summary of his conversation.

3) The Kingdom of Dahomey, he told me, is one of the most powerful in West Africa. The king today possesses the country where the fort of Whydah was situated, formerly possessed by the French, but abandoned for a long time now, that we now possess ourselves, with the authorisation of the French Government, and where we have set up a palm oil factory. We are in excellent relations with the king of Dahomey who protects us, and over whom we have had quite considerable influence in preventing him thus far, from authorising the Protestant ministers from coming to exploit the country. For we are Catholics, and our keen desire would be to see a Catholic mission set up there.

We know that the Gentlemen of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary are at present entrusted with the spiritual jurisdiction over all the coasts of Guinea. However, for lack of sufficiently numerous subjects, and following losses that they have undergone on several points along the coast, it has been impossible for them, in fact, thus far to establish the mission of Dahomey. A few years ago Mgr Bessieux passed by Whydah; we received him as best we could and sought to fix his attention on this Kingdom. He was very interested in everything that we said to him, but doubtless he has not been able to do anything thus far for this part of his immense territory.

Nevertheless we are persuaded that there are fruits to be expected in this kingdom, in the interior of which we do not think that the Catholic missionaries have yet penetrated. The sea coasts were more or less evangelised, earlier on, so that there are, around the old fort, quite a few Negroes who call themselves Christians, although at the same time they worship the snake and fetishes.

Every now and then, sometimes at several years' interval, a black priest, of Portuguese race, comes to give baptism, against payment to the children presented to him ; he goes away immediately after this is done, and that is all that remains by way of Christian memories to certain Blacks who make no bones about conducting themselves exactly like the pagans. Nevertheless, these baptised do not seem to be ashamed of the name of Christian, and it does not appear that because of this name they are regarded with disfavour in the kingdom.

Besides, the king is very well inclined towards us and the French. He would see with pleasure the setting up of schools close to our counter, and perhaps also in the interior, and indeed in the capital, to teach the French language to the young negroes. It seems to us that it is in this way that the missionaries should first of all introduce themselves into Dahomey.

In 1851, the French Government had sent Mr Bouet, naval lieutenant, to explore the coasts of Africa, and this officer made a small treaty with Guézo, now the reigning prince, in which he took care to include an article favourable to the missionaries who would come to educate his subjects. () It should be noted that the Moslems have still not established themselves in this kingdom. It would be absolutely essential for the mission to make some sacrifices for the work of the schools. For although there are still no Protestant ministers there, as we all know they exist in other points of Africa, and they pay the children who attend their schools.

It would be necessary for the missionaries to clothe at least those they could attract to their schools, and who will come there more or less, if not totally, naked. It would further be absolutely necessary for the mission from time to time to make some presents to the king and the grandees of the kingdom, above all on arrival, so as to ensure their good graces and set themselves up in the country. Although these peoples are very cruel, and they love to see blood flow, there is nothing to fear at this moment for the French missionaries, because of the good harmony in which we live with the king; besides we undertake to welcome the missionaries first of all in our sphere of influence, to give them the means of getting into contact with the king and to lodge them until the mission is established.

The air of Whydah is absolutely not unhealthy ; we keep numerous employees there ; some of them have been there for long years and enjoy excellent health. Undoubtedly there are certain precautions to be taken against intermittent fevers which however are not as dangerous as elsewhere, and that are not to be dreaded in the interior of the kingdom.

4) So that, Very Eminent Lords, is the summary of what Mr Régis senior told me. I am merely reporting his words by memory, and cannot guarantee all the expressions used, but it is assuredly the substance of his conversation. At the end of this report, I will give as an appendix the text of article 10 which I referred to and that I copied down from Mr Régis. Then I will also give the extract from certain passages that I found in a geographical compendium, containing some notions on the kingdom of Dahomey and on the ancient fort of Whydah.

Now, from all of this it seems to me evident that the moment of Providence has come to go and try to plant the standard of the cross in the interior of the kingdom of Dahomey. It is important to forestall the Protestants, who are on the look-out, and who will do their best to be the first to take possession of the land and, what is worse, of the spirit of these populations.

The occupants of the trading post of Whydah have thus far managed to frustrate their attempts, but very probably they will not be able to do so for much longer, Mr Régis himself was saying, if they return to the attack. For the treaty made with the French officer does not stipulate anything special for the Catholic missionaries. The spirit of the treaty is certainly in our favour, but the letter has had to remain within the terms of French missionaries. Thus it would suffice for the Protestants to send some French ministers for the zeal of Messrs Régis to remain inactive.

Finally, the favourable leanings of this powerful trading concern cannot last for ever. It is not that I am casting any doubt on the faith and the generous loyalty of these honest traders. But men pass quickly and things change. Whereas if we manage to anchor ourselves today in the country, and if, by means of the advantages that are offered us, we put down roots for a few years, we will find ourselves in a position later on to bear the tempests which we may expect to see arrive.

5) As regards the difficulties of execution, they are great, without doubt, but they do not appear to me invincible. The objection rising first to mind, and which appears to me the most serious is the following:

1st objection : the Kingdom of Dahomey is an enclave in the Apostolic Vicariate that the Holy See entrusted to the worthy priests of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Accordingly why not abandon it to their zeal, instead of creating a new mission?

Answer: Assuredly, Most Eminent Lords, the priests of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary would not have neglected this portion of their vast territory if they had been able to put into effect all that their zeal suggests to them. The S.C. knows better than any other that the zeal and the spirit of sacrifice in this pious congregation is by no means lacking. However, because they are entrusted with an immense expanse of country, they have only had a relatively small number of subjects to devote to the missions. Apart from that, it is known what enormous losses they have undergone in the places they decided to occupy first of all.

Obliged to fill in, in these same places, the gaps left by death, it was undoubtedly impossible for them to provide for the need of many other places. Everything makes us presume that they will long remain in this impossibility. They feel it themselves, for, if I am not mistaken, they have asked for a long time now to be relieved of a portion of their Vicariate. Accordingly I think that they will not be annoyed at all by the creation of a new mission in Dahomey, and their charity will accept with joy, as welcome brothers, those who arrive to share their painful and glorious works.

2nd objection : To whom could this new mission be entrusted ? In the present state of things, it seems that it can only be provided for by means of a religious body, or a congregation of priests who deal directly or accidentally with the work of evangelisation abroad. Now what congregation would be prepared to take it over?

Answer: It seems to me that we need not deal immediately with this question. However precious the advantages of this organisation are for the perpetual succession of evangelical workers in a mission, it is not absolutely essential. Perhaps even it might be advisable, before offering to a congregation a completely new mission, such as that of Dahomey would be, to have tested the ground by means of a few devoted missionaries depending exclusively on Propaganda.

What would be necessary, to my mind, to begin with ? A bishop accompanied by two solid missionaries, or three at the most, with one or two serving brothers. Now it seems to me that with the Holy Father's blessing, I could find, without too many difficulties, this number of evangelical workers. Later on, in a few years from now, for example, if God lends us life and if he deigns above all to grant us some success, it will be easy for us to reach agreement with some of the pious and zealous Societies dealing with Missions.

3rd objection : How could we meet the costs of preparation, of first establishment and of erection ?

Answer: If the S.C. shared my hopes, it seems to me that it would not hesitate to itself make some sacrifices, at least for the first establishment. I have no doubt that thereafter the work of Propagation of the Faith would come to our aid, once Dahomey has been erected as a separate mission.

We can further count I think, on the work of the Holy Childhood, for since the missionaries of Dahomey have to apply themselves, from the outset, to direct their action on the children, both in the schools, and in every other way, it is only natural that the work of the Holy Childhood will have some liking for us and that it too will come to our aid. Finally, there would be the resource of a special collection, which however I believe, in view of the state of embarrassment in which the whole of Europe finds itself at present, we should only envisage as a last resort.

6) And I will end, Very Eminent Lords, by asking the S.C. very humbly :

1) if it would not be advisable to create at this time a distinct mission in the Kingdom of Dahomey ?

2) if it would not find it good that, while placing myself at its disposal for such a work as it would deign to entrust to me, I should offer myself in a special way to go and try to plant the faith in this barbarian, inhuman, bloodthirsty country, but in which the God of all mercy has perhaps reserved some elect for these last times ?

I beg Your Eminences to accept the expression of the utmost devotion with which,

I have the honour of being,

Most Eminent Lords,

Your very humble and very obedient servant.

(+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac)

(bishop of Pruse)

(Rome, 4 January 1856) (

)

Sent_0682

Sent_0682 - à M. Vian - le 15 janvier 1856 -/2

Sent 0682 - à M. Vian - le 15 janvier 1856 -/2

Sent_0682 - à M. Vian - le 15 janvier 1856 -/2

Sent 0682 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 252-253

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Once my resignation from Coimbatore was accepted, I asked the Holy See if I could leave for elsewhere and Providence has led to my finding a precise place in Africa where I have asked Propaganda to send me alone or with a few companions. But it does not want me to go alone: it urges me to found a society of missionaries ; would you accept to belong to the first core of the Society of African Missions ?

Index : leaving again in mission, Africa, SMA (foundation)

__________

Rome, 15 January 1856 ()

Very dear friend,

Charity does not lose sight of the friends that she has united in the Lord. Thus, although it is a long time since I received any news from you, I have certainly not forgotten you, and above all I remember a desire that you expressed to me several times to make yourself useful to the work of the Missions.

Now I am about to propose to you a work of zeal and devotion, which is only in germ still, but which it depends on you perhaps, with grace from on high, to make fruitful in fruits of salvation in the near future. For this you should consent to back me up. Let us go into a few details.

As perhaps you know, because of the state of the missions in India, I believed myself obliged to hand in my resignation from the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore. This resignation was in no way motivated by disgust for the ever admirable work of the mission, nor by the desire to rest. Thus, as soon as my resignation, which I had offered a long while ago, was at last accepted, I offered myself to the S.C. of Propaganda for another mission, desirous, as far as possible, of being sent to peoples where the light of the faith has not yet penetrated, for example in certain of the most barbarous regions of Africa.

Particular circumstances thereafter allowed me to fix my request on a given point in Africa where no missionary has perhaps ever entered, and where divine Providence seems to be opening a door to us. I offered to go there alone, or in company of a few devoted missionaries, if I found any willing to follow me. The S.C. would see me with pleasure working to open up this new mission: But it does not want me to go alone ; for that reason it urges me to set up a Society of missionaries.

However, this same Providence allowed me to make the acquaintance of another evangelical worker, who is here to implore succour for other points in Africa, where it seems possible to obtain an abundant harvest, but where the workers are lacking. This and other considerations encourage me to work to set up a special Society for the evangelisation of the peoples of Africa to whom the Gospel has still not been preached, or who, by the misfortune of the times, are most deprived of missionaries.

If the good God blesses this thought, it will grow and could become of some interest in the holy Church ; and for that reason, I am resolved to undertake it and to put myself to work as soon as the first elements can be collected. It would be sufficient for me for the moment to have a few co-operators to follow me in the mission, and a few others who would be our correspondents in Europe and the soul of the new association.

Your age, together with your poor health, would not perhaps permit you to follow us in mission, but could you not be that soul that I am seeking for our work in Europe ? For that, you should join yourself to me in order to form the first core of the Society of African Missions.

This Society would be modelled on that of the Foreign Missions, with some modifications that I will let you know as soon as you have given me your consent. We would take from the Society of Foreign Missions everything that an experience of twelve years has proved to me to be excellent, while we would modify anything that appears to us as defective.

See before God and his Holy Mother, and deign to answer me as soon as possible. I almost count on your consent, and will await your answer with impatience, for time presses. Adieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. In order for your letters not to pay more than in France, kindly address them under double envelope to Mr Gabanda, sergeant of the 25th line.

(Rome, Piazza Venezia, 115, 15 January 1856)

Sent_0683

Sent_0683 - à M. Pajean - le 3 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0683 - à M. Pajean - le 3 février 1856 -/2

Sent_0683 - à M. Pajean - le 3 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0683 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 1125-1127

(to Mr Jean-Louis Pajean)

(apostolic missionary)

A long passage on the present difficulties of India : Verapoly, the Carmelites, Bombay, the Capuchins. Everywhere, there is lack of harmony. Must we return to the times of the Portuguese bishops and do away with the apostolic vicar?. India is far from being on the road to conversion. Seemingly he purposely avoids speaking of Coimbatore. Some mention of his plans for Africa.

Index : religion in India, unity of action, leaving again on mission, Africa

__________

Rome, 3 February 1856 ()

Sir and dear confrere,

It was not until some days ago, in Rome, that I received your good letter of 31 October. I thank you for your kind remembrance. The news you give me are interesting indeed for me who have always, and who will have until death, my heart attached to a country that I would at last have wished to see walking on the path of veritable conversion. The mere conviction that it is impossible to hope for this fortune, without an essential modification in the work of evangelisation made me leave it, and the events which have occurred since confirm me in my sad prevision.

It is not that I fail to see the personal good that is due to the individual zeal of a large number of missionaries. By dint of oubaiam, of money and activity, each one will certainly do something, and I hope that they will lead some Indians to heaven; but Indian society, as such, is not attacked, and for as long as it remains where it is, we will never get to the heart, we will merely be scratching on the surface. Eh! Please God that such an abnormal state does not destroy on the one hand the zeal displayed by so many generous workers individually on the other.

Before everything else, there must be agreement ; now unfortunately this agreement is not present anywhere. In the regions that are not caste-bound, as in the others, there is no unity, no clear-cut principles, no harmony. Whence the incessant rifts and the heartbreaks that prevent any real progress.

Thus Verapoly loses an apostolic vicar without agreement entering the mission following his departure, without the rightful protests of the native Syriac clergy being either satisfied or stifled. Bombay loses its apostolic vicar. () Mgr Hartmann came to establish peace, at first he does good, before allowing himself to be dragged into a deplorable error by getting himself appointed apostolic vicar, to the great displeasure of the Carmelites and the Capuchins. The Very Rev. Father, the General Procurator of his order, was deploring this still yesterday with me. The apostolic vicar of Agra disappears in these wretched circumstances, etc., etc. Poor India !

You will tell me that India is not yours, but it all holds together, and besides you must be aware of the difficulties of caste-bound India. Impossible in my eyes to hope for a fundamental good without tolerating caste and its usages; impossible besides to tolerate these widely and in certainty of conscience without a perfect understanding between...(

) and the Holy See. But why do I speak to you of all this ? It is a country for which I can do no more than wish it well.

May I therefore content myself with congratulating you on your success in the building of churches, more than on the presence of the women religious at Ootacamund ; women religious in Coimbatore appear to me like luxury when there is no bread.

I spoke just recently with a high-placed prelate, about what truth there could be in the projects of a concordat between the Holy See and Portugal, regarding Indian affairs. It appears that great caution is being exercised, taking care not to lose sight of the rights of the apostolic vicars. Nevertheless, I would say to you that I would not be surprised if sooner or later the apostolic vicars, seeming not to meet all the expectations of the holy Church from that institution, should not lose to some extent the confidence of the Holy See.

Their divisions, the number of resignations, their lack of success for the formation of a clergy where none exists, their little care in its education and elevation where it does exist, as at Verapoly, means that many wonder if really things are going any better than when there were Portuguese bishops at Cranganor and at Saint-Tomé. From 1845 to 1850, a magnificent age arrived for the apostolic vicars of India. They were incapable of taking advantage of it; or else the good God permitted that it was impossible. I think we will have to wait a long time for such an opportunity to arise again.

Meanwhile I feel sure that God will bless the goodwill of each of them, and also that of their collaborators ; but India is still far from entering, as a people, the path of conversion that it would then have been possible to open up. This at least is my conviction.

I have taken a small format of paper in order not to enlarge too much on these questions with which my heart is full and that I habitually push back as a temptation, and yet, here I am at my fifth page. Enough then, and perhaps too much. I would say to you now that once my resignation was accepted... ()

In the rest of the letter, Mgr speaks of his reflections at Versailles, of the impossibility of remaining in our congregation, of his desire to go out and evangelise barbarous peoples, of his views on Africa communicated to the S.C., of how the latter received them, of his journey to Rome to explain himself personally with the S.C., of the evangelical works that he has to prepare before leaving, of his return to France after Easter through Piedmont and Savoy, etc.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 3 February 1856)

Sent_0684

Sent_0684 - à M. Vian - le 4 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0684 - à M. Vian - le 4 février 1856 -/2

Sent_0684 - à M. Vian - le 4 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0684 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 254-255

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

As from now I consider you as one of the founder members of the African Missions. I am sending you a little notice. Now we need men and money, with a house in France. You may take your family into your confidence; besides, you would remain in France and would be entrusted with seeing to the formation of young people. We will meet up in France to work out certain fundamental articles. As from now you may act as Providence's bursar of the African Missions. Put your trust in God and pass over your difficulties of conscience.

Index : SMA (foundation), fundamental articles, recruitment, finances

__________

Rome, 4 February 1856

Very dear Mr Vian,

The holy day of the Purification, on coming out from mass, I had to thank our good Mother for the content of your letter which arrived at that instant. A good work has to be done; with the grace of God, it will be done, if it corresponds to the views of divine Providence; if not, we will always have the merit of having tried it.

As from this moment, I consider you as being one of the founders. I am sending you enclosed herewith a little notice that has just been printed by Propaganda, and at its expense. Although a small matter, this is a sign of benevolence on the part of Propaganda for our project, that it will not fail to encourage and to approve later, if we can present it with a real beginning of execution. The matter is not an easy one, since we need devoted men and money ; for it would be necessary to found a house in France, either in Paris, or one of the bigger cities.

Apart from this, I am persuaded that, if God gives us the men who are worth more than money, his Providence will not refuse what is necessary. In fact, as regards personnel to start off with, it would suffice for us to have another priest of a certain age, worthy from all points of view and having the same sentiments as you, and a few other young men, however friends of the cross, even if only seminarians, prepared to leave for the missions once the time comes.

As for you, very dear friend, I do not think that you need to make a mystery of your devotion, either to your worthy brother, or even to your father. For, I do not think there will ever be any need for you to go in mission. You will have to acquire all the missionary's merits by remaining in France, at the head of the house that we will found with God's grace, and in the holy occupation of forming young workers who offer themselves to God and to us for the work of the apostolate. With the means of communication existing today, your respectable father will have you as quickly by his side, when he so desires, as if you were the parish priest of any village in the diocese.

I don't think it would be useful for you to come again to Rome. However it would be necessary for us to meet up soon, to reach agreement on the fundamental articles which will serve as a basis for our future constitutions. I have already formulated some of these articles, too long to be sent out to you. Now, I will be going to France myself as soon as my business has been perfectly laid before Propaganda, which I think will be by the end of Lent or soon afterwards.

Between now and then, we will have written to each other and will decide on the place where we could meet up. If Providence gives me the possibility, I would like to pass through Savoy where I could perhaps find some good missionary.

Meanwhile, consider our work before God, and also before men ; regard yourself as Providence's bursar for the African Missions, and if anyone refers to you with a view to taking part in the work, act as such, while urging such persons who might wish to engage themselves to wait patiently, in the post they now occupy, until the time comes for them to leave it. As for you, do not worry about the permission of your superiors to whom, without doubt, you will have to ask it when the time comes, but who cannot refuse it to you.

In a few days' time, I will pass on to you a certain number of Notices. On those that you hand out, instead of Mr Chaillot, you should write: to Monsieur l'Abbé V. Vian at Lorgues (Var).

As for the difficulties of conscience such as you have had the too great kindness to communicate to me or others, lay them all at the foot of the Cross and do not allow yourself to be embarrassed by them. If it is God's work, he will bless it despite the fact that we are miserable instruments, but do we not know that infirma mundi elegit Deus ut confundat fortia () ? Let us go to him in all of our nakedness, for, at this moment, we have nothing, but with all our goodwill, which is the part that he requires above all from us.

I leave you, very dear friend, embracing you in the spirit, until I have the pleasure of seeing you with the eyes of the body. Above all, let us be united in prayers under the patronage of the Holy Family which preceded us in Egypt, and which will protect us in the other regions of unfortunate Africa. A Dieu.

Completely yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. My respects, please to your family, from whom, I repeat, I can see no reason for you to conceal your determination. It is up to me to leave for Africa, and to you to remain in France for the same cause.

(Rome, 4 February 1856)

Sent_0685

Sent_0685 - à M. Métral - le 6 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0685 - à M. Métral - le 6 février 1856 -/2

Sent_0685 - à M. Métral - le 6 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0685 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, p 1129

(to Mr Pierre Métral)

(apostolic missionary)

He tells him what has happened since his resignation, in particular the coolness of the directors towards him, and how, through different circumstances, he is now about to lay the bases for a society of missionaries entrusted with the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa. Pray hard for this cause. Tell me about the seminarians of Carumattampatty. A long passage still on usages in India, the need for the apostolic vicars to reach agreement and to refer to Rome.

Index : resignation, leaving on mission again, SMA (foundation), coolness, Indian usages, Rome (authority)

__________

Rome, 6 February 1856 (

)

My very dear Mr Métral,

I received only the day before yesterday your kind letter of 30 November. I hasten to answer you, for I was anxious to receive your news and to speak with you. It is such a long time since you wrote to me last that I cannot even remember the date of your last letter. However that may be, here is what has happened to me in the last few months.

Once my resignation was at last accepted, I withdrew into the retreat, within the precincts of the monastery of the Capuchins at Versailles, where I examined before God how I could render some services still to the Missions. The Gentlemen of Paris having done so little to meet my desires, I saw that I had to search elsewhere than in the missions entrusted to our Society, so worthy of respect from many points of view, but blinded on many other points to my mind. My episcopal capacity proved a great difficulty.

At last, I offered myself to the S.C. to go and try to open up a mission in places where none exist at present, and where perhaps there have never been any evangelical workers. A correspondence ensued with the Sacred Congregation, which made it advisable for me to return to Rome during that time.

Divine Providence seemed to open up a door to me to one of the most barbarian kingdoms of Africa, but which at present seems well disposed towards France. It might be possible to enter it by means of a shipowner from Marseilles. The S.C. has just written to the Apostolic Vicar on whom this country depends, without him having been able thus far to send any missionaries there, to obtain information.

However, one thing leads to another and, impelled by the S.C. itself, I am now busy, while awaiting the inevitable delays that this business implies, with putting together the elements of a Society of missionaries which would have the special goal of evangelising the most abandoned peoples of Africa. I beg you, dear Mr Métral, pray and get your good Indians to pray, that I will be able to do some good for peoples whom I still do not know, but who have been redeemed like us by Jesus Christ's blood.

You cannot believe how interested I am in the alas rare letters that I receive from your parts. It seems to me that they are always very short, that they could tell me something more. Thus, you speak to me of my two dear former pupils, Aroulapen and Saverimouttou, whom you intend soon to make a sub-deacon. You say nothing of Mariannem. Has that dear child not persevered?

Some time ago I received a letter from Mr Pajean, to which I replied before receiving yours. So you are still pro-vicar, and perhaps will soon become apostolic vicar, for which to tell you the truth I do not envy you. As a simple missionary, one can lay all responsibility on one's superiors, but how can the superiors have a clear conscience on truly doubtful practices with which however Rome is not acquainted?

You yourself have my account to Rome of the usages that I tolerated, and that undoubtedly you still tolerate. It goes without saying that there is nothing there that is exaggerated or false; perhaps more could have been said, but not less, if we wish to make known without tergiversation everything that goes on. What is said about this? That it must be exaggerated or enlarged by scruple. People do not know all that goes on.

In order to ensure your own salvation, would you no longer tolerate what is doubtful ? You might as well give up the idea of ever converting India. By dint of missionaries and of money, you would do some accidental good, but to get to the heart of things, it would be necessary to tolerate everything possible and even make tolerable what is not so, by taking the measures approved by the Holy See. Will you be happy enough to let your colleagues know that, instead of more or less clear paraphrases, they must reach agreement between themselves, and simply refer to the Holy See without any tergiversation? Ah! Then I would congratulate you on being a bishop. But you will risk doing as I did, being put on one side, with sorrows, but without regrets.

Poor India ! How my heart bleeds for it, and for those who, in Christian faith certainly, but by a series of those errors that God permits without our being able to understand the cause, prevent religion from putting down roots in the heart of the nation! Alas, are the roots of the old trunk planted by Saint Thomas not more shaken by the imprudence of the missionaries? Who will tell of the disorders of the missions of the Malabar? And Bombay? And Agra?

Poor India ! By resigning, I gave in to the cry of conscience, but I have not taken away my affection that I left in India.()

\+ M.M.J. de Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 6 February 1856)

Sent_0686

Sent_0686 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0686 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 février 1856 -/2

Sent_0686 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 février 1856 -/2

Sent 0686 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, I 4361

(to the Councils of Propagation of the Faith)

(Lyons and Paris)

After explaining how he came to deal today with the foundation of a society of missionaries for Dahomey, he asks for financial aid to enable him to travel around France to make his work known and to seek suitable subjects. We will see later about establishing a foundation.

Index : SMA (foundation), Dahomey, finances, tours in France

__________

Rome, 19 February 1856

Piazza Venezia, 115

Gentlemen,

When reasons of conscience urged me to hand in my resignation from apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, I was not led to take this step either by fatigue, or disgust for the admirable work of the Missions. Thus, immediately after my resignation, which I had offered a long time ago, was finally accepted, I placed myself at the disposal of the S.C. of Propaganda, to continue to work for this cause. For that, I was obliged to come back to Rome, and here is the present state of advancement of my business.

First of all I requested the S.C. to authorise me to try and penetrate into the Kingdom of Dahomey, perhaps one of the most barbarous in Western Africa, but the outcome of which seems to be opened up to us at the moment by divine Providence.

The S.C. asks for nothing better than to see me make this attempt, however it requires : 1) that I am not alone ; 2) that the Gentlemen of the Holy Spirit, at present entrusted with all the countries comprised under the name of Guinea, are not opposed to it in any way. Finally it wants me to find some way of ensuring the perpetuity of the mission that I would undertake, if the evangelical workers who came out with me should succumb. I hope that all of these difficulties will be smoothed out, and already a respectable priest from Var has come to me for this undertaking.

However, since one thing leads to another, I was impelled by certain members of the S.C. themselves to see whether it would not be possible to set up a Society of Missionaries, the principal purpose of which would be to try and penetrate into the African countries which thus far have remained practically inaccessible to evangelical workers, or which are the most abandoned.

Although this is no easy task, I felt I could not draw back from this undertaking, hoping against hope, in God's infinite mercy. For that purpose, I have just had printed, by Propaganda itself, a small notice of which I have the honour of sending you a copy, at the same time requesting that you come to my aid in a work which is eminently that of Propagation of the Faith.

I have no doubt that, once we are in a position to take over definitively the mission of Dahomey, or any other that the S.C. should entrust to us, you will come to our aid. But could you not, as from now, help me to form the Society that I am planning, and whose beginnings would be less difficult if we were seen as being protected by your work, the best initiated to the needs of the missions and the most powerful in the blessings that it has received from God?

Thus, for example : I would need to travel all over France to make my work known and to try to attract subjects to it. Could you not provide me with the means of making such journeys, in the course of which I would neglect nothing in my power to rekindle zeal in the work of Propagation of the Faith? For I do not dare ask you immediately for help in establishing the foundation that I am planning either at Paris, or in another of the principal cities of France.

I will make this request to you later and only when there is no longer any doubt as to the merit of my undertaking and, between now and then, I hope to have the pleasure of talking to you personally. Accordingly I limit myself to my first request.

I trust that your answer will be favourable and prompt, for I do not wish to lose any time in forced inaction, and expect to leave Rome as from the end of Lent.

I beg you, Gentlemen, to accept, in union of your good works, the assurance of my most distinguished consideration.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I am sending the same letter to Paris.

(Rome, 19 February 1856)

(Piazza Venezia, 115)

Sent_0687

Sent_0687 - au cardinal Fransoni - le 26 février 1856 -/1

Sent 0687 - au cardinal Fransoni - le 26 février 1856 -/2

Sent_0687 - au cardinal Fransoni - le 26 février 1856 -/1

Sent 0687 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia Arabia,

1848-1857, vol 5, pp 1038ss

copy, AMA 2C19, p 8

(to Cardinal Fransoni)

(Prefect of Propaganda) ()

To facilitate my work in France, I would need a letter from Your Eminence giving me the necessary moral force and inspiring confidence. Financial aid would also be welcome.

Index : letter of introduction, finances, SMA (foundation)

__________

Rome, 26 February 1856

Your Eminence,

While waiting for the S.C. to receive the answer to the letters it has written, and for it to be in a position to authorise me to penetrate into the barbarian kingdom of Dahomey, it is my duty to make every possible effort to attract to myself evangelical workers filled with zeal and devotion, who consent to help me in this difficult undertaking, but entirely for the glory of our divine Saviour.

For this purpose, I propose, God willing, to go the rounds of various dioceses of France, as soon as the Easter festivities are over. At the same time, I will try to lay the bases of a Society of missionaries who, under the authority and the direction of the S.C. of Propaganda, will take steps to evangelise those African countries where the light of the faith has still not penetrated, or which are most deprived of spiritual succour.

Already a respectable priest from the diocese of Fréjus has given me the assurance of his personal contribution, and I trust to receive the rest from God's infinite mercy towards so many African peoples where the holy Name of Jesus Christ is unknown or practically unknown still.

You yourself, Your Eminence, have given me tokens of the trust and interest that you deign to confide in my undertaking. However, it would be very useful for me to have a letter from the S.C. that I can show, which clearly expresses your sentiments towards me, and the perfect harmony of my plans with the wishes of the Holy See. Accordingly, Your Eminence, I request of you this letter which will give me the necessary moral force and inspire confidence in those whom the Spirit of God may lead to back me up in a work which has the direct goal of propagating the Holy Gospel.

Could I point out to you further, Your Eminence, that one of the causes liable to singularly delay the beginning of my undertaking, is the lack of material means ? I do not wish to insist on this subject, but suffice it to say how grateful I would be to the S.C. if it could come to my aid.

In the hope that Your Eminence will see fit to grant my requests, I beg you to accept in advance my thanks and the assurance of the profound respect with which I have the honour of being... etc.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 26 February 1856) ()

Sent_0688

Sent_0688 - à M. Vian - le 8 mars 1856 -/1

Sent 0688 - à M. Vian - le 8 mars 1856 -/2

Sent_0688 - à M. Vian - le 8 mars 1856 -/1

Sent 0688 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 256-257

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I have just obtained a letter of introduction from the cardinal prefect. Do not be discouraged if you encounter some opposition from your superiors. I shall soon be arriving at Marseilles or Toulon and will begin my rounds in France to find co-operators and alms. Where could we meet up? It is absolutely necessary.

Index : letter of introduction, rounds in France

__________

Rome, 8 March 1856

Very dear friend,

I have received your letter of 27 February, and before answering you was waiting to receive the official answer from the Sacred Congregation which, without concealing the difficulties that we will have to overcome in order to achieve our goal, judges our plan worthy of being backed up by ecclesiastics devoured by zeal for God's glory. These are the terms of the letter from the Cardinal Prefect. That is all that I could at present desire from the S.C.

Let us hope that, very shortly, we will have overcome the principal difficulties in Europe, and that we will be in a position to go and fight against those awaiting us in the barbarian countries that we desire to go and evangelise. May the Lord grant us no more than four to five devoted men and some material aid in order not to seem to tempt Providence, and I am persuaded that we will obtain from the Lord the grace of doing something for his glory.

I cannot but approve the steps you have taken in respect of your superiors. Only, do not allow yourself to be discouraged if you should encounter some appearance of opposition. As I told you, they cannot prevent you from associating yourself with such a venture: and, meanwhile, what you feel you cannot do officially, you can do unofficially.

I shall be leaving Rome immediately after the end of Lent to go and do the rounds in France and try to find myself co-operators and alms. But, above all, we have to see each other. I will write to you before leaving to tell you more or less what day I expect to arrive in Marseilles or Toulon. And would you kindly arrange to go there at that same time. There, we will consider together whether it is a good idea to work in the way you suggest in your letter.

Could you give me some idea of where I could stay in Toulon in order to incur the least possible expense. If any religious community would be prepared to offer us hospitality, it would be doing a good turn. Kindly, I beg you, answer me immediately on that point, so that I receive your letter before I leave. And could you give me a similar indication as regards Marseilles.

In my audience prior to departure, I will do my best to obtain what you desire from the Holy Father, wholly or in part.

A Dieu, very dear friend, let us remain firm in the path that the Lord has opened up to us, and in which we have to hope for a generous harvest in crosses and some merits.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 8 March 1856)

Sent_0689

Sent_0689 - à M. Vian - le 26 mars 1856 -/1

Sent 0689 - à M. Vian - le 26 mars 1856 -/2

Sent_0689 - à M. Vian - le 26 mars 1856 -/1

Sent 0689 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 261-262

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

My departure from Rome is close at hand. I will keep you informed. Yes, we will have disappointments, humiliations, crosses, but you can render me the greatest services by helping me found a house in France.

Index : SMA (foundation), difficulties

__________

Rome, 26 March 1856

Very dear friend,

With the enclosed, I am sending you these few words by ordinary post in order not to risk it going astray, as sometimes happens, by employing other means. There you do not have everything that you requested of me in your previous letter, but I will tell you why I did not make all the requests when I have the pleasure of seeing you. The day of my departure is still not fixed, but it cannot be long now. I will write to you the day before or the day before that by military post, letting you know what day I expect to arrive in Marseilles or in Toulon.

However off-colour you may feel, you can render the greatest services to my work by founding our house in France. Only, we have to expect a certain number of setbacks, humiliations and crosses, but you would not have it without that, surely? That is our veritable profit and we will share them as friends, as likewise the consolations that the very good God is pleased to lavish from time to time, on the most difficult undertakings, in order not to ask too much of his feeble servants. Besides, you have long ago deserved the abneget semetipsum.

I wanted to inaugurate in Rome the preaching for my work, so that yesterday I preached at Saint-Louis.

J'ai voulu inaugurer à Rome la prédication pour mon œuvre, et j'ai prêché pour cela hier à Saint-Louis.

A Dieu, very dear friend, I look forward to seeing you soon. My respects to your venerable father, and my regards to your brother and your sister.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 26 March 1856)

Sent_0690

Sent_0690 - à M. Vian - le 2 avril 1856 -/1

Sent 0690 - à M. Vian - le 2 avril 1856 -/1

Sent_0690 - à M. Vian - le 2 avril 1856 -/1

Sent 0690 Original, AMA 2F1, p 258

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I shall be arriving at Toulon on 12 April.

Index : friendship

__________

Rome, 2 April 1856

Very dear Mr Vian,

My departure is definitively fixed for 10th of this month. On the 11th, we will be leaving Civitavecchia, and by the 12th, God willing, we will be in Toulon. Would you kindly arrange to be there then. If you absolutely cannot be in Toulon on the 12th, kindly send me a letter that I can collect there telling how many days I can expect to wait for you. So, I look forward to seeing you soon.

In the meantime I commend myself, as well as our work, to your good prayers and embrace you in the Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 2 April 1856)

Sent_0691

Sent_0691 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 4 avril 1856 -/2

Sent 0691 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 4 avril 1856 -/2

Sent_0691 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 4 avril 1856 -/2

Sent 0691 copy, AMA 2F18/1856

(to the Councils of Propagation of the Faith)

(Lyons and Paris)

I am happy to see that you have a fellow feeling with my work and I understand, while I regret it, that you can only help already existing missions. However, could you let me have a letter signifying the perfect agreement that exists between you and me. For my part, I will do my best to excite zeal in favour of your work.

Index : finances, letter of introduction, aid

__________

Rome, 4 April 1856

Gentlemen,

I have received your kind letter of 13 March and, although it is impossible for you to contribute to the foundation of the Society of African Missions, I am happy to see that you have a fellow feeling for my work. In fact I was sure that you would see it with a good eye, since its goal is to put itself at the service of the S.C. of Propaganda, to carry the Gospel out to the most abandoned peoples in the world.

I would have been happy if, indirectly even, you could have helped me with this foundation. It would have been accomplished sooner, which would have given us the hope of entering more promptly into the kingdom of Dahomey, for example, which seems to offer us a half-open door, that I would be extremely vexed to see close once more. However, I am about to leave for France, where I will do my best to win over collaborators and to procure the material resources indispensable for this foundation. I have letters of encouragement from the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda and the Holy Father's blessing.

With all that, I consider it certain to succeed. Only, it will be done more or less quickly according to the means that divine Providence sends me and, when I have come to offer the S.C. of Propaganda sufficient guarantees of success, in order for it to entrust me with a mission definitively, I do not doubt that, since you have already given me such assurance, you will not fail to come to our aid.

If God blesses us, you will shortly see, in the Annals of Propagation of the Faith, some letters dealing with the barbarian kingdom of Dahomey, which seems at this moment to be struck with admiration for France, and better disposed than previously to allow the light of the Holy Gospel to penetrate into the country.

Meanwhile, I request from you a moral succour that, I trust, you will not refuse me. That is to give me, in the same way as the S.C. of Propaganda has done, a letter that I can make public and which proves that there is perfect agreement between you and me, for little informed persons may easily imagine that the work of Propagation of the Faith should bear all the expenses of the institutions dealing with missions: thus, I am told, Propagation of the Faith cannot fail to give you money. No distinction is made between the aid that you hand out to the missions and the expenses that have to be made before taking over such missions definitively.

Thus a letter bearing witness to your fellow feeling, and which would prove that, instead of any shadow of rivalry, on the contrary there is perfect harmony between your work and mine, would be of great help to me and would contribute, I am sure, to hasten a foundation on which perhaps the evangelisation of certain regions thus far closed to the zeal of the missionaries depends.

For my part, I will not allow any opportunity to escape me of exciting zeal in favour of the work of Propagation of the Faith. Your letter could be shown on this occasion and even, if you consent, printed together with that of the Cardinal, of which I have the honour of sending you a copy, following my small notice. In this way, from the outset, we will unite our efforts for the glorification of the holy name of Jesus Christ.

I shall be leaving Rome on the 10th of this month for Toulon, where I will be staying a few days with the Reverend Marist Fathers. If you do me the kindness of answering me there, I would be extremely grateful to you.

Kindly accept, Gentlemen, the assurance of my respectful and completely devoted sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Rome, 4 April 1856)

Sent_0692

Sent_0692 - à M. Vian - le 13 avril 1856 -/1

Sent 0692 - to Mr Vian - 13 April 1856 /1

Sent_0692 - à M. Vian - le 13 avril 1856 -/1

Sent 0692 Original, AMA 2F1, p 259

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I am with the Marists in Toulon. When can we see each other?

Index : friendship

Toulon, 13 April 1856

My dear Mr Vian,

You should have received two letters from me, one of 26 March and the other of 2 April. In the latter I told you that I would be arriving here yesterday. On arriving, I expected to meet you, or to find a letter from you telling me that I would have the pleasure of seeing you. I hasten to inform you of my arrival, asking you to kindly let me know immediately what day I can hope to embrace you, for you can well imagine that I have no time to waste.

I am lodging with the Reverend Marist Fathers, Rue Bon Pasteur 25.

A Dieu, I look forward to the long awaited pleasure of seeing you soon.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Toulon, 13 April 1856)

Sent_0693

Sent_0693 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 29 avril 1856 -/2

Sent 0693 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 29 avril 1856 -/2

Sent_0693 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 29 avril 1856 -/2

Sent 0693 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 897-890bis

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

He explains the main lines of his progress for the last year : refusal of the directors to see him serving in another mission of the congregation, silence of the apostolic vicars who could have intervened in his favour. I have searched elsewhere and proposed to Propaganda going out to the most abandoned souls in Africa. My plan is accepted, now I need men and money.

Index : coolness, leaving again, SMA foundation

__________

(Draguignan, 29 April 1856) ()

My Lord,

It is at Draguignan where I am spending one day only that I received your good letter of 24 January. Just the handwriting of the address, which I immediately recognised, made my heart jump.

As you undoubtedly know, having proposed to the Gentlemen of Paris to continue to serve the missions in the congregation, in whatever capacity, they officially answered me : impossible. This answer was, like so many others, of those that I fail to understand. To insist with the apostolic vicars, would have been an endless task. All of my hope was that these dear colleagues would write, immediately after receiving my letter, that they understood that I was still a member of the congregation and that I should continue to work in the Society, which would have been quite possible. Nothing would have been more agreeable to me, for example, then to receive the mission of Japan.

However time passes and I would not wish to waste it. It is now whole months that I have spent in Versailles without any prospects for the future. At a certain point, I searched for some other way of serving the missions. I tried to work out which were the countries where there are no missionaries at present, and I tried to combine the creation of a Society which would be aimed at those most barbarian or most difficult of all countries, since it has not been possible to penetrate into them. This undertaking is of the most difficult, and the most painful, however if I manage to penetrate into a single one of these countries, I will bless the Lord.

The proposal that I made first of all to the S.C. at first appeared an excess of zeal. I was obliged to go to Rome to explain my plan, which is today approved in principle, however I need money and men devoted to the utmost sacrifice. This is what I have come to look for in France which is the land of devotion and of charity.

It was only eight days ago that I began preaching this work, without wasting my time, starting off at Toulon where I disembarked on arriving from Rome. I have already preached four times. In a few minutes' time, I shall be getting up in the pulpit again. In four collections, I have made over one thousand five hundred francs. So that, even if the good God failed to send me any other resources, I hope that by preaching some time in the different cities of France, in the course of the year I will obtain what I need to found a house for the most abandoned countries, especially in Africa.

I can already almost certainly accept one lay brother and two priests. Thus, if God blesses my undertaking, as he allows me to hope thus far, I think, that in a year's time I will be ready to depart myself at the head of a few good workers, leaving in France a home to provide for the needs of these new missions.

However, nothing is yet founded, although I hope. Eh! Who knows if it is not for the salvation of some barbarians that the Lord made me leave my dear Indians!

A Dieu. Pray for me often. Not a day goes by without my praying for our missions in India. Affectionate greetings to all those who remember me. And write to me sometimes, please. A Dieu! A Dieu!

M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Draguignan, 29 April 1856)

Sent_0694

Sent_0694 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 4 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0694 - to his sister Bathilde - 4 May 1856 /2

Sent_0694 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 4 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0694 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1856

(to his sister Bathilde)

Letter of friendship, with nothing particular in it. He is doing a round of preaching.

Index : friendship, preaching

__________

Grasse, 4 May 1856

My very dear friend,

Yesterday I received your letter of 18 April. It gave me very great pleasure, but still contains some bitter salt, because I believe that, deep down, you are, as I have always thought, less wicked than you seem to be. Just one more step in the knowledge of yourself, a little humility which made the saints believe that they were the most imperfect of men, and you will be, from all points of view, what we all want you to be for your own good. You will also be much happier or, at least, less unhappy, for here on this earth no perfect happiness exists, and above all, believe it or not, much closer to heaven.

I am writing to you from Grasse, the country of olive-trees, roses and jasmine, of everything that the earth produces by way of fragrant odours. It is assuredly one of the finest regions on earth. Ah! How beautiful heaven must be since here on earth there are such pleasant places, though they are but a pale image of the land of the true living.

Tell my excellent father that I have received his letter. I will not write to him today because time is short. I plan to go next Sunday to Nice. But you could write to me at Marseilles, where I will very probably be in three weeks' time, after passing by Digne and Aix. A Dieu.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I am writing by the same post to (...?...)

Kindly greet on my behalf Miss H. de Labénissons and tell her that I have received her letter. Has she nothing to give for the book that I sent her?

(Grasse, 4 May 1856)

Sent_0695

Sent_0695 - à la Comtesse de Camburzano - le 10 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0695 - à la Comtesse de Camburzano - le 10 mai 1856 -/1

Sent_0695 - à la Comtesse de Camburzano - le 10 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0695 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F4, pp 15-16

"Journal 1856-1859", pp 21-22

(to the Countess of Camburzano)

Since my presence was an inconvenience to you, I am leaving your house.

Index : politeness

__________

Nice, 10 May 1856

Madam,

Having clearly noticed that my presence represented an inconvenience for you, I hasten to leave, thanking you for the hospitality that you were kind enough to offer me last night.

I pray the Lord, to bless you, Madam, and you to accept my respect.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Nice, 10 May 1856)

Sent_0696

Sent_0696 - au vicaire général de Nice - le 10 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0696 - to the Vicar General of Nice - 10 May 1856 /1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0696 - au vicaire général de Nice - le 10 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0696 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F4, p 16

"Journal 1856-1859", p 22

(to the vicar general of Nice)

The coldness with which I was received by the superior of the seminary and the priests obliges me to leave Nice. Sorrows and regrets in the face of so much indifference for extending the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Index : welcome, zeal

__________

Nice, 10 May 1856

Monsieur le Vicaire Général,

The very unflattering welcome, not to say worse, that I received from the superior of the seminary, and the coolness that I found in the other persons, priests and lay alike, oblige me to leave Nice already today and to forego exciting the zeal of the faithful for the work of evangelisation of the peoples of Africa.

I cannot refrain from pointing out to you, with keen regret, Monsieur le vicaire général, that such behaviour on the part of the clergy, evincing such indifference to the extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, explains to me up to a certain point Our Divine Master's anger and the severity of his judgments on your wretched country.

Monsieur le Supérieur, kindly accept...

()

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Nice, 10 May 1856)

Sent_0697

Sent_0697 - au P. Planque - fin mai 1856 -/2

Sent 0697 - au P. Planque - fin mai 1856 -/3

Sent 0697 - au P. Planque - fin mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0697 copy, AMA 2F1, pp 176-180

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Your perseverance in the plan of working for the missions appears to me as a powerful sign of vocation. I respect the reason that has held you back at home, but I would like to be able to give your name to Propaganda. Once the time is come, you could deal with the formation of young people before rejoining me in Africa. Let us practice patience; but first of all we need a house, a noviciate. I am sending you a small form to fill in; you will find laid out there the bases of the fundamental articles. I could send it to Propaganda.

Index : SMA foundation, fundamental articles, recruitment

__________

(Marseilles, end of May 1856)(

)

Sir,

At Marseilles I received your good letter of the 23rd of this month (), and I begin by blessing the Lord for the plan that he has inspired in you. He himself will be able to smooth out any difficulty if your thought, as I hope, comes from God. As for what I myself think, after having maturely reflected before God, very briefly it is as follows:

Perseverence, up to your age, in the plan to work for the Missions appears to me to be a powerful sign of vocation. I presume that your directors, by giving you the advice to wait for the reason that you indicate, took care to weigh and to make you weigh with them these words of the Holy Gospel: Sequere me et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. ()

Starting off from this hypothesis, I respect the reluctance you would feel still in leaving your homeland at once. But did not divine Providence which disposes of events and of our own hearts as she wishes, leading them always to her ends, providing we do not oppose resistance to her grace, wish to reserve you to contribute to the establishment of the work I am meditating? For in the present state of things, I would need some men like you, it is true, as from a given moment, but who, in actual fact, would not leave at once.

I would need some immediately in order for a core of the Society to be definitively formed, and for the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, being able to count on it, to energetically foster its development. Accordingly I will need to provide it with the names of two or three respectable persons who consent to devote themselves wholeheartedly to this work.

Although my project is barely known, since it is not yet two months since I produced it outside, I could very well give the S.C. two or three names of young people who have offered themselves, but I cannot count sufficiently on them. These are the sort of vocations that need to be tried out for some time in the house of the Noviciate, while your position, your age and the antecedents of which you inform me, give me reasons to believe that your vocation is certain.

Your name, together with that of a venerable priest whom I know personally, and on whom I think I can rely, would suffice for the moment. Accordingly if you would consent to share my works with the difficulties and the crosses inseparable from any good work, above all when it is a question of founding it, you would do well to assure me in that sense as soon as possible; now, this is what would happen.

You would continue peacefully with the works entrusted to you until the time comes when we can join up in a community, exercising yourself meanwhile in the apostolic virtues which may be summarised in perfect self-renunciation. How long will this last? God alone knows. It will depend on the number and quality of those whom the Lord will inspire to join themselves to me, and also on the material resources that he will be pleased to send us; perhaps also on the degree of activity of the S.C. of Propaganda which has unfortunately just lost its venerable prefect.

But one of the apostolic virtues which we should adopt particularly is that which Saint Paul expresses in these words : Per patientiam curramus. () Once the time has come, I would call on you all and we would live for some time together, while awaiting the hour of departure. However, because of your personal position, I give you in advance the assurance that I would not expect you to leave for as long as the reason which has kept you here thus far continues to exist. So that I would leave with others, and you would come and join me later, meanwhile making yourself useful to the newborn association.

I do not think that the respectable Society of Foreign Missions can be the least in the world offended by your decision, seeing the circumstances in which you find yourself and since, besides, you have not spent any time in the noviciate : and I cannot suppose that your pious and wise bishop will place the slightest obstacle in the way of your zeal. But while patience is necessary for us, we should not waste time through our fault.

It is important for the success of my undertaking for the S.C. to know that generous hearts are answering my appeal. It is important, further, that as soon as possible we have a house centre, a domicile of the Society, a noviciate for any young men who turn up. If accordingly, after having reflected before God, everything that I have just said replies to the attractions of grace over your heart, I would be obliged if you would let me know and authorise me to give your name to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.

It would be perfect if you could make a little signed statement more or less in these terms : I the undersigned, A. Planque, at present teacher of philosophy in the seminary of Arras, aged X , declare that I put myself at the disposal of Mgr de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse, for the work of the African Missions, accepting the fundamental articles of the regulations as these are submitted to the approval of the S.C. of Propaganda and as they may be accepted or modified by the aforesaid Congregation.

Signed at Arras, X 1856.

(followed by your signature)

I will send this document to the S.C. of Propaganda. I do not doubt that, once it has received two or three such, it will confirm the encouragements it has already given me in the letter of which I am sending you a copy, together with a small notice containing the substance of the fundamental articles whose approval we are requesting.

So, courage, my dear Sir, let us rally together for the greatest glory of our good Master, for the salvation of peoples who still do not know Jesus Christ, for such exist, and it is them above all that our Society wishes to go out to evangelise.

I beg you to believe me in Our Lord

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. I will be staying at Marseilles for five to six days. I will be at Lyons in about two weeks' time ; you could write to me at the poste restante there.

(Marseilles, end of May 1856)

Sent_0698

Sent_0698 - à M. Vian Victorin - le 31 mai 1856 -/2

Sent 0698 - à M. Vian Victorin - le 31 mai 1856 -/2

Sent_0698 - à M. Vian Victorin - le 31 mai 1856 -/2

Sent 0698 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 263-264

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Preaching in the Basses-Alpes. Your and your brother cannot both back me up; your father and your sister need one of you near them. Personally, I would prefer your brother, for you are sadly lacking in self-confidence. But if your brother refuses, I would accept you willingly. I need to have a certainty. Could you fill in the form that I am enclosing. There you will find the basis of the fundamental articles. In this way I can write to Rome.

Index : SMA foundation, recruitment, fundamental articles

__________

Marseilles, 31 May 1856

Very dear Mr Vian,

I received your good letter of the 27th with the enclosed. Let us bless the Lord together for the fact that my work, though proceeding slowly, is nevertheless taking a few steps forward each day. Should we accordingly not hope that it is God's work. I have crossed the Basses-Alpes with less material success than I had in Var; however, I hope that the seed sown will later bear its fruits.

So here I am at Marseilles for five or six days at least ; would you come and see me ? You cannot doubt of the pleasure it would give me to see you, you and your brother, above all if you have resolved to sign the undertaking of giving yourself wholeheartedly to the work of the African Missions.

However, I have reflected seriously on what you said to me, about it being morally impossible for both of you, even if you remain in France, to leave your father and your sister, and as you know I told you that it did not seem wise to me ; but one of you can very well give himself over completely to the work, and the other be as it were our correspondent, protector, supporter, etc., without leaving his position in the diocese and the family.

Which of you two will give himself absolutely to us ? Consult with the Lord and decide. I willingly accept either, but if I had here to express the whole of my thought, I believe that your brother would be better suited to render all the services that our Society may need in the beginning. This opinion is based not of course on the real qualities, but on the character. You are too self-doubting. This idea, which pursues you even in your last letter, that you would not be capable of anything much, that your health is against it, etc., illusory as it is, will follow you for a long time and will impede the efforts of your zeal. Forgive me for speaking to you with such freedom; but I know that you do not doubt of my sincere friendship and the profound esteem I have for you.

We are weighing here the pros and cons for the greatest glory of God and the success of the work, all the more so since I regard all this as accessory, and accept you with all my heart if it is you who should wish to give yourself completely to the work and your brother decline to do so ; but if one and the other should want to do everything that you can for the African Missions, without either of you leaving the house, it seems to me that it is your brother who should hold himself ready to join me once the time has come to lay the foundations of our house in France.

Meanwhile, I would have great need of something certain to be able to send to the S.C. of Propaganda, and which was a real core of the association, which will develop all the better the earlier this core is formed. Since I left you, I have indeed found a few ecclesiastics who express certain vague desires to devote themselves to my work, but am not sufficiently sure that I can count on them completely.

Whereas, we should be at least three for the solemn act, that we had meditated for the time of my passing through Marseilles, at the foot of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. So that the moment has not yet come. On another front, it is very important for me to be able to hand over without delay a few proper names, thus indicating that I am not alone. If accordingly the Lord should use with your heart the same language that he has to mine, it seems to me that this is what we should do: the one of you two who could devote himself to the work would make the following declaration, on a loose sheet of paper that I will send to Rome:

"I the undersigned, priest, at present chaplain etc., or else assistant priest etc. at Lorgues, in the diocese of Fréjus, aged X, declare that I put myself at the disposal of Mgr de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse, for the work of the African Missions, accepting the fundamental Articles of the regulations, such as will be submitted for approval to the S.C. of Propaganda, and as they will be accepted or modified by the aforesaid Congregation.

Issued at Lorgues, on X 1856.

(followed by your signature)".

After which, you will remain quietly at your present work, until the time comes for me to call you to definitively establish the Society, after having laid our wishes at the heart of Mary, in one of the sanctuaries of France where she above all is venerated.

I am going into all these details in case you should forego coming here, seeing that the time has still not come to commit ourselves, as I had hoped, at the feet of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. But if, despite that, you would like to come, I will be overjoyed. In any case, kindly let me know as soon as possible that your constancy is assured for the work of the African Missions, on the basis of a final commitment on the part of both or at least one of you, so that I can write to Rome before leaving this city, which cannot be later than Wednesday or Thursday next.

You understand that this letter is as much for your brother as for you.

Kindly address your letters, if you do not come yourself, to Rev. Father Fissiaux, in the penitentiary of Saint-Pierre.

Pray for me, and believe me, for the greatest glory of our good Master, Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Marseilles, 31 May 1856)

Sent_0699

Sent_0699 - à M. Vian Emilien - le 31 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0699 - à M. Vian Emilien - le 31 mai 1856 -/2

Sent_0699 - à M. Vian Emilien - le 31 mai 1856 -/1

Sent 0699 Original, AMA 2F1, p 294

(to Mr Emilien Vian, priest)

The letter to your brother (0698) is equally for you. I hope I shall soon be able to call you "dear confrere".

Index : recruitment

__________

(Marseilles), 31 (May 1856) ()

Very dear Mr Emilien,

I would like to be able, and I hope that soon I will be able to say : very dear confrere : I wrote a long letter to Mr Victorin which was as much for you as for him. Accordingly kindly read it, and I hope either that you will come and see me in order to accomplish what I propose to you, or else that you will do it from Lorgues being...(

).

Courage then, if I am not mistaken, you will do more good by contributing to create our Society than by being a parish priest in any parish of the diocese of Fréjus.

A Dieu. Come and see me or else write to me immediately. Pray for me and believe me, in the adorable hearts of Jesus and of Mary,

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. A thousand kind regards to your respectable father and to your sister.

(Marseilles ?, 31 May 1856 ?

Sent_0700

Sent_0700 - à M. Vian Emilien - le 4 juin 1856 -/2

Sent 0700 - à M. Vian Emilien - le 4 juin 1856 -/2

Sent_0700 - à M. Vian Emilien - le 4 juin 1856 -/2

Sent 0700 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 265-266

(to Mr Emilien Vian, priest)

I regret that we could not meet up. Do not be afraid to speak to your bishop; he cannot refuse to allow you to join up with me. For a house in France, your age and your experience are an advantage. Do not delay in sending me your acceptance; at Rome things go so slowly. My preaching, my rounds.

Index : recruitment, preaching, rounds

__________

Marseilles, 4 June 1856

It is you whom I am answering, very dear Mr Emilien, since it is you who end your letter in common, although this missive is for both of you.

I very much regret that your occupations have not allowed you to come, it is always easier to hold a conversation than to correspond, but finally, since the good God has not permitted it, let us submit. I bless the Lord for your constant resolution to back up my work by every means in your power, and I hope that this resolution will be effective. I request the grace of God for you, for me and for the poor Blacks.

However, have you not been a little scrupulous in fearing to go against your duty, by evincing your resolution as I would have desired ? For it is not a question of leaving your diocese for the moment, and it went without saying that at a given moment you would have obtained this permission from your bishop or from the Holy See; you could even have added to the note the words: "once I have received authorisation from my bishop".

For besides, there is not the slightest doubt that you will obtain this authorisation from your worthy bishop, above all if you let him know that it is my intention, not to send you to Africa, but to use you for the founding of our house in Europe. At that point, your age, instead of being a drawback, is a veritable advantage. Let us not allow ourselves to be stopped by accessories, age, health and such like. I ask you: what is all of this to God, when the will is firm?

Besides, and in fact, you will have less need of health in the position of director in our house in France, than in carrying out perfectly the functions of assistant priest and above all of parish priest. Apart from that, since Mr Régis senior is not here at present, I cannot yet write to the S.C. of Propaganda, because I need to have certain details on the King of Dahomey's two children that their father is having educated in France. That ship-owner is in Paris where he went precisely, in part at least, for this business. I hope to see him when he passes through Lyons.

By that time, I hope that you will have seen your bishop, that you will have spoken to him of your resolution that the good God will have strengthened in your heart, and that you will send me this resolution in writing, for it would be important to make it known as soon as possible to the S.C. As you know, it takes months on end to do the slightest thing in Rome. Accordingly if we wish not to remain years without leaving for Dahomey, with the risk of letting the door which now seems wide open to close again, we must not lose any opportunity of pressing on.

I hope to receive another letter from you or from your brother before leaving Marseilles, which I think will be next Monday. The floods of the Rhône prevented me from stopping at Arles and at Tarascon, as I had planned. Accordingly I have decided to go directly to Nîmes Later on, I will indicate my itinerary, to you or your brother, in case some need should arise to pass something on to me.

A Dieu, very dear Mr Vian ; do not allow yourself to be frightened by the shadow of difficulties and when they become real, draw from God's strength the courage to overcome them. Both of you, pray for me, and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Marseilles, 4 June 1856)

Sent_0701

Sent_0701 - à M. Vian Victorin - le 21 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0701 - to Mr Vian Victorin - 21 June 1856 /2

Sent_0701 - à M. Vian Victorin - le 21 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0701 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 267-268

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I am at Lyons to see if I could not found our first house in France here. Do not delay too long, you or your brother, in deciding to join me. In any case, my friendship for you will not be affected.

Index : SMA foundation, recruitment, floods, house at Lyons

__________

Lyons, 21 June 1856 ()

Very dear friend,

I have received your good letter of the 8th in Lyons.

Despite it being impossible for me to do anything from the material point of view for my work, because of the impression produced by the floods, I came here to see how the land lies and decide whether it would not be a favourable place for our house in France. The further I go, the more I feel persuaded that it is here that we should establish ourselves first of all. But how many difficulties have to be overcome ! However, let us not despair of Providence.

I hope that you or your brother will soon have put all tergiversation on one side, and that an irrevocable and effective resolution to contribute to the creation of such a good work will soon permit me to take a further step with regard to Propaganda. How much precious time we are wasting ! Without doubt all of this enters into the views of Providence.

I will soon be leaving for the Grande-Chartreuse where I am going to make my retreat. Pray earnestly to the good God for me during that time. Then I will come back to Lyons to explore further the question of an establishment here. I will be back about the fourth or fifth of next month. I hope to receive your letters by then at the latest.

I have received nothing from your former Capuchin sub-deacon. I think he will write to me later. I must admit however that I do not expect much good of this vocation. What indispensable use could it be to his parents for him to be secularised, since he was only a sub-deacon ? Be that as it may, we will see when he writes. And now, are his parents dead ? or how is it that they can do without him ?

With my friendly regards to your excellent brother, kindly tell him too how great a help it would be for me to be informed as soon as possible of his irrevocable resolution. And whatever it should be, do not doubt of the perseverance of my friendship, very dear Mr Vian, with which I ask you to believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 21 June 1856)

Sent_0702

Sent_0702 - au P. Planque - le 21 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0702 - to Father Planque - 21 June 1856 /2

Sent_0702 - au P. Planque - le 21 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0702 copy (), AMA 2F1, pp 181-182

(to Mr Augustin Planque, sma)

I am at Lyons ; it is here without doubt that we will have our first establishment. You would be wrong to undertake another year's teaching at Arras. Hold yourselves ready to come.

Index : SMA foundation, submission, floods, house at Lyons

__________

Lyons, 21 June 1856

Monsieur l'Abbé,

As you understood from my letter, nothing could be simpler than not agitating your aunt on the subject of your departure ; you can, without a second thought, assure her that you will be able to see her whenever the need arises.

It seems to me that, if your resolution is taken to come and share the difficulties of our undertaking and the merit of the crosses of which there will be no lack, you would be wrong to commit yourself to another year's teaching. It would be better to hold yourself ready to come and join () us when the time comes, as soon as I can find somewhere for you to live.

I very much hope that could be the city of Lyons. I am largely here for that purpose, for the effect produced by the floods forces me to refrain for the time being from preaching and collecting alms for our work. It is an immense prejudice, but undoubtedly part of the designs of Providence ; let us submit.

I shall soon be leaving to make my retreat in the Grande-Chartreuse, whence I will come back to Lyons about the fourth or the fifth of next month. This is in case you should have to write to me. Meanwhile, in the hope that the Lord inspires a generous and effective resolution in you, please believe me, in union of prayers in the very holy sacrifice,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 21 June 1856)

Sent_0703

Sent_0703 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 23 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0703 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 23 June 1856 /2

Sent_0703 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 23 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0703 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1074ss

copy, AMA 2C19, p 9-10

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Congratulations and best wishes on his promotion to the cardinalate. The floods in France hinder my preaching. I continue to have full trust in the Lord.

Index : congratulations, trust, floods

__________

Lyons, 23 June 1856 ()

Your Eminence,

I have learned today that the Holy Father has deigned to vest you with the Roman purple. All the Missions will rejoice at this, and I who have had the privilege of conversing with you personally on our for ever blessed work, do not wish to be the last to join my congratulations to those received from every corner of the universe.

Besides we feel confident that the Holy Father will confer on you the prefecture of Propaganda, and no-one doubts that, under Your Eminence's active and enlightened governance, the kingdom of Jesus Christ will spread and be confirmed in those regions still groaning in the darkness of idolatry.

Your Eminence, this letter has no other goal but to bring you my congratulations and good wishes. In a few days' time, I hope I shall be able to write to you in detail on my venture for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa.

The terrible floods that have recently ravaged a large part of France, and thrown the other portion into mourning, are a great impediment to my preaching and collecting alms. This is one obstacle more, however I still put my full trust in the Lord who will cut short, when he so desires, the difficulties that keep me far from the poor Blacks, far from that kingdom of Dahomey above all, where it is more and more certain that we could enter today without any obstacle on the part of the Barbarians.

Once more, Your Eminence, kindly accept my congratulations and believe in the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 23 June 1856)

Sent_0704

Sent_0704 - à Mme Blanchet - le 24 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0704 - to Mrs Blanchet - 24 June 1856 /1

Sent_0704 - à Mme Blanchet - le 24 juin 1856 -/1

Sent 0704 partial Le Gallen copy, AMA 2F39, p 487

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

Search for a place for the first establishment

Index : SMA foundation, house at Lyons

__________

(Lyons), 24 June 1856 ()

[...] "Various persons are turning up, and I am desirous of finding a place where we could gather together at slight expense and live in a community [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons ?, 24 June 1856)

Sent_0705

Sent_0705 - au P. Planque - le 14 juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0705 - to Father Planque - 14 July 1856 /2

Sent_0705 - au P. Planque - le 14 juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0705 copy (), AMA 2F1, pp 182-183

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I am back from my retreat in the Grande Chartreuse. The purchase is almost made in Lyons. I will let you know. If Saint Joseph could give you some good sum of money

.

Index : SMA foundation, recruitment, house at Lyons, trust in God

__________

Lyons, 14 July 1856

Sir and dear friend,

Allow me to call you by that name, in the hope that from now onwards we will share our efforts, our consolations and crosses, far more precious than the consolations that it may please God to grant to our weakness.

On my return from a retreat that I had made in the Grande-Chartreuse, I found your good letter of the 3rd which gave me the greatest pleasure. Please God that another respectable priest, whose lofty virtue I am personally acquainted with, should decide likewise. Pray that the good God gives him to us. Among the other ecclesiastics stepping forward, I count above all on a deacon and a sub-deacon. Pray that they too may persevere.

I delayed a few days in answering you, hoping to complete a transaction which is still not concluded , but that I think is at a good point, regarding the purchase of a house here, to begin our work. If what I am hoping for comes true, we will need to count on Providence for the payment, but without tempting it, because of the good conditions I have been promised. After that, we could gather and wait in peace for the Lord to deign to allow our work to take a further step forward.

In any case, I firmly trust that I will be ready to welcome you somewhere (poorly in apostolic style, without doubt) before the end of the holidays. I would even like to hear from you when you think you could come, in case the business should be completed in the next few days. So would you please write immediately and let me know, and if I am obliged to leave Lyons shortly, I will tell you in my answer where any letters to me should be sent.

Be brave. Pray earnestly to the Holy Virgin and to Saint Joseph, the great provider for those in need, and if he enables you to come into possession of some goodly sum to pay for our future abode, he will deign to do great good for our nascent work.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Completely yours

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. Please send me your answer c/o the Reverend Marist Fathers, Montée Saint Barthélemy 1.()

(Lyons, 14 July 1856)

Sent_0706

Sent_0706 - à M. Vian - le 14 juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0706 - to Mr Vian - 14 July 1856 /1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0706 - à M. Vian - le 14 juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0706 Original, AMA 2F1, p 269

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

If you commit yourself with me, from Lyons you could easily go and see your father.

Index : recruitment

__________

Lyons, 14 July 1856 ()

I do not know how much longer I will still be in Lyons. Please write to me c/o the Reverend Marist Fathers, Rue Saint Barthélemy no. 4. ()

At Lyons, seeing the ease of communications, you will be only a step away from home, when the consideration due to your excellent father should so require.

A thousand kind regards to your brother who will also read this letter. My respects to your father, remember me to your sister, and believe me, while awaiting your prompt reply,

Completely yours in Our Lord

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 14 July 1856)

Sent_0707

Sent_0707 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 20 juillet 1856 -/5

Sent 0707 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 20 July 1856 /5

Sent_0707 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 20 juillet 1856 -/5

Sent 0707 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1087ss

copy, AMA 2C19, pp 11-14

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Since leaving Rome, I have never for a moment stopped working on the project for the African Missions : collections (unfortunately interrupted by the floods), preaching, seeking out a place, recruitment. Propagation of the Faith is waiting for a mission to be entrusted to us before helping us. He quotes 7 names of future collaborators. Our Society will be at the service of Propaganda. Herewith some fundamental articles. Do not delay in entrusting us with Dahomey : I could set out for there quite soon with a few companions, leaving Father Planque in Lyons. He then refers once more to the aid that the firm of Régis would offer him and to the relations of the latter with Guézo, king of Dahomey.

Index : SMA foundation, recruitment, fundamental articles

__________

Lyons, 20 July 1856

c/o the Reverend Marist Fathers, Montée St Barthélemy, n° 4

Your Eminence,

Since leaving Rome on 20 April of this year until the present time, I have never for a moment ceased working on the project for the African Missions for the purpose of attempting new missions in the most abandoned countries of Africa.

It seems to me that the time has come to report to you what I have done and the hope that I entertain of being able soon to place at your disposal workers devoted to this difficult undertaking. I also have to indicate to you what seems to me most desirable at this time to hasten the day when we will be permitted to carry Jesus Christ's Holy Name in the midst of these poor peoples.

Backed up by the kind letter of encouragement given me by His Exc. Cardinal Fransoni, of pious memory, I began, as from my arrival in Toulon, to preach my work in order to make it known to the faithful and the ecclesiastics, to the former in order to obtain from them the indispensable material aid for my undertaking, and to the latter in order to attach to myself devoted cooperators. On neither count, has my expectation been in vain.

Scarcely had I preached in two dioceses than I obtained several thousands francs' worth of alms, when unfortunately the terrible floods occurred which have ravaged a considerable part of France. The impression of this disaster was general : on all sides, people hastened to ensure support and collect funds for the flood victims; all other good works had to take second place ; so that I have had to stop asking for alms for a time.

However, while I ceased preaching, I have gone on acting. I have visited several seminaries and have finally come to Lyons to arrive at an understanding with the Council of Propagation of the Faith, and see if I could not find some suitable site for the first centre of the Society of African Missions.

The Gentlemen of Propagation of the Faith persist in what they had written to me at Rome which I had the honour of communicating to you, namely that, while sympathising very strongly with my undertaking, they refuse to give anything for the first establishment in Europe. On the contrary, once a Mission has been definitively entrusted to me, they have again assured me that I may count on their aid for the cost of departure, as well as for our establishments in Africa and the upkeep of the Mission.

Several ecclesiastics have offered themselves to share in my works. With the feeble resources that I collected during the first two months, and counting besides on Providence, I plan to gather together as soon as I can those of them who give me the greatest guarantees of true vocation. We will live in a community from the outset, and together lay the bases of the Society. More or less resolved, already some twelve or fifteen of them have stepped forward. But those I rely on most to become excellent missionaries are :

1) Abbé A. Planque, priest, at present teacher of philosophy in the seminary of Arras ;

2) Abbé Girerd, deacon. The directors of the seminary where he is still, although he has finished his course in theology, have given me excellent references.

3) Abbé Noché, sub-deacon ;

4) Abbé Faure, sub-deacon ;

5) Abbé Brissaud, minor ecclesiastic ;

The same remark applies to these three young clerics as for Abbé Girerd ; except that Abbé Brissaud has not yet completed his theological studies ;

6) Mr Paul Nicol, layman;

7) Mr Joseph Richard, layman.

These last two could be serving brothers.

It should further be presumed that, among those who, at first glance, inspired me with less confidence, there will be some who prove solid, after spending some time in our house on trial. But what is above all certain, is that as soon as there are 4 or 5 of us, when the Society has a domicile, and the work becomes known, a goodly number of generous ecclesiastics will join our ranks, above all once they know that a Mission is definitively entrusted to us.

Until then, undoubtedly with some reason, the directors of seminaries are the first to check the impulsion of the young clerics. Wait, they say to them ; let us see first what direction this Society takes, since it still does not really have a Mission.

Accordingly it is indubitable, Your Eminence, that there will be no lack of subjects. There is already no lack, and I will almost say that there are too many for the moment ; for, without tempting Providence, my present resources would not permit me at once to receive and provide for all those who have volunteered. I am merely going to gather 4 or 5 of those I referred to earlier, and when the good God sends us more abundant aid, I will call in others. Besides, once you have designated a Mission, and Propagation of the Faith can report it in the Annals, I hope that it will allocate something to us, even prior to our departure.

However little the Lord continues to bless us, a Society of Missionaries will thus be in your hand, Your Eminence, at the service of the S.C. of Propaganda, for the most abandoned countries of Africa, however harsh the climate and barbarous the inhabitants.

It would be difficult, and perhaps impossible, to at once draw up detailed regulations of the Society of African Missions. However, we need from the outset to follow a common rule, at least provisionally. Accordingly we have agreed on a number of fundamental articles, copy of which I have the honour of sending you. Kindly examine them, Your Eminence, and tell us if we can base ourselves on them for the moment. We will accept them with any modifications that you see fit to make to them.

This, Your Eminence, is the first request that I address to you, in the hope that you will deign to inform me soon of your approval of these articles, or the modifications that you feel it advisable to make to them. I need this in order to be able to convey something positive to the various bishops who, before permitting their clerics to join me, are desirous that I give them a clear idea of what our Society intends to be.

After which it would be very important, it seems to me, for the S.C. to deign to entrust to me without delay the Mission of Dahomey. This would give me powerful moral strength for laying the bases of the Society solidly.

Besides, there is no doubt but that, shortly, I could leave for that country, accompanied by two priests and by one or two lay brothers, while, under the direction of Abbé Planque, for example, the others would prepare to follow us when the time comes ; and in a few years from now, I feel confident that the Society of African Missions will be in a position to meet to a large extent the desires of the S.C., both for Dahomey, and other most barbarous peoples of Africa.

As for the information that I have continued to gather on the kingdom of Dahomey, this is quite in line with what I indicated in my report in January last. The firm of Régis is still admirably disposed towards us, and in very good relations with King Guézo. It is through it that this king is working with a view to getting the French Government to undertake the education of two of his children.

It was only after I had handed in my report that I became aware of this fact which I reported to you personally. I also took the liberty of confiding to you my fears and my hopes in that regard. In itself, it is a good ; but if these young princes receive, as is all too probable, an impious education, similar to which is being imparted in Paris to certain young Egyptians, it would be much better, for the future of religion in those countries, that these young people never came to set eyes on France.

But, if we should arrive in their country before they had left, it might be that the king would give up the idea of sending them, entrusting their education to us, or else that he would send them under the protection of the Society of African Missions which would bring them up, either on its own, or else by placing them in a truly Christian household, or in a small seminary-college.

It seems to me, Your Eminence, that this constitutes a powerful consideration for not delaying the opening of the Mission of Dahomey. Once on the spot, I will let you know, as exactly as possible, what the limits of this kingdom are, in order to clearly establish the jurisdiction.

It is now roughly one year, Your Eminence, since the firm of Régis informed me of the possibility that exists of creating a Mission in that kingdom, and of the hope of obtaining abundant fruits there, even of penetrating further into the interior of Africa, once we are strongly anchored at Abomey, the capital. Let us hope that it will not be long before I have the happiness of going to preach Jesus Christ there. I pray divine mercy, and you, Your Eminence, who are its providential instrument, to deign to hasten that time for the salvation of a few elect.

It only remains for me to implore once more the benevolence of the S.C. and the Holy Father's blessing on the works that we propose undertaking. Finally, I beg you to accept the assurance of the respectful devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 20 July 1856)

Sent 0707 (follows) Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol 5, p 1091ss

copy, AMA 11/5.01, n° 41941

FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES

(sent to Cardinal Barnabò, with the letter dated 20 July 1856) ()

FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES WHICH, IF APPROVED BY THE S.C. OF PROPAGANDA, IT SEEMS TO US MIGHT SERVE AS A BASIS FOR THE SOCIETY OF AFRICAN MISSIONS.

IThe Society of African Missions has as its principal goal the evangelisation of those countries of Africa most in need of missionaries.

IIIt places itself under the protection of the S.C. of Propaganda, to whose authority it will always duly defer, as being the organ of the will of the Sovereign Pontiff for everything concerning the missions.

IIIIt will only accept missions conforming to the desires of the S.C. of Propaganda and, moreover it will make every attempt to be capable of meeting its desires on any point whatsoever in Africa, however unfruitful and difficult the mission that may be entrusted to it. It will work constantly to prepare ways of penetrating into those places where there are no missionaries, and, when it considers that the time has come to make an attempt, it will share this desire with the S.C., asking for its authorisation to carry it out. Finally, at the explicit and unsolicited request of the S.C., it may accept missions outside of Africa, providing these involve coloured peoples.

IVSince the Society is essentially secular, no one involved will take vows. Later on, the question will be raised of whether it might not be advantageous to take an oath of perseverance after one year's trial in the mother house, or several years in mission. For the time being, a solemn resolution would be taken to persevere in the Society until the end of one's life, considering it the greatest possible merit to die at work, either within the Missions, or in their service in Europe.

VThe association will consist of : the Superior General, the local superiors, the councillors, the other confreres and lay brothers. The government of the Society will be detailed later. Meanwhile, Mgr de Marion Brésillac will be considered as the Superior of the association, and the four most senior priests will be his councillors. Before leaving for Africa, he will appoint a superior for the house in France.

VINo-one will have any active or passive say until three years after admission.

VIIBefore being admitted, everyone will regularly spend one year in the trial house in Europe.

VIIIWherever several associates are gathered, they will observe communal life. They may use according to their decision any personal income, whereas everything that they receive directly or indirectly from the missions, or for the missions, will be put into the funds in common. The superiors may require that their subordinates apply a certain number of masses for the needs of the community, without however exceeding four per week.

IXThe superiors will take care to provide for the needs of the members, to ensure they have everything necessary, however without ever departing from holy apostolic poverty.

XThe members of the association present in Europe, either through the will of their superiors, or in those cases foreseen in the regulations, will not fail to make themselves useful to the Church and to the missions, not only by prayer, but also by works which maintain the apostolic spirit at the heart of the association, such for example as orphanages, the education of poor children and of those brought back from the missions and returned to their own country once educated. They may also make themselves useful by preaching, principally in small towns and villages. All of this under the guidance of their superiors.

XIThe lay brothers should, as far as possible, practice an art or trade, so as to be capable of teaching it to the poor children and to the young Africans, either in Europe, or in the mission establishments.

XIIThe Society's strength lies in the concord in perfect charity and obedience to those appointed to direct rather than to govern their confreres. Thus the aspirants, even if they should have all the other qualities, will not be admitted to belong to the associative body, if they show clear signs of an independent spirit, or a marked reluctance to fit in with characters different from their own.

XIII After eight to ten years' existence, detailed regulations will be drawn up and submitted to the Holy See for approval.

A.M.D.G.

(Lyons, 20 July 1856)

Sent_0708

Sent_0708 - au Père Planque - fin juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0708 - to father Planque - end of July 1856 /2

Sent_0708 - au Père Planque - fin juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0708 copy (), AMA 2F1, pp 183 verso-185

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

The business is completed in Lyons : we can take possession of our house on 31 October. Bring your books with you. May God be our strength !

Index : house in Lyons

__________

Lyons, (end of July 1856) ()

Very dear Sir,

Today the transaction of which I spoke to you earlier will be completed. Thus we will have a house which will at first lack many things, but which will also have its advantages : a small enclosure, its site close to the city, and a magnificent view.

May the Lord bless it and fill it with zealous missionaries who rush from there into the most abandoned countries of Africa, to snatch from the demon some of the souls that he possesses, so to speak, without contradiction. This house being rented out, we can only take possession on 31 October. Nevertheless, the Carmelite Ladies who are selling it will arrange for there to be an empty apartment before then.

Accordingly I will do my best to be back here towards the beginning of October, and a few days later you can come and join me. Between now and then, kindly write to me at Castelnaudary (Aude). If I am not there, any letters will be sent on to me.

It would be desirable for you to bring with you as many books as possible, for we will all be delighted to have something to read, and to spend in study any time that the Lord grants to us. Nonetheless, in order to avoid carriage costs, you could leave some that you could have sent on later by slow carriage. I am only telling you this in reply to your question and insofar as it may suit you.

Finally, very dear Sir, pray earnestly; ask all the pious souls that you know to pray, and ask the good God to give us strength in the contradictions, and patience in the trials and embarrassments inseparable from any beginning.

It is in this union of prayers and of the very holy sacrifice that I ask you to believe me,

Very dear Sir

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, end of July 1856 ?)

Sent_0709

Sent_0709 - à M. Vian - le 30 juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0709 - to Mr Vian - 30 July 1856 /2

Sent_0709 - à M. Vian - le 30 juillet 1856 -/1

Sent 0709 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 270-271

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I regret that you and your brother refuse to take part in my work. My friendship for you remains unchanged. Our house will be at Lyons. Pray to Saint Joseph to help us to pay for it. Pray for our recruitment.

Index : friendship, house in Lyons, recruitment

__________

Lyons, 30 July 1856

Very dear friend,

And so, you give up the idea of taking an active part in our work, and force me to give up the hope of having you, you or your brother, with us ; for your last letter leaves no further room for hope.

This fact will not lessen the friendship that I have always had for you, besides I admire your zeal for so many good works, but will never cease regretting your cooperation in a work the importance of which you realised at first, and in the merits of which you would have participated all the more since you would have become one of the principal causes of its existence. May God's will be done, and not ours. May you act in all of this exclusively for its most perfect accomplishment and the greatest glory of our good Master.

Today purchase of the house of which I spoke to you or your brother should be completed. Thus it is at Lyons that, if God wills, the centre of our work will be set up.

Pray to God to bless it, to give us one or two good directors, some men like your brother, since your brother will have nothing to do with it, and a large number of young and zealous missionaries who venture out from there into the most abandoned countries of Africa, to snatch from the demon some of the numerous souls that he possesses, so to speak, without contradiction. Likewise pray to Saint Joseph, that he helps us find the money to pay for what we have bought on credit while invoking the Holy Family.

Since this house is only due to be handed over on 31 October, I am going to leave Lyons in the hope of being able to preach some sermons in those places least affected by the floods. I will also spend some days in my family, where I expect to arrive in 15 or 20 days' time. Would it not be a good idea to finally carry out the pleasant project you had of coming to see us and renewing the acquaintance of your old friends of Carcassonne ? See what your heart says. You know how happy that would make me personally.

A Dieu. A thousand kind regards to all your family. Pray for me, and believe me always

Your friend in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

Write to me at Castelnaudary. If I am not there, the letter will be sent on to me.

(Lyons, 30 July 1856)

Sent_0710

Sent_0710 - à Mme Blanchet - le 1er août 1856 -/1

Sent 0710 - to Mrs Blanchet - 1 August 1856 /1

Sent_0710 - à Mme Blanchet - le 1er août 1856 -/1

Sent 0710 partial Le Gallen copy, AMA 2F39, p 491

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

I trust in Providence for payment of the house that I have just purchased in Lyons.

Index : house in Lyons, trust in God

__________

Lyons, 1 August 1856 ()

[...] I was only in a position to give three thousand francs on signing the contract, and have undertaken to give seven thousand more in three months' time, on taking over the house.

For the rest, I have a little more time. However, we will have to pay interests, make some small repairs, feed and keep our young aspirants, and all of which with what ? Once again, my trust is in Providence. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 1 August 1856)

Sent_0711

Sent_0711 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 6 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0711 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 6 August 1856 /2

Sent_0711 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 6 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0711 Original, APF, Congressi, Africa Centrale,

1848-1857, p 1098

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

With Father Dominique who will bring you this letter, we have once more seen Mr Régis. All the conditions are met for the opening of a house in Dahomey. I have just purchased a house in Lyons ; it is there that we will gather. Write to me at Castelnaudary.

Index : house in Lyons, Dahomey, fundamental articles

__________

Marseilles, 6 August 1856

Your Eminence,

Having come to Marseilles to see Mr Régis, I find the excellent Father Dominique about to leave for Rome. He is one of the most distinguished and edifying religious in France. Since he is also a friend of mine, he accompanied me to see Mr Régis. I have asked him to go and offer my homage to Your Eminence and communicate to you, in person, the details that shipowner has given us, which prove more than ever how much hope there is of glorifying Jesus Christ's Holy Name in Dahomey, and now important it is not to delay in setting up an establishment of missionaries in that kingdom.

Since the last letter which I had the honour of writing to you, I have concluded the business I mentioned to you, by purchasing definitively a house with small garden in Lyons, with a view to making it the centre for the work of the African Missions. There I plan to incessantly bring together the ecclesiastics whose names I gave you, and any who may still present themselves offering probabilities of a true vocation. Only a couple of days ago a priest offered his services, but I still do not know him sufficiently to know how far he can be relied on.

If Your Eminence had already arranged for an answer to be given to the question that I raised in my last letter to you, above all regarding the appellation() or the modification of the fundamental articles of our regulations, the Reverend Marist Fathers of Lyons will send the letter on to me ; if not, Your Eminence could address it to me at Castelnaudary, department of Aude, where you can find me while waiting for the house that I have bought in Lyons to be readied.

I beg you, Your Eminence, to kindly accept the renewed assurance of the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Marseilles, 6 August 1856)

Sent_0712

Sent_0712 - au P. Planque - le 23 août 1856 /1

Sent 0712 - to Father Planque - 23 August 1856 /2

Sent_0712 - au P. Planque - le 23 août 1856 /1

Sent 0712 copy () AMA 2F1, pp 185 verso-187

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I understand the hesitations of the Bishop of Arras. My work requires time, prayer and dedication. We need men full of faith and love of the cross. Later on, we will be many. Tell people everywhere that I have the support of Propaganda, of its Cardinal Prefect and of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit which works in those regions in Africa.

Index : difficulties, recruitment, union with Rome

__________

Castelnaudary, 23 August 1856

I am not at all surprised, my dear Mr Planque, at the difficulties raised by the Bishop of Arras. It is the same for all those still not perfectly acquainted with my work, which necessarily needs time in order to be known. This is in fact one of the greatest obstacles in the beginning. In order to overcome it, we have to count on time, and on the prayer and dedication of those who first of all gather around me.

Once the time has come, we can give a more extensive notice, however we should not be overhasty. My work continues to advance slowly, but without ever falling back, and that is all that I could hope for.

To answer the His Lordship's objections, which are those of the best intentioned persons and the most sympathetic to my venture, I would have to make a whole dissertation. I am content with explaining it in person to the bishops and directors of seminaries whom I meet, and have the consolation of seeing that, while now and then expressing doubts of its success, they are all of the opinion that this undertaking should be carried out, and I have no doubt as to its success, because to achieve it it would only take a few ecclesiastics full of faith and love of the cross.

Now fortunately there are many of that character in France ; and then, if the good God permits, in his mercy for these peoples, the work to achieve its full development, he will give us a large number of them, but at a later stage.

Meanwhile until I have the pleasure of seeing you and informing you of everything that led to the undertaking of this work, tell those persons who may feel astonished, that I am acting in agreement with the S.C. of Propaganda, that it is Mgr Barnabò, former Secretary, now Cardinal and Prefect of the S.C., who gave me the idea of forming this Society, that the Gentlemen of the Holy Spirit, today united with the priests of the Sacred Heart of Mary, themselves requested that more workers be sent out to the immense countries that they are entrusted with evangelising and that it is impossible for them to visit, that the S.C. addressed itself to several congregations which failed to meet its desires, that then I offered my services and that, in order to be better assured of success, the S.C. expressed to me the desire of forming a Society such as the one we undertake to create, and that God will bless, I feel confident. Some time from now, the Bishop of Arras will be for us, like the Cardinal of Lyons and others who first of all were suspicious but who have now become my protectors.

So, be brave and persevere. Write to me further at Castelnaudary. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. I cannot see why you should write to the Foreign Missions.

(Castelnaudary, 23 August 1856)

Sent_0713

Sent_0713 - à Mme Blanchet - le 27 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0713 - to Mrs Blanchet - 27 August 1856 /1

Sent_0713 - à Mme Blanchet - le 27 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0713 partial Le Gallen copy, AMA 2F39, pp 491-492

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

The money he has already collected. We will begin in Lyons in November.

Index : finances, house of Lyons

__________

Castelnaudary, 27 August 1856

[...] I have still only arrived at seven thousand three hundred and nineteen francs and thirty-five centimes of receipts. However, I plan to gather a few subjects in our new establishment of Lyons at the beginning of November. After having allowed us to pay ten thousand francs on 31 October, for which I shall very probably be obliged to advance something out of my inheritance, God will undoubtedly send us food and clothing. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Castelnaudary, 27 August 1856)

Sent_0714

Sent_0714 - à M. Arnal - le 29 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0714 - to Mr Arnal - 29 August 1856 /2

Sent_0714 - à M. Arnal - le 29 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0714 Original, envelope at the beginning of AMA 2F1

(to Mr Etienne Arnal)

(superior of the minor seminary of Carcassonne)

Regrets at not having met him. Regarding a cassock that he has just sent him. Give me information please on Mr Alba who offers to join us.

Index : friendship, recruitment

__________

Castelnaudary, 29 August 1856

So that, very dear Mr Arnal, your occupations have prevented you from coming to see us in the mountains. But Mr Barthe ! However, I suppose that he had good reasons for not coming!

This morning, before leaving Garric, I received the second cassock that you were good enough to send me. I hoped that with it there would be the account of what I owe to the tailor, or rather you, for I think that you were kind enough to advance the supplement of the hundred francs that I left with you. Kindly let me know as soon as possible, so that I can let you have it.

I have something else to ask you. I believe you know a certain Abbé Alba who was tutor to Mr Marquier's children, who has to leave the seminary, and who since has knocked on several doors. He is applying to me, however I fear that he may be inconstant, if not light, although it appears in fact that on several occasions, he was more unfortunate than to blame. Clearly it is not his fault that he is now leaving the sad community where he was employed just lately at Aix-en-Province. However, before accepting him, I want to be sure that, in what happened at Carcassonne, there is nothing liable to exclude him forever from the priesthood. Accordingly I would be obliged if you would kindly tell me what you think of him.

I would be obliged if you would convey my greetings to Mr Barthe and your teachers whom I know, and be assured of my affectionate devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. Kindly answer me as soon as possible to Castelnaudary.

(Castelnaudary, 29 August 1856)

Sent_0715

Sent_0715 - à sa mère - le 30 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0715 - to his mother - 30 August 1856 /1

Sent_0715 - à sa mère - le 30 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0715 Original, AMA 2F1, p 190

(to his mother)

Part of his programme for the coming days He hopes that the family will be gathered together in about ten days' time.

Index : preaching, attachment (family)

__________

Lascourtines, 30 August (1856) ()

My dear Mamma,

Everything considered, I have decided not to change my first plan. Accordingly I will go and preach at Pamiers on the 7th and very probably at Mirepoix the Thursday before that. I will make my way to Monestrol, by Pamiers, on Monday or Tuesday of next week, that is the 8th or the 9th. As for you, I can't see why you others should not leave, as you had planned, on the Tuesday or Wednesday before.

The journey yesterday went well ; we arrived about 8 o'clock. They were beginning to be anxious and were waiting for our arrival to dine.

Apart from that, nothing new, we are leaving this evening for Limoux. Regards to my father and to Bathilde. I look forward to seeing you all in ten or twelve days' time.

Your respectful son.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lascourtines, 30 August 1856)

Sent_0716

Sent_0716 - à son oncle - le 30 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0716 - to his uncle - 30 August 1856 /1

Mgr de MARION BRESILLAC *ECRITS*

Sent_0716 - à son oncle - le 30 août 1856 -/1

Sent 0716 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 23

(to his uncle) ()

I am going to preach at Mirepoix. May I enjoy your hospitality ?

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Lascourtines, 30 August 1856

My very dear uncle,

I am delighted at a circumstance that will soon give me the pleasure of seeing you. I plan to go to Mirepoix on Thursday to preach in favour of the work I am undertaking for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa.

Since I do not know if it is easy for you to offer me a bed, if necessary I will ask hospitality of Monsieur le Curé; but if, without disturbing yourself, you can offer me one, that will give me the pleasure of spending some time more with you.

While awaiting the pleasure of seeing you, please accept the assurance of my respectful sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lascourtines, 30 August 1856)

Sent_0717

Sent_0717 - à M. Tesson - le 9 septembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0717 - to M. Tesson - 9 September 1856 /1

Sent_0717 - à M. Tesson - le 9 septembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0717 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 133

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(director in the Seminary of Paris)

Could you pay me the rest of my pension for this year with a bill on Toulouse ?

Index : viaticum

__________

Monestrol, 9 September 1856

My dear Mr Tesson,

About two weeks ago I wrote to you from Castelnaudary to say several things, and to ask you to kindly send the rest of my pension for the year by a bill on Castelnaudary or on Toulouse. Having received no answer from you, and being as always pressed for money, I fear that my letter may not have reached you since, in holiday times, you are perhaps not in Paris.

In any case, since I do not expect to stay on much longer in these parts, kindly do not delay your answer and, if you are still in time, I would now prefer a bill on Toulouse rather than on Castelnaudary.

Undoubtedly my previous letter should reach you sooner or later, so I will not come back on its content, but merely renew to you very sincerely the assurance of my affectionate attachment.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. My address is : Monestrol, by Villefranche du Lauragais (Haute-Garonne).

(Monestrol, 9 September 1856)

Sent_0718

Sent_0718 - au P. Planque - le 28 septembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0718 - to Father - 28 September 1856 /2

Sent_0718 - au P. Planque - le 28 septembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0718 copy (), AMA 2F1, pp 187 verso-189

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

After all my preaching in October, I plan to go to Lyons to take over our house. I think I will be in a position to pay the 10,000 francs promised. I will have two or three other persons with me. So come quickly.

Index : preaching, alms, house of Lyons, recruitment

__________

Albi, 28 September 1856

Dear Sir,

Here I am once more in the midst of preaching and collections for our work. After spending a few days with my family, I am going to Lyons to take possession of the house that will be handed over to us on 31 October.

I preached next Sunday () at Toulouse and will do the same here today ; next Sunday, I hope to be at Rodez, the following Sunday at Mende, and the one after at Le Puy, on 19th October, while on the 21st I will go to Lyons. I have a young cleric with me, Mr Alba, from the diocese of Carcassonne and once you arrive, when we have arranged everything together, I will call in 2 or 3 more, so that in this way we will form the core of the congregation that the good God will bless, I hope.

So you see, my very dear Mr Planque, that it would be very advantageous for you not to delay in arriving. It is important for the advancement of our work that we have a house where several persons are already gathered together.

The spirit of zeal that inspires you will provide you with the means of overcoming any difficulties that may arise as regards your aunt, all the more since, being first of all employed in completing the theological studies of your young people, you can tell her, without danger of untruth, that you are called to Lyons to teach theology. From there, if necessary, you can go and see her from time to time. Kindly write to me before my arrival in Lyons, at one of the towns that I have named (poste restante), to tell me when you expect to join us.

I pray God that this will be by the first days of November.

My collections have been affected somewhat by the bad year and the season unfavourable to sermons on charity, since all the fine folks are at present in the country. Nevertheless, I think I will soon be in a position to meet the obligation that I incurred of paying over ten thousand francs on taking over the house. You see that the good God does not abandon us. Let us be faithful to grace and the work cannot fail to succeed. Lose no time in coming to help us. A Dieu.

In the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Albi, 28 September 1856)

Sent_0719

Sent_0719 - à son frère Henri - le 19 octobre 1856 -/1

Sent 0719 - to his brother Henri - 19 October 1856 /2

Sent_0719 - à son frère Henri - le 19 octobre 1856 -/1

Sent 0719 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 191-192

(to his brother Henri)

I will rest for eight days at the bishop of Le Puys's. Throughout my tour, I have been very well received and collections are good. I will have plenty to do on taking over our house in Lyons.

Index : preaching, collections, house of Lyons

__________

Le Puy (Haute-Loire), 19 October 1856

Very dear Henri,

I received your good letter of the 8th at Mende. Now here I am at Le Puy, in accordance with my expected itinerary to Lasserre, no part of which has been modified.

Only, I am going to stay here for eight days and will only go back to Lyons on the 27th or the 28th, instead of the 21st, for the preaching, together with the fatigue of the journeys, has tired me somewhat. I need a few days' rest and so am taking advantage of the pressing invitation of the bishop of Le Puy to spend the week with him. It will be easier than at Lyons where I will have to begin setting up in a house consisting of four bare walls.

This bishop is excellent ; he was in Aveyron when he learned that I was due to pass by here, and he hastened to come to receive me. In fact, I have nothing but praise for the way in which I have been treated by all the bishops whose dioceses I have crossed. My collections are fairly good. Counting Toulouse, they have yielded thus far four thousand five hundred francs, after deduction of travel expenses.

But this is the last town where I will be preaching for the moment. Now I have to use part of my time for setting up the house in Lyons. In a short while I am expecting two or three future missionaries. Then we will make other rounds, God willing. Thus, with the money that you are to send me, I hope to be able to pay off almost immediately twenty thousand francs.

I have received a letter from Félicie who informs me of the death of one of Mr Marquier's children. Will this illness which seems to affect children in the mountain have made you change your plan for a family tour ? However that may be, I hope that this letter reaches you. I cannot yet give you my address at Lyons. But you can write to me poste restante. However do not send the money until you have my address.

A Dieu. A thousand kind regards to Joséphine and the children.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Le Puy (Haute-Loire), 19 October 1856)

Sent_0720

Sent_0720 - au P. Planque - fin octobre 1856 -/1

Sent 0720 - to Father Planque - end of October 1856 /1

Sent_0720 - au P. Planque - fin octobre 1856 -/1

Sent 0720 copy (), AMA 2F1, p 185

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I am in our house after eight days' rest spent with the bishop of Le Puy. Come quickly.

Index : house of Lyons

__________

Lyons, (end of October 1856) ()

African Missions, Chemin de Sainte-Foy, 9 - Lyons

My dear Sir,

Here I am, finally arrived at Lyons ; I have delayed until now giving you the exact address of our house, which is : Chemin de Sainte-Foy no. 9. I expected to be here eight days earlier. But feeling some fatigue as a result of the almost continual preaching in one month's travelling, I accepted the pressing invitation of the bishop of Le Puy, to stop off and rest for a week in his house.

Now, my dear Sir, I await you with impatience, so come as soon as possible and kindly write to tell me what day you expect to arrive so that, in your bedroom, there is at least sufficient to meet a prophet's needs, namely : a bed, a table and a candlestick.

While awaiting the pleasure of seeing you and bringing you into my works, I commend myself to your good prayers, and ask you to believe me in Our Lord

Yours affectionately.

M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac

(Lyons, end of October 1856)

Sent_0721

Env_721 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 1er novembre 1856 \- /1

Envoi 721 - to his sister Bathilde - 1 November 1856 /1

Env_721 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 1er novembre 1856 \- /1

Sent 0721 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1856

(to his sister Bathilde)

I'm doing housework at Lyons ! Patience ! Send me the belongings that I left at Chanry

Index : house of Lyons

__________

Lyons, 1 November 1856

Very dear Bathilde,

Finally, here I am in Lyons setting the house to rights! You know how good I am at that and how it amuses me. Patience !...

So, kindly send as soon as possible the belongings that I left at Chanry, my portable chapel and my books. All of which in good condition and as cheaply as possible. As soon as you have sent them off, let me know, enclosing the relative documents. Arrange for the goods to be dispatched for home delivery To Mgr de Marion Brésillac, at the African Missions, Chemin du petit Sainte Foy, no. 9, Lyons.

Forgive me the trouble and difficulty I will be giving you, and believe me for life

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 1 November 1856)

Sent_0722

Sent_0722 - à Mme Blanchet - le 5 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0722 - to Mrs Blanchet - 5 November 1856 /1

Sent_0722 - à Mme Blanchet - le 5 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0722 partial Le Gallen copy, AMA 2F39, pp 494-495

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

By the end of the month, we will be eight or ten in our house. I request your hospitality for the end of December in Paris. I shan't need much.

Index : friendship, recruitment

__________

Lyons, 5 November 1856

[...] It is now five days since I have settled down, for better or worse, in our new establishment, having with me a young ecclesiastic while, by the end of the month, we will be eight or ten. As soon as the house is more or less organised, and capable of running on its own, the need to preach in some dioceses will once more arise, to earn us our bread.

I will be at Paris without doubt towards the end of December. You have had the extreme goodness, in your letter, to renew your invitation to me to go and request hospitality of you. So I will try to put in an appearance, asking you to treat me as a missionary. As you know, I need little. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 5 November 1856)

Sent_0723

Sent_0723 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 5 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0723 - to Propagation of the Faith - 5 November 1856 /1

Sent_0723 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 5 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0723 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, I 4365

copy, AMA 2F18/1856

(to the President of the Council of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

I preach next Sunday at Saint-Nizier ; I would be honoured by your presence.

Index : preaching

__________

Lyons, 5 November 1856

African Missions,

Chemin de Sainte-Foy, no. 9

Monsieur le Président, ()

I have the honour of informing you that, next Sunday 9th November, I will be preaching at the close of Vespers in the church of Saint-Nizier, to let the public know about my work of the African Missions. Although you already know it, and your sympathy has already been expressed, I would feel greatly flattered if you would deign to honour me with your presence as well as that of the members of the Council of Propagation of the Faith, whom I beg you to invite on my behalf.

Kindly accept, in union of good works, Monsieur le Président, the assurance of my perfect devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 5 November 1856)

Sent_0724

Sent_0724 - à M. Vian - le 6 novembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0724 - to Mr Vian - 6 November 1856 /2

Sent_0724 - à M. Vian - le 6 novembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0724 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 276-277

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

He reproaches him for not writing to him, but persists in his friendship for him and counts on his prayers and on "something more" if the occasion should arise. He tells of his preaching, declares himself satisfied with his collections and speaks of his new house and community (we will be a dozen in the course of the month).

Index : friendship, house of Lyons, preaching, collections, recruitment

__________

Lyons, 6 November 1856

Very dear Mr Vian,

Where are you and what are you doing ? Have we fallen out ? You have not answered my last letter. I hoped for a pleasant surprise on seeing you arrive at Carcassonne and at Monestrol, in the course of my brief stay in the Midi. Vain hope !

The courage of joining us definitively having failed you, would you from now on refuse me the testimonies of your constant friendship ? It's not possible. I push any such bad thought away, and choose to believe that your various works of charity have not left you the leisure to pick up your pen, as I am sure that your next letter will confirm to me. I would likewise wish to believe that you are still taking an interest in our work through your good wishes, your prayers and action, as far as circumstances allow. Thus you will be pleased to know how we are now situated.

Now since I wrote to you, I really think we have made some progress. I began to collect alms starting from Montpellier, and on my return passing by Albi, Rodez, Mende and Le Puy. Everywhere my work has aroused a great deal of support, and despite the hardships of the times, my collections have enabled me to pay off thirteen thousand francs out of the thirty-four for which I purchased my house and attached enclosure.

I just took possession of this house six days ago. I am now settled in it for better or worse. For the moment I only have with me a young ecclesiastic whom I brought with me from Carcassonne, but I hope that in the course of November, we will be ten or eleven altogether, between ecclesiastics and lay brothers. Among the ecclesiastics, I count on two priests, a deacon, two sub-deacons and one minor orders. It seems to me that this is more than we could have expected when I had the pleasure of seeing you in Toulon. It is to the good Virgin that we owe that, may we for our part live up to all she expects of our cooperation in the grace for the glorification of her Son.

After all that, you are going to say to me : well, you see that you did not need me. You are wrong, I continue to regret that you, or your brother, did not feel you could give yourselves over completely to this work. We would be much further forward than we are, if we had merited to have you among us. But after all, let us say no more about it, since the Lord has ordered things otherwise, only keep your friendship for me, give me your news from time to time and think of our work in your prayers always, and sometimes otherwise if the opportunity arises.

A Dieu. A thousand kind regards to your brother. Remember me to your sister and to your respectable father. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. On occasion, kindly ask the Union du Var to reproduce the articles on my work in the Lyons gazette, for example that of yesterday.

My address is : The African Missions, Petit Ste Foy, no. 9, LYONS.

(Lyons, 6 November 1856)

Sent_0725

Sent_0725 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - vers le 10 novembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0725 - to the bishop of Grenoble - about 10 November 1856 /2

Sent_0725 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - vers le 10 novembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0725 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 345-346

(to Mgr Jacques Marie Achille Ginoulhiac

(bishop of Grenoble)

Three of your seminarians have asked you for permission to join me. I would like to take a collection in your diocese, hold a festivity in the seminary and return to Lyons with the three young men. Knowing his reluctance to permit a collection of alms, Mgr de Brésillac does his best to persuade him to change his mind, but will respect the bishop's decision.

Index : recruitment, preaching, collections, Grenoble affair

__________

(Lyons, about 10 November 1856) (

)

My Lord,

Thanks to Our Lady of La Salette, for it is to her in large part that I attribute the growing success of my undertaking thus far, the work of the African Missions has taken a big step forward since I had the honour of seeing Y.L. and of asking you to bless it.

The diocese of Grenoble will count for a great deal in the establishment of this work, since three of your seminarians, who must have asked you for permission to join me, persevere in the good sentiments that they expressed to me when I last passed, and are quite ready, as Mr Rivaux, their director, wrote to me yesterday, to come and join me in the house that I have bought at Lyons destined to become the centre of the work, and where we should be ten or eleven altogether by the end of this month.

I hoped to go myself and collect these generous young men and take advantage of the opportunity to make my work known to the clergy and the faithful, just as I have done quite recently at Toulouse, Albi, Rodez, Mende and Le Puy.

However, Mr Rivaux writes to me that Y.L. is reluctant at this moment to let me take a collection which should naturally follow my sermon, except at Lyons itself, because, by establishing myself there, any persons desirous of contributing to the good work will have the opportunity to do so any day. It is true that the times are very bad, and yet I dare to insist with Y.L. by making the two following considerations, while respecting your final decision as from now.

1) A simple collection made in the church, after the sermon, cannot, it seems to me, greatly affect the other works. People give a part of the small sum they are carrying with them, it is a small incidental expenditure which can scarcely diminish the takings of the established works of a town. However, it is all these small alms put together that enable me to carry on my undertaking.

2) I hope I will not have time to pass through all the dioceses of France, for as soon as our mother house is sufficiently founded, I will leave, with God's help, for Africa. Now I must admit that I would regret the mite of Grenoble not figuring in this foundation, since it is there that it put down its first roots.

One thing more, My Lord: I will consider your ultimate decision as God's will ; but if what I have just explained to you should lead you to think that the collection may take place, I would proceed to Grenoble on Saturday 15th, to preach in the cathedral on Sunday 16th. We would hold a small pious festivity in the seminary, and would leave again with your children whom you would bless quite particularly for their perseverance in their apostolic devotion.

Accordingly I await your final answer, asking you to accept, My Lord, in union of prayers and of good works, the assurance of my respectful devotion.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, about 10 November 1856)

Sent_0726

Sent_0726 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 12 novembre 1856 -/3

Sent 0726 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 12 November 1856 /3

Sent_0726 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 12 novembre 1856 -/3

Sent 0726 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1845-1857, vol. 5, pp 1141ss

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 16-19

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Now we have a house ; it is paid for in part. We are four, including Father Planque ; at the end of the month, we will be nine or ten. Propagation of the Faith is very well disposed to me, but it is waiting for me to have a mission before helping me financially. The bishops too are astonished that I am seeking out subjects before having a mission ; some of them refuse me their subjects, not wishing to expose their young men to chance. I shall be going to Paris and would like on that occasion to be in a position to say that I am entrusted with Dahomey : in this way, I will undoubtedly receive financial aid and a moral protection from the French government. We only need to be authentically authorised to call ourselves missionaries of Dahomey. Obtain this mission for us from the Holy Father. Some sisters have offered to accompany me.

Index : SMA foundation, Dahomey, house of Lyons, recruitment

__________

() Lyons, 12 November 1856 ()

African Missions

Your Eminence,

God be thanked, I have good news of our undertaking to give you. The Society of African Missions is no longer merely a project : it exists, and I hope that very shortly you will deign to entrust to it the mission of Dahomey. Hereafter the progress made since my latest letter to Your Eminence, a few months ago.

As soon as the terrible effects produced by the floods had abated, I resumed preaching and collecting alms. Despite financial straits in France this year, thus far I have collected 13,080 francs. Moreover, I have converted into money that part of my inheritance that I can draw on before my parents' death, which has yielded approximately 12,000 francs. In this way, before the end of this month, out of the 34,000 francs that our house in Lyons costs, 24,000 will have been paid.

For the remaining 10,000 francs, we have five years in which to pay. Thus it will be very easy to pay it off once Propagation of the Faith decides to come to our aid, that is to say, as soon as you have definitively assigned to us the mission of Dahomey. Besides, I hope to be able to make a few more collections before leaving so as to leave no debt to the establishment.

By the end of this month, I think that we will be nine or ten gathered in a community in our house of the African Missions, established at Lyons on the hillside of Sainte-Foy, in an admirable position. Already, we are four, one of whom is a priest of whom I have already spoken to you, Mr Planque. He is a providential man for our work. In order to join me, he has left the chair of philosophy that he occupied with honour in an important seminary of France. Very learned, pious as an angel, having spent his whole life in the seminaries, accustomed to the guidance of young people and endowed with a perfect character, he is exactly suited to directing the novitiate and the house of Lyons in my absence.

Among the aspirants whom I am awaiting in a few days' time are two sub-deacons and a deacon, at present in the seminary of Grenoble. Their directors have nothing but praise for them. They have finished their courses in theology and can be made priests whenever I want.

Thus, I can leave with them as soon as you permit it, while Mr Planque will develop our Society here and will prepare the others, not only for Dahomey, but also for being at your disposal later for other totally abandoned parts of Africa. For it is certain by now that as our work becomes better known, as soon as we have some Mission entrusted to us, and the Annals of Propagation of the Faith have spoken of it, we can expect to receive a large number of aspirants.

Propagation of the Faith is becoming ever better disposed in our favour. To give you proof of this, its Council has responded to the invitation I made it to attend a sermon which I was giving to make my work known, while for its part it invited me to preach on 3 December next the sermon for Propagation of the Faith. These Gentlemen are anxious to come to my aid in some way other than good wishes, which however cannot be done until a mission is entrusted to us, so that they are in a position to include the name of such a Mission in their Annals.

You realise, Your Eminence, how anxious I am for these Gentlemen to help me out, for the ten aspirants who are going to be totally dependent on me might prove a considerable burden, if I were not succoured by Propagation of the Faith. Especially since the Directors of the Foreign Missions have written to say that, now that I am forming a congregation, they feel themselves dispensed with paying me my pension as they have done thus far. It seems to me that they could have waited until a position was found for me by the S.C., but after all I would not want to enter into discussion, being extremely anxious to maintain the good harmony which has always reigned between them and me, and which it is important to keep for the common good of our work and for public edification.

Then there are other considerations, Your Eminence, which seem to me to be such as to determine you to erect without delay the mission of Dahomey. The greatest difficulties that I encounter, above all for finding myself excellent subjects, arise on the part of the bishops who cannot understand that I am asking to take them with me, before having a mission.

If the deacons of Grenoble are not here at this moment, this is the cause of their delay. The bishop is reluctant to give them permission, fearing to expose them to chance. And it is the same with several other bishops. Thus it was that Mr Planque found it quite difficult to obtain permission to come. Once a mission has been assigned to us, all such difficulties will be smoothed out on that extremely delicate aspect so vital for our work, since what we need are good workers, and not priests of whom their bishops are embarrassed.

In a month or one and a half month's time, I have to go to Paris where I still have not gone since my return from Rome. This journey could be extremely useful to me if I arrive as the person appointed by the Holy See for the mission of Dahomey. I have the confident hope of obtaining from the government some monetary aid perhaps, but above all a moral protection which could be of vital help to us in those barbarous countries. I have delayed going to Paris, because I could not yet call myself missionary of Dahomey. But it is important not to let the winter pass without taking these steps.

May all of these reasons, Your Eminence, lead you to request the Holy Father to entrust the Mission of Dahomey to us without further delay. A word from you, Your Eminence, when you were only Secretary of the S.C., brought our congregation into being, for I was far from thinking of forming a Society of Missionaries. I went to Rome solely to request the mission of Dahomey for myself and two or three evangelical workers whom I would have taken, on the assurance of the firm of Régis of Marseilles that it is today possible and almost easy to penetrate among this people which, in the interior of the territory, has never been evangelised.

You expressed the thought that it would be better to found a Society of missionaries which would be at the service of Propaganda for Dahomey and the most abandoned countries of Africa. I was frightened at this propoal which however I accepted with some hope.

Today my hopes are exceeded. We have a house, the support of the clergy everywhere I have had the opportunity of making my work sufficiently known, the assurance of help by Propagation of the Faith, eight or ten very well disposed subjects, four or five of whom are ready to leave in a few months' time, and the prospect of numerous vocations to supply in future our central house in Lyons.

We only need to be authentically authorised to call ourselves missionaries of Dahomey. It is very important, it seems to me, for us to be able to do so before the end of this year, before my journey to Paris, and above all before Propagation of the Faith has decided on the distribution of alms for 1856. A longer wait risks delaying our departure by one year, since we would lack funds for the voyage, while Propagation of the Faith will ensure them for us. Finally, Your Eminence, this act by the S.C. would greatly encourage the generous ecclesiastics who have gathered around me, and would give us a new force for the happy development of our institution.

I forgot to tell you, Your Eminence that, according to the assurances given me by Mr Régis, some women religious could establish themselves and do great good at Whydah. Despite that, I will take care not to take out any such, before having myself seen what the situation is. But already four or five institutions of hospitaller Sisters have volunteered to provide me with the Sisters, so that if need be, this element of good will not be lacking.

I have the honour of being...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

My address is : African Missions, Chemin du Petit Ste Foy – St Irénée no. 9.

(Lyons, 12 November 1856)

Sent_0727

Sent_0727 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - le 15 novembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0727 - to the bishop of Grenoble - 15 November 1856 /2

Sent_0727 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - le 15 novembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0727 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 347-348

(to Mgr Jacques Marie Achille Ginoulhiac

(bishop of Grenoble)

You do not want me to preach or make a collection in your diocese : I submit. But for your three seminarians who wanted to join us, I truly thought that they already had your permission ; which explains the purport of the letters that I addressed to them. However, I continue to hope, for the sacrifice that a bishop makes of some of his priests does not ordinarily impoverish a diocese.

Index : Grenoble affair, recruitment

__________

(Lyons, 15 November 1856) ()

My Lord,

The day before yesterday I received your honoured letter of the 12th, and immediately gave up the idea of going to Grenoble. However this was not without some sorrow, I assure you, for I hoped that by entering into some details with Y.L. you would love a work that you would assuredly patronise, once you knew it perfectly.

As regards the sermon and the collection, believe me, My Lord, I appreciate the full force of the reasons you give me ; but permit me to maintain the conviction, shared by other prelates, that the preaching of such a work is rather favourable than harmful to local good causes; for it awakens generous sentiments and thus leads to thoughts that ordinarily remain closed, to the great prejudice of our society, where there would be very few poor if only half of those in a position to give were generous.

But let us leave that subject which is the least important one, and speak of the young seminarians whom God seems to be calling to share in our difficult works. On this extremely delicate point, I would not care to insist, preferring to rely absolutely on Y.L.'s wisdom since you can and must even feel the vocation of your clerics, and who besides know too well what God's ways are, to oppose themselves definitively to those vocations when they are real.

Only, I wish Y.L. to know that, for my part, I used some prudence, and that when I wrote to you, I thought that these young men already had your permission. It was not until the following day that I learned that this was not so. How was it that they waited until the last hour ? I do not know, it is a fault on their part, that your paternal goodness will undoubtedly excuse, in view of their inexperience.

When I passed through Grenoble last July, several of your generous ecclesiastics offered themselves to share my works. I took care not to go too fast, informing them that they must ask for your permission and inviting them to take the time necessary to reflect, urging them to stay on in the seminary after the holidays, so as not to precipitate anything, to consult the Lord and to calmly obtain the opinion of their directors.

Since that time, they have written to me several times declaring that their intention is unchanged, and just recently that everything was ready for them to leave. I had no doubt but that Y.L. was already informed, and urged them, in my reply, to go and ask you for a last blessing that would ensure their perseverance.

Accordingly, I hope, My Lord, that Y.L. will not hold it against me and that you will maintain some of the interest that you evinced when I had the pleasure of seeing you. I repeat, besides, that I sincerely respect your prudence, but I hope in the Lord and in your bishop's piety, for if God wishes the missions to be opened up at last among peoples who have still not been evangelised, it is necessary for him to give us good missionaries, and Y.L. knows full well that when the apostolic vocation is truly supernatural, the sacrifice that the bishop makes of some of his priests does not ordinarily impoverish a diocese.

And I will end here, My Lord, asking you for a blessing on our work, and begging you to accept the fresh assurance of my respectful devotion.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 15 November 1856)

Sent_0728

Sent_0728 - au directeur de Grenoble - le 15 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0728 - to the director of the Seminary of Grenoble - 15 November 1856 /1

Sent_0728 - au directeur de Grenoble - le 15 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0728 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 348

(to M. l'Abbé Rivaux)

(to the director of the seminary of Grenoble)

I hope that the bishop of Grenoble will shortly grant the exeat to the three young men requesting it. Let us pray. Some explanations on the house of Lyons.

Index : Grenoble affair, house of Lyons

__________

(Lyons, 15 November 1856) ()

Monsieur le Directeur,

It seems that the Bishop of Grenoble is at present not inclined to grant these Gentlemen permission to come and join me. I hope that this permission will arrive later, when the time of Providence will have come. Meanwhile. pray to the Lord and the good Virgin to hasten that moment, for H.L.'s refusal is a great contradiction for my nascent work.

The presence of these three Gentlemen would immediately have put our mission on the right footing. At the moment I have a very distinguished priest who will be director of the house ; he has left the chair of philosophy in the seminary of Arras to join us. In addition, I have one ecclesiastic of the lower order and two others who have not yet begun their theological studies. Finally, I expect another priest tomorrow or the day after. And that is the situation of the personnel at present.

I continue to count on your piety and zeal to give your young and generous Levites the advice they need. Kindly accept in advance my thanks with the assurance of my perfect devotion.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 15 November 1856)

Sent_0729

Sent_0729 - à 3 séminaristes de Grenoble - le 15 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0729 - to 3 seminarians of Grenoble - 15 November 1856 /1

Sent_0729 - à 3 séminaristes de Grenoble - le 15 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0729 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 347 verso-348

(to the three seminarians of Grenoble)

Courage ! perseverance! What is not permitted us today will be tomorrow.

Index :patience, recruitment, Grenoble affair

__________

(Lyons, 15 November 1856)()

Gentlemen and dear friends,

The answer I have received from the Bishop of Grenoble leads me to consider that the time has not come to go and collect you. H.L. wishes to be sure of your vocation. Submit respectfully to his orders and do not neglect to correspond to grace, to this vocation. As you know, everything is granted to perseverance. Per patientiam curramus. ()

Insist, gently and respectfully, at the appropriate time, and what is not permitted to you today will be permitted later. This is a test that the Lord is sending you to fortify your constancy. It will not be the last, and the way in which you bear it may make your grace of apostolic vocation grow.

So, courage, prudence and perseverance. Let me know from time to time how things are going and believe me always

Completely yours in Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 15 November 1856)

Sent_0730

Sent_0730 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 21 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0730 - to his sister Bathilde - 21 November 1856 /2

Sent_0730 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 21 novembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0730 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1856

(to his sister Bathilde)

Thanks for your letter announcing the dispatch of my belongings. We will soon have a small chapel with a door on to the road. The devil is at work to prevent people from joining me.

Index : attachment to the family, recruitment, house of Lyons

__________

Lyons, African Missions, 21 November 1856,

If you only knew, very dear Bathilde, how busy I am, you would not scold me for writing so rarely and briefly. Accordingly today once more you will have to be content with a few lines.

I have received your letter announcing the departure of my belongings and I (await ?) them almost with some impatience, for at present I need above all the portable chapel, since we have begun to say mass in our house. A room serves as church for us for the time being, but in a few days' time, I will have set up another one with a little door on to the road, so that we will have our own little chapel of the African Missions.

At this moment I have with me two priests and two young ecclesiastics. I am expecting others any day now, however the devil is doing his best to prevent them coming. The same applies for two lay brothers who should already be here. Accordingly I have been obliged, in the mean time, to hire a cook.

We are beginning to have an indispensable minimum in our house. But it's far from luxury as yet, I can assure you.

Pass my news on to my father and my mother, with a thousand respectful regards on my part, and believe me, very dear Bathilde,

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 21 November 1856)

Sent_0731

Sent_0731 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 11 décembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0731 - to his sister Bathilde - 11 December 1856 /2

Sent_0731 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 11 décembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0731 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1856

(to his sister Bathilde)

My belongings have arrived safely, thanks. You have forgotten the "Eclaircissements sur le Synode de Pondichéry". You will send them later. Damage caused to our house by a violent storm. Take good care of our father.

Index : house of Lyons, attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 11 December 1856

Very dear friend,

I am writing you these few short lines to say that my belongings have arrived safely. I have still not had time to collate the books sent with the catalogue, but I notice that you have forgotten a brochure which is very important for me. I believe that, with other printed or handwritten papers, you put it in the desk in my mother's room. One of these brochures in large format is entitled "Eclaircissements sur le synode de Pondichéry" by Mgr Luquet. Kindly see if they have not perhaps gone astray and send them on to me when an opportunity arises, or when I ask you for them.

I am expecting Félicie any time now. Here the weather has been frightful for the last two days. Last night I had two chimney-pots blown down and a lot of other damage caused by the storm. It is extremely unfortunate. What with one thing and another, my journey to Paris is always delayed. However, I will have to leave soon.

In the last few days I received a letter from my father. As you confirm, he tells me that he is well. God be praised. Look after him as well as ever you can, that is how you can please Heaven best.

A Dieu, very good sister. Give me your news often, and believe me always

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 11 December 1856)

Sent_0732

Sent_0732 - à la Propagande - le 13 décembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0732 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 13 December 1856 /2

Sent_0732 - à la Propagande - le 13 décembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0732 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1166ss

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 19-20

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

On the 8th of December, we went up to Fourvière to offer our undertaking to the Virgin Mary : there were seven of us. We wish to date our Society's existence from this day. Details on the members of the household of Lyons and how life is organised there. Do not delay in entrusting us with Dahomey. Propagation of the Fatih and certain bishops are only waiting for this mission to help us and entrust their subjects to us. Financial aid from Propagation of the Faith would be particularly welcome at this moment.

Index : SMA foundation, house of Lyons, Dahomey, finances

__________

Lyons, 13 December 1856

African Missions, Chemin de Sainte-Foy 9

Your Eminence,

Although I still have not received a reply to the letter that I had the honour of writing to you about a month ago, I consider it useful to inform you that, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, we went, seven of us, to offer our undertaking to the Holy Virgin, at the feet of her venerated image on the hill of Fourvière. There, we renewed the resolution of devoting ourselves entirely to the work of the African Missions, and it is our wish, if the Sacred Congregation agrees, to date the existence of our Society from 8 December 1856.

At the present time I have with me two priests, three young ecclesiastics and a brother ; another is already received, he is a sub-deacon from the seminary of Lyons. The cardinal archbishop gave him permission yesterday. He should receive the deaconate on Saturday and arrive here the Monday after. The three deacons of Grenoble have not joined us. They are still awaiting the permission of their bishop, but that only. Others have offered themselves.

The running of our establishment is, in everything, that of a seminary. We live in community ; exercises are regulated as well as study times, both for the young clerics and for the priests. It was not difficult for me to set this house up, because Abbé Planque, whom I employ as director of the house, is a former seminary director, who taught philosophy last year in the seminary of Arras.

The other priest, Mr Reymond, is a man endowed with very remarkable qualities and who, I do not doubt, will make an excellent missionary. Among the young clerics, there is one above all who gives very solid hopes, and who has almost finished his course in theology. The deacon due to come Monday next has finished his courses and is old enough to receive the priesthood. The superiors of the major seminary of Lyons praised him highly to me.

Your Eminence, these details will merely serve to corroborate what I told you in my previous letter, and will I hope persuade Your Eminence not to delay the erection of the mission of Dahomey. We need that badly in order to provide impulsion for our congregation, reassure the bishops who fear to entrust us with their subjects, until they see that we have a given mission, and not to expose those willing to share my works to a doubt which might lay them open to discouragement.

On 3 December, after the meal offered by the Gentlemen of Propagation of the Faith, following the sermon that I preached for that Work, I almost persuaded the members of the Council to come to my help, not only for the mission of Dahomey on our departure (this is certain), but even before that, once a mission has been entrusted to the Society of African Missions.

Now, I am sure you can appreciate, Your Eminence, how this would relieve the burden weighing on me at present, and that these Gentlemen are well aware of, having to provide for the indispensable needs of the household and the upkeep of a personnel happily more numerous each day, above all at the present prices of food. Such help from Propagation of the Faith would be all the more precious to me since collections are becoming more difficult because of the cost of everything all over France.

Accordingly I hope, Your Eminence, that you will deign not to delay in entrusting the mission of Dahomey to our Society, and I beg you, meanwhile, on my behalf and on behalf of the family of African Missions, to accept the expression of the most perfect devotion with which we have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servants.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 13 December 1856)

Sent_0733

Sent_0733 - au P. Planque - le 28 décembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0733 - to Father Planque - 28 December 1856 /2

Sent_0733 - au P. Planque - le 28 décembre 1856 -/2

Sent 0733 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 274-275

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

He gives him some advice on managing the house of Lyons and recruitment during his absence, and how he should behave with certain members of the community. What is essential is not that we should be many in number, but that our young men have a good spirit and a perfect devotion to our work. This letter clearly reveals Mgr de Brésillac's confidence in the person of Father Planque.

Index : advice, trust, house of Lyons

__________

Paris, 28 December 1856

31 Rue de Londres

We arrived yesterday, my dear Mr Planque, and this morning I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 26th. Thank you for the details that you give me, and kindly do the same often, don't worry about being lengthy.

I hope that Mr Riocreux will soon be one of us, if he is not so already. Give him every encouragement on my behalf if he has arrived. The family is small still, it is true, but with God's grace it will grow, providing we ourselves are faithful to this grace and never let ourselves be discouraged.

Let us think that we will have done something agreeable to God, and that we will certainly not have wasted our time if, in ten years, we have managed to open a new mission. The essential thing is not that we are immediately many in number, but that our young men have a good spirit and a perfect devotion to our work.

Thus, what you tell me about Mr Régis makes one think. It seems to me that, if after some time it is probable that he will not persevere, we should not keep him. Bearing this in mind, we should pick on two or three occasions where he is clearly at fault, and tell him, in a very friendly way and without big reproaches, on what conditions he can stay on with us, that besides you are going to let me know everything relating to his vocation. After that, I would write you a letter to be communicated to him and we would see what could be done. If J.B. has a good spirit, all the rest will come.

I still have not made my plan of campaign for Paris. I have preached at Dijon and at Sens. The collections have produced roughly seven hundred francs.

If in a few days time' you receive just over five thousand francs that my brother is due to pay me from my inheritance, and that I will write and ask him to pass on to you, kindly take five thousand francs without delay to the Carmelite Ladies, and get them to give you a receipt on stamped paper, made out to me, indicating that this is part of the payment for the property.

It seems to me that you did well to accept 6 o'clock mass on Sundays. This will be somewhat trying so long as you are the only priest, but you should not neglect the occasion to make yourself useful, in the hope that God will send us some help. In order to ascertain what is still lacking in our chapel, it seems to me that the excellent Mr Burnichon would only have to visit it.

I don't have to tell you that whenever these Ladies do you some courtesy, I would like you to thank them on my behalf and tell them that you will inform me accordingly. A Dieu. Pray for us. My friendly regards to Mr Alba, Mr Régis and Mr Genin.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 28 December 1856 - 31 rue de Londres)

Sent_0734

Sent_0734 - au P. Planque - le 30 décembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0734 - to Father Planque - 30 December 1856 /2

Sent_0734 - au P. Planque - le 30 décembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0734 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 278-279

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

How he should behave with regard to Mr Garnier. It would be better for him to withdraw if he is not fully devoted to our work. Let us take care not to become discouraged. We will have plenty of trials and contradictions !

Indes : recruitment, advice, difficulties

__________

Paris, 30 December 1856

Mr dear Mr Planque,

According to what you tell me in your letter of last Sunday, it seems clear to me that Mr Garnier is not the right man for us. If you think so yourself, in such a way that there is no hope of a change in him once he knows that we are very determined not to keep subjects who are not fully devoted to our work, you can simply ask him to withdraw.

If you think that, after being informed of our firm determination, he may get a salutary grip on himself, read out to him that part of my letter and warn him that you will keep a very careful eye on him and that, at the first tergiversation, he will be dismissed. I repeat, it is not very important for there to be a large number of us from the outset, but what we do need is devoted men.

As for the other one, see once more according to your prudence and tell me what effect your way of acting with Mr Garnier, which it is as well that he knows in any case, has on him.

As for us, very dear Mr Planque, let us take care not to become discouraged. These are the trials of the moment, those of creation, which are well worth those of the burning sky of the tropics and which will be no less meritorious, I hope. We should expect all sorts of contradictions on the part of men and the devil, however the latter will get nothing out of it providing we are constant.

A Dieu. Let us pray and be firm ; above all let us be faithful to grace.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 30 December 1856)

Sent_0735

Sent_0735 - à son frère Henri - le 30 décembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0735 - to his brother Henri - 30 December 1856 /2

Sent_0735 - à son frère Henri - le 30 décembre 1856 -/1

Sent 0735 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 193-194

(to his brother Henri)

To ask him to "disinvest" his money and send it to Father Planque at Lyons. A Happy New Year to all the family.

Index: finances, attachment (family)

__________

Paris, 30 December 1856

Rue de Londres, 31

May I begin, very dear Henri, by conveying to you my best wishes for a good year for you, your wife and your children. You know how sincerely attached I am to you all, and how my heart is joined to yours ; may heaven only bless the prayer that I address to it for your happiness.

It is only three days since I arrived in Paris. I still do not know what I can do here for my work. The times are so difficult that it is no easy task.

When you have disinvested your money, kindly send it to Lyons, to M. l'Abbé A. Planque, Director of the African Missions, Chemin du Petit Sainte-Foy no. 9, informing me accordingly. I do not know how prudent it is to send it, as you did last time, in a registered letter.

Yesterday I received confirmation of the news that you led me to expect, in a letter from Adrien who announces that the business is concluded and who invites me to bless the marriage. If I can, I will certainly accept this invitation.

If you have any errands for me in Paris, you know that I am at your service. A Dieu, my dear Henri, once more a Happy New Year to you all. Make a million affectionate compliments to Joséphine, with a thousand friendly regards for Georges and Jeanne. And you, believe me for life

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 30 December 1856 - Rue de Londres, 31)

Sent_0736

Sent_0736 - au P. Planque - le 1er janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0736 - to Father Planque - 1 January 1857 /2

Sent_0736 - au P. Planque - le 1er janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0736 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 283-284

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Thanks for your New Year's wishes ; receive mine. Some advice for the running of the house of Lyons and your attitude to certain young men. A sum to be handed over to the Cardinal of Lyons. If we are not in Dahomey by the end of this new year, let us wait patiently for the moment of grace.

Index : wishes, patience, advice

__________

Paris, 1 January 1857

I have received this minute your good letter of the 30th, my dear Mr Planque, and return wholeheartedly the New Year's wishes that you send for me and our work. May the end of the year now beginning find some of us in the kingdom of Dahomey !

But if the good God should wish to test our patience longer and wait still before opening up the doors of this infidel Kingdom to us, let us await patiently the moment of grace without attempting to outstrip it and without withdrawing in the face of the trials of an establishment which must necessarily feel some contradiction. Thank Mr Alba on my behalf, as well as the others, if they become worthy of our interest.

I leave it to your prudence to try out the brother who has applied. You alone can judge when you see him and speak to him etc., if he is capable of learning to cook decently in a short time, etc.

As a general rule, the dinners in town are not up to much, however one should prudently admit to rare exceptions.

We still have 135 fees for masses, so you can very well take some of them for yourself.

I believe you would do well not to delay in writing to Mr Reymond. It seems to me that he has excellent intentions. We should entertain with him good relations of confraternity to which I think he is sensible.

I have received the 720 francs for My Lord Cardinal. Kindly go and hand them over to him as soon as possible, this is because of my stay at Dijon and at Sens, and because I could not find Mr Choiselat the first time I went to see him. Perhaps that will leave your purse almost empty. I will send you money if you should absolutely need some, or as soon as I find an opportunity to send it safely and at no expense. Unfortunately I have not yet made any in Paris. But I have the two collections of Dijon and Sens.

Once more, very dear Mr Planque, a good year in the Lord. He knows that we are working exclusively for the extension of his kingdom. Let us be faithful to him. He will never abandon us.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 1 January 1857)

Sent_0737

Sent_0737 - au sup. gén. des Spiritains - le 1er janvier 1857 -/2

Sent 0737 - to the Superior General of the Spiritans - 1 January 1857 /2

Sent_0737 - au sup. gén. des Spiritains - le 1er janvier 1857 -/2

Sent 0737 Original, Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, 3F7.1b1

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 280-282

(to Father Schwindenhammer)

(Superior General of the Spiritans)

I maintain my request for Dahomey to Propaganda. Asking to be sent to Sierra Leone would be giving proof of a fickle spirit. By calling ourselves "African Missions", we do not claim to be the only missionaries in Africa, far from it ! When I preach, I specify that we want to go there where the faith has still not penetrated. Be re-assured, Propagation of the Faith will not diminish its subsidies to your congregation once we have a mission : Mr Choiselat told me. Let us collaborate and help each other since we are working for the same cause. Lay down the limits of the mission of Dahomey yourself, I accept them.

Index : Dahomey, African Missions, allocation, collaboration

__________

Paris, 1 January 1857

To the Superior General of the Holy Spirit

and of the Sacred Heart of Mary

My very Reverend Father,

Thank you for the communication you were good enough to give me of the passing on of the letter from Mgr Kobès. For the moment, I do not feel I should ask to be sent to Sierra Leone instead of Dahomey, so as not to tergiversate before the S.C. to whom I have already requested Dahomey. The latter kingdom will perhaps imply greater difficulties, but we await all things from God.

The objection you make to me on the name of African Missions, was raised by myself to Mgr Barnabò, who answered that it was all too evident that several orders of religious were working in Africa, for anyone to think ever that we are the only ones. In the same way the Missions Etrangères certainly have a generic name, although they are far from being the only ones to have missions abroad, this name merely indicating that their speciality is foreign missions.

Thus, our name of African Missions indicates that our speciality will be for Missions in Africa. My notice is too short to go into details, but we have tried to insinuate in it the germ of a development which could come later, by indicating the African countries where the light of the faith has not yet penetrated or that are the most deprived of missionaries.

This development is given somehow every time that I preach on the work, by speaking of the workers who already exercise their zeal in Africa, You, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, the Oblates, etc. Unfortunately, there are still immense countries where, despite so much devotion, the gospel is not, or practically not preached, and it is there, I say, where we should try to penetrate.

When the time comes to make a more detailed notice, we could introduce into it an article precisely in the direction that you desire and which is in perfect harmony with what I preach.

As for Propagation of the Faith, I feel sure that it will clearly see that there is no need to cut down on your allocations, since the territory where we desire to go is unexploited, and that you are not using there any of the resources you need for the establishments already founded elsewhere. I had occasion to see Mr Choiselat the day before yesterday and spoke to him in this sense and he seemed to understand it well.

God forbid, my very Reverend Father, that we should harm you in any way ; like you, our only desire is God's greatest glory and the evangelisation of some more peoples in unfortunate Africa. Happy on the contrary if, indirectly even, we could be useful and agreeable to you. Besides, we count on your charity to help us overcome the innumerable difficulties of an undertaking which, if it succeeds, could prove glorious for the gospel, without diminishing the good which is already being done and for which we bless the Lord.

Now you can at present help us a great deal, my very Reverend Father, by facilitating for the S.C. the means of entrusting us without delay with the mission of Dahomey. I would be as desirous as you are for the limits of the jurisdiction to be immediately perfectly designated, but I would very much regret if, for such unessential details, we were to waste precious time.

Apart from that, you know the country better than we do, you can appreciate what the desires of Their Lords Bessieux and Kobès are on this point, and thus you could lay down a limit to the mission of Dahomey and I will accept it as it appears suitable to you.

Thus, my very Reverend Father, I hope that, not only will there be agreement between us, but cordial union for the single goal that we have set ourselves, the glory of our divine Master and the salvation of some Blacks.

Kindly accept, my very Reverend Father, the assurance of my perfect devotion.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 1 January 1857)

Sent_0738

Sent_0738 - au P. Planque - le 3 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0738 - to Father Planque - 3 January 1857 /2

Sent_0738 - au P. Planque - le 3 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0738 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 285-286

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Regarding Messrs Régis and Genin. It is best that they leave the house. Convey my compliments to Mr Riocreux and I hope he is not too surprised at our small number. It is not the number that counts, but the quality.

Index : advice, recruitment

__________

Paris, 3 January 1857

My dear Mr Planque,

Since Mr Régis has to leave, he must not be allowed to tergiversate on leaving, as he did on coming. It only takes two days to get an answer from Le Puy, and besides he has relatives in Lyons.

A decision absolutely has to be taken on how to deal with Mr Genin. Tell him that you know, beyond doubt, that he is considering going over to the Oblates. If that is so, in doing good, he has done very badly to offer himself to us. And this undoubtedly explains the contradiction that I myself have noted between his behaviour as a whole and his protestations of devotion to our work. If that is the case, he cannot with a clear conscience remain with us.

As I told you in my letter of the day before yesterday, I leave it to your prudence to try the brother out.

Kindly convey my congratulations and my best wishes to the good Ursuline Ladies and ask them to pray hard for us.

Of course if there is need or even only great usefulness, you should call in a doctor for Mr Alba.

Convey my compliments to Mr Riocreux. I hope that he will not be put out at the departure of our two young aspirants. Tell him that we never counted greatly on them, since one was too young and the other gave signs of inconstancy. On the good testimonials we received on them, we wanted to try them out, but this proved unsuccessful. But we count far more on him who is a deacon, and who has studied his vocation in the seminary. He should not be too surprised either at our small number. How could it be otherwise on starting ? And besides : non numerandi, sed ponderandi (). Ensure above all, please, that he does not become discouraged.

Thank you for your wishes on my saint's day. May we be found worthy to go out one day to carry the light of the faith to entirely Gentile peoples.

As I told you in my last letter, I have received the 720 francs for His Eminence.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, le 3 janvier 1857)

Sent_0739

Sent_0739 - au P. Planque - le 10 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0739 - to Father Planque - 10 January 1857 /2

Sent_0739 - au P. Planque - le 10 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0739 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 287-288

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

He has just attended the burial of the murdered archbishop of Paris. Remarks regarding some young people : you were prudent and wise not to keep the two young men ; as to others, should we take them in, keep them ? We will have to see. Some remarks on the running of the household.

Index : house of Lyons, advice, recruitment

__________

Paris, 10 January 1857

I am writing you these lines, very dear Mr Planque, having just come out of Notre-Dame, after attending the funeral of the archbishop murdered as you know. So, all barbarians are not in Dahomey !

Your conduct regarding the two young men who have left, and who are no longer, I hope, by this time in the house, was prudent and wise. Since they were not right for our work, the best of it is that their lack of inclination was recognised without delay. I am happy at what you tell me about Mr Riocreux. May the Lord give us good vocations ! It seems to me that it is not necessary for them to immediately be many in number, providing that those that God gives us are men of devotion, of patience, inwardly dead to themselves. I believe that we have to go gently with the brother of the Holy Family of Belley.

Of the same kind, less the irregularity with regard to nationality, is a worthy, kind and pious gendarme of the Guard. He has only done elementary school. I am reluctant to admit him immediately, both because of the uncertainty of his vocation, and because of the expense. I fear that here it is as it was at Lyons and that they will refuse to allow me to preach sermons of charity. A parish priest from Charente Inféreure is taking notes.

I think that my brother will soon be sending you the money I spoke of ; I think there will be somewhat more than five thousand francs. After paying the five thousand francs as I asked you to, you can keep the rest and, if this money is delayed, I would soon let you have a thousand francs.

It seems to me that you could have made a gift of five francs to the postman. Mr Reymond received a letter informing him that his father was dying. He left to see him, promising to return as soon as possible. So that since Monday evening I am alone.

Many kind regards to Mr Alba and Mr Riocreux. May they have great courage and may God give them perseverance. A considerable work, and which must necessarily displease the devil, is not accomplished in a day. And you, very dear Mr Planque, believe in the assurance of my sincere attachment.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. At this instant I have received a letter from Mr Anglès Urbain wishing me a happy new year, and to tell me that probably he will be at Lyons on the 25th. I will write to him. If he arrives before I have given you other instructions, it seems to me that you would do well not to receive him in the house before sharing your impressions with me.

(Paris, 10 January 1857)

Sent_0740

Sent_0740 - au P. Planque - le 17 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0740 - to Father Planque - 17 January 1857 /2

Sent_0740 - au P. Planque - le 17 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0740 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 295-296

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

It is through Mr de Ranchin that my brother will send you 5,000 francs. God be blessed for giving you the spirit of our work to a very high degree. With patience and perseverance, we will succeed. Continue your work on the really evangelised African countries. I have requested an audience with the Emperor ; I am awaiting a reply.

Index : finances, patience, perseverance

__________

Paris, 17 January 1857

Very dear Mr Planque,

I have received a letter from my brother announcing that, having left in the country the letter in which I gave him your name, he is sending to Mr de Ranchin, to be remitted to you, the sum of five thousand five hundred francs. As soon as you have received them and paid the Carmelite Ladies, kindly inform me so that I can give my brother a receipt.

Your letter of the 14th gave me great pleasure, since it made me hope that as from now there will be unity of views and sentiments in the companions of our undertaking.

Moreover I bless heaven for having given you, to a very high degree, the spirit of our work. Without you, I would still be wondering whether the Lord wants the success of my undertaking. But even if all the rest should go wrong, providing the good God gives us, you and me, the spirit of patience and of perseverance, sooner or later we will manage to create some new missions in Africa, which is well worth a man's life.

These reflections occur to me because you tell me of your study plans and of your work on the African countries that are really evangelised. You will find it difficult to immediately lay your hands on all the information required, but you will gradually perfect yourself in the statistical part and, meanwhile, that could be very useful to us and at the right time perhaps it could be shown to the S.C. of Propaganda. Accordingly I urge you strongly to continue with this work.

A few more priests are applying, but they do not appear to have a purely supernatural vocation. I have written to them suggesting they examine the situation further before God, and asking for fuller information.

It seems to me that, as regards the interpretation of the statutes of Lyons, you should see the superior of the Reverend Marist Fathers from whom I seem to have heard that he acts like us, then the superior of the major seminary ; if, after that, any doubt should remain, go and see the cardinal, and simply explain it all to him.

I have asked for an audience with the Emperor. I do not know if I shall obtain it, for I spoke at length to the Duke of Bassano in order for him to prepare the way, so that he will know that it is to ask him for money. If he does not choose to give any, I think he will not grant me an audience. I am due to dine tomorrow with the grand Referendary, General d'Hautpoul, and I will try to get him to speak to the Emperor in our favour. Formerly governor of Algeria, he will perhaps take an interest in the whole of Africa.

A Dieu. Remember me to Messrs Alba and Riocreux.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 17 January 1857)

Sent_0741

Sent_0741 - pour le P. Papetart - le 20 janvier 1857 -/2

Sent 0741 - to Father Papetart - 20 January 1857 /2

Sent_0741 - pour le P. Papetart - le 20 janvier 1857 -/2

Sent 0741 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 292-293

(letter of introduction for Father Papetart)

Letter of introduction for the bishops, priests and faithful of the places to be visited by Father Papetart. In Africa, despite the number of apostolic workers, there are entire regions which do not know the law of Jesus Christ. Propaganda wished to see the birth of a Society of missionaries entrusted with working where, in fact, there are no apostolic workers. This Society is now being formed : it has need of aid and of personnel. Abbé Papetart is our envoy. Whatever you give him will be faithfully handed over for the foundation of the African Missions.

Index : SMA foundation

__________

Paris, 20 January 1857

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by divine mercy and the grace of the Holy See bishop of Pruse (in partibus), to all those who view the present letters, salvation and blessing in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no Christian who does not groan, on setting eyes on the vast continent of Africa, at seeing that immense countries do not know the law of Jesus Christ and still have no part in the civilisation of the faith. The number of those who languish thus in the shadow of death is incalculable, for our indirect relations with the interior of Africa make us presume more and more that regions, thus far indicated under the name of desert, contain a large number of inhabitants plunged in the grossest ignorance and the most frightful barbarity.

The Church has always been filled with solicitude for the conversion of these numerous children of Adam. Never did it forget these words of Our Divine Master to the apostles and their successors : "Euntes, docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti". And, to speak of our time only, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, the Oblates, the Fathers of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and other apostolic workers, display an incomparable zeal in the missions entrusted to them.

Nevertheless, it has still not been possible to penetrate very far into the interior of Africa, and, even on the coasts, there are many places that are not evangelised. Now it seemed to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda that a Society of missionaries, which would have the special goal of working, in every possible way, to found new missions in those countries of Africa, where in fact there are no apostolic workers, could contribute greatly to extending the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

This undertaking is assuredly of the most difficult and far beyond our strength. However, full of trust in Him who can make children of Abraham of these stones even, we have consented to try and found such a Society, and God has already blessed our efforts beyond our hopes. Several priests and other ecclesiastics or lay brothers have joined us and, by means of the first resources supplied to us by the faithful, we have established the centre of our Society at Lyons, on the hill of the Martyrs, beside the tomb of Saint Irene.

However, in order to carry through our undertaking successfully, we still need considerable resources and zealous cooperators, who agree to share our difficulties and our dangers, in order to participate in the merits of those whom Jesus Christ sent out to preach the Gospel to all nations. Accordingly we appeal to the apostolic zeal and to the charity of the faithful of all Christian countries, since our work is essentially Catholic.

We ourselves have already covered several dioceses which have responded generously to our expectation. We will cover others yet if God gives us the strength ; but, in the impossibility in which we find ourselves to travel to all places, we ask any persons who may be addressed by our dear son in Jesus Christ, Abbé Papetart, devoted to the service of the missions, honoured by the title of Vicar General of the diocese of Nesqually, for which he procured precious aid, and especially affiliated to our work, to listen to his words as if they were our own, and not to fear to entrust him with their alms which will be faithfully handed over by him for the foundation of the work of the African Missions.

Thus we instantly beg the Bishops, the clergy and the faithful of the places which he will be visiting in our name, to receive him with charity and to offer him every means of procuring material aid and zealous missionaries for us.

A mass in perpetuity will be instituted in our house of the African missions in Lyons, for the repose of the souls of the dead benefactors of our work.

Issued in Paris, under our seal and the counter-seal of our secretary, on 20 January 1857.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 20 January 1857)

Sent_0742

Sent_0742 - au P. Planque - le 20 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0742 - to Father Planque - 20 January 1857 /2

Sent_0742 - au P. Planque - le 20 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0742 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 297-298

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Mr Papetart will hand you over this letter. He is going to collect alms for our work. What he has done in the past ; the places he is preparing to visit.

Index : preaching, collections

__________

Paris, 20 January 1857

This letter, very dear Mr Planque, will be handed over to you by Mr Papetart, a priest, Vicar General of Nesqually, who won this title by procuring about fifty thousand francs for the good bishop Mgr Blanchet whom I met in Rome last year. Having ended his collections for Mgr de Nesqually, he remembered the African Missions and, although he still does not feel himself called to become a definitive member, he is willing to be counted among the number of affiliates and to employ the zeal and talent that God has given him for collecting alms for it.

At the present time he is preparing to go to the north of Italy, then perhaps to Hungary and Poland and, if God blesses his efforts as happened in his journey in Germany, to Holland and Belgium ; he will consider later if there are not other places in the world where he can hope to persuade people to open up their purses.

He is making for Nice, passing by Hyères and Cannes where I went myself, but at a time when there were no more foreigners about. Kindly welcome him warmly and encourage him in his generous undertaking in our favour.

I hoped to receive a letter from you today telling me that you have received the 5,500 francs of which I spoke in my last letter. I think that it will come tomorrow.

A heavy cold has confined me to my room for the last two days, and I still have not shaken it off. Mr Reymond is well as ever. A Dieu. Pray for us.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 20 January 1857)

Sent_0743

Sent_0743 - au P. Planque - le 24 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0743 - to Father Planque - 24 January 1857 /2

Sent_0743 - au P. Planque - le 24 janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0743 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 299-300

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Greetings to Mr Papetart if he is still at Lyons. A trial period before being received as aspirant ? Let us reflect further. Singing the offices ? Are there enough of you for that ? A regular lecture ? take care not to fatigue the pupils. What Mr Alba should do. I would prefer to be with you rather than in Paris.

Index : house in Lyons, advice, news

__________

Paris, 24 January 1857

You must have seen Mr Papetart, my dear Mr Planque, and perhaps he is still with you. If he is at Lyons, pass on my friendly greetings and may the Lord give him courage and success. I am due to preach here on Sunday at Saint-Roch, but without taking alms, if I can, since I am not completely recovered from a heavy cold which has fatigued me greatly.

We should reflect further on your idea of the trial period that we could require before receiving aspirants.

It seems to me very difficult for you to sing offices, since there are only four of you including the brother. It is true that, in the villages, the parish priest is alone, but there are people in church. Now, how many people attend in your chapel ? You don't give me any idea. It seems to me that it would be good for the lay brothers to learn to sing. There is nothing against it and even I think it would be good to adopt the chant of the commission formed by the Bishop of Rheims and other prelates, as you desire.

Between now and Trinity, Mr Alba has plenty of time to write to Carcassonne. Perhaps it might even be better to wait to receive another letter from the Sacred Congregation, to whom I will write as soon as I have something new to say. Meanwhile, he should study his theology well, and as for his orders, if he has to wait some time, he will advance more quickly thereafter.

As far as the lecture is concerned, or what would replace it, do as you think best, but remember that being so few in number, you should not tire your pupils exceedingly.

You tell me you have seen the Carmelite Ladies, but do not indicate the sum you have paid over to them ; I think it is five thousand.

I still do not know when I will be leaving Paris where I find life rather dull, with no occasion, or I am unable to find one, for doing much to advance my work ; I would prefer by far to be with you ; but it is not our pleasure we should seek.

A Dieu. Remember me to your Gentlemen and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 24 January 1857)

Sent_0744

Sent_0744 - au P. Planque - fin janvier 1857 -/2

Sent 0744 - au P. Planque - fin janvier 1857 -/2

Sent_0744 - au P. Planque - fin janvier 1857 -/2

Sent 0744 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 289-291

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I have seen the Emperor : details of what I asked him for... We will not get it all ; if only we had seven or eight thousand francs. Perhaps the Lord wants us to pass through the sweet hope of poverty whose merit will be great above all for those holding the fort at home! He goes on to speak of various candidates : the three of Grenoble, Abbé Chazele, two priests and Mr Anglès. I am sure to approve of everything you do. Without making a fuss, see that people know that mass is celebrated in our chapel.

Index : finances, poverty, recruitment, trust

__________

Paris, (end of January 1857)

I have written to Mr Papetart poste restante at Marseilles, as he had asked me to. I am very sorry that he encountered contradictions in Lyons ; I hope that that will not discourage him.

I still do not know whether I will go to Pamiers to bless a marriage. If I do, the first condition is that they pay for my journey. I am impatient to come and see you, I assure you, but I have to stay here a few days longer.

The day before yesterday, I had an audience with the Emperor. His Majesty was very gracious and I hope will contribute to our foundation, but how and for how much ? I asked him :

1) for his part, to have a seminary built for us ;

2) to permit me to ask the Empress to complete payment for our field;

3) to permit the Imperial Prince to found two scholarships for the maintenance of two aspirants, the first of whom would be the gendarme of the Guard of whom I spoke to you.

The Emperor did not say no, but he did not say yes either, but merely to hand over, for his information, a note to H.L. the first chaplain. This note is already on its way; Mr Reymond has just left to hand it over to My Lord of Nancy. However, there is no founded hope that we would obtain all that. If only we could obtain seven or eight thousand francs, that would be a big help.

Nevertheless, let us pray to the Holy Virgin and our patron saints, for God holds in his hands the heart of kings. I hope that divine Providence will not permit our work to drag exceedingly for lack of money. Since she gives us devoted men, she will not refuse us food and clothing. Only perhaps she wants to make us pass through the sweet test of poverty the merit for which will be great above all for those holding the saucepan handle.

The Gentlemen of Grenoble have written to me ; they are still eager to join and their bishop seems less indisposed. What you tell me about Abbé Chazele gives me great pleasure. Convey my friendly greetings to him and tell him that, if God gives him perseverance, the time will come when he will obtain his cardinal's permission.

Of the two priests who offered themselves and whom I answered asking for further information, one has written to me again. I am going to write to the superior of the major seminary of his diocese to inquire into his antecedents.

I will send you a thousand francs between now and the beginning of February, unless you should write to me that in the meanwhile Providence has come to your aid. You could ask the archbishopric for a hundred mass fees.

I will try to obtain or to get Mr Reymond to obtain the information you desire on the religious state of the Portuguese coasts in Africa.

I do not know what to say regarding this Mr Anglès. He had promised that he would provide me with good references. Could he not at least, get a respectable ecclesiastic who knows him at Albi to write a letter to us ? However, if he shows probabilities of a good vocation and if this delay should prove too trying, see whether it might not be advisable to accept him for a few days, to see how things go, without including him in the ranks of the aspirants and, meanwhile, see with him what you could write to Albi. The parish priest where he was could doubtless give some useful information.

In any case, tell him that I will leave you to decide what should be done, so that your authority in the house is well established.

Mr Reymond is not dead and will soon be giving you his news.

A Dieu. Pray for us.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

There is no need for any big publicity to draw people to the chapel ; but only see that the neighbours are informed that at such and such a time mass is held, and that they can come and hear it. In the season when the middle classes are out in the countryside, that should bear some weight.

(Paris, end of January? 1857)

Sent_0745

Sent_0745 - pour l'Empereur - fin janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0745 - for the Emperor - end of January 1857 /2

Sent_0745 - pour l'Empereur - fin janvier 1857 -/1

Sent 0745 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 363

(to His Majesty the Emperor)

The work of the African Missions hopes that His Majesty will deign to have a seminary built at Lyons, that the Empress will complete payment of the establishment of Sainte-Foy, and that the Imperial Prince will set up a foundation for the maintenance of two or three aspirants. Thus the imperial family would be the veritable founder of the work. Such an example would ensure a rapid development.

Index : finances (request for)

__________

Note to be handed over to His Majesty the Emperor

Paris, end of January 1857 ()

The work that Mgr de Marion Brésillac is founding at Lyons, for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa, needs first of all to be solidly established in France. This essentially apostolic undertaking, also being such as to extend French influence and to procure the civilisation of various barbarous peoples, it would seem a practical certainty that His Majesty will view it with pleasure, in the hope that He will wish the Imperial Family to be the first founder of the work.

The benevolent reception that Mgr de Marion Brésillac has had the honour of receiving from His Majesty leads him to hope :

1) that His Majesty the Emperor will deign to have a seminary built for the work, by the end of this year, on the ground that the work has purchased in Lyons, on the hill of Sainte-Foy. It would be sufficient to have a building capable of containing forty aspirants and four directors.

2) that His Majesty will permit Mgr de Marion Brésillac to ask Her Majesty the Empress to deign to complete payment of the purchase made at Lyons for the price of 34,000 francs. Approximately half of this sum is paid.

3) that His Majesty would kindly permit that, a foundation in government bonds providing for the maintenance of two or three young aspirants, would be set up in the name of His Highness the Imperial Prince. The first of those to be so received would be Mr Courboulis, gendarme of the Imperial Guard, who intends to obtain his discharge from it.

Thus, though there would remain a great deal to be done still regarding the charity of the faithful, it would nonetheless be true that the Imperial Family would be the veritable founder of the work. It would immedately assure its existence, and doubtless the work would develop rapidly following such a noble and generous example.

The priests who have already joined together for this work feel sure that, after such a contribution, their society would be fortified quickly enough to permit them to undertake the mission of Dahomey in less than a year's time ; and, would bring to those still largely unknown lands, together with the Holy Gospel, the precious signs, for which they would be for ever grateful, of the greatness of France and its Sovereign.

\+ M.M.J. ...

(Paris, end of January? 1857)

Sent_0746

Sent_0746 - au P. Planque - le 3 février 1857 -/2

Sent 0746 - to Father Planque - 3 February 1857 /2

Sent_0746 - au P. Planque - le 3 février 1857 -/2

Sent 0746 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 301-303

(to Mr Augustin Planque, sma)

Tomorrow I will send you a bill for four thousand francs. For Lent at Saint Irene, Mr Reymond will be in charge; you take the Thursday instructions, and I will look after the Passion. Some advice on the line to be taken with regard to Mr Alba. Finally I have to go to Pamiers to bless the marriage of a cousin. I will try to preach on the way. A certain Mr Bresson, from Autun, offers his services to me.

Index : finances, preaching, recruitment, family

__________

Paris, 3 February 1857

I received your letter yesterday, my dear Mr Planque, at Evreux where I went to preach on Sunday.

Before anything else, I must tell you that tomorrow I will send you a letter containing a note for four thousand francs payable at sight on the bank. I am telling you this so that, if the letter should not come, you could enquire immediately at the bank and at the post. It will be a registered letter. Keep this money until I arrive, for I think that instead of continuing to pay, it would be better to immediately meet the cost of the contract which it would be good to stipulate as soon as I arrive.

It seems to me that it would be distinctly risky at present to accept the brother in question of the Holy Family.

See that Mrs Blingard is told that today I myself said a mass for her.

I have urged Mr Reymond to take care of Lent at Saint Irene. He finds he has little time to prepare for it ; however he promises to do what he can and I think personally that, in view of his quickness, he could do so perfectly. Nonetheless, I would like you to take on the family instructions on Thursdays, and, if I can get back to Lyons for Friday, I will deal with the Passion. See if that seems satisfactory to you and if these conditions suit the clergy of the parish.

What you tell me about Mr Alba saddens me, because it was precisely this spirit that led him astray in other positions. If he does not take care, if he does not take himself in hand, if he allows himself to be stirred by the movements of nature, instead of following those of grace, there is a strong risk that he will not obtain the grace of perseverance in the new career he has undertaken, I think, with a good heart and excellent sentiments.

I hope that this is merely a temptation and that you will soon be able to give me the excellent reports that he had deserved thus far. If you think it advisable, read out this passage from my letter to him ; I believe that he is sufficiently acquainted with me to know that I want his good in all ways. I am writing him a note to give him an errand ; I will add a few short words, tell me how he takes them.

Kindly see that this errand is carried out, it is to have sent to me by rail, immediately and express, so that I have time to get the cassock repaired, a packet containing the most decent of my cassocks in violet cloth, two red sleeve cuffs that Mr Alba will recognise, the mitre in cloth of gold and the third volume of the Pontifical or that which, at the end, contains the ceremonies of a marriage blessed by a bishop.

All of this because I cannot get out of going to bless the marriage of my cousin at Pamiers. They are paying for my travel and I will pass by Toulouse since that is the shortest route and will try on the way there and back to give a few sermons. I have even promised to go to Orleans for a work that is not mine, and will prepare the ways for going there later on for us, since the bishop claims that at present it is impossible. I will be leaving here on Wednesday the 11th. I will come back from Pamiers immediately, trying to pass by a few towns and to be in Lyons for the beginning of Lent.

I believe I spoke to you of a priest from the diocese of Autun who has stepped forward. I have obtained information from the superior of the major seminary ; it is fairly good. Accordingly, although he is somewhat old, being 42, I am going to write to this priest, Mr Bresson, explaining to him once more the difficulties he has to expect, and to tell him that, if he thinks he has the strength to bear them, he can come as an aspirant.

In case of need, I renew the powers that I communicated to you on behalf of the cardinal archbishop of Lyons.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. The draft you are due to receive tomorrow is on Banque de France, no. 1872, series K.

(Paris, 3 February 1857)

Sent_0747

Sent_0747 - au P. Planque - le 4 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0747 - to Father Planque - 4 February 1857 /1

Sent_0747 - au P. Planque - le 4 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0747 Original, AMA 2F1, p 304

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I am sending you a draft for 4,000 francs.

Index : finances

__________

Paris, 4 February 1857

As announced to you yesterday, my dear Mr Planque, I am sending you a draft for four thousand francs payable on sight by the Bank of France, at its Lyons branch.

Kindly write as soon as you have received it, so that I am not anxious about this sum.

A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 4 February 1857)

Sent_0748

Sent_0748 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 février 1857 -/2

Sent 0748 - to Mgr Bonnand - 4 February 1857 /2

Sent_0748 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 février 1857 -/2

Sent 0748 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 975-982

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

What a pleasure to receive a letter from India ! Mr Méhay whom I went to see in hospital gave me some news two days ago. At last, there is going to be a meeting of apostolic vicars at Hong-Kong in 1860. People are beginning to realise the use of what I requested for the prosperity of the Foreign Missions and the progress of religion in India ! He goes on to explain what he wrote on India since leaving the country and does not think that his letters have anything to do with the latest troubles in Coimbatore. Finally, he explains his present work : the place desired, recruitment, the house of Lyons, preaching, the help expected from Propagation of the Faith, the wait for a mission and his present address. Write to me from time to time.

Index : general meeting, reform of the MEP, regulations of the MEP, SMA foundation, news

__________

Paris, 4 February 1857 ()

My Lord,

I was overjoyed on receiving your good letter of 1 December. It was a long while since I had received news from India, that country that will always have my affection. None was given to me in the Foreign Missions, and the last letter that I received from those parts was from yourself, a century ago, since no-one writes to me any more, not even the excellent Mr Métral, nor Mr de Gélis whom I loved so dearly, and whom I will always love, as well as all my former confreres. I respect their silence that they believe perhaps to be according to God's will.

However, two days before receiving your letter, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr Méhay whom I went to visit in hospital. He had already said something to me of what you have been kind enough to communicate.

I congratulate you on your future meeting in Hong-kong, if Hong-kong exists in 1860. It is a long way off, but if finally, between now and then, the apostolic vicars have the fortune of agreeing and of running the meeting well thereafter, great advantages may ensue for the work of the missions, and in particular for the development of the Society of Foreign Missions.

May it prosper, this Society that was so dear to us, and will be so always, despite its ingratitude with regard to me. Ingratitude ! that is perhaps being rather severe ; should we not say rather error, and involuntary error ? God will judge. In any case, I am delighted to see that this meeting of the apostolic vicars, for which the biggest stone was thrown at me, is finally recognised as necessary.

Thus, I have the firm confidence that, little by little, all that I requested for the prosperity of the Foreign Missions and for the progress of our holy religion in India will be recognised as extremely useful, to put us in a position at last of acting in full awareness regarding the usages of caste, uniformly, without it depending on a missionary's caprice to instigate a calabam (), and capable of resuming the offensive directed at the pagan population. Only, how much time will have been lost ! how much devotion shattered ! how many for ever regrettable contradictions ! But let us adore the impenetrable ways of grace !

One thing astonishes and pains me in your missive, when you say that my letters had something to do with the latest troubles in Coimbatore to which you refer, and regarding which the few details given me by Mr Méhay would have revealed to me the true cause, if I had not known their nature a long time ago already. Accordingly I still feel confident that Y.L.'s interpretation is still an involuntary and highly excusable error. Besides, I have written very little, and almost always only in reply to letters, and these replies will without doubt become more and more rare, as people gradually forget me.

It is true that I felt I had to say why I had not returned to India, how the Gentlemen of the Foreign Missions had not chosen to employ me elsewhere, how I hoped that the apostolic vicars would urge me to be given some form of employment in the congregation that I did not choose to leave, that I will never leave for good, insofar as it depends on me, except when I have succeeded in founding the one that I am seeking to set up, in order not to fail in my vocation as a missionary.

I beg you to ask God to bless this undertaking. I have tried to ensure that it harms none of those that are already founded for the great work of evangelisation. Africa is so big and so little Christian that there is unfortunately room for a lot of people, and by choosing the most abandoned places, I hope that we will not have to fear for conflicts of jurisdiction or others.

However, I have to say that perhaps this is already one of the causes which go against the development of my undertaking. Already, I foresee that there will be difficulties to be overcome on the part of decent people. So clever is the demon in sowing contradiction to prevent God's work !

In any case, this is where we are now. Several ecclesiastics have gathered around me, and we have begun a life of community at Lyons where I have bought a poor house in a quite acceptable ground which is very well situated, on the hillside of Sainte-Foy. However, I am often absent, because I have to procure both the means of paying off little by little this house and the everyday bread to maintain my novices.

Propagation of the Faith does not help us out and will not come to our aid until we leave for the missions. For its part, the S.C. of Propaganda will not give us a mission until the congregation is quite strong. Accordingly I am obliged to resort to collections, which is neither easy, nor agreeable, but what does it matter providing God blesses our efforts ! Now it seems to have blessed them thus far, although the undertaking is advancing much more slowly than I would like, and than it could go, it seems to me, if we had more abundant resources.

To my mind, the S.C. could already as from today assign us a mission in Africa, and that would help us singularly, even for the formation of our congregation in Europe, however until now I have not succeeded in convincing it of that. So that we have to await the moment of Providence, if it wants the success of our undertaking.

May the Lord bless all of yours, My Lord, as well as all those of your collaborators, especially Mr Dupuis's schools. When our community has some resources, I will buy from this dear confrere the collection of his Tamoul books for our library of Sainte-Foy.

You would have done me a great pleasure in telling me the names of the young clerics of Coimbatore that you have raised to the order of sub-deacon. I hope that you will let me know some time ; write to Lyons, Chemin de Sainte-Foy no. 9.

Finally I commend myself to your good prayers, and kindly believe, My Lord, in the sincere expression of my respectful and affectionate sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 4 February 1857)

Sent_0749

Sent_0749 - à son cousin Louis - le 7 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0749 - to his cousin Louis - 7 February 1857 /1

Sent_0749 - à son cousin Louis - le 7 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0749 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 24

(to his cousin Louis)

I am going to bless the marriage of Félicie Subra at Pamiers. Reserve me two places on the diligence of 16 February in the evening.

Index : family

__________

Paris, 7 February 1857

Rue de Londres, 31

Very dear cousin,

Perhaps you know that I am due to go and bless the marriage of Félicie Subra at Pamiers. Since my brother Henri is not at Toulouse, I count on you to be good enough to hold two places on the diligence for Pamiers for Monday evening the 16th. I will arrive at Toulouse on that same Monday by the railway train arriving at 5.10 in the evening; I believe that the diligence leaves at about 7.

If you were at Toulouse, I would go in the interval to ask you to dinner with the priest who is accompanying me ; but will you be there, since you too are going to the wedding ? Give me the pleasure of writing to tell me if, from the railway station I should go straight to the office of the diligence, where this office is, etc.

Kindly answer me giving this informaton, and take your time so as to be sure of having two good places on the diligence. You should write to me here so that I receive your letter Tuesday or Wednesday morning at the latest, since I will be leaving Paris on Wednesday to go to Orleans.

My friendly regards to your children and remember me to your wife and believe me, dear Louis, your devoted cousin.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 7 February 1857 - Rue de Londres, 31)

Sent_0750

Sent_0750 - au P. Planque - le 10 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0750 - to Father Planque - 10 February 1857 /2

Sent_0750 - au P. Planque - le 10 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0750 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 305-306

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Letter containing very disparate news : the wedding at Pamiers, the Emperor's refusal, the Lenten preaching at Saint-Irene, Mr Papetart, the Carmelites.

Index : news

__________

Paris, 10 February 1857

I am late in answering your three last letters, and still am without a moment to spare. So, very hastily, I am due to leave Paris on Saturday, to go to Pamiers, where I will arrive on Tuesday the 17th.

The Emperor has not granted us anything, it is a formal refusal.

I am sending you a receipt for 150 francs for Mr Alibert if he grants you fees for masses.

We have received the sum-total of your coupons.

So that it is understood that Mr Reymond will take charge of the Sunday sermons, and you the instructions.

It is still advisable to obtain information on the young man recommended by Mrs Blingard, then we will see.

I have read with interest the letter from Mr Papetart. This morning I saw Father Pététot and the Reverend Father de Ravignan regarding Miss de Beauregard ; but I do not think we should count on her. Very probably she has already disposed of everything, seeing that she has received requests for more than she has.

You would do very well to make known to the superior, who had recommended brother Jean-Baptiste to us, what the situation is, perhaps even to the Vicars General of Grenoble, or at least the superior of the major seminary. As for the police commissioner, I leave that to your prudence.

Since my last dispatch, I have accrued a further two thousand francs. Kindly notify the Carmelite Ladies that, as soon as I arrive at Lyons, towards the beginning of Lent, I wish to stipulate the contract of sale.

I very much fear that I shall not be able to preach on my way from here to Pamiers. From Pamiers, I do not yet know where I will go. I will let you know from there.

A Dieu. Courage !

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 10 February 1857)

Sent_0751

Sent_0751 - au Père Planque - le 15 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0751 - to Father Planque - 15 February 1857 /1

Sent_0751 - au Père Planque - le 15 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0751 Original, AMA 2F1, p 307

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

His journey in the South. A few words on Mr Alba.

Index : news

__________

Paris, 15 February 1857

My dear Mr Planque,

Just a few words before leaving. I have received your letter of the 12th. Mr Reymond has read your article on the subjects to be dealt with, and will bear it in mind.

If I do not stop at Montpellier, I hope to be with you at the end of this week ; if I do stop, it will be a few days later, but, in any case, Mr Reymond will be at Lyons before the first Sunday in Lent.

I do not know if you are acquainted with the subject of Mr Alba's letter. It seems to me that there is no real ground of concern for his sister, unless there were really some great benefit to her, which appears to me difficult at such a distance. I will send him a rather vague answer.

I look forward to seeing you again soon. You can write to me at Pamiers where I will be, God willing, the day after tomorrow. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 15 February 1857)

Sent_0752

Sent_0752 - à Mme Marquier - le 18 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0752 - to Mrs Marquier - 18 February 1857 /2

Sent_0752 - à Mme Marquier - le 18 février 1857 -/1

Sent 0752 Original, envelope at the beginning of AMA 2F1

(to Mrs Marquier)

Coming from Castelnaudary, I will stop at Carcassonne to visit you for the evening and the night. The bishop of Pamiers has been most kind..

Index : news

__________

Pamiers, 18 February 1857

Dear Madam,

I have arranged things so as to be able to pay you a brief visit at Carcassonne. I am leaving tomorrow Thursday to embrace my father, and will leave again from Castelnaudary by the mail boat, then leave Carcassonne on Saturday. So that we will have part of Friday evening and the morning of Saturday.

You want me to go and stay with you ; however I am afraid of troubling you above all since I have a priest who is accompanying me. However, if you do not have two beds for us, the priest could go to the seminary. However that may be, I leave our sleeping arrangements to you; since I don't have time to write to Mr Arnal, kindly tell him on my behalf that I have given in this once to your insistences, without wishing to interrupt the prescription of my lodging with him.

Allow me to stop there, for it is very late. The marriage and its consequences have occupied me the whole day, and I am retiring just when people are beginning to arrive for the evening. I am lodging with the bishop who, this time as on the occasion of on my previous visit, has been goodness itself.

My friendly greetings to your dear children whom I can't wait to see, my affectionate regards to Mr Marquier, and you Madam please accept the fresh assurance of my respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. If you were kind enough to send someone down to the boat, that would avoid us wasting time.

(Pamiers, 18 February 1857)

Sent_0753

Sent_0753 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 3 mars 1857 -/3

Sent 0753 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 3 March 1857 /3

Sent_0753 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 3 mars 1857 -/3

Sent 0753 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1238ss

copy, AMA 2C19, pp 21-24

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Now our work cannot fail to succeed. Thanks to my collections, I have paid off a large part of the house. If we had a mission, Propagation of the Faith could give us valid financial help. Do not delay too long. Mr Régis regrets not yet having our contribution for Dahomey. He lets me know that the king of Dahomey is still favourable to the arrival of the missisonaries ; he has also recently sent two of his children to France to receive a good education. It is a pity that they were not entrusted to us. Once you have entrusted me with the Dahomey mission, I will leave. Perhaps it would be good for me to go to Rome to talk things over with you ?

Index : SMA foundation, finances, Dahomey (mission), departure

__________

Lyons, 3 March 1857 ()

Your Eminence,

The last letter that I had the honour of receiving from the S.C. is no. 5 of 4 December 1856.

Our work is gradually being established and cannot now fail to succeed, providing we are faithful to grace, in which you will help us, Your Eminence, by your benevolent direction.

I have already employed for it over 35,000 francs, of which 28,000 were used to pay for our establishment of Lyons, 2,000 for the cost of registration, 2,000 for the cost of furnishing it, and the rest for travel expenses and for the living expenses of the community since the month of December. I now have to pay off only 6,000 francs for the house and approximately 1,000 francs for notary's fees.

I have met these expenses with the proceeds of the collections amounting thus far to 21,000 francs and by an advance of 14,000 francs belonging to me. This result is above all my hopes, for I counted on paying for the house only with the help that Propagation of the Faith promised me once a mission was entrusted to us.

Allow me to remind you, Your Eminence, how desirable it is, for the full success of our undertaking for a mission to be assigned to us shortly, even were we to remain some time still in France before leaving, if you consider that useful. That would redouble our strength, would inspire more confidence in those taking an interest in our work, in the young ecclesiastics wishing to join us, and those who have already done so.

We feel this need so strongly, Your Eminence, that if there were any obstacles to the mission of Dahomey being entrusted to us in the near future, we would beg you to assign us some other in one of the places of Africa where the need for missionaries is most felt, save entrusting us later with Dahomey if you so desire. However, we would prefer Dahomey above all, if possible, because it is on it that we first of all set our sights, and because, more and more, it would appear desirable not to delay in evangelising that country.

Mr Régis is pursuing his work of human civilisation, and regrets still not having our contribution. He would have wished us to leave with the ship that went to collect the two children of the king of Dahomey, whom he has had brought to France, in agreement with the government, in order for them to be educated. I tried to make him understand then that the thing was not impossible (), because above all I need to have a mission from the Holy See, and I have avoided having too frequent dealings with him, because it is difficult to make men of the world understand the laws of spiritual jurisdiction, and because I fear to indispose him by reminding him of the impossibility for us to leave thus far. However, a priest affiliated to our work passed, some time ago, by Marseilles, he saw Mr Régis and this is what he wrote to me :

"[...] I hasten to convey to Your Lordship the details that he (Mr Régis) has just given me. The dispositions of the king of Dahomey and of his people appear to be utterly favourable to your plans, and they all desire the arrival of missionaries. The king has asked Mr Vidal, Mr Régis's agent, to send him some fetishes of the Whites of France.

"After some consultation with ecclesiastics, Mr Régis sent out a Christ, a statue of the Virgin and several saints. These were received with respect by the king who placed them in his palace and showed them off with pride lately to a post-captain of the State, who was recently posted on a mission to his Kingdom. In reporting on his visit to Mr Régis, he said that he did not doubt but that these images prepared the way to welcoming favourably the missionaries who might present themselves in his Territories.

"The king of Dahomey loves France to the point that he has requested the Emperor for permission to send his two sons to France to be brought up there. The Emperor has consented, and these two young men are due to arrive soon at Marseilles, on the vessel Le Camelia, belonging to Mr Régis. It seems to me that some advantage could be obtained from their arrival for the future of the mission, by sending one of your ecclesiastics to take charge of their education, which would allow him at the same time to learn the language....]"

This letter is dated 30 January. Since then, I have seen in the newspapers that these two sons of the king of Dahomey have arrived at Marseilles. They are to be brought up in the State grammar school and you know, Your Eminence, what university colleges are in France !

Is it not highly regrettable that these children were not entrusted, if not to ourselves, at least, under your supervision, to a free educational establishment, where an eye would be kept on the development of their intelligence, while preparing their souls to receive the gift of the faith ? Is it not very regrettable that there is no-one in the kingdom of Dahomey to follow the religious movement taking place there and which will be good or bad according to how it is directed ? However I felt I could not interfere in all of this before the S.C. had definitively entrusted the mission of Dahomey to us, or without having received instructions from Your Eminence on the subject.

Unless some letters have gone astray, Your Eminence should shortly be receiving from Mgr Bessieux answers to the letters written over a year ago now. Accordingly I hope that a determination will soon be taken by the S.C. which besides must be aware that the Gentlemen of the Holy Spirit have on various occasions expressed the desire of sharing with others the evangelisation of their immense vicariate, and that at the moment they do not appear to be in a position to send any subjects to Dahomey themselves. Now, this is a whole kingdom which appears well populated and very strong having troops of over 40,000 men, without counting the women's regiments, etc.

As from today, I could bring with me two priests possessed of very remarkable qualities, and one or two lay brothers, while leaving Abbé Planque here to direct the other young aspirants and continue the noviciate, so as to send out reinforcements to us when the time comes. Is that not all that is required to start with ? It even seems to me that it would be imprudent to go out first of all in larger number.

Finally, if Your Eminence judged it advisable that I should stay here for some time further to consolidate the establishment of Lyons, I could sent Mr Planque with two other priests and a lay brother, thus sacrificing the keen desire I have to be among the first to leave.

This letter is already long, Your Eminence, and yet there are still many things I wish to say to you. So that perhaps it would be useful for me to make a fresh journey to Rome, to discuss them with you in person.

Kindly let me know, Your Eminence, and meanwhile receive the fresh assurance of the profound respect and perfect devotion...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 3 March 1857)

Sent_0754

Sent_0754 - à Mme Blanchet - le 5 mars 1857 -/1

Sent 0754 - to Mrs Blanchet - 5 March 1857 /2

Sent_0754 - à Mme Blanchet - le 5 mars 1857 -/1

Sent 0754 partial Le Gallen copy, p 513

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

How many trials : slowness of the work, everything is not paid, Cardinal Barnabò's inflexibility, at Lyons and Grenoble preaching is forbidden, Mr Papetart's illness ! Your friendship is precious to me.

Index : trials, difficulties, finances, friendship

__________

Lyons, 5 March 1857

[...] The eternal fogs of Lyons or the slowness with which our work advances reduce me to a state of sadness which I find it difficult to shake off. I often have the idea of leaving for Rome. But what would I do there, in the face of Cardinal Barnabò's inflexibility, if I cannot show him clearly and incontrovertibly that my establishment is founded ? I seem to hear him declare : "There he is, the furia francese".

To go to Rome, with some chance of success, it would be necessary to have finished paying for the establishment of Lyons, and ensure it a minimal income. Now for that I would need about forty thousand francs. [...]

To my great regret, I find myself obliged to waste precious time. I do not see how, in the whole of Lent, I can preach even once for the work ; for I need to be here for some time, and the Cardinal of Lyons, as well as the bishop of Grenoble, will not permit any collection at this time. Unfortunately also, Mr Papetart has fallen ill. At the moment, he is in hospital at Toulon. [...]

How many trials ! Is this a sign that the Lord is reserving consolations for us hereafter ? May his will be done. Besides, are not such trials his most precious gifts ? But here I am, in the course of making a Lenten sermon. Let us stop there. [...]

  * Your friendship is all the more precious to me since the germ of it was sown on the dust of the saints (Rome), which it had caused to grow in contributing to a good work and in this way, without losing any of the delights it offers on earth, in our case it will serve us all for our spiritual advancement.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 5 March 1857)

Sent_0755

Sent_0755 - à Mme Blanchet - le 25 mars 1857 -/1

Sent 0755 - to Mrs Blanchet - 25 March 1857 /2

Sent_0755 - à Mme Blanchet - le 25 mars 1857 -/1

Sent 0755 partial Le Gallen copy, pp 513-514

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

(31 rue de Londres, Paris)

He is endeavouring to create an association of affiliates (ladies) in order to establish his work. He asks Mrs Blanchet to begin to think of regulations. Let us start with Paris ; after which we will try to extend it to other cities.

Index : affiliation

__________

Lyons, 25 March 1857

Dear Madam,

First of all I would like to thank you for your zeal, as well as Miss de Fontenay ; kindly ask her to accept my thanks ; if any other zealous lady should decide to join you, please assure her in advance of my gratitude. I have written to Mrs de Laveau, but have not yet received a reply. When you see Mrs Ozanam and Mrs Soulacroix, would you tell them please that I am extremely touched that they regularly think of me before the Lord [...]

Yes, something should certainly be done for the regulation of affiliates. However, it seems to me that we should wait until you have exchanged your ideas on this point with the persons sharing your zeal, and above all under the inspiration of Father Pététot, whose views are, in this regard, much more practical than mine. Then, when I have the pleasure of seeing you, we will settle them definitively.

I do not know either Mrs Chalandon or anyone else from Lyons. When the core of the affiliates is well formed at Paris, it will certainly be advisable to seek to form others in the big cities. But it seems to me that it would be necessary, first of all, for that of Paris to have started to function: then we will have a certain base to lean on. Meanwhile, here we could, at the very most, it seems to me, prepare the way.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 25 March 1857)

P.S. Lyons, 28 March 1857

Today, I have sent Miss de Fontenay an Account of the present state of the Work of the African Missions. I do not know if that will be suitable and will meet your desires. If something else is needed, I hope that you will let me know [...]

I want you to receive this note tomorrow, so that you can reach an understanding with Miss de Fontenay, whose zeal I admire, before your meeting on Monday. I will say mass on that day for you all, at eight o'clock, so that the good God inspires good thoughts in you.

(Lyons, 28 March 1857)

Sent_0756

Sent_0756 - à Mme Blanchet - le 17 avril 1857 -/1

Sent 0756 - to Mrs Blanchet - 17 April 1857 /1

Sent_0756 - à Mme Blanchet - le 17 avril 1857 -/1

Sent 0756 partial Le Gallen copy, pp 514-515

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

(31 rue de Londres, Paris)

He sends her copy of a letter from Father Pététot regarding affiliates to the SMA. The Bishop of Ségur could be Honorary President of this work. Encouragement to set up a committee.

Index : affiliation

__________

Lyons, 17 April 1857

Dear Madam,

I have to inform you of a letter received three days ago from Father Pététot (of the Oratory). This is a copy of it :

"I have seen My Lord of Ségur. It is not possible for him to put himself at the head of the work ; nevertheless, he accepts to be its honorary president, which is always something. Apart from that, a small committee is being set up ; I hope that it will grow, because the only three persons composing it at present are active, intelligent and devoted.

"Once it has grown a little, I will ask My Lord of Ségur to organise it and preside over it. We will draw up a few regulations, and I hope it will work usefully. Because of my position, all I can do is to offer it opinions and encouragement. To that I will add my prayers, and God will do the rest. Rest assured, etc. [...]

[...] I regret not having known Miss de Fontenay for more than a short while before I left. Fortunately, not being far away from your home, and being able even to meet up often at the foot of the very holy sacrament, at the Trinity, I hope that you will be in frequent contact and set in motion the establishment of this committee which could become the core of a system of affiliation very useful to our work.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 17 April 1857)

Sent_0757

Sent_0757 - à Mme Blanchet - le 22 avril 1857 -/1

Sent 0757 - to Mrs Blanchet - 22 April 1857 /1

Sent_0757 - à Mme Blanchet - le 22 avril 1857 -/1

Sent 0757 partial Le Gallen copy, pp 515-516

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

Your devotion to our work assures you merits for heaven. For the affiliates, arrange a meeting in Paris when I next come there. Since Mr Papetart needs to rest, I could send him to you.

Index : affiliation

__________

Lyons, 22 April 1857

Dear Madam,

Yesterday I received the 500 franc note that you were kind enough to send me. I would be grieved at the difficulties I am giving you for my work if I were not persuaded that it will be a source of great merits to you for heaven.

[...] I had the account for the affiliates published in the "Gazette de Lyon". This earned me 500 francs from one person and 200 from another. [...] If, before my arrival in Paris, you were kind enough to see Miss de Fontenay and the other Ladies of the committee, and decide together what could be done to make my visit useful to the work, that would give me pleasure.

Divine Providence has disposed that Mr Papetart was stopped by illness at the beginning of his venture. He is absolutely obliged to take some rest, and proposes to go and spend some time at home. I will see him when he passes through Lyons. I even hope that he will stay a few days with us. If the state of his health permits, I rather fancy urging him to go and take his rest in Paris, where he could perhaps contribute to that organisation. His character and good manners seem to me eminently suited to that.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 22 April 1857)

Sent_0758

Sent_0758 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 28 avril 1857 -/1

Sent 0758 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 28 April 1857 /2

Sent_0758 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 28 avril 1857 -/1

Sent 0758 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1267ss

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 24-25

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

To strengthen the courage of the priests who are with me, to encourage others to join us, in order for Propagation of the Faith to help us financially, for the expenses are becoming more and more a difficulty, and to give me fresh moral strength, do not delay in entrusting a mission to us. A departure for Africa would now be easy for us.

Index : a mission in Africa

__________

Lyons, 28 April 1857 ()

Your Eminence,

Allow me to address myself here more to Cardinal Barnabò than to the Prefect of the S.C. of Propaganda, and to come in all simplicity, in an unofficial letter, to ask you for encouragement.

I ask it of you above all, Your Eminence, for the worthy priests who are with me ; for, despite their perseverance in the intention to sacrifice their lives for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa, I see that the silence of the S.C., which has thus far left my last two letters unanswered, is causing them a certain sadness.

A letter that assured us that, either in Dahomey, or elsewhere, a mission will shortly be entrusted to us would revive their courage by reassuring them as to their future. At last we would see ourselves joined by many other ecclesiastics thus far stopped by the consideration that nothing is yet fixed regarding either the place or the time of starting.

What shall I not say, further, of the heavy burden it is for me to bear alone the expenses of the community ! I bear it very willingly because of the love I have for the work of the missions, but I hope that Your Eminence will not permit me to be crushed under its weight. These expenses are growing day by day, and would compromise the foundation of the work if I received a large number of subjects, before Propagation of the Faith comes to our aid. Now, it will only help us once a mission has been definitively entrusted to us.

Nevertheless since my last letter to the S.C., I have admitted one priest and one lay brother. This priest, Mr Bresson, has been with us for one month now. Although perhaps he has not as much talent as the others, he appears to be filled with good qualities. He has left a presbytery to join us with the best testimonials from his ecclesiastical superiors. A departure for Africa would thus soon be very easy for us.

Accordingly I hope, Your Eminence, that you will very shortly give us an answer that, even if it still does not fix us a Mission, is such as to strengthen the good resolution of the priests who are with me at present, to encourage those desirous of joining us, and to give to myself fresh moral strength to carry through an undertaking which has the sole purpose of ensuring the greatest possible extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Kindly accept...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 28 April 1857 - Chemin du Petit Ste Foy, no. 9)

Sent_0759

Sent_0759 - au P. Planque - le 6 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0759 - to Father Planque - 6 May 1857 /1

Sent_0759 - au P. Planque - le 6 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0759 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 315-316

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Mâcon, Autun, Moulins, some news on his preaching and his collections

Index : preaching, collections, news, rounds

__________

Autun, 6 May 1857

My dear Mr Planque,

A few words only on leaving Autun. Since you have not written to me, undoubtedly nothing new has happened in our dear little house of Sainte-Foy and no letters have arrived addressed to me.

Next Sunday, I will be at Moulins, so kindly write to me there sending any letters that may have arrived for me. I have been perfectly received in the diocese of Autun. I have already preached and taken a collection at Mâcon and here. With that of Beaune, I have taken about one thousand francs. I am leaving this morning to preach still in two small towns between now and Friday, while Saturday I expect to arrive at Moulins.

I have no time to write to you at greater length. A thousand kind regards from me to our Gentlemen, and tell Mr Bresson in particular that we have often spoken of him at Mâcon and here.

If you see the Ranchins, tell them that I am well. A Dieu in haste, but not without assuring you once more of my sincere affection.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

Write to me at the bishop's palace in Moulins.

(Autun, 6 May 1857)

Sent_0760

Sent_0760 - au P. Planque - le 18 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0760 - to Father Planque - 18 May 1857 /2

Sent_0760 - au P. Planque - le 18 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0760 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 317-318

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We are going to be able to finish paying for our house. Let the notary know indirectly that we have contracted a loan, without telling him that it is from myself. Some advice for the house.

Index : preaching, collections, news, tours

__________

Nevers, 18 May 1857

Although I don't have a great deal to say, I am writing you these few short lines in order to give some sign of life. The collection here was not so very good. However, thus far I have collected three thousand francs. So that, for ever so little that the good God blesses our efforts still, I hope we will soon be able to finish paying the Carmelite Ladies.

Thus, in a few days' time, you would do well to go and see Mr Berloty, to ask him when we can go and collect our title-deeds and find out if there is no danger in completing payment. And since it is as well that Mr Berloty does not believe us richer than we are, allow it to slip out in the course of conversation that we are only completing payment to these Ladies by means of a loan that the house has contracted, without saying that it is from myself and, consequently, does not lie heavy on us.

Kindly for a little while do not accept any more fees for masses to be entered, unless we are given an unspecified and fairly long time for their performance.

I do not think that, except in particular circumstances, we have to pay a visit to those who make us offerings.

I fear that the end of May will not be as good as the beginning for our takings ; I still do not know where I will preach on Thursday, Ascension day.

Santa pazienza ! I certainly need it and you do too, but it has its merit and sees many things through.

A thousand kind regards from me to our dear brothers, and continue to rest assured of my sincere affection.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. To save you the odd sou, Mr Reymond, who is very well and does honour to the innumerable good dinners that we are offered, sends you his compliments with the enclosed, as well as to all the members of the African family.

(Nevers, 18 May 1857)

Sent_0761

Sent_0761 - au P. Planque - le 20 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0761 - to Father Planque - 20 May 1857 /2

Sent_0761 - au P. Planque - le 20 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0761 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 319-320

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Regarding falling out with the parish priest of Saint Irene at Lyons. Some advice for the house, some recommendations for Mr Bresson.

Index : house of Lyons

__________

Nevers, 20 May 1857

Like you, very dear friend, I am singularly astonished and grieved at the opposition of the parish priest of Saint Irene, after the signs of interest he has given us, and to which we endeavoured to respond by doing him certain services, when he asked us for them. Assuredly, our chapel, poor and small as it is, cannot do him any material wrong, and if even some little good is done in it, however slight, his piety cannot but be gratified.

Accordingly I think that you should not worry about that, but continue your own little routine, and if he speaks of it to the cardinal, and His Eminence asks for some explanations, give them in all simplicity and charity. If then His Eminence, either himself or through his Vicar General, should recommend to you whatever it may be, you must act accordingly and with respect ; it is only thus that God will bless our little house.

Avoid speaking of this, and above all see that no devotee, under the pretext of taking an interest in us, speaks about it outside.

The priest of whom you speak to me is too old to be received by us.

I wish matins to be continued and to be said in common on Sundays, as on the other days, before the blessing of the very holy Sacrament.

Tell Mr Bresson that I have just received his letter. You can read out this one to him which will also serve as an answer. Accordingly I recommmend to him, as well as to the other brothers, never to speak of this outside. If it is desired at Saint-Irene that he continues to go and say the first mass on Sundays, he should do so ; but if the parish priest or anyone speaks to him of these difficulties, he should answer simply that it is not his concern; and he should make no attempt to give any explanation. This is necessary in order to avoid him, unwittingly, saying some words which might be misinterpreted. In my absence, it is you alone that people should deal with outside.

A Dieu. Per patientiam curramus. () Warmest regards to the small family and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Nevers, 20 May 1857)

Sent_0762

Sent_0762 - à son frère Henri - le 20 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0762 - to his brother Henri - 20 May 1857 /2

Sent_0762 - à son frère Henri - le 20 mai 1857 -/1

Sent 0762 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 195-196

(to his brother Henri)

Some news of his peregrinations and his collections. In order to finish paying for the house of Lyons, can you address to me there the money which you are due to send me?

Index : house of Lyons, collections, attachment (family), tours

__________

Nevers, 20 May 1857

I do not know, very dear Henri, if they pass on to you exactly the letters from Toulouse when you are at Lasserre, and vice versa. The fact is that I wrote to you on 25 April and informed you of my forthcoming departure from Lyons and roughly my presumed itinerary as far as Paris, where I will be at the end of the month of May, and where I will again be more Rue de Londres 31.

For here I am once more going from one place to another, from town to town, to play the mendicant friar. It is difficult to get hold of fifty thousand francs one on top of the other. Since the beginning, I have now arrived at approximately 25,000 ; which would be half if, during this time, a lot of expense had not arisen.

Since leaving Lyons, I have heard that Melchior de Ranchin() had gone to the South on business. I think that he will not leave without seeing you.

I have just crossed magnificent countryside where the harvest is apparently very fine. According to your last letter, this is not the case in your parts. Here, people are beginning to fear a drought.

I am leaving this evening for Bourges. My health is as always good. I hope that the waters will do good to Joséphine () to whom I ask you to convey my friendly greetings, as well as to your children. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. Perhaps you could more easily than elsewhere pass on to me at Paris the small remaining sum that you were to send me. I will only be staying at Paris for a short time. I am telling you this because of the last payment that I should soon make for the house of Lyons.

(Nevers, 20 May 1857)

Sent_0763

Sent_0763 - au P. Planque - le 5 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0763 - to Father Planque - 5 June 1857 /1

Sent_0763 - au P. Planque - le 5 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0763 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 321-322

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Some internal questions (Bresson, Riocreux, Alba...). I will write to you again before leaving Paris.

Index : house of Lyons

__________

Paris, 5 June 1857

After arriving on Tuesday evening in Paris, I wanted, before writing to you, to be more or less clear on my itinerary of the month ; but I cannot fix it quite firmly as yet. So I am writing these few words in answer to your two last letters.

You can hand over to Mr Bresson 15 francs for 12 masses. I have marked them down as assigned. If you have not yet done so, kindly let the Carmelite Ladies know that we have the last five thousand francs at their disposal. They should tell you what day they wish to be paid so that I send you the money in time. Before paying them, however, you should take care to check the absence of any mortgages.

As we agreed, I am going to write to Mr Riocreux to come and join me. Unfortunately, I still cannot fix the day. Mr Alba has written me a letter which reads well. I will answer him one of these days.

Santa pazienza ! We need it, but with it we will persevere to the end and with the merits of not being discouraged in the face of the difficulties of a creation.

I am writing to you with a heavy head, because yesterday we must have eaten some cow-bane or else some parsley. We are feeling its full effects today.

In any case, I will write to you again before leaving Paris. Tomorrow I am going to Vendôme where I will spend Sunday and should be back here on Monday. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 5 June 1857)

Sent_0764

Sent_0764 - au P. Planque - le 12 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0764 - to Father Planque - 12 June 1857 /2

Sent_0764 - au P. Planque - le 12 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0764 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 323-324

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We will always have sorrows and of all sorts. Let us not be discouraged. I am sending you Mr Reymond with 5000 francs to complete payment of the house. Advice on the procedure to be followed. Send me the balance sheet of the accounts for May. Some questions of persons.

Index : sorrows, house of Lyons, finances, recruitment

Paris, 12 June 1857

Very dear Mr Planque,

Ab uno disce omnes() – You see that this storm of Saint Irene is abating naturally, and that one should not allow oneself to be too much affected by the difficulties arising on one hand or the other. Undoubtedly this will not be the last of our difficulties. But have we not embraced difficulties in the undertaking on which we are embarking, difficulties from within, from without, difficulties of the soul, of the heart, beside which the difficulties of the body are nothing ?

Thus let us never let ourselves be discouraged whatever the difficulties arising. I have said to you, very dear friend, and I believe I may repeat it in the confidence that I have in you : it is only the temptation of discouragement that I dread in you. Some words from your last letter lead me to make these reflections. But I am fully confident that you will find in your knowledge of the human heart, and in your profound piety, more strength than is needed to triumph over it.

So, Mr Reymond is leaving this evening. He is bringing you 5,000 francs, for which you acknowledge receipt. Pay these ladies as soon as possible, but after having seen Mr Berloty if you possibly can. See that they give you a receipt and hand back the note in their possession. Do not destroy this note, but keep it carefully to give back to me on my return.

Mr Reymond will tell you at length the reflections we have made on the priest of whom the Reverend Father Périer spoke to you. If there is no danger in waiting, it would be best, it seems to me, to ask him to await my return.

Perhaps in a few days' time, Mr Courboulis of whom I spoke to you some time ago, gendarme in the imperial guard, will join you. He appears intelligent and full of goodwill. Let us hope that we will be happier than with the young Genin.

I very much fear I shall be obliged to waste my time uselessly until the Sunday after the octave of Corpus Christi. Meanwhile let us thank the Holy Virgin for having given me in May sufficient money to pay off the house.

You have not given me the end-of-month balance sheet of revenue and expenditure. I would very much like to know it.

A Dieu. Think of me always before the good God and believe in my affectionate attachment.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. Perhaps Mr Raymond will not arrive until Sunday morning.

(Paris, 12 June 1857)

Sent_0765

Sent_0765 - au P. Planque - le 15 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0765 - to Father Planque - 15 June 1857 /2

Sent_0765 - au P. Planque - le 15 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0765 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 325-326

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I would really like to know if Mr Reymond has arrived at Lyons. Questions of persons : Mr Alba, Mr Courboulis, brother Eugène and another brother.

Index : house of Lyons, recruitment

__________

Paris, 15 June 1857

I counted, very dear Mr Planque, on receiving this morning a letter from Mr Reymond, who had promised to write to me as soon as he arrived. He should be with you at this moment and Mr Riocreux, I hope, will not fail to arrive, for I cannot stay for a long time here, since, quite apart from it being time wasted, I see that I am delaying the departure of the Blanchets for the country.

I do not know if I will find next Sunday profitable. Yesterday was without profit for our work, as well as this whole stay in Paris.

I have handed over to Mr Reymond a letter for Mr Alba.

Mr Courboulis had his resignation accepted two days ago. He is going to see his parents and will go to Lyons in the course of this week or the next. He appears to have great goodwill and a very good character. As for his studies, I think that he should be made to start all over again and we will very soon see what he knows, and what he is capable of doing.

As for the brother who has applied, I really do not know what to say to you. In the present state of things, we cannot accept a large number of them. But will brother Eugène do for us ? If, after six months, he is not capable of doing the cooking alone, if he cannot understand that spiritual reading is not perfection, but merely one of the ways to arrive at it, can we keep him ? It seems to me that, very gently, we should suggest to him that his final admission is subject to this test, and if he gives a good hope of doing his work passably well, not be in a hurry to receive any others, unless a good gardener should turn up.

My friendly greetings to Mr Reymond whom I suspect a little to have arrived later than he intended. I hope he has had a safe journey and that I will know tomorrow. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 15 June 1857)

Sent_0766

Sent_0766 - au P. Planque - le 24 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0766 - to Father Planque - 24 June 1857 /2

Sent_0766 - au P. Planque - le 24 juin 1857 -/1

Sent 0766 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 327-328

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

It is difficult to find a place for collecting alms. I would like to find some communities of young girls that I could visit before the holidays to urge them to collect for us during their holidays. For that purpose, I count on visiting the Ursulines, our neighbours at Lyons.

Index : preaching, collections, rounds

__________

Chartres, 24 June 1857

The month of June is not as good as the month of May, very dear Mr Planque. Thus we have arrived at the 24th, Midsummer Day, without much success on my part in bringing in cash. Each day, I wanted to leave Paris, yet always I was delayed until yesterday when I arrived here in Chartres, where, for a thousand and one reasons, it is impossible to take a collection. However I will preach this evening, but without a collection ; and next Sunday I will be at Le Mans without knowing if I will do any better. Kindly write to me at the bishop's palace and send my letters there if any have arrived, for I think that, for the last few days, you did not know where I am.

You will tell me if you have definitively finished paying the Carmelite Ladies. Would you kindly go and greet on my behalf the Superior of the Ursulines, and ask her when her amiable boarders are due to take their holidays. For I would be annoyed not to say a word to them before they leave on what we have agreed with their respectable Superior.

I have tried the same idea with several communities. Only two thus far have replied, those of the Augustinian Ladies of Le Roule and the Dames (not the religious) of the legion of honour at Saint-Denis. Last Sunday, I therefore went to Saint-Denis to urge the five hundred young ladies who are brought up there to become zealous collectors of alms for us during their holidays. The effect was magical. But the holidays are still far off, and I fear that they will forget their resolution.

Besides, although all daughters of distinguished persons, several come from fairly poor and not always very Christian families. I still hope for more zeal from our good neighbours, if I can communicate to them my idea before they take flight. Besides, and always, commend us to the prayers of the holy religious.

Mr Riocreux sends you his compliments as well as to his fellows. Convey mine to them too, giving us their news and yours, and believe me your affectionate brother in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Chartres, 24 June 1857)

Sent_0767

Sent_0767 - au P. Planque - le 29 juin 1857 -/2

Sent 0767 - to Father Planque - 29 June 1857 /2

Sent_0767 - au P. Planque - le 29 juin 1857 -/2

Sent 0767 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 329-332

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Among us we need to have a spirit of great condescendence and great simplicity. Even if we are only two, there must necessarily be one who decides. How to act with Mr Bresson. For Mr Lacôte and the other priest, wait until I arrive. I prefer to let Mr Papetart go alone to Germany, and continue to collect in France, as long as it is profitable. Share this letter with Mr Reymond.

Index : house of Lyons, condescendence, collections, recruitment

__________

Le Mans, 29 June 1857

I have received your last two letters, my dear Mr Planque, and I admit that we must absolutely aim at having a spirit of greater tolerance and greater simplicity reigning in the house. It would be ruinous, for the future of our work, if every newcomer could say openly everything that comes into his mind, judge, and decide without regard for those who are entrusted with certain functions.

Besides the missions would be impossible if, even in the case of two, there was not one who was the head, and who decides practically, in a given case, what has to be done, without his fellow indulging in perpetual contestations. What would it be like if, at Lyons, the aspirants did not adopt the habit of condescending, by spirit of obedience and of simplicity, to those entrusted with directing the house ?

You see that I think the same as you on this. Only, above all at the beginning, for our part let us use a great deal of gentleness and patience to get the best out of what is imperfect without discouraging those who have besides the goodwill of contributing to the success of the work. It seems to me that Mr Alba is in this situation, providing he does not allow himself to be carried away too much by his at times exalted imagination.

As for Mr Bresson, I doubt that his age and habits offer hope for a serious modification, even if necessary, in his character. It is also certain that, if he does not devote himself a little more to study, we will find it very difficult to entrust in conscience any administration to him. However, he is a priest and has left a parish to come to us, which should oblige us not to abandon him except if he is absolutely incorrigible. Accordingly, I am going to write him a letter in which I will speak to him clearly.

Necessarily, this should produce a great impression on him. If he should evince it to you, be prudent as far as he is concerned, avoiding discussions and urging him to deal with what he was about to say to you with myself and in writing, without showing him the least bitterness. Meanwhile, endeavour to judge of this impression with Mr Reymond and, if one or the other of you believe seriously that he cannot do for our work, write together about it to me. Do that before God, as in council, and you would write me a summary of your reasons and of your opinion. But, I repeat, let us not despair of a man's correction, as long as a path of conversion remains for him.

As for Mr Lacôte and the other priest, I would be very pleased to receive them, but has the time come ? If the spirit of the house was calmer and more regular, I would not hesitate. But in the present state of things ?... In any case, it seems to me that he should wait until I have arrived. It seems to me that clothing cannot be included in their board, but washing, heating and lighting should. However, before committing ourselves, kindly examine in detail with Mr Reymond if at eight hundred francs for board we will not be at a loss, and write to tell me what you think about it.

I will write myself to Mr Mercier.

It is impossible for me to go to Germany with Mr Papetart. Why run into uncertainty in the mere hope of something better, when I still have so many places in France to continue what I am doing and that has done so well? I only regret one thing, and that is not to be at Lyons for longer: I will write to Mr Papetart and will encourage him to go alone. It is only eight days ago that I left Paris. So far everything seems to combine to impede my preaching and my collections. Meanwhile, God permits some hearts to be touched. Just recently two poor maidservants have sent me one hundred francs each. And in this way in the last eight days I have collected a thousand or so francs.

I would very much like to be back in Lyons before the holidays of the Ursulines, but I don't know if that will be possible.

Share this letter with Mr Reymond. Tell him that, if I do not write to him, it is because I suppose you are giving him my news. And he knows how ordinarily my time is taken up. Convey my friendly greetings to him as well as to the other members of the family, and let us all work for one another in our perseverance, meanwhile taking care to establish a spirit of society which ensures the success and development of the work.

I expect to be at Rennes on Sunday. You can write to me at the bishop's palace there.

A Dieu, very dear Mr Planque, and believe in my affection in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Le Mans, 29 June 1857)

Sent_0768

Sent_0768 - au P. Planque - le 5 juillet 1857 -/2

Sent 0768 - to Father Planque - 5 July 1857 /2

Sent_0768 - au P. Planque - le 5 juillet 1857 -/2

Sent 0768 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 333-334

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

He speaks of his collections and his preaching in the West of France. He suggests writing a letter for the pupils of the Ursulines and returns to the subject of how best to deal with Mr Bresson. For the house, he recommends making the indispensable repairs.

Index : house of Lyons, collections, preaching, tours

__________

Rennes, 5 July 1857

Here I am at Rennes, my dear Mr Planque, after a quite difficult, but fairly fruitful week. Despite the difficulties they made in allowing me to preach, and above all collect alms, takings are quite good. I am due to preach this evening in the cathedral, but without a collection. Besides, if the listeners are as docile as yesterday at Vitré, I will not lose very much. For there it was forbidden to collect alms, but they brought me round the equivalent to the presbytery.

In the course of the week I plan to go to Saint-Malo, and to be at Saint-Brieuc, from where any letters will be sent on to me if you address them to the bishop's palace.

When I received your letter, I was going to write to the Superior of the Ursulines, to suggest to her the idea that she had herself. I proposed writing to her young pupils, in the form of a letter, more or less the instruction that I gave to the ladies of the legion of honour at Saint-Denis. Accordingly this letter will be quite long, and could be read out to the pupils in place of the spiritual reading, without it being necessary for you to add an instruction. I am going to write to the Superior to suggest this idea to her, which is almost identical to hers, and to ask her to give me an answer either in writing or through you.

It seems to me that in fact the time has come to undertake the most urgent repairs to the house. Needless to say you should do only what is absolutely necessary, and at the lowest possible cost.

Kindly hand over six francs to Mr Reymond for six mass fees.

We now have only about one hundred fees in abeyance. Thus you can receive any on occasion, without being in too great haste above all if they are at only one franc.

Mr Bresson has written me a very proper letter. Thus I hope he possesses some resourcefulness ; try to seem not to know what I have written to him, and to avoid anything liable to ruffle his character until my return. I still hope this will be either at the end of this month or the beginning of August. I am writing Mr Bresson a letter of encouragement which, without taking back anything I said to him in the previous one, will however fortify him in his good resolutions.

Kindly convey a thousand affectionate greetings on my behalf to Mr Reymond together with the compliments of the Blanchets who never forget him in any of their letters. Mr Riocreux proposes, I believe, to write him a word. Do not forget Mr Alba and the brothers either and believe me, in the holy union binding our good works,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. Kindly see together, in a conversation at recreation, what period would be suitable for holding our annual retreat together after my return.

I spoke of you to Mgr de Laval and his brother, but apparently the sun of Provence has made him lose his memory of Marcy and other places in the North.

(Rennes, 5 July, 1857)

Sent_0769

Sent_0769 - au P. Planque - le 13 juillet 1857 -/1

Sent 0769 - to Father Planque - 13 July 1857 /2

Sent_0769 - au P. Planque - le 13 juillet 1857 -/1

Sent 0769 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 335-336

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We must be very tolerant of other people's faults, but without weakness. How to act with Mr Alba. His programme of preaching for July and August. Some advice for the running of the household.

Index : house of Lyons, preaching, collections, condescendence, rounds

__________

Saint-Brieuc, 13 July 1857

My very dear Mr Planque, now that thanks to God we are going to be out of the greatest trouble of a material nature, it is absolutely essential for us to work to create the spirit which should dominate in our congregation. Let us begin with ourselves, by adopting the spirit of a great tolerance to others' faults, however without weakness, and without letting it be believed that gentleness, which we try to use always, can essentially compromise the principles which, alone, are capable of maintaining good order.

So that Mr Alba should know, quite clearly, that there are many things to be desired in him, and even some which are incompatible with apostolic life. Thus I am writing him a letter that you will read, as well as Mr Reymond, so that he knows there is agreement between you two and me, and that any opposition would only break him more quickly, that's all. However endeavour to soften the blow rather than pushing him to breaking point, and if he corrects himself, as I think there is still hope, he will be all the more attached to you.

I tried to go quickly, but in vain, Brittany is such a beautiful region that I am like a tortoise. Despite a host of annoyances, since my departure from Paris, I have collected about five thousand francs. Accordingly I cannot skip the few towns I still have not seen, thus delaying further my arrival in Lyons.

Unless some mishap should occur, this is my plan : next Sunday the 19th I will be at Quimper, on the 26th at Vannes, on the 2nd at Nantes, on the 9th at Angers, on the 15th at Tours, and the following week or the beginning of the one after at Lyons. But Mr Reymond knows by experience that, very often, a mendicant friar is obliged to modify his itinerary. The purse would like nothing to disturb it, and my personal desire to join up with you as soon as possible. May God's will be done !

I hoped to find an answer from the Superior of the Ursulines here. Kindly go and greet her on my behalf, asking her to write to me in time to one of the towns indicated hereafter (the bishop's palace), or else to dictate her reply to you.

Kindly tell Mr Alba on my behalf that it goes without saying that the sacristan cannot make any expenditure for the chapel without my authorisation, or yours when I am away. Only, what is received for the chapel must be used exclusively for the chapel, and the sacristan must keep a register of receipts and expenditures.

A Dieu. Per patientiam curramus () !

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Saint-Brieuc, 13 July 1857)

Sent_0770

Sent_0770 - au P. Planque - le 21 juillet 1857 -/1

Sent 0770 - to Father Planque - 21 July 1857 /2

Sent_0770 - au P. Planque - le 21 juillet 1857 -/1

Sent 0770 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 337-338

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Despite the difficulties placed in my way, collections are good. This money should be invested. Mr Blanchet will deal with it. His plans up to his return to Lyons which he is awaiting impatiently.

Index : collections, preaching, investment, tours

__________

Quimper, 21 July 1857

What is curious about this journey is that, in almost every diocese, I encounter some setbacks, and yet, despite winds and storms, the takings are quite good. Now I have six thousand francs.

Like you, I would wish this money not to be inactive ; and since it is somewhat difficult for us to deal with such things, I have asked Mr Blanchet, so intelligent in business and who is so devoted to us, to be our treasurer. Already I handed over to him, on leaving Paris, the small amount of money left, and I would send him what we have now, if he was at Paris.

Unfortunately, he is in the country, but we are in correspondence for that, and since for the moment we have settled on buying the debentures of the Railway of Orleans, there is no need for haste this month, seeing that the dividends are only due in September. If, between now and then, Mr Blanchet writes asking me to send him our available funds, I will write to you so that you can send him a thousand francs for your part.

I shall pass rapidly above the diocese of Vannes, and next Sunday the 26th shall be at Nantes. The letter you have sent me, and which I think is from the bishop of Soissons, for we found it difficult to read the signature and the place it came from, will perhaps oblige me to modify my itinerary, but I hope that will not delay my arrival at Lyons where I am eager to arrive as soon as possible.

I am writing today to Mrs Aloysia and to the pupils of the convent of the Ursulines.

I hope that Mr Courboulis will do well; give him many kind regards from me. I think that you have put him to studying Latin. With the intelligence that he seems to have, he will go fast and, if the good God allows him to keep his spirit of gentleness and simplicity, he may make an excellent missionary. Convert the former kitchen into a porter's lodge or a parlour.

I am leaving this evening, without knowing too well how I will fill in the week, following our angel who has guided us well thus far.

From Brest, where we were at the end of the world, finis terrae, we are finally drawing closer to Lyons. I hope that from Nantes or Angers I will be able to fix the day of my arrival. A Dieu. Kind regards to you all. Mr Riocreux sends his compliments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Quimper, 21 July 1857)

Sent_0771

Sent_0771 - aux élèves des Ursulines - le 21 juillet 1857 -/2

Sent 0771 - to the pupils of the Ursulines - 21 July 1857 /2

Sent_0771 - aux élèves des Ursulines - le 21 juillet 1857 -/2

Sent 0771 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F10, pp 289-290

(to the pupils of the convent of the Ursulines, Lyons)

I regret having been obliged to leave Lyons on the very day I was to have spoken to you of heaven. Since I cannot come back to Lyons before 10 August, I am writing you this letter that your superior will read out to you. The pupils of Saint Ursula should play a big part in the foundation of the African Missions, by becoming the instruments of Providence. This is how...the letter stops there.

Index : financing of the work

__________

(Quimper, 21 July 1857) (

)

My dear young ladies,

At the finest age in life, you have perhaps not yet felt what contradiction is ; and yet, we are so little made for this earth that God rarely permits us to carry out our will, as if to give us incessantly the occasion of being united to him alone who is unchangeable wisdom, and who will later be our perfect and constant happiness. Thus, man proposes and God disposes, is a proverb dictated to us by the Holy Spirit. ()

And to come now to what I propose writing to you, I have to tell you that it was not without a real contradiction that I was obliged to break the promise given to the former pupils of your boarding school blessed by God, and that I had to leave on the very day when I had promised to talk to them for a moment of the things of Heaven. I hope that they will not hold it against me, for I had to give in to a greater force, in the order of things that Providence directs towards the goal that she commands us to pursue, when she entrusts us with a good work ; and if I had any need of advocates to apologise to you, kindly make use of them for me, Mesdemoiselles, and I am sure of having won my case.

I left then, to my great regret, on the very day on which I was to have opened up with you the month of Mary, this fine month when you have doubtless honoured our good Mother so worthily ; but I promised myself certainly to arrive before your departure for the holidays, and hoped very much, from your excellent mistresses, that they would permit me to come and say a few words that I was reserving for you. Fresh contradiction, Impossible to arrive at Lyons before the tenth of August. And my secret !... Well, I will write it to you and, if the Superior will kindly permit, this letter will be read out in common so that each of you takes for herself her share of the secret, that she carries away with her on holiday, and that she makes it produce.

But what does all of this mean ? All of this means, my dear children, allow me to use this expression, that I cannot get it out of my head that Saint Ursula must have a big part in the foundation of the African Missions. It is she, after the Holy Virgin, who covers you with her royal mantle, and, under her inspiration, you should become the instruments of Providence for all the good that God requires of you throughout your lives. And why do you not begin with the work of the African Missions that Providence has placed close beside you?

But we are only young girls, you will say, some of us are no more than children ; how can we contribute effectively to the foundation of an apostolic work, which requires considerable resources ?

Listen, my dear children, in the order... (

)

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Quimper, 21 July 1857)

Sent_0772

Sent_0772 - au P. Planque - le 28 juillet 1857 -/1

Sent 0772 - to Father Planque - 28 July 1857 /2

Sent_0772 - au P. Planque - le 28 juillet 1857 -/1

Sent 0772 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 339-340

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Impossible to do anything in the region of Nantes. Mr Alba must correct himself. Send two or three thousand francs to Mr Blanchet in Paris. Let us subscribe simply to l'Univers.

Index : investment, house of Lyons

__________

Nantes, 28 July 1857

Here I am stopped short, my dear Mr Planque. Impossible to do anything here. Neither collection, nor preaching, and I am threatened with the same at Angers. If that is how things are, I will perhaps be back more quickly in Lyons, where I am eager to arrive.

I am writing another letter to Mr Alba. I hope he will see that he can put it off no longer, but absolutely must correct himself.

If you do not receive any order to the contrary, kindly send Mr Blanchet (Alphonse) two thousand francs, and even three thousand if you have them intact. According to whether you send more or less, I myself will bring less or more of what I have, in case I see Mr Blanchet once more before returning to Lyons.

You should address the letter, containing the note that you should go and collect from the Bank of France, to Mr Alphonse Blanchet, 31 Rue de Londres, Paris, so that the letter arrives in Paris by the 7th or 8th August without fail, since Mr Blanchet will only be in Paris those days. It is also Mr Blanchet's name which should be on the note and, in case it becomes necessary to make some query, keep the consecutive numbers.

I think that, as from now, at least after these six months, we should simply take l'Univers on behalf of the house.

Give all the news to everyone, in particular to Mr Reymond who is very miserly in ink, he has not written a single word since his arrival in Lyons. A Dieu. Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Nantes, 28 July 1857)

Sent_0773

Sent_0773 - à son frère Henri - le 12 août 1857 -/1

Sent 0773 - to his brother Henri - 12 August 1857 /2

Sent_0773 - à son frère Henri - le 12 août 1857 -/1

Sent 0773 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 197-198

(to his brother Henri)

He speaks to him of the fatigues, the annoyances, and oppositions that he encounters in his journeys and of the money that he collects in spite of everything. He has just spent a few days in the country house of the Blanchets at Sully-sur-Loire and is preparing to return to Lyons.

Index : preaching, collections, attachment (family), tours

__________

Soissons, 12 August 1857

It is only today, very dear friend, that I have received your good letter of 30 July. I am answering you, no longer from Brittany, but from Soissons where I have come, pressed by the bishop of this town which is preparing a magnificent feast for the coronation of the Virgin of Liesse, on the 18th of this month. It seems there will be over twenty bishops and a battalion of priests, etc. etc.

From Tours, I hoped to return directly to Lyons, but could not refuse this good bishop, which will delay my return to Lyons until the 20th or 25th of this month. I assure you, I can't wait to rejoin my little community, and then frankly, I am tired of being on the road. Nothing however comes easy. Despite the fatigues, annoyances and at times the oppositions that I have encountered, this tour has earned me about eight thousand francs which are not to be disdained for the foundation of my work.

For the last fortnight, however I have done little, but have taken a moment's rest in a very fine country house, though located in the unsightly Sologne, where the Blanchet family was staying when I passed on the way to Orleans. I therefore left the railway to go as far as Sully-sur-Loire, where they had sent me the household's carriage to go to Buissons, which is the country house in question.

On Friday, I left the Blanchets, and their numerous relatives staying there, and, having only crossed Paris, I find myself at this moment at Soissons, after being richocheted, without much profit, on Compiègne, Noyon and Chauny. As you see, I was far from enjoying like you, the freshness of the mountains, during the tropical heat that we have just had ; but I covered a lot of road and saw places.

Among these peregrinations, I made a singular encounter. Being at the Trappe of Meilleraye, where I stayed three days, I visited the farms where you know that the religious practise agriculture with a singular talent. Now one of them recognised me as he indicated by making signs to the Reverend Father Prior.

The day after, having indicated to the Reverend Father Abbot that not only did he know me, but also my family, the latter opened his mouth, for as you know the trappists are dumb, and he came to speak to me. I recognised him immediately as one of the Reverend Dominican Fathers that I had often seen at Toulouse, who knows Joséphine particularly, and who asked me for news of her health. He strongly approved her project of going to the springs of Cauterets, etc.

A Dieu, very dear Henri ; a thousand kind regards to Joséphine and to your children.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Soissons, 12 August 1857)

Sent_0774

Sent_0774 - au P. Planque - le 16 août 1857 -/1

Sent 0774 - to Father Planque - 16 August 1857 /1

Sent_0774 - au P. Planque - le 16 août 1857 -/1

Sent 0774 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 341-342

(to Mr Augustin Planque, sma)

Mr Alba's departure, Mr Papetart's illness. I can't wait to return to Lyons. I shall arrive Thursday.

Index : news, collections, tours

__________

Laon, 16 August 1857

Very dear Mr Planque,

After receiving Mr Alba's letter, I did not doubt that he would leave soon. May God accompany him and give him some sense. The news that you give me of brother Pierre makes me sad. What is to be done ? Patientia !

Mr Papetart is ill again. He is returning home. He has sent me four hundred francs in the registered letter you mentioned to me.

I give up passing by Vichy, since the parish priest has assured me that there is almost no-one left. Thus, I will leave here Wednesday after the ceremonies and hope to arrive in Paris in time to catch the railway train leaving at 10.45 in the evening. I will arrive in Lyons at 3.10 on Thursday. So I look forward to seeing you again soon. I can't wait !

A thousand kind regards to you all, especially to Messrs Reymond and Bresson. Would you kindly let my sister know what day I am arriving. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. I feared that Mr Alba's departure might have made a bad impression on Mr Riocreux. I broke the news to him very gently and he took it extremely well. I have just made my last collection which was poor ; that of yesterday was over 400 francs.

(Laon, 16 August 1857)

Sent_0775

Sent_0775 - au P. Dominique - le 25 août 1857 -/1

Sent 0775 - to Father Dominique - 25 August 1857 /2

Sent_0775 - au P. Dominique - le 25 août 1857 -/1

Sent 0775 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, Capuchin)

With my collections, I have almost finished paying for our house of Lyons. Now, it is necessary for Rome to entrust us with a mission. To do that, it is possible that I will go to Rome in a few months' time. Until then, if I can do you any services... I am sending you some notices. My next journey may take me in the neighbourhood of Clermont.

Index : news (of the work), a mission in Africa

__________

Lyons, 25 August 1857

I am extremely grateful to you, Reverend Father and dear friend, for the interest you continue to take in our work. In Brittany I found excellent inclinations on the part of the people, but little kindness on the part of the clergy. To such an extent that in two dioceses I was refused authorisation to preach. Besides, nowhere had the collection been prepared. Despite that, I made a fairly good collection and have almost completed payment of our small establishment of Lyons.

Now, in order for the foundation to be perfect, it would be necessary to procure some income for it, but above all for the Sacred Congregation to determine to entrust a mission to us. Until then, I doubt that subjects will come in number ; and even those that I have could very well become discouraged. Their number has not risen since I saw you. You said that, in your parts, you would easily find good brothers. You really should find me one who is a gardener.

I do not think that the excellent Mr Mercier has made a second dispatch, but doubtless he will not fail to do so as soon as he has something to add to what you handed over to him

I think that, in order to push the Sacred Congregation, it will be necessary for me to undertake a fresh journey to Rome, at the latest in January or February. Before then, I plan to make another round of collections ; however at present I need a little rest, for these long journeys, in the heat of summer, have fatigued me greatly. Thus, I plan to remain one and a half or two months without moving. If, during that time, I can do you any services, for example order a battalion of Capuchins, I will do it with the greatest of pleasure.

I still have not drawn up any plan for my future journey of collections. I would willingly pass by Clermont again, if I should decide to cover the neighbouring dioceses which I have not yet seen. Do you think that we could hope to do something there in the months of November and December ? You asked me, once, for some notices and reports. I am sending you a few copies by post.

A Dieu. Pray for us, as well as your Fathers to whose good souvenir I commend myself, and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 25 August 1857)

Sent_0776

Sent 0776 - to Mgr Bonnand - 26 August 1857 1/2

Sent 0776 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 1025-1028

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

The deaths of Messrs Métral and Roger, Mr Bruyère's illness, the bad political news of India, the appointment of Mr Godelle as apostolic vicar of Coimbatore. I offer him my homage, but feel unable to congratulate him. A paragraph on the questions which led to his resignation and on Goa. I am only awaiting the decision of Propaganda to leave for Dahomey. We are wasting precious time.

Index : religion in India, a mission in Africa, my missionaries

__________

Lyons, 26 August 1857

My Lord,

I already knew of the death of the blessed Mr Métral, a title that I cannot but hope will one day be canonically recognised to him. I am no less grateful to you for having informed me, and for thus choosing from time to time to think of me, as I assure you that I often think of you and of all our dear confreres, both those who are still alive and those that the Lord has already called to himself. So that Mr Roger too is among that number : the good God will take account of his so ardent zeal to efface his peccadillos of impulsion. I hope to learn later that Mr Bruyère has been spared.

Here the news of India have made a powerful impression. I find it difficult to believe that there is not some exaggeration in the facts and I regard as indubitable that the English will triumph from this general outcry. However, that will cost them dearly and will profoundly humiliate them, which they richly deserve in any case. The pope and the King of Naples have no canons to oppose to them. Providence undertakes to turn their own against them, and if it were not for the danger that religion will run, if the trouble spreads, one might be tempted to see in that merely the effect of divine justice.

You are still far from the theatre of the revolt, and that is undoubtedly why you say nothing about it in your letter. But, if there were the slightest danger for your persons and for your Christian communities, I hope that you would duly inform us.

I am truly sorry for what you say about Mr de G ., for I always knew him as a man of great good sense and profound wisdom. So that Mr Godelle is appointed in my place. Kindly offer him my homage, but I cannot congratulate him.

Until the time has come to deal with and solve the big questions in the face of which I withdrew, I feel convinced that not one inch of progress will be made, on the contrary that we will fall back, and that the day will come when (four words here are illegible) more or less disappeared, and the little that remains schismatic. Goa is merely a pretext. If ever that schism disappears, another one will take its place ; this is the necessary result of our position which does not allow us to have any action on the pagan people or to obtain the affection of our timid Christians.

If it only depended on me, I would already have left, or at least I would have sent out in advance two missionaries into the Kingdom of Dahomey. I am convinced that we are wasting precious time and that this people, perhaps the most barbarous on earth, which today opens up its doors to us may well close them again tomorrow. Let us pray that the S.C. does not demand too much. If it wants before starting for me to have many missionaries and an income for our house of Lyons, that could take a long time. The missionaries and resources will come once we have started. For the moment, I have

(one line is only half legible)

two lay brothers. It seems to me that, with that, we could get to work. Let us pray.

A thousand kind regards to all of our confreres, especially to Messrs Lehodey and Dupuis. I have warmly recommended his printing press to the new bishop of Bourbon. I take this opportunity of offering you my affectionate respect.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. I plan to go to Rome this winter. I would be happy of the opportunity to be useful to you.

(Lyons, 26 August 1857)

Sent_0777

Sent_0777 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 28 août 1857 -/2

Sent 0777 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 28 August 1857 /2

Sent_0777 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 28 août 1857 -/2

Sent 0777 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1341ss

copy, AMA 2C19, pp 25-26

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Our house in Lyons is completely paid for. I once more urge that Propaganda authorises us to go to Africa, especially to Dahomey. We are eight, and we cannot hope to be more in number until some mission has been entrusted to us. I have seen Mgr Kobès who is ready to help us with every means in his power. If that is useful. I am prepared to go to Rome.

Index : news (of the work), a mission for Africa

__________

Lyons, 28 August 1857 ()

Your Eminence,

Although I have still not had the consolation of receiving an answer to my last letter, I consider it my duty to write to you once more to inform you on the state of my undertaking, and again urge the S.C. to ensure that we are soon permitted to go and open a mission in one of the most abandoned places in Africa, and specially in Dahomey, if you would kindly authorise this.

As for the material, this is how we now stand: thus far I have collected 39,800 francs, for the foundation of our seminary. Thus our establishment of Lyons is completely paid off, and I still have a few thousand francs in case Propagation of the Faith does not choose to come to our aid until we are in the African countries.

It is impossible to hope that the personnel will increase very much before we have started up a mission. I have seen several diocesan seminaries where my work has aroused great interest ; but assuredly, except in exceptional cases, the bishops and their directors will not let their priests and pupils come to our seminary until they know that a mission has been entrusted to us. To such a point that several of them have already been authorised by their bishop, however on that condition.

Meanwhile, we are at present eight associates present here, of whom four priests, having very remarkable qualities, have already spent a long time with me, so that I can answer for the solidity of their vocation.

Accordingly, Your Eminence, allow me to insist once more on the S.C. deigning to assign us without delay a mission in Africa. I dare to give you as from today the assurance that we will have no difficulty in maintaining it; and I am even full of confidence that, in a more or less long time, our seminary of Lyons will develop sufficiently to be able to meet the desires of the S.C. regarding several of the most abandoned points of Africa.

I must tell Your Eminence, further, that in crossing Paris without staying there, I had the opportunity of seeing for an instant Mgr Kobès who is there at this moment. This prelate, whose apostolic heart you know, gave me the assurance that he viewed my work with the utmost pleasure, and that it would be a duty for him, and even a consolation, to do his utmost to help us in our undertaking.

Perhaps it might be useful for me to go to Rome to share with Your Eminence a host of small details and to receive your advice and your orders. The Holy Father's absence leads me to postpone this journey, which I will try to make this winter, or even before if Your Eminence believes it useful, above all if the S.C. believes it could accede more promptly to our desires.

In any case, both on my own behalf and on that of my priests and the other members of the community, kindly believe in the profound respect...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 28 August 1857)

Sent_0778

Sent_0778 - à son frère Henri - début septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0778 - to his brother Henri - early September 1857 /2

Sent_0778 - à son frère Henri - début septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0778 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 37

(to his brother Henri)

Letter of a family nature containing praise of the beauty of the Pyrenees and a tirade against the politics of the English who are detested by the nations they oppress, from India to Ireland. News of Félicie's family. The house of Lyons is now entirely paid for.

Index : family, the English

__________

Lyons, (early September) 1857 ()

Very dear Henri,

I was waiting a few days before writing to you, thinking that you might still not be back from Lasserre. I received your two letters from Cauterets, and like you am overjoyed that Joséphine is better ; above all if she has left cigarettes at the bottom of the valleys of the Pyrenees, I hope that her cough will disappear completely, or else that she prepares to come back next year.

Your first letter spoke to me with enthusiasm of the beauties of the Pyrenees. How is it that I, who have seen so many different countries, do not know the marvels lying so close to the place of our birth? Not that I have not often planned a journey in these mountains, but it would have been a journey of pleasure and until now I have not been able to permit myself any such.

The one that I have just completed, and which was quite long was in parts where there is no such thing as a mountain. On the other hand, we have seen pretty towns on the coast, and the two fine ports of Brest and Lorient.

Ah ! if only I had power to give wings to the docked vessels filling these two ports, and send them out against the English, however much that might displease my uncle the Protestant doubtless more English than French, in order to civilise them a little, they who are so eager to give lessons of moderation to the king of Naples and to the Pope, while they make themselves detested by the nations they oppress from India to Ireland, and rival in cunning with the Greeks, and in barbarity with the Moslems of Bengal.

I do not know how long I shall stay here ; however I shall be here at least one month more. By means of what you have advanced to me, I have finished paying for the establishment that I am setting up, where however much remains to be done. With all expenses paid, it is a question of roughly thirty-seven thousand francs.

Ranchin had arrived one or two days before me. I found Félicie quite well, Etiennette is as sweet as ever. I think that Jeanne will be no less so, give her a kiss from me, as well as Georges, many kind regards to Joséphine, and you, dear friend, believe in my fraternal affection.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, early September? 1857)

6th - P.S. Ranchin has handed over 126 francs to me.

Sent_0779

Sent_0779 - au P. Dominique - le 21 septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0779 - to Father Dominique - 21 September 1857 /2

Sent_0779 - au P. Dominique - le 21 septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0779 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, Capuchin)

Yesterday I ordained your fellow ecclesiastic. I would like to make a tour in the diocese of Clermont and the neighbourhood. Could you accompany me in Clermont where you are well known ? Find me a brother who is a good gardener..

Index : preaching, tours

__________

Lyons, 21 September 1857

At last, Reverend Father and dear friend, I bestowed the priesthood on your confrere, and since he is due to go and join you soon, or even today, he will most certainly explain to you the causes of the delay. I was vexed about this for you, but it is not the first nor the last of the contradictions that the Lord has reserved for us, and that the school of the seraphic Saint Francis has taught you to bear so well.

I hope that you are not forgetting to try and find us a brother who is a good gardener.

In case I should decide to postpone my journey to Rome until January or February, it becomes necessary for me to make a tour in some dioceses that I have not yet seen. Clermont could enter into this category, since I only passed very rapidly through it on a working day and at the wrong time of year.

Could I not preach once more in the cathedral there, on 1 November which is a Sunday ? I could than pass on to Thiers and Ambert, and even perhaps to some other places in the diocese. From there, I will go into some neighbouring dioceses during November and December. But what would be perfect is that you would come with me, at least in the diocese of Clermont where people know you.

I pray Saint Francis to make you reply that it is possible, and you to see with the good Mr Mercier if there would be no drawback in preaching once more at Clermont on All Saints Day.

A Dieu, very dear Father, and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

My friendly greetings to all of your Fathers and Brothers.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 21 September 1857)

Sent_0780

Sent_0780 - à M. Vian - le 22 septembre 1857 -/2

Sent 0780 - to Mr Vian - 22 September 1857 /2

Sent_0780 - à M. Vian - le 22 septembre 1857 -/2

Sent 0780 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 343-344

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Long letter to decline the offer of a person who wants to make a foundation of perpetual masses. He explains that in the long run it is not profitable and besides that a large number of masses may be less useful to the soul than a single one accompanied by alms.

Index : finances, placement

__________

Lyons, 22 September 1857 ()

Very dear friend,

I have received your letter of the 19th, and hasten to answer it after having consulted with these Gentlemen about your proposal.

First of all, kindly convey to Mrs Loignel de Juigné how grateful I am for the interest that she takes in us and for the good that she wants to do us. Only, however pressed we may be for money, it is impossible for us to accept her proposals.

A foundation in perpetuity is always a very heavy burden on a community and can only be compensated by a very great advantage. Now four thousand francs, supposing the community could always turn them to account, would only bring in about one hundred francs of income, if they were placed in real estate, the only basis which can be relied on. The surplus that one could hope to obtain by placing them elsewhere would be offset by the chances of loss, above all when speaking of perpetuity, whereas the obligation would always remain.

Accordingly it would be the whole income that would have to be employed in mass fees at one franc, while there are already almost no fees at that rate in many places, and everything leads us to believe that, very soon, the minimum will be one and a half francs everywhere, for the very simple reason that, with the value of money falling, the same sum no longer represents the same objects.

When from 14 sols, which was the ordinary rate for fees, not many centuries ago, it was raised to one franc, the fee was not increased in real terms, which remained and will in all probability always remain more or less the price of an ordinary worker's day. Assuredly, without extending it to perpetuity, the time may be foreseen when this ordinary day will cost two francs and the mass fee also.

So that you see, very dear friend that, if I accepted such conditions, I would assume for the future a responsibility which I might be blamed for. The heart of this good lady has not calculated, which is permissible to the heart, but not to the man seeking to found a durable work and who would not wish to find himself, later, in the impossibility of keeping his word.

It may well be that Mrs Loignel de Juigné is obliged to place her alms in this way and, at that point, I have nothing to say, except to thank her for having thought of us. But, if she is free, it will be easy for you, since she is instructed in matters of the faith, to make her understand that a considerable number of masses may at times be less useful to the soul than a single one accompanied by alms.

For example, who will believe that a millionnaire can gain greater relief for his father's soul, by hundreds of masses, than a poor manual worker by depriving himself of necessities in order to have one or two said ? Since the price of sacrifice is infinite, the application of the merits of Jesus Christ may exceed all limits in a single time and always depends on a thousand circumstances of which alms is assuredly one of the principal ones.

With everything else equal, two masses will procure more good for the soul than one ; but I assure you that if, in order to procure for myself the application of the merits of a single one after my death, I founded for such purpose a convent, a church, or some other good work, I would have the hope of being more quickly or at least as quickly delivered from the flames of purgatory than by ten thousand masses in place of that church, even if it had cost me ten thousand francs.

But it is useless to explain these principles to you who know better than me how to develop the mysteries of grace. Accordingly I have allowed myself to recall them here only for the case in which Mrs Loignel de Juigné should wish to know my whole thought on this point. It would be just and useful to require several masses, both before and after death, but nothing perpetual, and with a moderation such that the number did not diminish the merit of the alms. Kindly offer her my homage and assure her that she is always included in the prayers of our small community of which she is already a benefactor.

Kindly also remember me to your respectable father, your brother and your sister, and believe in the fresh assurance of my affection in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 22 September 1857)

Sent_0781

Sent_0781 - au cardinal Barnabò, n° 1 - le 25 septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0781 - to Cardinal Barnabò, no. 1 - 25 September 1857 /1

Sent_0781 - au cardinal Barnabò, n° 1 - le 25 septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0781 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, p 1349

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 27-28

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

(letter no. 1)

We joyfully accept the mission of Sierra Leone. We simply and solely desire to enter into the paths of the Sacred Congregation.

Index : Rome (authority), Sierra Leone

__________

Lyons, 25 September 1857 ()

Your Eminence,

Two days ago I received your letter of 12th of this month with the duplicate of your letter of 17 April. I had never received the latter.

Immediately, Your Eminence, I shared these letters with my associates, and have pleasure in informing you that unanimously they entered into the spirit which, I hope, will always inspire our Society, by instantly giving up the desire that we had to begin our work with Dahomey, in favour of adopting unconditionally the views of the S.C. of Propaganda.

Accordingly we will accept with joy the mission of Sierra Leone. And we have confidence that Your Eminence will help us to obtain from almighty God the grace of doing some good there for the extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the salvation of souls and our own sanctification.

I have the honour of being...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 25 September 1857)

Sent_0782

Sent_0782 - au cardinal Barnabò, n° 2 - le 25 septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0782 - to Cardinal Barnabò, no. 2 - 25 September 1857 /2

Sent_0782 - au cardinal Barnabò, n° 2 - le 25 septembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0782 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1350

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 28-29

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

(letter no. 2)

Before going to Rome to speak of his future mission and to lay down the bases of the Society of African Missions, he poses several practical questions on Sierra Leone, in particular on the languages, in order to begin to prepare himself.

Index : Sierra Leone

__________

Lyons, 25 September 1857 ()

Your Eminence,

Foreseeing that we will soon be entrusted with the mission of Sierra Leone, and in order to prepare ourselves in advance, insofar as we can, for the difficulties that we will have to overcome, we take the liberty of requesting the S.C. for some communications on the present state of religion in that country, on the languages that we should study, on the principal precautions that we should take, etc.

I feel that this is difficult by letter and that a conversation with Your Eminence, as well as with the secretary of Propaganda would be much more useful. Thus I propose making a journey to Rome for that purpose, as well as to lay down, with Your Eminence, the bases of our Society. Nonetheless, unless Your Eminence is of the contrary opinion, I would prefer to wait until the matter of the vicariate of Sierra Leone was settled, and meanwhile we could usefully employ our time by learning the English or Portuguese language, if these are indispensable and in addition by preparing the ways for our future mission. We would accordingly be extremely grateful if Your Eminence would deign to let us know :

1) Where we should first of all land ? At Freetown or at Monrovia ?

2) What approximately is the number of Catholics at present in those parts ?

3) Are there natives ? And do these speak English or Portuguese ?

4) Do you think that all the missionaries should be able to speak English or only certain of them because of the English stations?

5) Are there any Catholic churches ?

Your Eminence, I would fear to abuse of your goodness by asking a longer series of questions. So I will stop here, asking you to believe in the perfect devotion with which...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 25 September 1857)

Sent_0783

Sent_0783 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - le 26 septembre \- 1857/1

Sent 0783 - to the bishop of Grenoble - 26 September 1857 /2

Sent_0783 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - le 26 septembre \- 1857/1

Sent 0783 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 349

(to Mgr Jacques Marie Achille Ginoulhiac

(bishop of Grenoble)

Propaganda offers us definitively a mission in Africa. There is no longer anything against your letting your men join us. Taking advantage of your ecclesiastical retreat, I propose going to Grenoble to speak to you of our seminary and to show you the letters from Propaganda.

Index : Sierra Leone, recruitment, Grenoble affair

i__________

Lyons, 26 September 1857

My Lord,

Y.L. is not unaware that certain of your ecclesiastics are clearly gratified with the gift of apostolate, and that grace is impelling them to participate in the difficult work that I am undertaking and that God seems to bless despite my personal imperfections. Two came to see me during these holidays and have asked me to join my entreaties to theirs, to beg you to grant them the permission that they hope for, but have not yet obtained.

I had some difficulty in meeting their desire, not that I am not aware of Your Lordship's good inclinations for everything contributing to extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ, but because I feared not to have any better proofs to offer you of the solidity of our work than those you were already acquainted with.

Then three days ago, I received a letter from the S.C. which is not only, like the previous ones, an encouragement to persevere in the proceeding I have followed for the foundation of our seminary of African Missions, but which offers us definitively a mission in Africa. Thus our work is from now on assured ; it will only undergo more or less development, according to whether the Lord has more workers in this totally abandoned part of his vineyard. I therefore hope that Y.L. will make it a pleasure to encourage those who, by God's grace, feel the desire to contribute to this good work.

Meanwhile, in order to give you some details on our seminary and to show you the letters from Propaganda, I propose to pay you a short visit.

And in view of the fact that I may soon be obliged to go to Rome to settle the preparations for this new mission and that, besides that, I am desirous of seeing at the same time Abbé Rivaux who thus far has been the director of these young priests or deacons, I have decided to go and find you during the ecclesiastical retreat, since Mr Rivaux wrote to tell me that he would certainly be at Grenoble at that time. Accordingly I will leave on Monday and come back on Tuesday.

Until I have the pleasure of renewing your acquaintance and of offering you my homage in person, kindly accept, My Lord, the assurance of my perfect devotion in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 26 September 1857)

Sent_0784

Sent_0784 - au P. Dominique - le 18 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0784 - to Father Dominique - 18 October 1857 /2

Sent_0784 - au P. Dominique - le 18 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0784 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, Capuchin)

I am writing to the bishop of Clermont to tell him that I will be in that town on 1 November. Prepare the ways so that my visit is duly fruitful. Propaganda has just entrusted us with Sierra Leone.

Index : preaching, Sierra Leone, tours

__________

Lyons, 18 October 1857

Reverend Father and dear friend,

I shall be writing the day after tomorrow to My Lord Bishop of Clermont, not to ask him for permission to preach, but to tell him that I will be passing through Clermont, that I will be there on 1 November, and hope that he will permit me to preach on that day in the cathedral. If you would kindly prepare the ways to ensure that the thing is done as fruitfully as possible, I will be most obliged to you. I will tell H.L. that I propose to stay with you. I will arrive on Saturday 31 October. Would you be so kind as to write me a few words to tell me what is the best way to pass from one railway to the other.

I believe I have already told you that the Holy See has just offered us the mission of Sierra Leone and the Liberian republic. It is now that we would need a good number of devoted ecclesiastics. That would be even more precious to us than good money collections, although the latter of course have their value.

A priest whom we did not see, coming from Clermont, has let us have three hundred francs. We gave him due receipt in the form that he requested in his letter. I think this is a dispatch made by the good Mr Mercier, whom I would be obliged if you would remember me to and whom I will thank myself in person.

A Dieu, very dear Father, pray for me, convey my friendly greetings to your community, and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 18 October 1857)

Sent_0785

Sent_0785 - au supérieur de Nantes - le 27 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0785 - to the superior of the major seminary of Nantes - 27 October 1857 /2

Sent_0785 - au supérieur de Nantes - le 27 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0785 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to the Superior of the major seminary of Nantes)

This is perhaps the model of a letter sent out to all the superiors of the seminaries of the dioceses of France to encourage them to direct towards the African Missions any subjects feeling the attraction of devoting themselves to the missions in Africa. Propaganda offers us Sierra Leone and Liberia, and Propagation of the Faith will come to our aid. But we need subjects.

Index : Sierra Leone, recruitment

__________

Lyons, 27 October 1857

Seminary of African Missions ()

Monsieur le Supérieur,

Doubtless you will remember the work of which I spoke to you when I passed through Nantes, for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa. I feel sure that you will be pleased to learn that the hopes on which my undertaking was based have been growing constantly, and that the encouragements given to me, from the outset, have today been succeeded by the formal offer made by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda of the first mission that it wishes to entrust to our Society : that of Sierra Leone and of Liberia, two regions where there is not a single Catholic missionary at present.

Besides, our seminary of the African Missions is founded, its site is paid for and as soon as we are ready to enter into the way opened up to us by the Holy See, the institution of Propagation of the Faith will come to our aid. Accordingly we are secure from the material point of view, however we need a large number of devoted evangelical workers, who will help us to carry through this great undertaking.

At present I have with me some priests, however what we need is a seminary here which would be for Africa what the Seminary of Foreign Missions is in Paris for the East Indias. Our congregation is based on the same principles and the same spirit. Accordingly I would be infinitely obliged, if some ecclesiastics should feel attraction for this kind of devotion, to let them know about our work and encourage them.

The spirit of God blows where it wills, and if it wishes the peoples, who are still without evangelical workers, to receive the benefit of the faith, it will inspire some of its friends to sacrifice themselves for this work. Our missions, it must be admitted, will be difficult, but will not the consideration that there is no-one there to give witness to Jesus Christ, be for many, the reason for choosing them rather than others ?

I leave it to your prudence to develop it in the hearts of those in whom you sense the zeal for this kind of ministry, meanwhile kindly accept, Monsieur le Supérieur, in union of prayers and of good works, the expression of my devoted sentiments in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 27 October 1857 – Seminary of African Missions)

Sent_0786

Sent_0786 - à son frère Henri - le 29 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0786 - to his brother Henri - 29 October 1857 /2

Sent_0786 - à son frère Henri - le 29 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0786 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 199-200

(to his brother Henri)

Let me have your news, news of your family and its work on the estate. I plan to go to Rome in December. Rome prefers to see us beginning in Sierra Leone rather than Dahomey. That disappoints me, but what is to be done ? In addition to the difficulties due to the barbarians, in this way we will be faced with all the wretchedness of the European colonies and of the English colonies ! Now the house of Lyons is entirely paid off. With the money you sent me, I have bought debentures of the Orleans railway.

Index : investment, Sierra Leone, attachment (family), Rome (authority)

__________

Lyons, 29 October 1857

It is a long time, my dear Henri, since I last heard from you ; you may say that I owe you an answer to your letter of 12 September. But you should write to me at least four times for one, since you owe it me for yourself, for Joséphine, for Georges and for Jeanne.

And besides, you have all your time to yourself. Seeds cannot occupy you to the point of not having, in the evening, four or five full hours by candle-light to write a word. You have not even told me if you had a good harvest, if you sold your corn well, if your millet lived up to your expectation, etc, etc.

You know that I have been here for two months now, however I am due to move on soon and do not really know in what direction. Write to me here in any case, and your letters will be forwarded to me.

Nothing is yet fixed regarding my departure for Rome, and even less for Africa. I am expecting an answer from the S.C. of Propaganda at the end of December which will determine my journey to the capital of the Christian world, and there I will learn something, I hope, on the country of Sierra Leone and on Liberia, where it appears that the Holy See prefers to see us beginning our missions, rather than in Dahomey. This disappoints me, but what is to be done ? We are in this world to be disappointed.

There, we will have all the wretchedness of the European colonies and the English colonies, with that of the barbarians, whereas in Dahomey we would only have had the savages who might have lost less time in making us jump the picket, but who might also have recognised the truth, whereas those to whom the Protestants preach contradiction will not have our heads blown off by the English canon, but will only listen to our words in the hope of receiving brandy and a few loin-cloths.

A Dieu, I am writing to you in haste, for yesterday and this morning I had to send off about thirty letters. How difficult it is to do anything ! However, I have finished paying off my establishment, this year we have welcomed on an average eight or nine persons, and I owe nothing. On the contrary, the twelve thousand francs that you had advanced to me have returned and with them I have bought some debentures of the Orleans railway. So, as you see, I have not completely wasted my time.

A Dieu. A thousand regards to all your family.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 29 October 1857)

Sent_0787

Sent_0787 - au P. Dominique - le 29 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0787 - to Father Dominique - 29 October 1857 /1

Sent_0787 - au P. Dominique - le 29 octobre 1857 -/1

Sent 0787 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, a Capuchin)

I cancel my journey to Clermont. How difficult it is to find bishops who permit their subjects to join us and their faithful to give alms !

Index : bitterness, difficulties, bishops

__________

Lyons, 29 October 1857

My Reverend Father and dear friend,

Since things are like that, I will not go to Clermont, or at least yet. Santa pazienza !

Sierre Leone is south of Senegal. There, as well as in Liberia, there are all sorts of Protestants and not a single Catholic missionary ! May the faithful, and above all the bishops, back up my undertaking !

What is incredible is that the greatest difficulty is not to find the money, or even the men, but for the bishops to permit their subjects to become apostles, and for the faithful to give alms ! May they not bear the punishment for their error !

A Dieu. A thousand regards to your fathers and brothers.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. I have not received any letter from the bishop's palace of Clermont.

(Lyons, 29 October 1857)

Sent_0788

Sent_0788 - au P. Planque - le 3 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0788 - to Father Planque - 3 November 1857 /1

Sent_0788 - au P. Planque - le 3 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0788 Original, AMA 2F1, p 352

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

His programme for the coming days The sudden death of Mr Blanchet : what a bolt from the blue! Mr Reymond would do well to write to Mrs Blanchet. Notify the Ranchins.

Index : preaching, tours, Blanchet (death)

__________

Louhans, 3 November 1857

Just a word, my dear Mr Planque, on arriving at Louhans. My itinerary had to be changed from the outset. I spent All Saints' Day at Chalon-sur-Saône, where I did nothing much. I have just arrived here, tomorrow I will go to Lons-le-Saulnier, and will be at Saint-Claude Saturday evening or Sunday.

Here I received this morning a single letter, announcing the death of Mr Blanchet. His body has been transported to Dauphiné. Mrs Blanchet asked her sister-in-law to write to me. She expressed the desire that I should go and render my last respects and I would assuredly have done so if I had received the letter at Lyons. It is today that the burial is due to take place near Grenoble. What a bolt from the blue for this poor family ! It is also a great blow for us.

Tell Mr Reymond that I believe he would do well to write a letter to Mrs Blanchet. It goes without saying that we must all pray for a man who has done us good, and who was prepared to render us all the services that it was in his power to do.

From Saint-Claude, where you will write to me, I hope, I will indicate the continuation of my itinerary. Kindly let the Ranchins know of Mr Blanchet's death. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Louhans, 3 November 1857)

Sent_0789

Sent_0789 - au P. Planque - le 10 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0789 - to Father Planque - 10 November 1857 /2

Sent_0789 - au P. Planque - le 10 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0789 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 354-355

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

His movements between Saint-Claude and Besançon. Questions regarding persons who offer themselves : a priest from Fribourg, a Marist brother, a brother of the Christian doctrine. What line to take.

Index : recruitment, tours

__________

Poligny, 10 November 1857

My dear Mr Planque,

A very long road for little result ! I wanted to write to you yesterday, but we had to cover 95 kilometres in miserable public conveyances, to go from Saint-Claude to Poligny from where I am writing to you.

I have not received a letter from the priest from Fribourg whom you mention. If he writes, we will see, but it seems to me difficult for us to receive people saddled with debts ; all the more since, most often, these are either the result of a habit of spending above one's means, or a spirit of disorder in such expenditures.

We should see with the Reverend Marist Fathers if the brother whom you have provisionally received has nothing grave against him, and if besides they do not feel any reluctance to his being received by us. Then, if he does well and is of good spirit, it would be well to notify the Christian doctrine brother who offered the one who is not coming, that we can no longer be certain of receiving him ; for it would appear to me, for the moment, difficult to take in four brothers, unless they were of very good spirit, and gave signs of very great goodwill ; and, because of the fault of birth of the other one, it seems to me, all else being equal, that it would be better to keep the one you have.

Kindly pass on any letters for me to Besançon (the bishop's palace). I will arrive there Saturday evening. A Dieu, my compliments to Messrs Reymond, Bresson and to the brothers.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Poligny, 10 November 1857)

Sent_0790

Sent_0790 - à l'évêque de Strasbourg - le 16 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0790 - to the bishop of Strasbourg - 16 November 1857 /2

Sent_0790 - à l'évêque de Strasbourg - le 16 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0790 photo copy, AMA 2F1A

(to Mgr Raess)

(bishop of Strasbourg)

He requests permission to preach in the cathedral of Strasbourg as well as at Belfort and at Colmar when passing through. He encloses a notice on his work and a letter from Propaganda.

Index : preaching, tours

__________

Besançon, 16 November 1857

My Lord Bishop,

Perhaps Y.L. has heard mention of the work that I am founding at Lyons for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa. I have already covered a number of dioceses in France to make this undertaking known to the clergy and to collect some alms. I would very much like, My Lord Bishop, with your authorisation, to do as elsewhere, and as I did yesterday here, that is to say, to give a sermon in your cathedral next Sunday, after vespers, followed by a small collection.

Another thing, My Lord, that I await of your goodness, is to permit that for the same purpose, I say a few words in passing at Belfort on Friday, and at Colmar on Saturday. Not doubting of the habitual benevolence of the bishops through whose dioceses I have passed, I am writing a note to the parish priests of these two towns.

I have the honour of sending you in the wrapper a short notice on my work and a copy of the first letter of encouragement that I received for this undertaking, from the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, although this was followed by a series of others, the last of which offers us the first mission that we will have to cultivate in Africa, that of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

I will arrive on Sunday 22nd, in the morning, and will go to the major seminary to seek hospitality.

While awaiting the honour of offering you my homage in person, kindly accept, My Lord, in union of prayers and of good works, the expression of my respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Besançon, 16 November 1857)

Sent_0791

Sent_0791 - au P. Planque - le 24 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0791 - to Father Planque - 24 November 1857 /1

Sent_0791 - au P. Planque - le 24 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0791 Original, AMA 2F1, p 361

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Regarding a certain Reverend Father Calmès who would like to join the African Missions. Some precise details on his tour.

Index : recruitment, tours

__________

Strasbourg, 24 November 1857

My dear Mr Planque,

Enclosed herewith please find a note to the Reverend Father Calmès. Read it and see what should be done. It seems to me that it is not up to us to write to the Grande-Chartreuse, but to him to get hold of the necessary documents that he should have taken with him on leaving. If he should procrastinate, we should not keep him, but tell him that we would see later on, once he has everything in order.

Very gently, we also have to find out if he has the means of paying for his board and, if not, make him understand that it is impossible for us to forego that condition. Quite apart from such board, he should dress himself and pay for his heating, if he wants to have a fire in his room.

Nothing new as far as my last letter to Mr Reymond is concerned. As always the trade of knife-grinder. Next Sunday I shall be in Nancy. Kindly address any letters to the major seminary. Mr Riocreux sends his compliments to you and to the other confreres. A Dieu.

Completely yours with my whole heart.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. I hope you will see that all the condemned trees are cut down.

(Strasbourg, 24 November 1857)

Sent_0792

Sent_0792 - à son cousin Louis - le 30 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0792 - to his cousin Louis - 30 November 1857 /2

Sent_0792 - à son cousin Louis - le 30 novembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0792 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 25

(to his cousin Louis)

This letter is to tell him that, for him, Mr Blanchet's death means losing a precious auxiliary of certain authorities in Paris, and that the service that he intended to render him will thus become more difficult. The grief of the Blanchet family. But if he can do him a service, he will.

Index : attachment (family), Blanchet (death)

__________

Nancy, 30 November 1857

It is at Nancy, very dear Louis, that I received your letter of the 20th. You cannot doubt what I desired to do for you, and very certainly, if I go to Paris this winter, I will seek an opportunity to do so.

Unfortunately, even if I were not obliged to leave soon for Rome, Mr Blanchet's death makes me feel doubtful if I will go and spend some time in Paris and, as far as you are concerned, I lose a powerful auxiliary through the connection existing between him and Mr de Royer. () We had already spoken of you, Mrs Blanchet was to ask her husband to have the ground in the ministry sounded out by her brother, President of the Chamber of Grenoble, etc.

This excellent man was carried away all of a sudden. The last joy that he had was the visit he paid to us in the African Missions in Lyons, on his way back from Grenoble, and the last letter that he wrote, a few days later, was to assure me of the happy memory he still had of it and for the business concerning the interests of my work. He had offered me a veritable friendship, shared by his wife and daughters whose grief is incomparable and who write to me at least once a week.

Thus, from Châlons, where I will be on Sunday, I will go and pay them a visit of condolence, but of a few hours only. I will not even sleep in Paris, and the short time I spend with this disconsolate widow will in all probability not permit me to speak of you otherwise than to transmit your regrets, however it will always be a toothing stone for this winter.

Finally, very dear cousin, you can be sure that, if it arises, I will not let slip any occasion to serve you.

Remember me to your wife and your children, and rest assured of my affectionate devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Nancy, 30 November 1857)

Sent_0793

Sent_0793 - au P. Planque - le 1er décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0793 - to Father Planque - 1 December 1857 /2

Sent_0793 - au P. Planque - le 1er décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0793 Original, AMA 2F1, pp. 356-357

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Regarding a brother we should probably not keep and Mr Noché appointed vicar in the diocese of Grenoble who could now be counted among the aspirants : I do not understand the attitude of certain bishops to us. His tour coming back towards Lyons. A mass each Tuesday for Mr Blanchet.

Index : recruitment, tours

__________

Nancy, 1 December 1857

I leave it to your prudence, my dear Mr Planque, to dismiss the new brother, or to keep him for some time more ; but if it is practically certain that he will not do for us, I think that we should not let him languish.

I have received an excellent letter from Mr Noché, posted vicar to Côte-Saint-André. He perseveres in an admirable manner in his inclinations, which persuades me to propose to him, if he is agreeable, taking him on as an aspirant, once he has let me know his will on this point. The test of a whole year of solicitations of his bishop is fully worth a few months spent with us ; and, in this way, if the good of the work requires, he could leave without being obliged to spend a whole year in Lyons.

I find some bishops perfectly disposed where no subjects are forthcoming, then at Grenoble, where good subjects are offering themselves in sacrifice for spreading the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the bishop makes difficulties that are inexplicable in human terms ; to my eyes, this is a test that the Lord permits to sound out our constancy. Let us remain faithful, while neglecting nothing that depends on us, and we will overcome it, through his grace, like the rest.

Last Sunday the bishop of Nancy being somewhat unwell, I undertook a general ordination, in his place. May this act establish a particular bond between that seminary and our work, and procure for us sooner or later a few good subjects.

Kindly see that each Tuesday for the rest of this year, starting from Tuesday next 8th December, a mass is said in our chapel for Mr Alphonse Blanchet, deceased.

I was very sorry to learn that my sister had left Lyons without anything making her presume she would do so before my departure. But everything to do with the family should be placed on a separate level from everyday life.

On Sunday I will be at Châlons-sur-Marne, from where I plan to come down towards Lyons by Troyes, Chaumont, etc. Kindly write to me at Châlons (Marne) in the major seminary.

A Dieu. A thousand kind regards to everyone.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Nancy, 1 December 1857)

Sent_0794

Sent_0794 - au P. Planque - le 9 décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0794 - to Father Planque - 9 December 1857 /2

Sent_0794 - au P. Planque - le 9 décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0794 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 358-359

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Precise details on his return trip to Lyons and on his stop off to visit Mr Papetart at Pierry. He has made a rapid journey to Paris to greet the Blanchet family after the death of their father. Some internal business of the house.

Index : house at Lyons, tours, Blanchet (death)

__________

Pierry, 9 December 1857

I am writing you these words, my dear Mr Planque, from Mr Papetart's home in Pierry. We had arranged to meet at Châlons. The ungraciousness of the old bishop of this town was the cause of a whole series of zigzags and the waste of this week. From Bar-le-Duc, I was taken to Verdun which was not at first included in my itinerary, where I made a fairly good collection, and now here we are at Mr Papetart's.

Mr Riocreux came here Monday and as for me I pushed on as far as Paris where I went to pay a visit of condolences to Mrs Blanchet. She was very sensible to this politeness. I spent all day yesterday with her and her daughters and now here I am.

I took advantage of this journey to collect the thousand francs from the convent of Le Roule and the three hundred francs from the young ladies of Saint-Denis, Mrs Blanchet further gave me back the four thousand francs we had sent to her husband, on his death-bed, and which had not been invested. What is invested will have to be sold when the family affairs are sorted out.

That together with last month's collection means that I am carrying with me a fairly large sum which bothers me, for it is not agreeable when travelling. However, I prefer to keep it with me rather than send banknotes by post, or incur expenses. I hope that the good God will preserve us from robbers. However I can send you a five hundred franc note if you cannot wait for my arrival.

I regret that you let the gardener leave without knowing exactly how he intended to pay for his lease. If he has paid the Carmelite Ladies, the latter cannot doubt that the money belongs to us.

I can promise the parish priest of Saint-Paul nothing.

If the Forcalquier affair is that on which I was told a word when I passed through the region, there is no great hope that it will end well. The person desirous of setting up the foundation would have laid down conditions that neither the Marists nor the Gentlemen of the Holy Spirit were prepared to accept.

Nothing prevents you from changing the altar, providing you don't have to incur expenses for that.

We will speak of the journey to Rome.

On Sunday, I will be at Troyes, whence I turn back to Lyons.

A Dieu. Kind regards to you all.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Pierry, 9 December 1857)

Sent_0795

Sent_0795 - au P. Planque - le 21 décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0795 - to Father Planque - 21 December 1857 /1

Sent_0795 - au P. Planque - le 21 décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0795 Original, AMA 2F1, p 360

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

To avoid arriving in the middle of the night, I will arrive the day after tomorrow at 3.15 p.m. at Perrache.

Index : tours

__________

Langres, 21 December 1857

I was expecting, my dear Mr Planque, to receive your news yesterday and to hear whether brother Pierre has listened to the advice that I gave him in my letter. I have received nothing. You have not written, thinking without doubt that I would be arriving soon, and in fact, I would have left this evening if the train times did not make me arrive about 10 or 11 at night.

To avoid that and journeying all night from here to Dijon, I will leave tomorrow morning at 7 ; I will sleep at Dijon, and on Wednesday I will arrive at Perrache station at 3.10 in the afternoon.

I look forward to seeing you soon. I leave you finding myself almost unable to get to the end, my pen is so fatigued.

All the best to you all.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Langres, 21 December 1857)

Sent_0796

Sent_0796 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 24 décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0796 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 24 December 1857 /1

Sent_0796 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 24 décembre 1857 -/1

Sent 0796 Original, APF, Congressi, Etiopia, Arabia,

1848-1857, vol. 5, pp 1410

copy, AMA 2C19, p 29

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

We await the official letter from Rome entrusting us with the Sierra Leone mission. Do this before Propagation of the Faith distributes this year's funds.

Index : Sierra Leone

__________

Lyon, 24 December 1857 ()

Your Eminence,

According to the last letters nos. 2 and 3 of the S.C. of Propaganda, we await news from it telling us that the mission of Sierra Leone is definitively entrusted to us. Meanwhile allow me to remind Your Eminence how useful it would be for us to have an authentic answer before the work of Propagation of the Faith has finished its distribution of this year's alms, which it does some time in January.

On my behalf, and on that of my priests, three of whom have been with me for the last year, I beg you to accept the fresh assurance...

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 24 December 1857)

Sent_0797

Sent_0797 - au P. Dominique - le 4 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0797 - to Fataher Dominique - 4 January 1858 /2

Sent_0797 - au P. Dominique - le 4 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0797 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, Capuchin)

Thanks for your wishes, He is resting after a tour that he has just made and wants to go to Rome to settle the affairs of Sierra Leone and to lay the bases of the Society of African Missions. But if Rome does not send me anything (how regrettable the slowness of Rome is at times !), I will leave on another tour out your way towards Clermont. I'll write again.

Index : tours, Sierra Leone, Rome, SMA

__________

Lyons, 4 January 1858

I thank you with all my heart, very dear friend and Reverend Father, for the good wishes that you address to Heaven for me, but I beg you to ask God, together with numerous thorns, the graces necessary to bear their pricks and love them. I have not given up the idea of going to Clermont in a future and perhaps forthcoming tour, which would lead me through a few dioceses in your parts where I have not as yet gone.

The obstacle raised by H.L. of Clermont, a few months ago, made me change my route and, instead of those dioceses, I recently covered those of Saint-Claude, Besançon, Strasbourg, Nancy, Troyes and Langres. It is only a few days since I came back, ready to resume another line, in order not to waste my time completely, if I do not receive any letters from Rome.

In fact I hoped to receive one at the end of last month or the beginning of this one. I will wait for a few days more, then, if it does not come, I will resume my travels to collect alms, while waiting to be able to go to Rome to complete the business of the Sierra Leone mission, and to lay down with the Sacred Congregation the bases of our Congregation of African Missions.

What precious time this slowness of Rome makes us waste ! In itself, the majestic slowness of the Roman Court is a good thing ; but if, in certain particular cases, the delay is due to the negligence or nonchalance of certain men, that is regrettable. Is that the case this time ? God forbid I should judge anyone ; but it seems to me unquestionable that if I had not been left for so long in uncertainty, my strength would have increased tenfold for the establishment of the work that I am seeking to found.

Accordingly, if I do not receive a letter from Rome in the next few days, or if this letter does not determine my departure for that city, I will resume the road, and hope that the bishop of Clermont will not be opposed to my preaching, on my way, in his cathedral. If nothing upsets my present plans, that would be for Sunday 17th or 24th of this month. I will write to you again and will write once more to your bishop before then, if I persevere in this thought.

I ended the year 1857 with your Fathers of Lyons who had invited me to dine with Mgr Hartmann and Mgr Carry. Thus, you see that Saint Francis does not forget me ; may he be favourable to us in Heaven. Ask it of him, very dear Father, you who are one of his favourite children, and receive, together with my sincere good wishes, the fresh assurance of my inviolable attachment.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 4 January 1858)

Sent_0798

Sent_0798 - à son cousin Louis - le 7 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0798 - to his cousin Louis - 7 January 1858 /2

Sent_0798 - à son cousin Louis - le 7 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0798 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 26

(to his cousin Louis)

Letter of condolence at the death of his cousin Louis's father, Mgr's uncle Pierre Jacques (1770-1857). He has kind words for various members of the family and a reflection regarding his own father who is 84 years old (a lamp burning for such a long time).

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 7 January 1858

My dear Louis, my father had already given me the sad news of the death of my uncle (). But I counted on a letter from you to give me some details ; which is why I have not written to you as yet myself.

Those that you now give me are all the more consoling since, for a long time now, the dear deceased had frankly entered into Christian life and his fine death was no effect of a sudden and always extremely doubtful return. The duties, so piously carried out on his deathbed, were merely the sweet consequence of those that he fulfilled for a long time already. I can imagine, very dear friend, all the sorrow you must have felt at this time, since a father's age does not diminish a good son's regrets.

Naturally, all of this leads me to think of the future of the father heaven gave me. Your father was his senior by only three years ; and although he carries his eighty-four years vigorously, a mere nothing suffices at that age to snuff out a lamp which has been burning for so long. Besides, he himself speaks of his forthcoming end in almost all his letters, as of something foreseen, which he is expecting and for which he is preparing himself before God, calmly, without fear or weakness. It is a very great grace that God grants to our parents, and a great example that they leave us in addition to all the others they have given us.

Kindly pass on my compliments of condolence to your brother, to your sister and to your wife who, on this occasion, has shown sentiments of filial affection. I have not forgotten the dear deceased in my feeble prayers ; even before having received your letter, I offered the very holy sacrifice to his intention.

As I informed you in my last letter, I went to Paris for 24 hours only. I would not have seen your father-in-law, if Mr Jahan had not sent to tell me that he was ailing. Accordingly I went to see him very briefly, and in fact I found him not at all well. I do not know if I will go back to Paris this winter.

A Dieu, very dear cousin ; although in grief, please accept my new year's wishes for yourself, your wife and your children, with the renewed assurance of my unalterable affection.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. Could I remind you, if you have not already thought of it, to send a notification to Mrs Blanchet, Rue de Londres 31, Paris.

(Lyons, 7 January 1858)

Sent_0799

Sent_0799 - à son frère Henri - le 13 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0799 - to his brother Henri - 13 January 1858 /2

Sent_0799 - à son frère Henri - le 13 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0799 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 201-202

(to his brother Henri)

He urges him to write to him more often, even if he has nothing to tell him. Nothings are of interest when they refer to loved ones. He goes on to speak of his latest tours in Franche-Comté and Alsace and of the desire he would have to see all his family once more. Some details on his latest journey to Grenoble.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 13 January 1858

Your new year's letter, very dear Henri, crossed mine which, in addition to my good wishes, told you how eager I was to keep in touch with you and your family. The fact is that your letters are very rare.

You will write to me, you say, when something happens. But what do you mean by something ? A major event ? a catastrophe ? a death ? Are not letters also a means of conversing for an instant together, when people do not see each another ? Is there not always a whole crowd of nothings, which however are of interest, when they concern persons one loves.

You who have so much spare time, why do you not write to me at least once a fortnight ? Even if I should not write to you so often, you should not complain, for, on my side, I am alone and do not always have any interesting news to give you. Telling you that I have taken a railway, then another, rushed over to one town then another; it is always the same song ; but you with your children, and quite close to the members of the family, you always have something interesting to tell me.

Since my return to Lyons, I have only made one outing to Grenoble where I preached last Sunday. Twice I proposed to undertake a tour which would take me towards the Midi, so as to push on as far as you others, and twice I have been prevented. With my bag packed, instead of leaving for Limoges, I go to Strasbourg, and this time I think I am going to be obliged to return to Paris, where I will stay perhaps for about a fortnight. However, I can't wait to see my father and all of you. Happily at his age, one is less sensitive.

Still no news from Rome liable to modify my plans.

Throughout my tour in Franche-Comté and in Alsace, the weather was magnificent, but for the last few days, we have been in the glazed frost, the hoar-frost and the eternal fogs of Lyons. However I saw the sun on Sunday at Grenoble and, what was quite extraordinary, the plains of Dauphiné covered with snow, while the mountains are quite without it. I do not know what that presages, but look out for floods in the spring. The Rhône and the Saône are almost dry, there is nothing to feed them in the mountains, and when the rains come it may be in the form of torrential downpours.

A Dieu. That makes four pages to say nothing, but it is to encourage you to do the same from time to time. Could you not be tempted to come and spend a week in Paris while I am there ?

A thousand affectionate regards to you all.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 13 January 1858)

Sent_0800

Sent_0800 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - vers le 20 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0800 - to the bishop of Grenoble - about 20 January 1858 /2

Sent_0800 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - vers le 20 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0800 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 406

(to Mgr Jacques Marie Achille Ginoulhiac

(bishop of Grenoble)

Before giving me definitively the powers for the mission of Sierra Leone, Propaganda would like to know how many we are. I beg you, allow your three subjects to join me at least at Easter, in order not to hold up our work from the outset.

Index : recruitment, Grenoble affair

__________

Lyons, (about 20 January 1858) (

)

My Lord Bishop,

I have just received a letter from the S.C. of Propaganda which persists in its resolution of entrusting us with the mission of Sierra Leone and Liberia. However, before sending me due powers, it asks how many of us there are in the seminary of Lyons, and when we think we could leave.

Assuredly, the number will be found sufficient for starting, if those whom God made to be born your subjects, My Lord, but that he calls to the work of the apostolate, were with us. On the contrary, is it not to be feared that we would undergo fresh and highly regrettable delays for the future, if Y.L. feels obliged to delay even longer the permission that they have been requesting for over eighteen months now.

Accordingly, I beg you, My Lord, do not permit this work to be held up from the outset. You are well acquainted with it by now, and you would certainly be vexed later if it were to miscarry.

However, in order not to ask for anything impossible, since it would perhaps be impossible for Y.L. to grant me these young men immediately, allow me to renew my request to let them come after Easter, so that I can give due assurance to the S.C. of Propaganda. In this way, I would arrange for the first departure using the four priests whom I have already, and assure the Holy See that Messrs Noché, Girerd and Favre are preparing for the second one.

I have nothing further to add to this fresh appeal to the apostolic spirit so strongly present in the souls of all bishops and beg you, My Lord, to accept the fresh assurance of my respectful devotion.

P.S. Would Y.L. be so kind as to send me an answer as soon as possible to Paris, 31 Rue de Londres.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, about 20 January? 1858)

Sent_0801

Sent_0801 - à l'Assoc. St Fr. de Sales - vers le 20 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0801 - to the Association of St Francis of Sales - about 20 January 1858 /2

Sent_0801 - à l'Assoc. St Fr. de Sales - vers le 20 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0801 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 406 verso

(to the person in charge of the Catholic Association of Saint Francis of Sales)

The Holy See is going to entrust me with the mission of Sierra Leone. Could your Association help me financially ? We will have to struggle also against the Protestants.

Index : Sierra Leone, financing, Protestants

__________

(Lyons, about 20 January 1858) ()

My Lord,

The Holy See has just offered me the mission that it desires to found in Sierra Leone and Liberia. () I have accepted it despite the innumerable difficulties that I shall have to overcome. It will extend from the river Nuñez up to the Liberian Republic including on the coasts, and indefinitely into the interior.

Now, in all of that space there is not a single Catholic missionary. On the contrary, there are all sorts of Protestant establishments, and we will have first of all to fight there against the heretical associations, their schools, their orphanages, etc. What is most sad in this sort of struggle, is that it cannot be undertaken without money, since our wretched antagonists possess a great deal.

Could the Catholic Association of Saint Francis of Sales not help me to overcome these first difficulties ? Is attacking Protestantism on all fronts not the goal that it should set itself? Accordingly I ask of it a sum in relation to its present resources, for the day when I shall be leaving for Sierra Leone.

Once I am in the country, I will report to the Association on the way in which these alms have been used and leave it to see whether this is sensible, whether it is just, proper and opportune and if it will continue to extend its zeal in that direction.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, about 20 January? 1858)

Sent_0802

Sent_0802 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 20 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0802 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 20 January 1858 /2

Sent_0802 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 20 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0802 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, p 601

copy, AMA 2C19, p 30-31

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

With three priests, I am ready to leave as soon as the mission of Sierra Leone is entrusted to us. Before that, I would like to go to Rome to obtain details on this mission and set up the Society of African Missions. Perhaps I will go with Father Planque.

Index : Sierra Leone, African Missions

__________

Lyons, 20 January 1858

Chemin de Sainte-Foy

Your Eminence,

In reply to your letter of 8 January, I have the honour of assuring you that, as soon as the Mission of Sierra Leone is authentically entrusted to us, we will make preparations for departure and will be happy to take up the work as soon as possible.

While leaving Mr Planque here as director of the establishment of Lyons, to form the novices and send them out to us later, I can at present take with me three priests and one lay brother. These three priests have been with me for over a year now, I know their character and virtue thoroughly and am fully confident that they will make excellent apostolic workers.

As soon as I have received my powers for the mission of Sierra Leone, I persist in thinking that it would be useful for me to go and spend some days in Rome, in order to obtain from Propaganda some detailed information on this mission, and also to lay the bases of our Society of African Missions. Perhaps I will take Mr Planque with me, so that he becomes pervaded with the spirit of the S.C. and directs the house in that spirit.

I commend our nascent Society to Your Eminence's prayers, and ask you to accept the fresh assurance of the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 20 January 1858 - Chemin de Sainte-Foy)

Sent_0803

Sent_0803 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0803 - to his cousin Louis - 21 January 1858 /1

Sent_0803 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 janvier 1858 -/1

Sent 0803 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 22

(to his cousin Louis)

I am going to Paris. In order for me to be useful to you in respect of Mr de Royer, give me some precise details on what you desire.

Index : attachment (family), introduction

__________

Lyons, 21 January 1858 ()

I am leaving this evening for Clermont, very dear cousin, whence I will go to Paris as from the beginning of next week. I do not know how long I shall stay there, but I think it will be for at least a fortnight. I have not forgotten what you wrote to me some time ago and will try to be useful to you if I can.

I will go to see Mr de Royer () and Mr de Sibert for whom I have a letter of introduction. But in order to speak of you with some chance of success, you understand that it is very useful for me to know the fine details of things and, in a clear and precise way, what you desire in the hope of obtaining it.

Write to me, please, at Paris a detailed letter; make sure that it arrives at the beginning of the week ; even if I have not yet arrived, they will accept it at Mrs Blanchet's, where I would ask you to address it, Rue de Londres 31.

A thousand kind regards to your wife and children. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 21 January 1858)

Sent_0804

Sent_0804 - au P. Planque - le 3 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0804 - to Father Planque - 3 February 1858 -/2

Sent_0804 - au P. Planque - le 3 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0804 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 308-309

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

In Paris, the slightest things take for ever. Internal affairs (Mr Papetart, mass fees, a candidate)

Index : house of Lyons, collections

__________

Paris, 3 February 1858

Here it is as bad as Rome, dear Mr Planque, the least thing takes an age. I have seen Mr de Sibert, and that is all. I still have not seen the Minister of Cults. Last Sunday, the sermon was not preached. Will it be the same next Sunday ? I think so. Without the collection of Clermont which was not marvellous, we would be without a sou.

Your letter does not tell me if you have definitively accepted the 100 masses of which you speak to me in your letter of the 28th, which means that I still have not applied the current intentions to them ? Kindly tell me what the situation is in your next missive.

Having nothing to do in Paris, except authorise Mr Papetart if I can, as soon as that is done, I will endeavour to go and collect alms somewhere, unless a fresh letter from Rome makes us take some different determination.

Have you not learned anything from our future philosopher ?

Clearly, we should not accept the young man presented by the chaplain of Fourvière.

Kindest regards to Mr Riocreux and to Mr Bresson ; they should learn English little by little without making themselves ill in the process. Besides, everyone seem to be falling sick this year, and I almost caught the flu at Clermont. Fortunately the sermon healed me ! Do not forget the brothers either, and believe me

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 3 February 1858)

Sent_0805

Sent_0805 - à son frère Henri - le 10 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0805 - to his brother Henri - 10 February 1858 /2

Sent_0805 - à son frère Henri - le 10 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0805 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 203-204

(to his brother Henri)

News and affairs of the family. A risky financial investment by Henri ; preaching at Rouen and at Le Havre ; health of Xavier de Saint-Guilhem ; greetings.

Index : attachment (family), preaching, investment

__________

Paris, 10 February 1858

I would have written to you, dear Henri, as soon as I had arrived at Paris, if I had hoped to see you give in to the temptation of coming to spend a few days, foreseeing that I will not be back again for a long time, if ever, and because of the pleasure that I would have had of being together for a few days. But when I heard that the Ranchins were at Lasserre and that they were due to stay there for a long time, I did not insist. As for writing to you as often as you should write to me, that would not be fair, since you have a wife and two children. So, I only owe you one letter for four of yours.

Let us come to your errand now. I believe that you would have done better to give me those three thousand francs for the African Missions. They would at least have served for the salvation of your soul. As they are, if they still exist, I believe them well and truly jeopardised, if not lost. But also, allow me to say so, why invest your money in such industries ? Mr Bonnal has no money and almost no words to give in exchange. I do not know what guarantees you have received ; lose no time in bringing them to bear if they are still based on something more real than millions on paper.

I do not know if I shall succeed in the small business that brought me here ; I still have not seen the Minister of Cults. Whereas, yesterday I took part in a dinner of 66 courses offered by Mr de Royer (), Minister of Justice, and I made no mistake about the day as I did last year.

Last Sunday, I went to preach at Rouen, 140 kilometres from here. I left after my mass, had time to visit the town, to preach, to dine, and I was back in the evening. All being well, I plan to do the same thing next Sunday for Le Havre, which is 229 kilometres away.

Did you know that Xavier de Saint-Guilhem has been very ill. He is now out of danger, and as soon as his convalescence is sufficiently advanced, his parents who are still here propose taking him to Perpignan, since he will not be sufficiently recovered to apply himself to study for a long time still. Thus his year at the polytechnic school is lost ; he has another awaiting him.

Everything is very peaceful this year in this household. Mrs Blanchet is somewhat indisposed these days; she and her daughters send a thousand compliments to Félicie and Etiennette ; they would like to be acquainted with your wife and your children in order to do likewise.

A Dieu, very dear Henri, convey my friendly greetings to Melchior (), to Félicie, to Joséphine and the children, and rest assured of my very sincere friendship.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 10 February 1858)

Sent_0806

Sent_0806 - au P. Planque - le 16 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0806 - to Father Planque - 16 February 1858 /2

Sent_0806 - au P. Planque - le 16 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0806 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 310-311

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Some news : preaching at Le Havre ; no success regarding Mr Papetart's errand ; I shall be back in 8 days' time. Conduct to adopt with certain candidates.

Index : preaching, collections, recruitment

__________

Paris, 16 February 1858

I received your two letters yesterday evening, very dear Mr Planque, on my arrival from Le Havre where I went to spend Sunday and where I took a fairly good collection. I think that we will not obtain anything of what Mr Papetart desired. I expected this. I only took these steps in order not to be reproached with not having tried. Please God they do not prove more harmful than useful to us. So I will be returning soon to Lyons, next Monday or Tuesday, I think. Write to me once more, please, so that I receive your letter Sunday at the latest. I will inform you on Sunday or Monday of the day of my arrival.

I am very upset to hear of brother Eugène's illness. I hope he will soon be better. Besides, it seems to me that this year everybody is destined to fall ill at least once. It seems to me that we could answer the brother who is offering himself that he cannot be received before he has paid his debts and made his position perfectly clear ; however in the meantime, you could admit him on trial providing he pays for his keep.

As for the one from Grenoble, it seems to me that we should write to him saying that if he delays more than a month in coming, we cannot promise that he will be received later, and that he will have to inform us once more of his intentions.

I will myself answer Mr Moustier that he may come and see us as he desires at the end of next week.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 16 February 1858)

Sent_0807

Sent_0807 - au P. Planque - le 22 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0807 - to Father Planque - 22 February 1858 /1

Sent_0807 - au P. Planque - le 22 février 1858 -/1

Sent 0807 Original, AMA 2F1, p 312

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Where he intends to stop to preach on the way back from Paris to Lyons.

Index : preaching, collections, tours

__________

Paris, 22 February 1858

I am packing my bags, my dear Mr Planque, and Mr Papetart also, having obtained nothing here. Mr Papetart is continuing on to London. Will he fare any better than here ? I hope to God so. However these trials are not without their costs. Fortunately I made a good collection at Rouen and at Le Havre. Yesterday at Pontoise, the collection was very poor.

I am leaving tomorrow for Joigny, while Wednesday I will be at Auxerre, Thursday at Tonnerre and Friday at Lyons. If anything should prevent me from preaching on Thursday at Tonnerre, whose parish priest has not answered me, I will arrive in Lyons Thursday, but it is not probable.

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon. Regards to everyone. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Paris, 22 February 1858)

Sent_0808

Sent_0808 - à son frère Henri - le 2 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0808 - to his brother Henri - 2 March 1858 /2

Sent_0808 - à son frère Henri - le 2 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0808 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 205-206

(to his brother Henri)

Family letter : his preaching between Paris and Lyons, his forthcoming journey to Rome that he would like to combine with a visit to the family, news of the Saint-Guilhem family, a meeting that may facilitate Mr Papetart's preaching in England and Ireland.

Index : attachment (family), preaching, collections

__________

Lyons, 2 March, 1858

Very dear Henri,

Just a word to tell you that I have been back in Lyons for a few days now. I think you will have received the short letter I wrote you from Paris to tell you that your shares on I don't know what industry were heavily jeopardised.

Félicie wrote me a word in passing through Chaury and thus gave me news of you and your family whom she had just left. She did not tell me if you were staying on at Lasserre to spend Easter there, or if you were going to spend it at Toulouse. If you go to Toulouse, try to go and see a good Capuchin friend of mine, who preaches one of the stations, the Reverend Father Sébastien. He is a good chap.

I left Paris on Tuesday and arrived here on Friday, after stopping off on the way at the three towns of Joigny, Auxerre and Tonnerre. This month, I think that I will see a few towns in the neighbourhood of Lyons. I would have liked very much to go and see you but twice the plan miscarried, since I was deviated in my circumvolution.

And then this journey to Rome which is always delayed, and that I would like to combine with passing by your parts, either going or coming, is also the cause of my not having yet satisfied this desire, nay this need of my heart. But finally, in one way or another, I will have to arrange all that for after Easter, if nothing impels me before then.

I believe I told you that in Paris I saw our cousin de Saint-Guilhem on the occasion of her son's serious illness. He has been dangerously ill, but is now much better and had to leave for Perpignan with his parents. I had seen so little of our dear cousin Virginie before leaving for India that I would certainly not have recognised her, except for a family likeness.

I did not achieve what I went for in Paris, however an acquaintance made the day before I was due to leave may prove quite useful to me to make my work known in England : it is that of a Catholic member of Parliament who has given letters of introduction to one of my affiliated priests whom I have sent to England and Ireland.

A Dieu. Write to me often, My friendly greetings to Joséphine and to the children.

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 2 March 1858)

Sent_0809

Sent_0809 - à son cousin Louis - le 2 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0809 - to his cousin Louis - 2 Marach 1858 /2

Sent_0809 - à son cousin Louis - le 2 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0809 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 28

(to his cousin Louis,

Deputy Imperial Prosecutor, at Toulouse)

Family letter : his advancement in the career ; happy to have had the opportunity of seeing your wife at greater length at Paris and of seeing the de Saint-Guilhem family again (Xavier's illness).

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 2 March 1858

Very dear cousin,

I should have notified you before this of the steps that I was able to take, however I knew that your wife was keeping you up to date and giving you all the details. So, I will not go back on all that, except to reiterate my desire that they may have served some useful purpose. However, I will not conceal from you that I fear that your advancement will be further delayed if you do not manage to get yourself introduced by your natural heads at Toulouse. Mr Piou appeared to be held in great esteem by the Minister of Justice.

You do not tell me if your wife has returned home, or if she has stayed on at her father's. I am delighted to have had the opportunity of seeing her for a longer time than previously and of getting to know her better. Your young daughter is charming, as I am sure are her elder siblings whom I have hardly seen. Give me news of them when you write to me, and remember me to your wife.

Through the unfortunate circumstance of Xavier's illness, I may say that I made the acquaintance of Virginie, for I had seen her so little before leaving for India that I would have found it difficult to recognise her except by a family likeness. Xavier had a lucky escape ; he was seriously ill the day before his parents' arrival, and even the day of their arrival. He is a really charming young man ; I do not know if he has any pious sentiments, for I did not see him sufficiently to appreciate him from that point of view. I hope that he will realise the grace the good God has just done him.

What is my uncle Auguste doing ? How is he ? remember me to him; and your brother ? Why do you not tell me about all the members of the family in your rare communications ? Kindly convey my sentiments to all of them, and believe that for you I have those of an affectionate cousin.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 2 March 1858)

Sent_0810

Sent_0810 - à son frère Henri - le 11 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0810 - to his brother Henri - 11 March 1858 /1

Sent_0810 - à son frère Henri - le 11 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0810 Original, AMA 2F1, p 207

(to his brother Henri)

I am sending Mr Papetart to preach in Spain. Could you get him some letters of introduction through your acquaintances ?

Index : preaching, collections, introduction

__________

Lyons, 11 March 1858

I do not know, very dear Henri, if this letter will find you at Lasserre still but I think that it will be passed on to you without delay if you are no longer there. It is to ask you whether, through Mr Eugène d'Hautpoul, or some persons of your acquaintance in Toulouse, you could not give some letters of introduction to a priest that I am sending for my work in Spain.

It is the one I was thinking of sending a month ago to England and who is determined to go to Spain instead : Abbé Papetart. He is at this moment at Perpignan. If you can do me this service, it would have to be immediately, and you would send me the letters here.

On arriving yesterday from Tarare, where I went to preach, I received your letter of the 8th. I am delighted that you are all well, and recovered from the trials of influenza that, like you, I did not have time to catch. A Dieu.

Kind regards to all.

Completely yours affectionately.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 11 March 1858)

Sent_0811

Sent_0811 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 12 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0811 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 12 March 1858 /2

Sent_0811 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 12 mars 1858 -/1

Sent 0811 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, p 605

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 31-32

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

We are awaiting day by day the definitive erection of the mission of Sierra Leone ; that will encourage my collaborators and facilitate our relations with Propagation of the Faith. Some news of the work. I am preparing from a distance a building for about fifty aspirants.

Index : Sierra Leone, collections, African Missions

__________

Lyons, 12 March 1858

Your Eminence,

You should have received the letter which I had the honour of writing to Your Eminence on 20 January. Besides, I hope that no letters from the S.C. have gone astray, as happened last year. In this way, we await each day the definitive erection of the Mission of Sierra Leone.

May I venture to say, Your Eminence, that too long a delay would be extremely regrettable, both for the precious time that it would make us waste, and for the discouragement that it might cause in the souls of the associates who have been with me for over a year now, without having sufficient occupations to nourish their zeal, and for the determination that it would impede in several others, who are waiting to come to join us until something has been started in the missions.

As for our relations with the institution of Propagation of the Faith, it is already unfortunate that everything could not have been done before the end of January. Thus let us hope that there will be no need for any further delays.

Since my last letter to Your Eminence, I have received two more young aspirants. I have also continued my collections which now amount to the sum of over 56,000 francs. Finally I have undertaken a short journey to Paris to collect, from the Ministry of the Navy, all the information they could give me on Sierra Leone and Liberia.

At the moment I am doing my best to consolidate our foundation of the Seminary of African Missions, by procuring some income for it and by preparing from a distance a building capable of holding forty to fifty aspirants, a number that we may easily hope to have, once our congregation has been seen at work in the missions.

In the expectation of a prompt determination, kindly accept the fresh assurance of the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 12 March 1858)

Sent_0812

Sent_0812 - à son frère Henri - le 14 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0812 - to his brother Henri - 14 April 1858 /1

Sent_0812 - à son frère Henri - le 14 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0812 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 208-209

(to his brother Henri)

The mission of Sierra Leone is entrusted to us. I am going to Rome. I will go and see the family both on the way there, and on the way back. Arrange things for the best.

Index : Sierra Leone, attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 14 April 1858

The news I have received today from Rome, very dear Henri, make me think that I will go and spend a few days in the eternal city in a month's time, since the mission of Sierra Leone has been definitively entrusted to us.

However, I cannot leave Lyons, or the neighbourhood, before the fourth Sunday after Easter, and I am anxious to see you all for a few days on the way. It could only be a very short visit, however on my return from Rome, I could perhaps pay you another short visit, so that the two would be equivalent to one long one.

Will you be at Lasserre in a month's time, or at Toulouse ? If you were at Lasserre, and my father consented to go and spend a few days of the beautiful month of May there, we could stay for a week all together, otherwise I will try and arrange things so as to go and spend two days at Garric, two or three days at Chaury and two or three days with you. See if you can arrange all this, write to me and tell me what you think. I only have time to ask you to convey a thousand regards to your wife and your children. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 14 April 1858)

Sent_0813

Sent_0813 - aux évêques Espagne et Portugal - mi-mars 1858 -/2

Sent 0813 - to the bishops of Spain and Portugal - mid-March 1858 /2

Sent_0813 - aux évêques Espagne et Portugal - mi-mars 1858 -/2

Sent 0813 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F1, pp 365-366

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 361

(translation : following page)

Letter of introduction for Father Adolphe Papetart,so that he obtains permission to preach and collect alms.

Index : preaching, collections

__________

Letter of introduction of Mr Papetart

to the bishops of Spain and Portugal

(DD. Illustrissimis ac Reverendissimis Episcopis Hispaniae et Lusitaniae)

(Lyons, about mid-March 1858) (

)

Illustrissime ac Reverendissime Domine,

Libenter forsan Amplitudo Tua audiet quod, Sancta Sede favente, Seminarii fundamenta egimus Societatisque Presbyterorum, ad missiones ineundas in incultioribus Africae regionibus, et, licet sedem hujus Societatis posuerimus Lugduni in urbe Galliae, evangelicos tamen operarios conducere desideramus ex diversis regionibus catholicis, nec non fideles omnes qui zelo flagrant extendenda Fidei, arctioribus charitatis vinculis nobis colligare, ut precum atque eleemosynarum meritis augmentum Societatis nostrae largamque Dei benedictionem in opus obtineant.

Quapropter, dilectum nobis in Christo Dominum Papetart Presbyterum in Hispaniae et Lusitaniae Provinciis misimus, qui Amplitudini Tuae status Seminarii nostri aliaque documenta vive voce explicabit ; et, si opus fuerit, primam et novissiman ex litteris a S.C. de Propaganda Fide de hac re ad nos missis ostendet.

Unum insuper ab Amplitudine Tua rogamus ut eum benigne accipiat, viamque patefaciat ut Clero et Populo notum facere possit propositum nostrum eorumque bonam voluntatem ad opus tam Deo charum (lire carum ?) inclinet.

Interea, in unitate Fidei et precum, Deum Omnipotentem et Misericordiosum rogamus ut Amplitudinem Tuam diu salvet et sospitet.

Amplitudinae Tuae,

Servus humillimus.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Episcopus Prusensis

Bresson Secretarius

(Lyons, about mid-March 1858)

TRANSLATION OF THE PREVIOUS DOCUMENT

Letter of introduction of Mr Papetart

to the bishops of Spain and of Portugal

(To the most illustrious and reverend bishops of Spain and of Portugal)

(Lyons, about mid-March 1858)

Very Illustrious and Reverend Lord,

Perhaps Your Lordship will be pleased to learn that, thanks to the Holy See, we have laid the foundations of a seminary and of a society of priests, for the purpose of undertaking missions in the most abandoned regions of Africa and, although we have established the headquarters of this society in the French city of Lyons, however we desire to gather apostolic workers from the various Catholic regions and thus attach to us, by the very close bonds of charity, all members of the faithful burning with zeal to spread the Faith, so that they obtain, through their merits and their prayers and alms, a growth of our Society and abundant blessings from God on its work.

To this end, we are sending into the Provinces of Spain and of Portugal our dear priest in Christ, Abbé Papetart, who will explain personally to Your Lordship the statutes of our seminary and other documents, and if necessary, he will show you the first and the last of the letters that S.C. of Propaganda Fide has sent to us on this subject.

In addition, we request Your Lordship to receive him with benevolence, to facilitate the way for him, so that he may make our goal known to the clergy and to the people and incline their will towards this work so precious in God's sight.

As for us, in unity of faith and of prayers, we pray the almighty and merciful God to keep Your Lordship for a long time more and to protect you.

Your Lordship's

Most humble servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Bresson, Secretary)

(Lyons, about mid-March 1858)

Sent_0814

Sent_0814 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 15 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0814 - to Propagation of the Faith - 15 April 1858 /2

Sent_0814 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 15 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0814 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, n° 29

copy, AMA 2F18/1858

(To the Chairmen and members

of the Councils of Propagation of the Faith)

(Lyons and Paris)

The Holy See has just entrusted us with the mission of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Do not forget us when it comes to distributing your alms. I will send you facts and figures on our needs as soon as I can.

Index : Sierra Leone, funding

__________

Lyons, 15 April 1858

Gentlemen,

You already know the difficult undertaking to which I have devoted myself, to found a seminary for the purpose of evangelising the most abandoned countries of Africa. God has blessed my first efforts and the Holy See has just entrusted us with the first mission that we will be expected to work : that of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

I have the honour of sending you enclosed herewith the last two letters of the S.C. of Propaganda on this subject, with the one I wrote to it on... (), so that on learning that our departure will take place shortly you are kind enough to think of us when it comes to distributing the alms of 1858.

The missions that we are going to establish will present immense difficulties of all kinds. Perhaps they will require great sacrifices. We willingly offer our lives, and we count on you, Gentlemen, for the material needs of an undertaking which enters directly into the spirit of the work of Propagation of the Faith.

It would be difficult for me to indicate exactly what expenditures will be indispensable for the creation of a mission where everything remains to be done, where we will have to begin by renting a house in Freetown, an English city, already inhabited by various Protestant ministers, etc. etc.

Perhaps I should simply abandon myself to your generosity for the first expenses of this establishment, reserving the right to send you later all desirable details. Meanwhile, if you consider it necessary, I will seek to collect the different data, though very incomplete, that I can obtain, and will send them to you as soon as possible.

In the meantime, and by commending myself to your generosity, I ask you to kindly accept, Gentlemen, the assurance of my most distinguished consideration.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 15 April 1858)

Sent_0815

Sent_0815 - au sup. gén. des Spiritains - le 16 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0815 - to the Superior General of the Spiritans - 16 April 1858 /2

Sent_0815 - au sup. gén. des Spiritains - le 16 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0815 Original, Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, 3F7.1b1

photo copy, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Schwindenhammer)

(Superior General of the Spiritans)

The Holy See has just entrusted us with the mission of Sierra Leone. Can you give me the addresses of My Lords Bessieux and Kobès ? He goes on to ask several questions : travel possibilities, the cost of the journey, dress of the priests, measures of precaution to be taken.

Index : Sierra Leone

__________

Lyons, 16 April 1858

Chemin de Sainte-Foy, n° 9

My very Reverend Father,

Some letters that I have just received from the S.C. of Propaganda inform me definitively that I am going to be entrusted with the mission of Sierra Leone. As soon as I am vested with my powers, it will be a pleasure for me to get in touch with Our Lords Bessieux and Kobès, who will be our closest neighbours, and on whose experience we hope greatly to direct our steps in a country completely new to us. Accordingly I will be very grateful, my very Reverend Father, if you would kindly indicate their address to me.

Meanwhile, since the S.C. urges me to make my preparations for departure, I would ask you to kindly give me some information that I would receive perhaps too late from these venerated Prelates.

For example, do you know if we can hope to find French ships that go straight to Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone ? Could we embark for Senegal and easily find there a means of continuing on to Freetown ? what is the dress of your priests in Senegal ? do they usually wear a black cassock, or do they have a less hot and healthier garment to wear inside their homes? How much does a passage on the English steamer cost, and how much by a merchant ship as the captain's table guests ?

I have heard that Mgr Kobès had drawn up some notes on hygiene and precautions to be taken to make the difficulties of acclimatisation less dangerous. If you would kindly share these with us, you would be doing us a great service.

Thanking you in advance for any notions that you can give us, I ask you to kindly accept, very Reverend Father, in union of prayers, the expression of my completely devoted sentiments in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Lyons, 16 April 1858 - Chemin de Sainte-Foy, n° 9)

Sent_0816

Sent_0816 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 29 avril 1858 -/3

Sent 0816 - to Propagation of the Faith - 29 April 1858 /3

Sent_0816 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 29 avril 1858 -/3

Sent 0816 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, n° 39 bis

copy (), AMA 2F18/1858

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F5, pp 122-125

(to the Councils of Propagation of the Faith)

(Lyons and Paris)

I obtained some information on Sierra Leone : everything there is extremely costly : travel, food, wages, lodgings. In Dahomey, we would have had far less expenses. But Rome has to be obeyed. He then gives an estimate of the first indispensable expenses, mentioning also that the MEP are going to stop paying him a monthly pension.

Index : Sierra Leone, financing, Sierra Leone (dearness)

__________

Lyons, 29 April 1858

Gentlemen,

Since the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda let me know officially, by the letter copy of which I had the honour of sending you, that we were definitively entrusted with the Mission of Sierra Leone, I have obtained information from the Superior General of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit, as well as at Marseilles, from several persons, including the Superior of the major seminary, on the means of transport, the price of passages and the cost of living in Sierra Leone.

We may be forced to take the English packet, for "there are few French ships going to Freetown", I am told. It is true that there are many bound for Senegal, and that there we could take the packet more cheaply ; but would not this double transport perhaps be equally costly ?

Now, "on the packet leaving Plymouth, writes the Superior of the seminary of the Holy Spirit, the price is 1,500 francs and 1,200 francs". I think that the first price is that of first class passages, and the second of second class. Now you know, Gentlemen, that on English packets, a priest could not decently take second class ; at the very most it could be used for the lay brother.

As for the cost of living, they have written to me from Marseilles that "food is extremely expensive: the cost of living is higher than in England". And in a printed English document, I find that the wage of an artisan is 4 pounds 10 shillings per month, namely, over 110 francs.

What about the rent of a house, however modest we take it ? unless on arriving we take an small Indian house, which would be indecent in a place already inhabited by many Protestant ministers, and that would besides expose us almost certainly to catching fever. And what about any kind of establishment that we will have in any case to endeavour to set up on arriving, etc. etc. ?

I admit, Gentlemen, that I am frightened, and if it were permitted to discuss the determinations of the Holy See, I would ask how it was that they have not let us begin in Dahomey, a new land from this point of view where, far from contact with the Europeans, we would have been able to set ourselves up at small cost, while the offer was made to transport us free of charge, at least for the initial departures.

But finally obedience must go before all else: it is to Sierra Leone that we are sent, and it is there that we will go, God doubtless having hidden views that will only be revealed to us later. You will share in our difficulty, Gentlemen, I have no doubt, and you will facilitate for us the means of overcoming the obstacles of all kinds that we are going to encounter, by an allocation in relation to our position. I do not feel that I am exaggerating in requesting of you for this year :

For my personal outfit 1,000 francs

It would be impossible for me to procure with this sum

an outfit and the most indispensable objects of worship

in the episcopal functions,

if I did not already have several of these objects.

Outfit, ornaments, sacred vessels, etc.

For 3 priests at 800 francs 2,400 francs

Outfit for two lay brothers, at 400 francs 800 francs

Keep and food for 6 persons, at 1,200 francs 7,200 francs

I fear that this may not suffice :

We will only know once we are on the spot.

Expenditures that I personally may be obliged to make in addition 1,000 francs

Passage for six persons 8,400 francs

Presumed rent 2,000 francs

To set up some sort of household on arriving 3,000 francs

Exceptional objects to be taken out on the first departure,

such as books, some instruments, maps, etc. 2,000 francs

After that, would it really be too much to ask for

a supplement of 20,000 francs in order to do

something in the course of the year, and not be

exposed to too much hardship, namely 20,000 francs

_______

46,800 francs ()

The table for next year could enter into more exact details, and I would like to hope that this year you would kindly, Gentlemen, encourage our difficult undertaking by not cutting down at all on this request.

I ask you kindly to accept, Gentlemen, the expression of my most distinguished sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse,

Entrusted with the Mission of Sierra Leone

P.S. May I add that thus far, the Seminary of Foreign Missions has made me a pension of 1,500 francs which, now that the Holy See has just entrusted me with a new mission, will no longer be paid to me as from 1 May next.

In a few days' time, I shall be leaving for Rome, I will be happy to be in a position to make known to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda the figure of the first allocation of Propagation of the Faith for the Mission of Sierra Leone.

(Lyons, 29 April 1858)

Sent_0817

Sent_0817 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 29 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0817 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 29 April 1858 /2

Sent_0817 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 29 avril 1858 -/1

Sent 0817 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, p 607

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, p 33

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(prefect of Propaganda)

We await daily the proxy of powers. In order to leave for Sierra Leone, we must wait for the end of the rainy season. Meanwhile I am going to Marseilles to collect information, then to Rome where I have many things to tell you and to ask of you.

Index : Sierra Leone

__________

Lyons, 29 April 1858

Your Eminence,

We have received joyfully, by your letter of 31 March, the definitive assignment of the Mission of Sierra Leone. Day by day we are awaiting our proxy of powers that Your Eminence announces to us in that same letter.

Straightway, I obtained information at Paris, from the Superior General of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and at Marseilles from the Superior of the major seminary, on the means of transport and the period of departure. Unless we leave immediately, which is impossible since we are still without our powers, it appears that some months' delay are indispensable, because of the rainy season which is about to begin in Sierra Leone, during which we cannot land without being morally sure of catching extremely pernicious fevers.

We are going to arrange things so as to be ready to leave as soon as the rainy season is over. Accordingly, in a few days' time I myself am going to make a journey to Marseilles, to obtain all kinds of detailed information from the mouth of navigators who know the country, having gone there themselves.

Once there, Your Eminence, I will take advantage of the occasion to go as far as Rome where I have many things to say to you that it would be too long to entrust to paper, several things to ask you, and several graces to request of the Holy Father through the intermediary of your benevolent protection, on which you will permit me to rely, Your Eminence, accepting the fresh assurance of the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

P.S. My address is still : Seminary of African Missions, Lyons.

(Lyons, 29 April 1858)

Sent_0818

Sent_0818 - à Mlle Blanchet - début mai 1858 -/2

Sent 0818 - to Miss Blanchet - early May 1858 /2

Sent_0818 - à Mlle Blanchet - début mai 1858 -/2

Sent 0818 partial Le Gallen copy, pp 535-536

(to Miss Hélène Blanchet)

He tells the story of the Papetart source : his giving up the journey to London, his journey to Perpignan, his going to Spain, his bad impression at the outset, his success now.

Index : Papetart (source)

__________

(Lyons, early May 1858) ()

[...] Small collections in my tours. But now that the Papetart source begins to produce, and if the good God gives him health, I hope that the continuation will match the beginning. But the Papetart beginning is quite a story in itself. Listen to this :

He was going to leave for London when I left Paris ; two days after my arrival here, I received a letter from him, confined to his poor bed in the hotel "Bon La Fontaine", plus consultation of a doctor who forbade him to stay in London at this time of the year. What he needed was to warm himself in the sun of the Midi.

Accordingly, he announced to me his departure for Perpignan, proposing to cover thereafter several dioceses in the Midi of France. The bishop of Perpignan, an old friend of mine, received him perfectly, invited him to his table, offered him some good broth and helped him with his collection : a few days afterwards he sent me five hundred francs. However, I urged him strongly to go and try his luck in Spain instead of the dioceses where I still had the opportunity of passing myself, and he left for Barcelona.

There, great disappointment : infinite trouble to get to see the bishop for whom I had sent him a letter ; besides [...] the Spaniards were people incapable of understanding such works of devotion. Good for candles to the Madonna, for novenas to Saint James and to Saint Anthony of Padua, but to speak of them of missions !!! [...]

Finally, it was as we often hear people speaking in France of the Italians whom they only know on the basis of a superficial contact with them, without giving themselves the trouble to get to the bottom of things. In order to keep him there, I was obliged to write him a dissertation and to prove philosophically that the Christians of a Catholic country could not be less valid than those of the Protestant or half-Protestant countries, that once the deceptive varnish of a vain civilisation has been peeled off, one must surely find, in a Catholic country, more veritable virtue and more charity than elsewhere ; and, since charity is one, that the love of God, of the Holy Virgin and of the saints cannot be true without the love of one's fellow, and that more zeal must necessarily be found there for the missions than elsewhere.

Only, it is necessary to make allowances for the national character in order not to be shocked at the particular way in which each people lives and exercises its virtues, and not to shock it itself by the way which is proper to us and which, naturally, we tend to find the better, if not at times the only good one.

During all this time, the good God was arranging things ; the bishop was at last available, he opened up the collection by giving two hundred and fifty francs. People's purses were opened, a Triduum was preached for our work : the bishop attended the last sermon, after which a collection was made that he opened, laying five hundred francs in the bowl ; and Mr Papetart who finally finds that decidedly the Spaniards are good people, has just sent me, from Barcelona alone, six thousand francs, after deduction of all his travel expenses ; and he has left for Madrid, provided with excellent letters of introduction.

And to this day, that is the Papetart story.

Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, early May 1858)

Sent_0819

Sent_0819 - à son cousin Louis - le 18 mai 1858 -/1

Sent 0819 - to his cousin Louis - 18 May 1858 /1

Sent_0819 - à son cousin Louis - le 18 mai 1858 -/1

Sent 0819 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 27

(to his cousin Louis)

Hoping they will be able to meet up when he passes through Toulouse shortly.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Castelnaudary, 18 May 1858 (

)

Very dear Louis,

In crossing the country, I will be going to spend a few hours at Toulouse the day after tomorrow with Raymond de Gaja, to see his son in the Jesuits' college. We will be arriving in the morning, going on to dine in the evening at Monestrol with Henri.

I would be very disappointed not to have seen you on this occasion together with your wife and children, and so as not to miss you, we will go and ask you to lunch at eleven o'clock. If in the evening you could come to Monestrol, that would give great pleasure to everyone. A Dieu.

Your good cousin.

M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Castelnaudary, 18 May 1858)

Sent_0820

Sent_0820 - à la Propagande - juin 1858 -/2

Sent 0820 - to Propaganda of the Faith - June 1858 /2

Sent_0820 - à la Propagande - juin 1858 -/2

Sent 0820 Original, APF, Congressi, Africa Centrale,

Ethiopia, Arabia, Tome 6, pp 113-114

copy, AMA 2F18/1858

(to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda)

List of the various documents and letters of introduction that he requests from Propaganda for the establishment, recognition, existence and extension of the African Missions. He ends by asking Propaganda for financial help.

Index : SMA (foundation)

__________

(Rome), June 1858 ()

Your Eminence,

In order to consolidate and develop the establishment of the Society of African Missions, so happily begun under the inspiration of the S.C. of Propaganda, it would be most desirable, and we request with respectful insistance :

1) a deed of benevolence from Propaganda which, until the time has come to formally recognise the Society, deigns to testify that it takes it under its protection and encourages the zeal of those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for this work ;

2) a provisional approval of the Fundamental Articles which will serve as basis to the Constitutions later destined to govern the Society ;

3) the privileges habitually granted to this kind of society in order to facilitate the means of attaching subjects to us, to encourage their perseverance and nourish their piety, with the power of ordaining them, if they are not yet in holy orders, sub titulo missionis, or else sub titulo mensae communis, of giving them finally the title of apostolic missionary, when, after the trial period, they have made the resolution of persevering in the work of the missions,

4) of indulgences for the Affiliates to the Work and for those participating in it by their alms or in some other way ;

5) a letter for Our Lords Bessieux and Kobès ;

6) a letter for the Institution of Propagation of the Faith ;

7) a letter for the Institution of the Holy Infancy ;

8) a letter for Mgr the Apostolic Nunzio in Paris, asking him to deign to back us up in respect of the government ;

9) a letter preparing the bishops to welcome us favourably when we have to ask them for any of their subjects or to solicit the charity of the faithful in their dioceses ;

10) the power of establishing ourselves, if need be, elsewhere than between the river Nuñez and the Liberian Republic, providing it is in places which are not occupied by the missionaries of the Holy Spirit or any other Catholic missionary.

Finally we will be extremely grateful to the S.C. if it would kindly contribute in some way to the foundation of our Society of African Missions of Lyons.

I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Rome ? June 1858)

Sent_0821

Sent_0821 - à Mgr Bonnand - vers le 10 juin 1858 -/2

Sent 0821 - to Mgr Bonnand - about 10 June 1858 /2

Sent_0821 - à Mgr Bonnand - vers le 10 juin 1858 -/2

Sent 0821 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 1097-1102

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

Some personal reflections on Goa, the sovereign pontiff, Cardinal Barnabò. To get things going, only prayer is indispensable. He goes on to speak of the African Missions : the collection of alms, recruitment, the mission of Sierra Leone, future difficulties. A long passage on Mgr Luquet's illness (cancer of the mouth) which fills people with admiration.

Index : friendship, SMA foundation, Rome

__________

(Rome, between 5 and 10 June) 1858 ()

My Lord,

In the hope that I would come to Rome shortly after having had the pleasure of receiving your good letter of 9 December last, I have delayed until now answering to give you the news that you have the charity of wishing to know.

I would have liked to tell you at the same time what I was able to do to meet your desires regarding the schism of Goa. But meanwhile Mr Albrand has come to Rome ; he stayed here a long time and should have let you know at what point things are and what are the intentions of the Roman court in that regard. Finally I have heard that letters have just been sent out to the apostolic vicars to reassure them. But as far as I am concerned, I believe that we should put our trust in the Lord alone.

It seems to me that here they are far from taking in hand the work of the missions as would be desirable. The Sovereign Pontiff, personally, does not appear to have his mind turned in that direction.

Cardinal Barnabò, despite his extreme activity and his great intelligence, has so many things to do, even outside of Propaganda, which alone encompasses three-quarters of the universe ; besides he has such a trenchant character, that it is difficult to speak calmly with him of a serious matter, entering into details. Even when he is at his most amiable and that one goes out from his presence almost enchanted, one notices on reflecting, that he has not entered with you into the heart of things. If he does so, from time to time, it is alone, and in moments of illumination that God assuredly gives at times to those he has destined for the government of his Church.

From all of this, I conclude that there is much more need of praying than of writing and requesting, while meanwhile writing and requesting whenever we believe it to be useful. Our letters will at times be scarcely read. Very rarely will attention be fixed on everything that they contain, but at the time decided by Providence, and that prayer can cause to come, they will give rise to those illuminations of which I spoke just now.

I assure you, My Lord, that in my feeble prayers, I often turn my eyes towards India, that country for which I still keep the affection that I had devoted to it unreservedly. Pray for your part, I request of you insistently, for the new field that the Lord is opening to works which, humanly speaking, offer no hope of a good crop. As you know, two years ago I obtained from the S.C. encouragements that were very feeble it is true, but absolutely sufficient to undertake to found at Lyons a seminary which, if God blesses it, will be for Africa what the Seminary of Foreign Missions is at Paris for the East Indias.

With considerable effort, I have collected alms over the last two years for seventy thousand francs to begin this foundation. I have also brought together several priests and several lay brothers. I hope that, once at work, the material and personal aid will come to us in ever greater abundance. Please God that the S.C. should favour me with all of its power. It seems to me that it could do much more than it does to encourage those who feel themselves led to favour this undertaking. This is perhaps an error on my part caused by the desire I have to see it prosper rapidly.

However that may be, a new apostolic vicariate has just been formed, and detached from that of the Two Guineas. It has been entrusted to me, and once the rainy season is over, that is towards the month of December, I hope that we will begin to direct our steps to the coasts of Sierra Leone. There all kinds of obstacles will be combined : very dangerous climate, barbarian or heretical populations, no Christian groupings yet formed, almost no Catholics, etc., etc. See if we do not need prayers.

I have only been here for a few days, and am about to leave once more, since I have my briefs as apostolic vicar, in order to employ my time better in France.

I do not know if you are aware of the sad state, I mean according to nature, in which our saintly friend, Monsignore Luquet finds himself. God was reserving for him a supreme and extremely painful ordeal. After having edified all those who knew him well, and having given us his magnificent "Treatise on Vocation", he has just received that of putting into practice externally everything that he said to us on the beatitude of sufferings.

It is true that he had already edified us in patience amid the tribulations of the soul and the heart ; but only those who already know everything that he has had to suffer by way of moral pains profited therefrom. It seems there was need of more visible trials and which would crown his life of sorrows by cruel physical pains. This is what is now happening : a frightful cancer of the mouth, which ravages his whole face, causes him incomparable and continual pain. He can move a little still, but he can now see from one eye only and can no longer speak, yet he is calm, resigned, and never utters a single complaint. All of which is disconcerting to the doctors who assure us that greater suffering is not possible.

The illness has made such rapid progress that one could almost hope that it would soon be over, and really that might be desirable, if one did not think that each day, each hour of this crucifixion are incomparable sources of merits for heaven. (.../...) for the last two or three days, it is to be feared or hoped, as you like, that this frightful state may last a long time more, for the sore seems not to be directed immediately towards the vital organs. Now, the doctors say that he can live without eyes, without a nose, or a mouth, and consequently for a long time still. Assuredly you will pray that the good God gives him perseverance in patience, proportionate to the duration of the ordeal in store for him.

Do me the pleasure of writing to me from time to time, My Lord. Your letters will always give me considerable pleasure and a great deal of good. Kindly write to me still at the Seminary of African Missions, Lyons. From there, your letters will be passed on to me, even in Africa and, until fresh information at least, more surely than by any other way.

Kindly refer me to the pious memories of all our (my ?) former confreres, to whose prayers I commend myself, as well as to yours, My Lord, asking you to accept the fresh assurance of my unalterable and affectionate attachment.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Rome, between 5 and 10 June? 1858)

Sent_0822

Sent_0822 - à son frère Henri - le 26 juin 1858 -/1

Sent 0822 - to his brother Henri - 26 June 1858 /2

Sent_0822 - à son frère Henri - le 26 juin 1858 -/1

Sent 0822 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 211-212

(to his brother Henri)

I am leaving Rome ; I go back directly from Marseilles to Lyons. I will come and visit you later. I have prepared a mosaic as a little gift for your wife. I am coming out from seeing the Holy Father : he was very good to me.

Index : SMA foundation, attachment (family)

__________

Rome, 26 June 1858

Two or three days ago I received your good letter, very dear Henri, and reply to it very briefly to say that I am leaving Rome on Saturday evening 3 July to embark on Sunday 4 at Civitavecchia. I will stay one or two days at Marseilles and, from there, will go straight to Lyons, where several matters await me, preferring to delay for some time the visit that I promised you before my departure for Africa. For that cannot take place until a few months from now.

Write to me on my arrival at Lyons, and tell me when you will be leaving for the waters and where, at Villefranche, I can address a tiny box to you ; it is a mosaic that I am happy to be able to offer to your wife. She could have it mounted as she likes, but I think that the best would be to wear it as a brooch. I would have liked to have added 300 francs on it, but finally just as it is, I believe that it is acceptable.

I am coming out after seeing the Holy Father for my farewell audience. He was very good, as ordinarily, and greatly encouraged me in my undertaking. There is nothing liable to interest you particularly; it appears that the Reds are stirring a little and seeking to excite the troops of different nations who are stationed here against one another. Thus far, however, none of this appears very serious.

A Dieu, a thousand kind regards to all your family, and believe me always your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. Mr Planque sends you his compliments.

(Rome, 26 June 1858)

Sent_0823

Sent_0823 - à M. Papetart - le 8 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0823 - to Mr Papetart - 8 July 1858 /1

Sent_0823 - à M. Papetart - le 8 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0823 Original, AMA 2F1, p 369-370

(to Mr Adolphe Papetart)

The mission of Sierra Leone is erected. You can add to your titles that of vicar general of this mission. I am touched by the charity of the Spaniards. All your efforts are extremely meritorious.

Index : Sierra Leone, Spain (charity of), Papetart (source)

__________

Lyons, 8 July 1858

Here I am back in Rome, my dear Mr Papetart, carrying the briefs that erect the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone and entrust me with its administration. Accordingly our undertaking is no longer merely a project approved by the Holy See, but a work begun with its august approbation, since we have a canonically erected mission.

This also empowers me to allow you to add to your titles that of vicar general of the mission of Sierra Leone. This title, honorary as it is, will however be useful to you in order to continue what you have already begun in Spain.

I am truly touched by the charity that the Spaniards have thus far shown and by their liking for our work. May they give us both money and men. We need both for a perfect success. However everything depends on God, and if he wants us to go to the aid of these peoples completely devoid of the means of salvation, he will send to us what, in his infinite wisdom, he knows to be necessary to us.

Accordingly, be brave and prepare yourself for disgusts, even contradictions perhaps, for the work of God is rarely done without that ; but God sees everything and takes account of all our difficulties. Yours will be extremely meritorious, I assure you, and I will be the first to be grateful to you for them all. Accept the assurance of this together with the fresh expression of my very affectionate sentiments in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 8 July 1858)

Sent_0824

Sent_0824 - au sup. gén. des Spiritains - le 20 juillet 1858 -/2

Sent 0824 - to the Superior General of the Spiritans - 20 July 1858 /2

Sent_0824 - au sup. gén. des Spiritains - le 20 juillet 1858 -/2

Sent 0824 Original, Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, 3F7.1b1

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, 371-372

(to Father Schwindenhammer)

(superior general of the Spiritans)

The mission of Sierra Leone is definitively founded. I hope that our relations with you will always be fraternal. No, I cannot change our name ; besides, in my addresses I always speak with admiration of your fathers. I am going to pass you on a copy of my address. Let us rather offer each other assistance, for we are working for the same Master.

Index : SMA foundation, Sierra Leone, collaboration

__________

Lyons, 20 July 1858 ()

My very Reverend Father,

You will have heard that definitively I have been entrusted by the Holy See with the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone.

I am delighted to have to work by the side of your Fathers who, in the relations which I have had occasion to maintain with them, have always given me proof of a veritable spirit of zeal and of charity. Assuredly, those working on foreign soil cannot be second to their confreres in Europe, and thus I like to think in advance that our quite fraternal relations will contribute to the greatest glory of God, to the greatest good of the Church and to our particular consolation. My missionaries would depart greatly from the spirit I desire to see in them, if things were otherwise on their side and, I repeat, I am sure of yours.

However, very Reverend Father, I feel I have to say this, I was a little pained by the P.S. to your last letter ; for on my part too, I believed I had convinced you that it was impossible for us, for the moment at least, to change a name that, in my conviction as in that of several persons whom I have consulted, cannot in any way harm your fine work.

Incidentally, a conversation that I had on this subject with the worthy Superior of the French Seminary in Rome would have led to think that you were much less shocked by this name than by an asserted affectation, in my addresses, never to speak of the apostolic workers at present striving with such zeal in Africa.

Happily this hypothesis is completely false, even despite what some listeners may have reported to you. What can you do! There are some people who have their intellectual and bodily senses singularly organised ; and this is a fresh proof of the care that we should take not to trust the reports made to us under the pretext of having our interests at heart. For I have not spoken once of my work in public without having enumerated the Catholic missions at present existing in Africa, and without having indicated especially your Fathers with praise.

Besides, now that I no longer have time to continue preaching and collecting alms, I intend to have this speech printed, copy of which it will give me pleasure to send to you, so that you can see with your own eyes. Let us help each other, my very Reverend Father, in our hard labour ; let us offer each other mutual assistance, for we are all working for the same goal and the same Master. It is my ardent desire, and it is no less yours, and it is in this union of sentiments that I ask you to accept, very Reverend Father, the fresh assurance of my affectionate devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. I was very disappointed not to have met on his way through Lyons the Reverend Father Pottier, whom I thank for having come to seek our hospitality. When your Fathers have occasion to come to Lyons, please let them know that they may consider our house as theirs. I will write today to My Lords Bessieux and Kobès.

(Lyons, 20 July 1858)

Sent_0825

Sent_0825 - à Mgr Kobès - le 20 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0825 - to Mgr Kobès - 20 July 1858 /2

Sent_0825 - à Mgr Kobès - le 20 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0825 copy (), Guizard Fund

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 372

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(apostolic pro-vicar of the Two Guineas and Senegambia)

The mission of Sierra Leone is officially founded. I am delighted to have to work by your side ; I count on your advice and all the information that you may be able to give me. The first fathers that I am going to send may stop off for some time in Dakar.

Index : Sierra Leone, collaboration, understanding

__________

Lyons, 20 July 1858 ()

Chemin de Sainte-Foy, no. 9

My Lord Bishop,

The S.C. of Propaganda will have informed you that definitively I am entrusted by the Holy See with the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone, from the river Nuñez as far as the Liberian Republic inclusive.

I am delighted, My Lord, at the prospect of working at your side, and I rely very much, I assure you, on your charity and your long experience, to enlighten us in a work of which you are acquainted with all the difficulties and perils. Thus, I propose, first of all, to go and pay you a visit, in order to obtain, on the spot, information and your advice for beginning profitably this new mission.

It may however happen that, as from the month of October I send out two of my missionaries before me, and that I will only follow them one or two months later. In this case again, I will direct them straight to Senegal, whence they will easily find a means of proceeding to Freetown.

You will receive them, I feel sure, with all your apostolic benevolence ; you will be kind enough to give them the lessons of hygiene and conduct of which they may have need, and after they have seen the way in which your fathers live, it will be easier for them to follow in their tracks both physically and morally.

Accordingly looking forward to the pleasure of seeing you in Dakar, I beg you to accept, in union of prayers, of works and ordeals, the sincere expression of my respectful sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 20 July 1858 - Chemin de Sainte-Foy, n° 9)

Sent_0826

Sent_0826 - à Mgr Bessieux - le 20 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0826 - to Mgr Bessieux - 20 July 1858 /1

Sent_0826 - à Mgr Bessieux - le 20 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0826 copy (), Guizard Fund

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 372 verso

(to Mgr J.M. Bessieux, bishop of Callipolis)

(apostolic vicar of the Two Guineas and Senegambia)

The mission of Sierra Leone is officially founded, I am delighted at the prospect of working at your side. I will go and see you in Gabon to decide with you on the best place to establish myself.

Index : Sierra Leone, collaboration, understanding

__________

Lyons, 20 July 1858 ()

Chemin de Sainte-Foy, no. 9

My Lord Bishop,

The S.C. of Propaganda will have informed you that definitively I am entrusted by the Holy See for the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone, from the river Nuñez as far as the Liberian Republic inclusive. This decision is merely an experiment; we do not know if Freetown is really the best place to set up a central establishment, and the cardinal prefect would desire me to see with you which are the places where there would be the best chance of succeeding.

Thus, I have almost decided, despite the distance, to make a journey as far as Gabon to confer with Your Lordship. I am going to start off by sending two priests to Freetown, before leaving myself one or two months after them, I will go to Senegal to see Mgr Kobès and, from there, to Sainte-Marie du Gabon to come to an arrangement with you.

I am happy, My Lord, that Providence calls me to work at your side ; you will help me with your long experience, with your advice, and it is in this union of sentiments, of prayers and sacrifices, that I beg you to accept, My Lord, the sincere expression of my respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 20 July 1858 - Chemin de Sainte-Foy, no. 9)

Sent_0827

Sent_0827 - au cardinal Wiseman - le 23 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0827 - to Cardinal Wiseman - 23 July 1858 /2

Sent_0827 - au cardinal Wiseman - le 23 juillet 1858 -/1

Sent 0827 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 373

(to His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman)

(Catholic archbishop of Westminster)

I am entrusted with the mission of Sierra Leone. Do I need to take any steps in respect of the Queen of England ? One of my fathers could perhaps be chaplain to the Irish troops at Freetown with relative salary. I am sending you a notice on the African Missions in order for you to become acquainted with our work. Some English or Irish priests would be welcome.

Index : SMA foundation, Sierra Leone, recruitment

__________

Lyons, 23 July 1858

Your Eminence,

Newly appointed apostolic vicar of the vicariate that the Holy See has just erected in Sierra Leone, from the river Nuñez as far as the Liberian Republic inclusive, I am making my preparations for departure in the next few months, and I think that it is at Freetown, chief town of the English colony, that we will first of all establish ourselves.

On this occasion, Your Eminence, I come to ask some advice of you. Do you think that there is any immediate step to be taken in respect of the government of Her Majesty the Queen of England, or should we wait until we are already in the mission ? Clearly, there must be some Irish in Freetown. For lack of anything better, could we not at least request that one of the priests that I shall be sending be recognised as chaplain with relative salary, etc.

In the case that there should be certain immediate steps to take in England, would it be good for me myself to make the journey to London, or would it be better (which I would much prefer, because I speak English very badly) for Your Eminence to have the charity to see that this question is dealt with, for which I would be infinitely grateful to you ? I beg you, Your Eminence, to kindly let me know your opinion on all of these points.

I have just arrived from Rome where I learned that Your Eminence is ailing. I hope that God will hear our prayers and that he will save you a long time still for his Church.

Perhaps Your Eminence is only imperfectly acquainted with the work that I have just founded at Lyons for the evangelisation of the most abandoned peoples of Africa. I will have the honour in a few days' time of sending you a notice. Some English or Irish priests who would associate themselves with this work could do very great good.

In union of prayers and of good works, I beg you to accept, Your Eminence, the expression of the profound respect with whieh I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. B.

(Lyons, 23 July 1858)

Sent_0828

Sent_0828 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 29 juillet 1858 -/2

Sent 0828 - to Propagation of the Faith - 29 July 1858 /2

Sent_0828 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 29 juillet 1858 -/2

Sent 0828 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, 0006 G 23

copy, AMA 2F18/1858

(to the President and members of the central Council

of Propagation of the Faith)

(Paris)

Will you let me know how much your allocation for this year amounts to ? In addition to everything that I asked you for previously, now I will have to make a journey to Gabon, and also foresee presents for the King of Dahomey. I count on you. The work of our seminary goes well.

Index : funding, Dahomey (views on), SMA foundation

__________

Lyons, 29 July 1858 ()

Gentlemen,

As you know, we are making our preparations of departure for the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone. For that, we need to make several purchases here even, seeing that this mission is quite new and that no advance will be awaiting us there. You will appreciate, Gentlemen that, in this position, we are more impatient than we would be in other circumstances, to know exactly what our allocation will be. I am therefore asking you to kindly let us know this as soon as possible.

We would like to hope, Gentlemen, that you will not cut down at all on the request we have made you. If the truth were known, I was even on the point, on my arrival in Rome, of asking you to add something more. The reason is that His Eminence the cardinal prefect of the S.C. of Propaganda wants me to make a voyage of exploration in order to see for myself, in agreement with Our Lords Kobès and Bessieux, what are the points on the seaboard at present without Catholic missionaries, where there would be the possibility of setting up centres of action.

Accordingly I am going to send out first of all two of my missionaries to Freetown, and I will follow them up closely, also stopping off in that town, as if in passing, on my way to Gabon, in order not to give too much umbrage immediately to the Protestant ministers established there.

Quite apart from the additional expenses that this journey is going to cause me, I should, if appropriate, make some presents to the chiefs of the tribes whom I will visit, and above all to the King of Dahomey, if he received me well, as is probable, according to the latest information I have received from the firm of Régis.

However, Gentlemen, I fear to be indiscreet in coming back on my last letter. Accordingly I leave that to your discretion, but what I really do hope, I repeat, is that you will not in any way cut down on our request.

You will be pleased to learn that our seminary proceeds well. It is from it, with you, that we can hope for some success in the places that have remained thus far inaccessible. Accordingly I commend it in a particular way to your good prayers and to your benevolence and ask you to accept, Gentlemen, the expression of my completely devoted sentiments in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. I think that you have received a letter that I sent you some days ago from the S.C. of Propaganda. I am having printed a fuller notice than the first one on the work and seminary of the African Missions. I will have the honour of sending you a copy. I am today writing a similar letter to this one to the Council of Propagation of the Faith in Lyons.

(Lyons, 29 July 1858)

Sent_0829

Sent_0829 - à son frère Henri - le 20 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0829 - to his brother Henri - 20 August 1858 /1

Sent_0829 - à son frère Henri - le 20 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0829 Original, AMA 2F1, p 213

(to his brother Henri)

To fix the dates and times in order to spend as much time as possible together before 1 October.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 20 August 1858

Very dear Henri,

Without knowing your address at Luchon, I hope that this letter reaches you.

Since I am obliged to be back here by 1 October, and wanting to give a whole month to you, I have decided to leave a week earlier. I believed you to be already at the waters, and am annoyed that such a delayed departure on your part prevents me from seeing you and your family as much as I hoped, for I thought that quite apart from Lasserre, we would still have met up somewhere or other. However that may be, I hope you will not prolong too much your baths, and that we will be able to see each other for a few days.

Earlier on you told me to go and join you at Luchon. I do not think I can do that yet. However, if you were to stay there for too long, who knows if I were to go and find you there and come back together, the journey would be one day gained in your company. Accordingly kindly let me know, if you can, on what precise day you expect to leave Luchon, and write to me without delay at Garric, where I am due to arrive next Tuesday, the 24th of this month. And at this point I will stop, having nothing interesting to tell you. Yesterday I received your letter of the 17th.

A Dieu, with a thousand kind regards to your wife and children.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 20 August 1858)

Sent_0830

Sent_0830 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 21 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0830 - to Propagation of the Faith - 21 August 1858 /2

Sent_0830 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 21 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0830 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, 0008 G 23

copy, AMA 2F18/1858

(to the President and Members of the Council

of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

He sends them the information provided by the Ministry of the Navy, asking once more what the sum to be allocated to them amounts to.

Index : funding, Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 21 August 1858

Gentlemen,

I have just received from the Ministry of the Navy the information that I requested of the French Vice-Consul of Sierra Leone and that you will perhaps be glad to know. I have the honour of sending you a copy. This information corroborates our hope of founding something solid in this mission and I hope that you will strongly back up our efforts by not refusing us the material means of achieving our goal.

We are still waiting to know what our allocation will be in order to fix the time of our departure. I would be extremely desirous for my first missionaries to arrive at Freetown in December, and for that they would have to leave at the end of October, if they are to stop off for a few days with Mgr Kobès, at Dakar.

Clearly, we will be content on arriving with celebrating holy mass in a rented house, and later on I will let you know what will need to be done for the success and honour of the mission.

It is useless to repeat to you how disappointed we would be if anything should oblige you to diminish the aid that we had asked of you for this year.

I beg you to accept, Gentlemen, the fresh assurance of my perfect devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 21 August 1858)

Sent_0831

Sent_0831 - à son frère Henri - le 22 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0831 - to his brother Henri - 22 August 1858 /2

Sent_0831 - à son frère Henri - le 22 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0831 Original, AMA 2F1, p 210

(to his brother Henri)

A gift packet addressed to Henri that has gone astray and tentative arrangements to see each other for a few days in September.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Lyons, 22 August 1858 (

)

Very dear Henri,

I fear that you have not received the little packet that I sent you by rail on the 12th of this month, since Bathilde has written to tell me that she had not received hers. I am sending you, as I did her, the railway's receipt so that you can claim it at Villefranche where I addressed it (bureau restant). If it is not there, let me know so that I can make inquiries here.

It is impossible for me to go to Luchon. I will try and arrange my journey so as to pass via Garric and Lascourtines before Monestrol, so as to be with you towards the 15th or 20 September, for I have to be here or at Paris by the beginning of October, or even by the end of September. In any case, even this project may be modified by various circumstances. In any case, you will write to me, and I will try, if I can, to give you the whole month of September, ending up in your place.

In your next letter you can tell me if the corn has prospered. It appears that there is a general drought. Here, despite some attempts at watering which are not worth the effort, everything is dry, and the Saône is no more than a small stream.

A Dieu. My friendly greetings to Joséphine, to the dear children and believe me always the best of your brothers.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar

(Lyons, 22 August 1858)

Sent_0832

Sent_0832 - au P. Planque - le 27 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0832 - to Father Planque - 27 August 1858 /2

Sent_0832 - au P. Planque - le 27 août 1858 -/1

Sent 0832 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 374-375

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Internal affairs of the African Missions : a bill of exchange, desire to meet Mr Papetart since he is in the north of Spain, visit by Mr Arnal to Lyons, investment of the money in debentures.

Index : house of Lyons, investment

__________

(Garric), 27 August 1858 (

)

I received yesterday, very dear Mr Planque, your note of the 24th. You do not tell me if Mr Carriquivi's bill of exchange is for five thousand or ten thousand.,

Everyone here remembers you kindly and sends you all sorts of compliments.

I will be staying here until Monday or Tuesday then go on to Castelnaudary.

I am going to write to Mr Papetart and see if we can arrange a meeting either at Bayonne, or at San Sebastian ; in the latter case, I would need my passport that I forgot to take with me and that you should have. I will write to you again about it and you can get it sent on to me if need be. It would certainly be good to see Mr Papetart before my departure for Africa, and since I am in the Midi and he is in the north of Spain, it would mean road and time saved. However, I am extremely desirous of being back in Lyons by the end of September. Write to me until fresh notice at Castelnaudary.

Mr Arnal is perhaps in Lyons by now. He came to see me at Carcassonne station and I was very surprised when he told me he had to leave for Lyons. I would have liked to be there, for I love him dearly. As you know, he is the superior of the minor seminary of Carcassonne. I think that he will go and see you ; offer him every possible courtesy.

Whatever the price of debentures, this is still, I believe, the best thing to purchase, and even, as far as possible, railway debentures, redeemable at five hundred francs.

A Dieu, kind regards to you all. The grapes were much appreciated, Etiennette thanks brother Eugène for having chosen them so well. She is quite well and rides like a dragoon, at full gallop all alone, it is curious.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Monestrol ?, 27 August 1858)

Sent_0833

Sent_0833 - à M. Barthe - le 29 août 1858 -/2

Sent 0833 - to Mr Barthe - 29 August 1858 /2

Sent_0833 - à M. Barthe - le 29 août 1858 -/2

Sent 0833 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 214-216

(to Mr Barthe)

(teacher in the minor seminary of Carcassonne)

He explains to him in detail why this time he did not pay a visit to the bishop of Carcassonne. The conduct he will adopt from now on towards him.

Index : civilities

__________

Garric, 29 August 1858 (

)

Very dear Mr Barthe,

I would assuredly have gone to see My Lord of Carcassonne if I had had to stop even twenty-four hours in his episcopal town, for it is necessary, for the edification of the Church, that the faithful see that he is the centre of all that is ecclesiastical within the circle of his jurisdiction.

But to go to see him out of mere politeness, allow me to say that that is impossible when he omitted to return the visit that I paid him, having gone on purpose to Carcassonne, on my first journey here after he was made bishop ; after he failed even to addess my mother when she went to see him at Castelnaudary ; when on his various journeys to that town, he did not deign to pay a visit to my respectable father, who is not very rich, it is true, but who apart from that deserves, it seems to me, both by his age and his antecedents and by his character, to draw the attention of a pastor who should get to know his flock.

I am prepared to believe that all of this and other facts or omissions of the same kind are a series of distractions. However, once they have given way to reflection, if the Prelate has as noble sentiments as I suppose him to, and as enlightened a piety as I believe him to have, he will realise that, without pride or vanity, I would be culpable of not having been sensitive to them. I never speak of this to anyone, and I would not even have said any of this to you without the letter that you have written me ; I even accepted once in passing a meal with H.L., so as not to allow anything to transpire outside, overcoming myself through love of holy charity, and to avoid the slightest ground for scandal, but nothing is redressed and you can imagine that it is not on a mere indirect invitation that I can come back on purpose to Carcassonne to visit a person who seems not to have appreciated my first advances, and, what is even more hurtful to me, who seems to have affected to avoid all contact with my family.

Please do not see any sourness in this , my dear Mr Barthe, I bear H.L. no grudge. I would be happy to be able to render him some service, above all for the good of religion, and, from another point of view, I should have found it exceedingly agreeable to maintain friendly relations with a prelate of whom I know several good qualities ; but he would be justified in despising me if he were one day to realise his distractions and see that I was not sensitive to them. It is easy for him to ensure that everything is forgotten, but until then, do not be surprised if I abstain from fresh advances, limiting myself to what is required by charity, when, by chance, I bump into His Lordship.

Please accept, very dear Mr Barthe, the fresh assurance of my affectionate attachment.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Garric, 29 August 1858)

Sent_0834

Sent_0834 - au P. Planque - le 2 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0834 - to Father Planque - 2 September 1858 /2

Sent_0834 - au P. Planque - le 2 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0834 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 376-377

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Internal affairs in the African Missions : to refuse an Italian candidate, the masses for Mr Blanchet, his plans for the next 15 days.

Index : house of Lyons

__________

Castelnaudary, 2 September 1858

Very dear Mr Planque,

Abbé Borghero should have received just recently a letter in which I asked him to write immediately to Mr Amatori, that priest whom we saw the day we left Rome, informing him that he would not be received in our house. He wrote to tell me just like that that he would be arriving towards the 15 or 20 September. If, despite Mr Borghero's letter, he should arrive, he should not be received at all ; you will say this to Mr Borghero who knows him enough, I believe, not to be surprised at this refusal.

M. Reymond stopped saying masses for Mr Blanchet after our arrival from Rome. See how many have been omitted, and kindly have them performed.

The person from Alençon who sent you 14 francs must be the one who had sent more or less the same sum earlier and to whom, if I am not mistaken, I have already sent a notice.

My respectable father and my good mother remember you with great pleasure ; they, together with all the other persons who met you here, ask me to return with interest your affectionate compliments.

Continue to send your letters here where I shall be until the 5th. Then, keep them and you could send them to me at Bagnères de Luchon, Haute-Garonne, poste restante, until the 10th. On the 11th I shall leave Luchon and will write to you where you should send them. If there are any bills of exchange, perhaps it would be better not to send them until my return from Luchon.

The young man introduced by the parish priest of the neighbourhood of Francheville should not be received by us.

Kind regards to you all. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Castelnaudary, 2 September 1858)

Sent_0835

Sent_0835 - à son frère Henri - le 2 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0835 - to his brother Henri - 2 September 1858 /2

Sent_0835 - à son frère Henri - le 2 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0835 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 217-218

(to his brother Henri)

Rendez-vous for family holidays in the first week of September. Possibility of a journey to Bayonne to meet Mr Papetart there.

Index : attachment (family)

__________

Castelnaudary, 2 September 1858

I was waiting before writing to you, very dear Henri, to be sure of the day when I will go and join you at Luchon. I have been staying with the Ranchins until Tuesday evening and tomorrow, Friday, propose to go to Lascourtines, and to arrange things so that I can leave for Luchon on Wednesday 8th. Thus we will spend the 9th and 10th together.

At Luchon I hope to find a letter from Abbé Papetart, and according to what he tells me I will come back with you others, or else I will make my way to Bayonne, or perhaps even to San Sebastian, in Spain, in order to have an interview with him useful for the progress of our work. From there, as soon as possible, I will come and meet up with you again at Monestrol, where I hope to be by the 16th or the 17th.

These are my plans at the moment, modified from those that I made on leaving Lyons as a result of Mr Papetart's success in Spain.

I think that at this time we will find lodgings in Luchon, where I will try to arrive, with Abbé Reymond, by day on the 8th in the evening, leaving Toulouse by one of the morning carriages.

Everyone here is well and sends you all a thousand compliments that I add to mine for you, your wife and your children.

A Dieu, until next Tuesday.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. My father has just received your letter which gave him great pleasure. Kindly tell Mr de Guiraud how sorry I am to hear about his accident, of which Raymond gave me the details on Sunday at Garric. If his mother is still with him, kindly give her my respects.

(Castelnaudary, 2 September 1858)

Sent_0836

Sent_0836 - à sa cousine - le 2 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0836 - to his cousin Louis's wife - 2 September 1858 /1

Sent_0836 - à sa cousine - le 2 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0836 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 29

(to the Countess du Faÿ de Launaguet,

wife of his cousin Louis)

To notify her of his visit to Toulouse, as promised, on Monday 6 September. Pray for our new missions.

Index : family (news, holidays)

__________

Castelnaudary, 2 September 1858

Madam and very dear cousin,

I have not forgotten the promise that I made you of going to see you one day, if that was possible for me, at Lauraguais. I think that you are at present there with all your family, and that Louis should be there at least in the evening. Accordingly, I will arrive at Toulouse by train, at 5.59 pm, on Monday next the 6th. If Louis is not there, doubtless I will have no difficulty in finding a carriage at the station to take me directly and immediately to Lauraguais, for the time of your dinner or supper.

I am making my visits of departure, for shortly we are going to try out the new missions in Africa where I hope that the prayers of your angels will help me to overcome the difficulties awaiting us.

Kindly give them a thousand friendly greetings fom me, while awaiting the pleasure of embracing them myself, add my affectionate compliments for Louis, and accept for yourself, Madam and very dear cousin, the expression of my respectful sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Castelnaudary, 2 September 1858)

Sent_0837

Sent_0837 - à M. Planque \- le 12 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0837 - to Mr Planque \- 12 September 1858 /1

Sent_0837 - à M. Planque \- le 12 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0837 Original, AMA 2F1, p 378

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

His programme in the family between 12 and 25 September ; the impossibility of a meeting with Mr Papetart. Give me news of brother Pierre.

Index : family (news, holidays)

__________

Toulouse, 12 September 1858

Very dear Mr Planque,

Since Mr Papetart was unable to go to Bayonne without detriment to his alms collection, I have come back from Luchon, and this evening, with the whole of Henri's family, we are going to Monestrol where we will spend seven or eight days, then four or five at Castelnaudary, and I hope to be back in Lyons towards the 24th or 25th.

I received your little note at Luchon. You should have received a letter from Mr Planque (), written during the two hours we spent at Castelnaudary. He told you to take a Bon Secours sister to nurse brother Pierre, of whom I am anxious to have news. Write to me at Monestrol par Villefranche de Lauraguais (Haute Garonne).

I am writing you these lines in haste, as we pass through. Kind regards to everyone.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Toulouse, 12 September 1858)

Sent_0838

Sent_0838 - à M. Planque - le 19 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0838 - to Mr Planque - 19 September 1858 /1

Sent_0838 - à M. Planque - le 19 septembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0838 Original, AMA 2F1, p 379

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

He will be arriving at Lyons on 28 September ; he has received a letter from Mgr Kobès.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Monestrol, 19 September 1858

Just a few words, very dear Mr Planque, to tell you that I am expecting to arrive at Lyons on Tuesday week, that is, the 28th. I will leave Monestrol on 22nd and will go to Castelnaudary, to leave there on 27th in the morning.

I hope that our good brother Pierre will pull through alright, his weakness seems to me more than anything a good sign.

I have received a letter from Mgr Kobès in answer to mine. He expresses himself as quite a good confrere and urges us not to arrive in Senegal before the month of December.

A thousand friendly greetings to you all. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. All those who know you here send you their compliments.

(Monestrol, 19 September 1858)

Sent_0839

Sent_0839 - à son frère Henri - le 1er octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0839 - to his brother Henri - 1 October 1858 /1

Sent_0839 - à son frère Henri - le 1er octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0839 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 219-220

(to his brother Henri)

Thanks for the good days spent in your home with Mr Reymond. One of our brothers is dying. Propagation of the Faith assigns a very reasonable sum. The departure of the first missionaries is by now close at hand.

Index : family, funding

__________

Lyons, 1 October 1858

Very dear Henri,

Just a short note to tell you that we had a very good journey and to thank you for the fine days that, thanks to you, we spent in your home. These thanks are as much for Joséphine as for you, and my friendly regards for your children as much as for you two ; they are shared by the good Mr Reymond, who will keep a precious memory of our stay in the Midi.

At the moment we are filled with sorrow because of the illness of one of our lay brothers who is at this moment close to death's door. God will take account of his goodwill ; very probably he wants our nascent congregation to have one of its members in Heaven, before starting its works. We all regret him very much.

I plan to stay here until the end of November, when very probably Mr Reymond will leave, for I have just learned that the work of Propagation of the Faith is offering us, for the mission of Sierra Leone, a very reasonable allocation, and I cannot see now what could delay any further the departure of these Gentlemen once the favourable season has arrived.

Once more, a thousand kind thoughts to Joséphine, friendly regards to Georges and to Jeanne, and rest assured that my sentiments towards you will not change.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 1 October 1858)

Sent_0840

Sent_0840 - au P. Dominique - le 8 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0840 - to Father Dominique - 8 October 1858 /2

Sent_0840 - au P. Dominique - le 8 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0840 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, Capuchin)

Our number is growing ; we should think of building a seminary, but... Our first departure (two priests and a brother) will take place next month ; Propagation of the Faith has just allocated us 40,000 francs. Death of brother Pierre.

Index : SMA foundation, Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 8 October 1858

Reverend Father and very dear friend,

For a long time now I have owed you an answer, your friendship will excuse this delay. We have received your 80 francs ; may they be followed by many more.

We have to think seriously of building a seminary ; it's a question of some hundred thousand francs, and we don't have the custom of proceeding like the Capuchins who begin by the erection of a vast building, of a fine church, and all of that ends up by paying itself off in a few years. However, I have nothing to complain about to Providence which is treating us thus far much better that we deserve. Our work proceeds quietly, and I hope that it will be blessed by God.

I hope that the first departure will take place next month. I am sending ahead of me two priests and a lay brother, whom I shall be following a short time afterwards. At this moment I have with me five priests, three students and four lay brothers. The good God has just called to him, in the last few days, an excellent brother who, the first of our newborn Society, has gone to stake his claim in Heaven. I hope to receive shortly two Spanish priests.

Propagation of the Faith has just allocated us forty thousand francs for the opening of our mission of Sierra Leone, which proves the good understanding that exists between it and us, and how much it desires to see the success of our undertaking. But this sum must be employed in the missions, and will not build our seminary, already too small for the number that we are, and which should increase greatly to meet the purpose we have set ourselves. Finally, pray, let us pray and act : if it is God's work, it will get done.

A thousand kind regards to your whole household.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. As soon as you see Mr Mercier, kindly remember me to him and give him these news which may perhaps interest him.

If you thought that you could distribute profitably some of the new notices, I would send you a certain number of them. Mr Mercier could perhaps also distribute some, would you be so good as to ask him ?

(Lyons, 8 October 1858)

Sent_0841

Sent_0841 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 17 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0841 - to Propagation of the Faith - 17 October 1858 /1

Sent_0841 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 17 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0841 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, n° 66

copy, AMA 2F18/1858

(to the Council of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

To acknowledge receipt of a draft for 11,000 francs (part of the allocation of Propagation of the Faith for 1858).

Index : funding

__________

Lyons, 17 October 1858

Dear Sir,

I have the honour of acknowledging receipt of a draft for eleven thousand francs, in addition to the five thousand francs that I have received on the subsidy of forty thousand francs allocated for 1858 to the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone.

In union of prayers and of good works, please accept, with the expression of my gratitude, the assurance of my perfect devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 17 October 1858)

Sent_0842

Sent 0842 - to Mr Vian - 17 October 1858 /2

Sent_0842 - à M. Vian - le 17 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0842 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 380-381

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Hereafter some news of the work : the first departure will take place at the beginning of next month ; I myself will leave in three months' time ; the success of the collections in Spain by an affiliated priest ; the allocation of Propagation of the Faith ; our number is growing ; soon we will have to build a seminary ; death of a lay brother.

Index : SMA foundation, Sierra Leone (first departure), funding

__________

Lyons, 17 October 1858

Very dear Mr Vian,

Just a few lines to tell you our news.

Two of my missionaries and a lay brother will be leaving on 27th for Marseilles, and on the 30th or the 31st they will embark on l'Express for the mission of Sierra Leone. I plan to follow them myself, with another priest and another lay brother, in two or three months' time.

You should have received my last notice. For a long time now I have not made any more collections, but the Lord has given us an affiliated priest filled with zeal who, at this moment is collecting alms for me in Spain. He has raised fifty thousad francs for us. Apart from this, the work of Propagation of the Faith has just allocated to the vicariate of Sierra Leone, for its installation, the sum of forty thousand francs.

I am expecting shortly two Spanish priests, I already have one Italian and four French. As you can see, the good God seems to be blessing our undertaking, thanks to your good prayers and those of the good souls taking an interest in the success of the work. However, two weeks ago we lost a lay brother. He died in sentiments of the utmost piety.

From another point of view, as it develops, our work needs more resources ; soon we will no longer fit into the house, already so inconvenient, that we have. We have to think seriously of building a seminary, and that is a question of one hundred thousand francs at least. As you see, we must continue to pray.

Give us your news from time to time. Are you still at Lorgues ? I am addressing my letter there, and beg you kindly to remember me to your father, your brother and your sister. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 17 October 1858)

Sent_0843

Sent_0843 - au consul de Freetown - le 20 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0843 - to the French consul in Freetown - 20 October 1858 /2

Sent_0843 - au consul de Freetown - le 20 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0843 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 404 + 405 verso

(to the Consul of France at Freetown)

To thank him for the information that he has communicated to him through the Ministry of the Navy, and in order for him to make his contribution to the installation of the three first missionaries who are going to leave for Freetown. Our material means are very limited.

Index : Freetown (installation), Sierre Leone (first departure), official protection

__________

Lyons, 20 October 1858

Monsieur le Consul,

The Ministry of the Navy did me the honour of notifying me of the extract from your correspondence in which you had the obliging goodness to answer some questions addressed to you on the subject of a Catholic mission to be set up in Sierra Leone.

Entrusted myself with this mission, Monsieur le Consul, I am glad of the help that you are so good as to promise us in order to facilitate the success of this undertaking.

Now, on the 31st of this month two of my missionaries who are priests and one who is a lay brother will be leaving, bound for Freetown. These are Abbé Reymond, Abbé Bresson and Mr Eugène Reynaud. These three gentlemen will stay for a few days at Dakar to get in touch with the missionaries of Senegal, and from there will go on to Freetown.

The state of the posts permitting, they will have the honour of writing to you from Dakar or from Gorée, to tell you when they expect to arrive, and, in any case, I feel confident, sir, that you will be so kind as to welcome them warmly and help them settle down, until such time as they find a house to rent.

Unfortunately, as you know, the resources of Catholic missionaries are very limited, which will oblige them to practice economy, but I will be very grateful if you help them find healthy quarters and where the few Catholic Christians so long deprived of the consolations of religion can easily meet up together.

I hope soon to go and see for myself what that country is like, but very probably I would merely pass through Freetown, coming back there later if appropriate. On that occasion I would have the pleasure of making your acquaintance, of thanking you for what you would already have done for my missionaries, and of consulting you on what we would be best advised to do for the future.

Meanwhile, I beg you, Monsieur le Consul, to kindly accept the assurance of my very distinguished consideration.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 20 October 1858)

Sent_0844

Sent_0844 - à Mgr Kobès - le 20 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0844 - to Mgr Kobès - 20 October 1858 /2

Sent_0844 - à Mgr Kobès - le 20 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0844 copy (), Guizard Fund

Brésillac rough copy , AMA 2F1, p 404

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(apostolic pro-vicar of the Two Guineas and Senegambia)

I am sending two priests and a brother out at the end of this month. During their stay at Dakar, I count on your charity to enable them to take advantage of all your missionary experience from all points of view. I will follow them out in two or three months' time. Thank you in advance for everything you can do for them.

Index : collaboration, Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 20 October 1858 ()

My Lord Bishop,

Some time ago I received your good letter of 21 August, and have the pleasure of announcing to you today that my two first missionaries will be leaving at the end of this month. The ship l'Express from Marseilles, which will take them to Senegal, should set sail on the 30th or 31st of this month. I think that they will arrive by this means, both in Dakar and in Sierra Leone, at the time that you were kind enough to indicate as being the most favourable.

I do not need, My Lord, to commend them to your charity ; I know what a missionary's life is, and how great is the pleasure one feels to be able to render mutual services. Nonetheless, I will be very grateful for anything that you can do to help them.

I would have liked to have gone out with the first departure and to have guided a little their inexperience, but according to the plan that we have drawn up with His Eminence Cardinal Barnabò, I have had to let them leave first, and hope to follow them two or three months later.

My Lord, kindly share with them everything that experience has taught you on the way of living, of eating and behaving in those parts, of establishing relations with those barbarian peoples, as well as facilitating their entry into Freetown, once they have spent some time with Your Lordship. When I leave, I propose following the same route as them, and of going to see you myself and being edified by Your Lordship and your saintly missionaries.

The two missionaries who are leaving are Abbé Reymond and Abbé Bresson, accompanied by brother Eugène Reynaud, a layman.

In case Your Lordship still has not received official notice of the erection of the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone, although Propaganda wrote while I was still in Rome, at least to Mgr Bessieux, Mr Reymond will show you an authentic copy of the briefs, one of which erects the vicariate and the other entrusts me with it.

In union of prayers and of good works, kindly accept, My Lord, the very sincere expression of my respectful devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 20 October 1858)

Sent_0845

Sent_0845 - à son frère Henri - le 21 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0845 - to his brother Henri - 21 October 1858 /1

Sent_0845 - à son frère Henri - le 21 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0845 Original, AMA 2F1, p 221

(to his brother Henri)

To arrange for an article on the departure of the three first missionaries of the African Missions to appear in the Toulouse newspapers.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 21 October 1858

Very dear Henri,

Just a few words in haste. I am sending you an issue of the Gazette de Lyon, and ask you to arrange for the article concerning the departure of the three first missionaries of the Society for African Missions to appear in the Toulouse newspapers.

Today I received your good letter of the 17th. The preparations for the departure of these Gentlemen are taking up all my time. A Dieu.

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 21 October 1858)

Sent_0846

Sent_0846 - à l'évêque de Marseille - le 26 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0846 - to the bishop of Marseilles - 26 October 1858 /1

Sent_0846 - à l'évêque de Marseille - le 26 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0846 photo copy, AMA 2F1A

(to Mgr Charles Joseph Eugène de Mazenod)

(bishop of Marseilles)

Since we cannot lodge with you, we will stay with the Capuchin fathers. I will do all I can to accept your invitation.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 26 October 1858

My Lord Bishop,

I had the honour of receiving your good letter of the 19th and quite appreciate your embarrassment ; accordingly for this time I will go and ask hospitality once more from the good Capuchin Fathers ; for, since there is no counter-order from the ship-owner, we will leave here tomorrow evening, to arrive on the morning of the 28th in Marseilles.

I would have been happy to be edified by the fine ceremony of the consecration (), but I foresee that this will be impossible. I will do my best to accept your invitation to dinner at one o'clock, and make the acquaintance of the new bishop, to whom kindly present my homage, My Lord, while accepting for yourself the fresh expression of my respectful sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 26 October 1858)

Sent_0847

Sent_0847 - à Mme Blanchet - le 26 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0847 - to Mrs Blanchet - 26 October 1858 /1

Sent_0847 - à Mme Blanchet - le 26 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0847 partial Le Gallen copy, p 539

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

How our dear friends now leaving are preparing for their departure : retreat, mass on the tomb of Saint Irene, then at Fourvière.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 26 October 1858

[...] I am going to Marseilles to accompany our dear friends who are leaving. As you already know, Messrs Reymond, Bresson and Brother Eugène are due to embark on the "Express" on the 30th or 31st. We will be leaving here tomorrow evening, to arrive at Marseilles on the 28th.

We have just made a little retreat in order for Heaven to prepare the ways to these two new apostles. You will assuredly pray that they make a good journey. The retreat finished this morning, after the first mass. Then, they went to say theirs on the tomb of Saint Irene, while tomorrow they will say it to Our Lady of Fourvière. [...]

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 26 October 1858)

Sent_0848

Sent_0848 - à son frère Henri - le 27 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0848 - to his brother Henri - 27 October 1858 /2

Sent_0848 - à son frère Henri - le 27 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0848 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 222-223

(to his brother Henri)

I have arranged to meet up with Mr Papetart in your home at Monestrol. He will arrive from San Sebastian and should rest, while I will be coming from Marseilles after accompanying the first three of us to leave. Excuse the liberty I am taking with

you.

Index : family, Sierra Leone (first departure)

__________

Lyons, 27 October 1858

Very dear Henri,

Now, something that will perhaps astonish you, but what could I do ? I am abusing of your goodness but feel sure that it will give you pleasure. As you know I have to meet up with Abbé Papetart and I have fixed Monestrol with him. For being a little tired, he proposes to rest for a few days in France, which is only right, after he has collected over fifty thousand francs for us.

Accordingly, instead of going to meet the two priests that he is to bring to me at Bayonne, it seemed to me simpler and more agreeable for me, since that will give me the pleasure of seeing you again, to assign them Monestrol as meeting place. There we will meet up with Mr Papetart, whose acquaintance you will be enchanted to make, and after a few days I will come back to Lyons with the priests that he will bring, I hope, and he will go and take up his winter quarters where he judges best for the good of his health.

It was not until this morning that I was able to decide all that with him, on the point of leaving for Marseilles where I am going to accompany Messrs Reymond, Bresson and Brother Eugène, who are due to embark on the 30th or 31st. Accordingly on the 1st or the 2nd, I could leave Marseilles for Monestrol. This will also be the time when Mr Papetart plans to leave San Sebastian. I wrote to him to wait for me if he arrives at your place before me, promising him an excellent welcome and telling him that I will wait for him if I arrive before him. Besides, I will write to you again from Marseilles to fix the time and day of my arrival at Villefranche, and Mr Papetart will do likewise as far as he is concerned.

Kindly excuse the disorder of this letter written in haste, and the liberty that I take in fixing Monestrol as meeting place without having notified you first. But I don't doubt but that it will give you great pleasure and I had no time to do otherwise. I will arrive alone from Marseilles.

A Dieu. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

If you write to me at Marseilles, kindly address your letters to the Convent of the Reverend Capuchin Fathers. Friendly greetings to all your family.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 27 October 1858)

Sent_0849

Sent_0849 - au P. Reymond, n° 1 - le 27 octobre 1858 -/4

Sent 0849 - to Mr Reymond, no. 1 - 27 October 1858 /4

Sent_0849 - au P. Reymond, n° 1 - le 27 octobre 1858 -/4

Sent 0849 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 385-386 et 390

(translation: following page)

(to Mr Louis Reymond)

(letter no. 1)

Details of the powers granted to Mr Louis Reymond whom we consider as our vicar general (article 19).

Index : ecclesiastical powers, canon law

__________

List of powers granted to Louis Reymond

Lyons, 27 October 1858

Nos Melchior Maria Joseph de Marion Brésillac, gratia Dei et Sanctae Sedis Episcopus Prusensis et Vicarius Apostolicus Sierra Leone, ex facultatibus nobis a Sancta Sede concessis ad decennium die 18 () Aprilis 1858, Dilecto Missionario Nostro Ludovico Reymond Presbytero, pro tota jurisdictione nostra, concedimus :

1°Verbum Dei praedicandi nec non fidelium utriusque sexus confessiones audiendi ;

2°Dispensandi in 3° et 4° consanguinitatis et affinitatis gradu simplici, et mixto tantum, et in 2°, 3° et 4° mixtis, non tamen in 2° solo quoad futura matrimonia ; quoad vero ad praeterita etiam in 2° solo, dummodo nullo modo attingat primum gradum, cum his, qui ab haeresi, vel infidelitate convertuntur ad fidem catholicam, et in praefatis casibus, prolem susceptam declarandi legitimam ;

3°Dispensandi super impedimento publicae honestatis justis ex sponsalibus proveniente ;

4°Dispensandi super impedimento criminis, neutro tamen conjugum machinante, et restituendi jus amissum petendi debitum ;

5°Dispensandi in impedimento cognationis spiritualis, praeterquam inter levantem, et levatum ;

6°Hae vero dispensationes matrimoniales, videlicet 2°, 3°, 4° et 5° non concedantur, nisi cum clausula : dummodo mulier rapta non fuerit, vel si rapta fuerit, in potestate raptoris non existat, et in dispensatione tenor inseratur hujusmodi facultates nobis a Sancta Sede concessas fuisse ad decennium et a nobis communicatas ;

7°Dispensandi cum gentilibus plures uxores habentibus, ut post conversionem et baptismum, quam ex illis maluerint, si etiam ipsa fidelis fiat, retinere possint, nisi prima voluerit converti ;

8°Benedicendi paramenta et alia utensilia ad sacrificium missae necessaria, et reconciliendi ecclesias pollutas aqua ab Episcopo benedicta, et in casu necessitatis etiam aqua non benedicta ab Episcopo ;

9°Absolvendi ab haeresi et apostasia a fide, et a schismate quoscumque etiam ecclesiasticos, tam saeculares, quam regulares ; non tamen eos, qui ex locis fuerint, ubi sanctum Officium exercetur, nisi in locis missionum, in quibus impune grassantur haereses deliquerint, nec illos qui judicialiter abjuraverint, nisi isti nati sunt ubi impune grassantur haereses, et post judicialem abjurationem illuc reversi in haeresim fuerint relapsi, et hos in foro conscientiae tantum ;

10°Absolvendi ab omnibus casibus Sedi Apostolicae reservatis, etiam in bulla Cœnae Domini contentis ;

11°Concedendi indulgentiam plenariam primo converses ab haeresi, atque etiam fidelibus quibuscumque in articulo mortis, saltem contritis, si confiteri non poterunt ;

12°Singulis secundis feriis non impeditis officio 9 lectionum, vel eis impeditis, die immediate sequenti, celebrandi missam de requie in quocumqu altari etiam portabili, liberandi animas secundum eorum intentionem a purgatorii pœnis per modum suffragii ;

13°Tenendi et legendi, non tamen aliis concedendi, libros prohibitos, exceptis operibus Dupuy, Volney, M. Reghellini, Pigault, le Brun, De Potter, Bontham, J.A. Dulaure, Fêtes et Courtisanes de la Grèce, Novelle di Casti, et aliis operibus de obscœnis et contra Religionem ex professo tractantibus. Haec facultas ad annum tantum valet, sed post annum renovata habebitur nisi contraria sit admonitio ;

14°Celebrandi per unam horam ante auroram, et aliam post meridiem, sine ministro, et sub dio, et sub terra, in loco tamen decenti, etiamsi altare sit fractum, vel sine reliquiis sanctorum, et praesentibus haereticis, schismaticis, infidelibus et excommunicatis, si aliter celebrari non possit ;

15°Deferendi Sanctissimum Sacramentum occulte ad infirmos, sine lumine, illudque sine eodem retinendi pro eisdem infirmis, in loco tamen decenti, si ab haereticis aut infidelibus sit periculum sacrilegii ;

16°Induendi se vestibus saecularibus, si aliter, vel transire ad loca ejus curae commissa, vel in eis permanere non poterit ;

17°Recitandi rosarium vel alias preces, si breviarium secum deferre non poterit, vel divinum officium ob aliquod legitimum impedimentum recitare non valeat ;

18°Dispensandi, quando expedire videbitur, super esu carnium, ovorum, et lacticiniorum tempore jejuniorum et quadragesimae ;

19°Insuper volumus ut nobis longe distantibus, id est plus quam trium dierum itinere, tamquem Vicarius Noster Generalis habeatur, praesertim in casu obitus, et omnes facultates exercere valeat quae de jure aut consuetudine aut speciali Sanctae Sedis delegatione tunc ei conveniant ;

20°Valebunt hae facultates ad tempus pro quo fuerunt nobis concessae nisi revocentur.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Datum Lugduni die 27 Octobris 1858)

TRANSLATION OF THE PREVIOUS DOCUMENT

Proxy of powers granted to Louis Reymond

Lyons, 27 October 1858

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by the grace of God and of the Holy See bishop of Pruse and Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone, of the powers which were granted to us by the Holy See for a period of ten years, on 18 April 1858, we grant to our dear missionary Louis Reymond, priest, for the whole of our jurisdiction :

1) to preach the word of God and also to hear the confessions of the faithful of both sexes ;

2) to dispense simple 3rd and 4th degrees, and mixed only, of consanguinity and affinity, and also 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees mixed, however not of 2nd degree alone in the case of future marriages ; as regards past marriages, even of 2nd degree alone, providing it does not touch at all on the first degree for persons who have been converted to the Catholic faith from heresy or from infidelity and, in the aforesaid cases, to declare legitimate the children engendered ;

3)to dispense from impediment of public honesty arising from legitimate betrothals ;

4) to dispense from the impediment of crime, providing neither one of the couple is implicated, and to restore the lost right of requesting the conjugal act

5) to dispense from the impediment of spiritual relationship, except between holder and held;

6) however, these matrimonial conditions, namely nos 2, 3, 4 and 5 are only granted on the following condition, that the woman has not been kidnapped, or, if she has been kidnapped, that she is not in the power of her kidnapper, and that, in the dispensation the condition be included that the powers of this sort have been granted us by the Holy See, and communicated by us, for a period of ten years ;

7) to dispense Gentiles having several wives, so that after conversion and baptism, they may keep the one from among them that they would prefer, even if she has become faithful, unless the first should not wish to be converted ;

8)to bless the ornaments and other objects necessary for the sacrifice of the mass, and to re-establish any profaned churches, using the water blessed by the bishop, or else, in case of necessity, water not blessed by the bishop ;

9)to absolve from heresy, from apostasy of the faith and of schism all persons, including ecclesiastics, both secular and regular, but however not those who may be from outside of the places where the holy ministry is exercised, nor those who may have sinned in the places of the missions in which the heresies developed unpunished, or those who may have abjured after a judgment, unless they were born in the place where the heresies developed unpunished and after abjuration following the judgment they once more there relapsed into heresy, and these exclusively by applying the yardstick of conscience ;

10)to absolve from all the cases reserved to the Apostolic See, even those contained in the bull Caenae Domini ;

11) to grant a plenary indulgence first of all to those who have converted from heresy, and also to the faithful, whoever they are, under the article of death, providing they are contrite, if unable to confess ;

12) on every second weekday not impeded by an office of 9 lessons, or if so impeded, the following day, to celebrate a mass "in requiem" at any altar, even portable, to set free the souls to whom it is directed from the pains of purgatory by means of suffrage ;

13) to hold and to read, but not to pass on to others, forbidden books, except the works of Dupuy, Volney, M. Reghellini, Pigault, De Potter, Bontham, J.A. Dulaure. Fetes et Courtisanes de la Grèce, Short stories by Casti and other works dealing ex professo with obscene things and things against religion. This power is only valid for one year, but, after one year, it must be renewed unless notice to the contrary is given.

14) to celebrate one hour before dawn, and one hour after midday, without a minister, and out of doors or underground, however in a decent place, even if the altar is broken, or without relics of the saints, and in the presence of heretics, of schismatics, of infidels and excommunicated persons, if it cannot be celebrated otherwise;

15) to transport the very holy sacrament secretly to sick persons, without a light, to keep it likewise without a light for these same sick persons, however in a decent place, if there is any danger of sacrilege on the part of heretics or infidels ;

16) to wear secular clothes, if otherwise it is impossible either to cross the places entrusted to him, or to stay there ;

17) to recite the rosary or other prayers, if he has not been able to take his breviary with him, or if, as a result of any legitimate impediment, he does not have the strength to recite the divine office ;

18) to permit, when this appears appropriate, the eating of meat, eggs and dairy products, at a time of fasting and during Lent ;

19) in addition, we wish that, when we are a long way away, that is, at more than three days' march, he be considered as our vicar general, above all in case of death, and that he may exercise all the powers falling to him then by right, either according to custom or through a special proxy of the Holy See.

20) These powers are valid for the time for which they have been granted to us, unless they are revoked.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Issued at Lyons, 27 October 1858)

Sent_0850

Sent_0850 - à M. Reymond, n° 2 - le 27 octobre 1858 -/2

Sent 0850 - to Mr Reymond, no. 2 - 27 October 1858 /2

Sent_0850 - à M. Reymond, n° 2 - le 27 octobre 1858 -/2

Sent 0850 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F5, p 48

(translation: following page)

(to Mr Louis Reymond)

(letter no. 2)

Celebret for Mr Louis Reymond.

Index : ecclesiastical powers, canon law

__________

(Lyons, 27 October 1858) ()

Nos, Melchior Maria Joseph de Marion Brésillac, gratia Dei et Sanctae Sedis Episcopus Prusensis et Vicarius Apostolicus de Sierra Leone, universis et singulis praesentes litteras inspecturis notum facimus Dilectum nobis in Christo, Ludovicum Reymond, missionarium nostrum, nullis censuris ecclesiasticis, quod sciamus, ligature esse, nullumque impedimentum esse quod de Ordinariorum licentia sacra munera exercere valeat.

Quapropter, eum iter facientem cuilibet optimo ecclesiastico viro unice commendamus, praesertim Ordinariis locorum per quos transierit, RR. DD. Episcopis aliisque Ordinariis in Charitate Christi rogantes ut eum benigne accipiant eique auxilium praebeant, si opus fuerit, ut incolumen ad Missionem Sierra Leone perveniat.

Datum Lugduni, die...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 27 October 1858)

TRANSLATION OF THE PREVIOUS DOCUMENT

"Celebret" for Mr Reymond

Lyons, 27 October 1858

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by the grace of God and of the Holy See Bishop of Pruse and Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone, to all those who see the present letters, and to each of them, we make known that our dear son in Christ, Louis Reymond, our missionary, is not bound by any ecclesiastical censure, as far as we know, and that there is no impediment to his exercising the holy ministry, with the permission of the Ordinaries.

For this reason we recommend him quite specially in the course of his journey to every excellent member of the clergy, and above all to the Ordinaries of the places that he will be crossing, asking Our Lords the Bishops and the other Ordinaries, in Christ's charity, to receive him well and to offer him help, if need be, so that he arrives safe and sound to the mission of Sierra Leone.

Issued at Lyons, on...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 27 October 1858)

Sent_0851

Sent_0851 - à M. Bresson - le 27 octobre 1858 -/4

Sent 0851 - to Mr Bresson - 27 October 1858 /4

Sent_0851 - à M. Bresson - le 27 octobre 1858 -/4

Sent 0851 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 388-389

(translation: following page)

(to Mr Jean-Baptiste Bresson)

List of powers granted to Mr Jean-Baptiste Bresson.

Index : canon law, ecclesiastical powers

__________

List of powers granted to Jean-Baptiste Bresson

Lyons, 27 October 1858

Nos Melchior Maria Joseph de Marion Brésillac, gratia Dei et Sanctae Sedis Episcopus Prusensis et Vicarius Apostolicus Sierra Leone, ex facultatibus nobis a Sancta Sede concessis ad decennium die 18 () Aprilis 1858, Dilecto Missionario Nostro Joanni Baptista Bresson Presbytero, pro tota jurisdictione nostra, concedimus :

1°Verbum Dei praedicandi nec non fidelium utriusque sexus confessiones audiendi ;

2°Benedicendi paramenta et alia utensilia ad sacrificium missae necessaria, et reconciliendi ecclesias pollutas aqua ab Episcopo benedicta, et in casu necessitatis etiam aqua non benedicta ab Episcopo ;

3°Absolvendi ab haeresi et apostasia a fide, et a schismate quoscumque etiam ecclesiasticos, tam saeculares, quam regulares ; non tamen eos, qui ex locis fuerint, ubi sanctum Officium exercetur, nisi in locis missionum, in quibus impune grassantur haereses deliquerint, nec illos qui judicialiter abjuraverint, nisi isti nati sunt ubi impune grassantur haereses, et post judicialem abjurationem illuc reversi in haeresim fuerint relapsi, et hos in foro conscientiae tantum ;

4°Absolvendi ab omnibus casibus Sedi Apostolicae reservatis, etiam in bulla Cœnae Domini contentis, et restituendi jus amissum petendi debitum ;

5°Concedendi indulgentiam plenariam primo converses ab haeresi, atque etiam fidelibus quibuscumque in articulo mortis, saltem contritis, si confiteri non poterunt ;

6°Singulis secundis feriis non impeditis officio 9 lectionum, vel eis impeditis, die immediate sequenti, celebrandi missam de requie in quocumqu altari etiam portabili, liberandi animas secundum eorum intentionem a purgatorii pœnis per modum suffragii ;

7°Tenendi et legendi, non tamen aliis concedendi, libros prohibitos, exceptis operibus Dupuy, Volney, M. Reghellini, Pigault, le Brun, De Potter, Bontham, J.A. Dulaure, Fêtes et Courtisanes de la Grèce, Novelle di Casti, et aliis operibus de obscœnis et contra Religionem ex professo tractantibus. Haec facultas ad annum tantum valet, sed post annum renovata habebitur nisi contraria sit admonitio ;

8°Celebrandi per unam horam ante auroram, et aliam post meridiem, sine ministro, et sub dio, et sub terra, in loco tamen decenti, etiamsi altare sit fractum, vel sine reliquiis sanctorum, et praesentibus haereticis, schismaticis, infidelibus et excommunicatis, si aliter celebrari non possit ;

9°Deferendi Sanctissimum Sacramentum ad infirmos, sine lumine, illudque sine eodem retinendi pro eisdem infirmis, in loco tamen decenti, si ab haereticis aut infidelibus sit periculum sacrilegii ;

10°Induendi se vestibus saecularibus, si aliter, vel transire ad loca ejus curae commissa, vel in eis permanere non poterit ;

11°Recitandi rosarium vel alias preces, si breviarium secum deferre non poterit, vel divinum officium ob aliquod legitimum impedimentum recitare non valeat ;

12°Insuper, volumus ut in casu obitus dilecti nobis in Christo D. Ludovici Reymond, et nobis longe absentibus, isti delegatas dispensationum facultates habeat et alias quae de jure aut consuetudine aut speciali Sanctae Sedis delegatione nunc ei conveniant ;

13°Valebunt hae facultates ad tempus pro quo fuerunt nobis concessae nisi revocentur.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

Datum Lugduni, die 27 Octobris 1858

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING DOCUMENT

Proxy of powers granted to Jean-Baptiste Bresson

Lyons, 27 October 1858

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by the grace of God and of the Holy See bishop of Pruse and Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone, of the powers granted to us by the Holy See for a period of ten years, on 18 April 1858, we grant to our dear missionary Jean-Baptiste Bresson, priest, for the whole of our jurisdiction :

1) to preach the word of God and also to hear the confessions of the faithful of both sexes ;

2) to bless the ornaments and other objects necessary for the sacrifice of mass, and to reinstate profaned churches, using the water blessed by the bishop, or even, in case of necessity, water not blessed by the bishop ;

3) to absolve from heresy, apostasy of the faith and from schism all persons, including ecclesiastics, both secular and regular, however not those who may have been outside of the places where the holy ministry is exercised, or those who may have sinned in the places of the missions in which the heresies developed unpunished, or those who may have abjured after a judgment, unless they were born where the heresies developed unpunished and after the abjuration following the judgment they may have once more relapsed into heresy, and these using the yardstick of conscience only.

4) to absolve from all the cases reserved to the Apostolic See, even those contained in the bull Caenae Domini, and to restore the lost right of demanding the conjugal act ;

5) to grant a plenary indulgence first of all to those who have converted from heresy, and also to the faithful, whoever they may be, under the article of death, providing they are contrite, if they have not been able to confess ;

6)on each second weekday not prevented by an office of 9 lessons, or if so prevented, the following day, to celebrate a mass "in requiem" at any altar, including portable, to set free souls according to their intention from the pains of purgatory by means of suffrage ;

7)to hold and to read, but not to pass on to others, the forbidden books, except for the works of Dupuy, Volney, M. Reghellini, Pigault, De Potter, Bontham, J.A. Dulaure, Fêtes et Courtisanes de la Grèce, Short stories by Casti and other works dealing ex professo with obscene things and things against religion. This power is only valid for one year, but, after one year, should be renewed unless there is some notice to the contrary.

8) to celebrate one hour before dawn, and one hour after midday, without a minister, and in the open air or underground, however in a decent place, even if the altar is broken, or without relics of the saints, and in the presence of heretics, schismatics, infidels and excommunicated persons, if otherwise he cannot celebrate ;

9) to transport the very holy sacrament to the sick, without light, to keep it likewise without light for these same sick, however in a decent place, if there is danger of sacrilege on the part of heretics or infidels ;

10) to wear secular clothes, if otherwise it is impossible for him to cross the places entrusted to him, and to stay there;

11) to recite the rosary or other prayers, if he has not been able to take his breviary with him, or if, as a result of any legitimate impediment, he does not have the strength to recite divine office.

12) In addition, we wish that, in case of the decease of our dear brother in Christ, Father Louis Reymond, if we should be at a distance, he be vested with the powers of dispensation, and the other powers falling to him in such case by law or custom, or by means of a special proxy of the Holy See.

13) These powers are valid for the time for which they have been granted to us, unless they are revoked.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Issued at Lyons, le 27 October 1858)

Sent_0852

Sent_0852 - au P. Planque - le 30 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0852 - to Father Planque - 30 October 1858 /2

Sent_0852 - au P. Planque - le 30 octobre 1858 -/1

Sent 0852 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 392-393

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Our confreres' departure is delayed a little because of meteorological conditions. I meet Mr Papetart on 4 November at Monestrol. Some internal matters.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure), house of Lyons

__________

Marseilles, 30 October 1858

Very dear Mr Planque,

We have just come from the chapel of La Garde where we were almost carried away by the wind ! At the moment the mistral is blowing fit to knock everything over. Thus, even if l'Express were ready, it would be impossible to leave tomorrow ; but it is not. The continual rain that has been falling until now has, it is said, prevented the ship being loaded, so that all that we can hope for, is that it will leave on Wednesday. However, as from yesterday evening, our Gentlemen's belongings are on board, since everything arrived from Lyons safely.

M. Papetart has answered my dispatch that he addressed here. It was useless after his letter ; I think that he will arrive at Monestrol on the fourth of November. I plan to stay here until Wednesday, whether these Gentlemen leave or not. If they leave, and the weather is passably good, I will go to see them out on to the high seas, and will leave in the evening for Monestrol ; if they do not go, I will leave them here in order not to leave Mr Papetart too long alone with people whom he does not know, though liable to soon put him at his ease.

I have just this moment received a charming letter from Abbé Gabriel, doctor in theology ; he jokes very prettily on his seasickness, and sends you his compliments. Ah ! if he were out at sea today, he would be giving up the ghost ! He must have accompanied his letter with some thesis or other similar thing.

I have also received a letter from Miss Gabrielle Blanchet who announces to me the dispatch of her table.

Our Gentlemen are well, they send you their affectionate compliments, as they do to to all our dear confreres ; add to them mine for you and for them. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. Kindly search out my ordo and count the masses that I have said for the house in the month of October. The relative days are marked with a cross.

Do not forget to sing a high mass for deceased benefactors in the course of the octave of the dead.

Please send me any letters that I can receive here until Wednesday morning. Then to Monestrol.

(Marseilles, 30 October 1858)

Sent_0853

Sent_0853 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er novembre 1858 -/3

Sent 0853 - to Mgr Bonnand - 1 November 1858 /3

Sent_0853 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 1er novembre 1858 -/3

Sent 0853 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 1131-1138

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

My first three missionaries are on the point of leaving ; they will stay for a certain time in Dakar to take advantage of the experience of the fathers of the Holy Spirit. I myself will be leaving in a few months' time, but do not yet know if I will establish myself at Freetown or elsewhere between Sierra Leone and Gabon. Our seminary is gradually growing. An affiliated priest is collecting alms very successfully in Spain. He goes on to explain some of his ideas on the future constitutions of the African Missions : communal life, no viaticum, directors not for life, a superior general sharing authority with the apostolic vicars, a general meeting at least once every ten years, lay brothers. I count on your prayers, those of one of our deceased brothers and of Mgr Luquet.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure), SMA (foundation), SMA constitutions, house in Andalusia.

__________

Marseilles, 1 November 1858

My Lord,

Your good letter of 11 September reached me today at Marseilles where I have come to accompany my three new missionaries, two priests and a lay brother, who are due to embark the day after tomorrow to go and take possession of my new apostolic vicariate.

It is at Freetown that we will first of all try to set ourselves up. Now there is no Catholic priest either there or in the whole vicariate, whereas the Protestant ministers are perfectly established, with their schools, printing presses, orphanages, etc., etc. This obliges us to be extremely prudent, and in order to work our way in gradually, I am first of all sending two priests only, as if to help out the few Catholics who are there. Then we will see.

My plan is to follow them in the next two or three months and to merely pass by Freetown, as if to see how they are set up, and in passing in the course of a journey. This journey is a sort of exploration that I desire to make of the coast, from the River Nuñez as far as Gabon, in order to single out the points where one could, with some chances of success, establish centres of action. From Gabon, I will come back to Freetown, and, according to circumstances, will either set myself up there or pitch my tent elsewhere.

In order to do this I need to make one last journey to Paris to obtain, if possible, the official backing of the Ministry of the Navy. This is what I am going to do once these Gentlemen have left.

Besides, they are not going directly to Freetown, but first of all to Senegal, to Dakar, so as to get an idea of the way of living and of proceeding of the missionaries of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary, in the parts where our greatest physical enemy will be fever. Pray hard to the good God, I beg you, to preserve my dear co-operators from this scourge, at least until the work is firmly rooted, for a disaster from the outset could destroy all of our hopes.

After God, we place our hope largely in Our Lady of Fourvière, under whose mantle we placed ourselves at Lyons and who has deigned to favour us from the beginnings of our modest and difficult undertaking. Thus, we will carry her image to Sierra Leone, and will have a chapel built to her as soon as we can, under the title of "Mater febricitantium".()

Our seminary is gradually growing, both in material and personal resources. I had to work extremely hard to procure the first thousand francs that were indispensable. However, Providence has not abandoned us and, very often, has sent me help from where I least expected it.

Thus, a priest affiliated to our work, whom I sent out to collect alms in Spain, has procured, in the last six months, over fifty thousand francs. I have arranged to meet him one of these days in my brother's home, between Toulouse and Castelnaudary, to deal with a thousand things concerning the work and that he hopes to achieve in Spain, among other things the establishment of a house for young Blacks whom I would like to bring up, before sending them back to their own country, once they have learned a trade and breathed a Christian and Catholic air for a few years.

It seems that, for this, Providence has chosen to supply me with effective aid, in the form of a convent of women Trinitarians, only recently established at Marseilles. This good affiliated priest is due to bring me two Spanish priests and one lay brother, thus bringing to twelve the members of my small community, without counting the three now leaving.

So these are all the details, My Lord. It is in obedience to you that I am giving them at such length, thinking that they will give you pleasure, as yours have done to me, only that I found them much too short.

As regards our constitution, it is in germ still, as all the rest, and will only develop little by little. The general idea is the same as that of the Foreign Missions, so that, if God blesses our seminary, it will be for Africa what the Seminary of Foreign missions is for the East Indias.

I merely lay the bases of regulations which will permit us most life in common : thus, no viaticum, no fees or any form of remuneration which are at the missionary's personal disposal. He may only dispose as he wishes of what he receives from his home, if he possesses any personal fortune. The seminary of Lyons will be arranged in such a way that the former missionaries, or those who may fall sick, are lodged and kept there, that their position there is normal, in the sense that they stay there until they die, making themselves as useful as possible, instead of receiving a pension and living, so to speak, outside of the Society.

I would like the Directors not to be for life, but, giving the example to the aspirants, they may at all times be called back to the mission. I propend strongly for the establishment of a Superior General, combining his authority with that of the apostolic vicars, in such a way that they are not mutually detrimental. It seems to me that this would be very possible.

More difficult will be the general meetings that I very much wish to see held, at least once every ten years, and in which the sovereign authority would reside, above all for any modifications to be made to the regulations, when time and changed circumstances may so require.

We admit lay brothers, at least for the service of our houses and, according to the nature of the missions, we will see later if there is any need to multiply them to serve as catechists, schoolmasters, etc., etc. Finally, we receive priests of different nations. But, I repeat, My Lord, all of this merely represents ideas in germ that the good God will cause to bear fruit if they have been conceived in his Spirit, and our sins do not impede too much the effects of his grace.

You will help us with your good prayers, will you not ? Many other souls are likewise praying, and the Lord will grant them, I hope, what he would be entitled to refuse to me myself. Among those of these good souls who are already in heaven, according to our firm confidence, I count that of one of our good lay brothers, whom we lost a month ago and who died in sentiments of the utmost piety. He had already been designated to accompany me.

I count above all on that of our worthy friend, Mgr Luquet. He lived longer than was to be supposed when I arrived in Rome, as if God wished to multiply his merits ; but finally he died with all of his calm and his heroic patience, edifying all of those who came in contact with him, as he always edified those who knew him thoroughly. His career was truly extraordinary, however I feel sure that when the time comes for us to know everything, we will have the consolation of seeing that his passage on earth was not useless to God's holy city.

I have the honour of sending you by post my latest notice on the Society of African Missions.

Allow me, My Lord, to ask you to commend me in a very special way to the pious memory of all my former confreres as well as to the prayers of all of yours. I really hope that Your Lordship, and also some of our former and ever new friends of India, will write to me from time to time and give me long details on the missions which will always remain dear to my heart.

The best would still be to address any letters to me not to Sainte-Foy, but to Lyons, Chemin de Sainte-Foy or quite simply to the Seminary of African Missions. From there, they will be sent on to me in Africa until I have obtained a clearer idea of the postal service.

We recently risked losing the Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons. Now he is much better.

A Dieu, My Lord. And, with your habitual charity, deign to accept the assurance of my affectionate and respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Marseilles, 1 November 1858)

Sent_0854

Sent_0854 - à la "Régénération" \- novembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0854 - to "Regeneración" \- November 1858 /2

Sent_0854 - à la "Régénération" \- novembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0854 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 416-417

(to the editor-in-chief)

(Newspaper "la Regeneración", Madrid)

To thank in an official way all those who contributed to the success of the alms collected by Mr Papetart : the queen, the bishops and the faithful. My expectations were exceeded. I would also like to set up in Spain a house to form young Blacks in a trade and in the habits of Christian living, before sending them back to their own countries. Thanks to all of you.

Index : funding, thanks, house in Andalusia, Spanish candidates

__________

(November 1858) ()

Mr editor-in-chief,

Before leaving France for the purpose of going to Africa, allow me to have recourse to the publicity of your excellent newspaper to thank the pious Spaniards for the support they have given to the work of the African Missions, and for the charity that has led them to come effectively to our aid from the outset.

By sending to the peninsula Abbé Papetart, my general vicar, to appeal to this charity, I had no doubt but that his voice would find an echo in Spanish hearts ; however, I admit, I did not expect such devotion for a work begun in France and which might, by that fact alone, appear to have a national tinge.

But Spain, with this exquisite sense of Catholicism that distinguishes it, quickly understood that this was exclusively a Catholic work, and immediately judged it for what it was. Thus whole populations of the places where Abbé Papegart passed, were eager to contribute to it.

Not only did the Queen who is always to be seen at the head of good works give the example, as well as the very distinguished bishops from all the dioceses that my grand vicar crossed, but the magistrates and the most illustrious inhabitants of each town deemed it an honour to enter their names on the list of benefactors, while the poor hastened to run to the church where religious functions for the success of the work were being celebrated, in order to join prayer to their alms so precious in God's eyes.

This is what took place in eight dioceses that Abbé Papetart visited. I would like to count on a similar correspondence of sentiments by the clergy and people in the places where his indefatigable zeal must lead him still, and since it will however be impossible for him to cover the whole of Spain, I hope that the venerated Pontiffs of the dioceses where he cannot pass will decide, following the example of what many of their colleagues have already done, to take the measures suggested by their prudence and their charity, to ensure that the faithful of their Churches are not deprived of the merit of contributing to this good work.

Thus, I trust today that the whole of Spain will back up our difficult undertaking, and, why not say it ? my heart, Catholic above all else, is profoundly touched by it ; for, I repeat, our work is Catholic, and this is the only character that we are willing to recognise in it, and for that we appeal to the goodwill of the clergy and to the charity of the faithful of all nations ; but, finally, it is France and Spain who will have created it, at the moment when their flags appear side by side, beyond the seas, for the cause of Christ and of his gospel.

While therefore the novicate of our missionaries is placed in France, we propose to establish in Spain, if it is possible, the house that we desire to found for the education of young negro children.

For in fact we are persuaded that one of the most effective means of implanting Christianity in peoples still plunged in the excesses of the most frightful barbary, would be to bring to Europe a large number of children, of both sexes, for the purpose of educating them in a Christian way, outside of any pernicious influence, to instruct them according to their capacity, to teach them an art, a trade, and above all to form them in the habits of Christian living, before taking them back later to their countries.

Now, in order for such an undertaking to have chances of success, it needs to be carried out on a fairly large scale, in a special establishment, and in a country where the temperature does not put the young negroes under too much stress. We have the hope of finding these conditions in Spain, where our work has aroused so much interest, and that is what Abbé Papetart is entrusted with studying for the rest of the time he will be spending in the peninsula.

So kindly, Mr Editor, deign to pass on to your readers, and through them to all of those interested in the work of the African Missions, the expression of my gratitude for the vital part that Spain has played in this foundation.

Accept it also for yourself, Sir, as well as for the other public papers which have kindly accepted to act, on several occasions, as the organ of our sentiments and to furnish us with the announcements of their publicity. It gives me great pleasure to use them for the first time directly for the purpose of expressing thanks, later to be shared, I feel sure, by those of the Spanish faithful who have still not participated in our work, exclusively because they have not as yet had the opportunity to do so.

I ask you to accept, Mr Editor, the expression of my very distinguished consideration.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(November 1858)

Sent_0855

Sent_0855 - à Mgr Barilli - novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0855 - to Mgr Barilli - November 1858 /2

Sent_0855 - à Mgr Barilli - novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0855 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 418

(to Mgr Barili, Archbishop of Tiara,

Apostolic Nunzio to Madrid)

To thank him for his benevolence in respect of Mr Papetart and to urge him to continue. His idea of founding a house for young Blacks in Andalusia. Mr Papetart has just brought me three Spaniards.

Index : thanks, house in Andalusia, Spanish candidates

__________

(November 1858) ()

My Lord,

I have just seen Abbé Papetart, my vicar general, for whom Your Grace showed such benevolence and who told me personally, what in fact I already knew, how much you backed us up in our difficult undertaking.

Allow me, My Lord, to testify my gratitude to you personally and to express to you the confidence that Y.G. will deign to continue in your protection and favour Mr Papetart in what he still has to do in the dioceses that he has not yet visited, and in the project that we have of establishing a house for young Blacks in Andalusia.

As Your Grace perhaps already knows, our work is proceeding satisfactorily from all points of view. Two priests and one lay brother have just left for the mission of Sierra Leone. We have several other subjects in the seminary of African Missions and the purpose of Mr Papetart's journey here is to bring me three Spaniards, as well as talk with me on various means to be taken to ensure the perpetuity and development of our work.

Thus God seems to be blessing an undertaking that I commend in a special way to your good prayers, asking you to kindly accept, My Lord, the expression of my respectful devotion, with which...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

( ?, November 1858)

Sent_0856

Sent_0856 - à l'archevêque de Barcelone - novembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0856 - to the Archbishop of Barcelona - November 1858 /2

Sent_0856 - à l'archevêque de Barcelone - novembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0856 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 402 recto

et 403 verso

(to the Archbishop of Barcelona)

To thank him and, on his behalf, all the bishops of Spain, for everything that they have done for the work of the African Missions. I hope also to find in Spain truly devoted men, ready to bear all adversities.

Index : thanks, recruitment, Spanish candidates

__________

(November 1858) ()

My Lord,

I have just seen Abbé Papetart whose zeal has come to make people in Spain understand the importance and difficulties of the difficult work that we are undertaking. You are the first bishop in the peninsula, My Lord, to have encouraged it and I am told that, not content with having already done so much in your own episcopate, you have just sent out a circular throughout your diocese to ensure that all the faithful under your jurisdiction have the opportunity, if they so wish, of contributing to this good work.

Allow me, My Lord, to express to you directly my sincere thanks for such charity, and through you, for there would be presumption on my part in writing directly to all the bishops of Spain, to all the venerable prelates who have already backed it up so strongly. I even dare to hope that, in advance these thanks will also be for the bishops whose dioceses Abbé Papetart is preparing to visit, or who, even without that, may answer the pious appeal that we have made to their apostolic sentiments.

May Spain provide us, together with its alms, with a few good subjects filled with the apostolic spirit ! Abbé Papetart has brought me two it is true, but I doubt that they will persevere. For a work like ours, there is need of truly devoted men, and filled with God's spirit, prepared to bear small and great trials alike. These are rarer, while the latter are everywhere to be found in an undertaking such as ours.

I await of your prayers, My Lord, that God will cause to grow, for his greatest glory, a work already so happily begun, and it is in this expectation that I beg you to accept the expression of the profound respect with which

I have the honour of being,

Your Grace's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

( ?, November 1858)

Sent_0857

Sent_0857 - à la Propagande - le 20 novembre 1858 -/5

Sent 0857 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 20 November 1858 /4

Sent_0857 - à la Propagande - le 20 novembre 1858 -/5

Sent 0857 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, p 634

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 40-44

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

The three first missionaries have just left. They plan to spend some time at Dakar. As soon as possible, I shall be leaving to explore the country and select the best place for us to establish ourselves. Mr Papetart's success in Spain ; three Spanish candidates, a house in Andalusia, the allocation of Propagation of the Faith... our work seems to be blessed by God. For a better development of the work, could you see that I obtain the following indulgences : there follows a list of indulgences on a separate sheet of paper.

Index : Sierra Leone (1st departure), recruitment, funding, SMA (foundation), indulgences, Spanish candidates

__________

Lyons, 20 November 1858

Your Eminence,

I have the consolation of announcing to you that my first missionaries have finally left for the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone. Two priests and a lay brother embarked at Marseilles on the 3rd of this month. If they did not leave earlier, this is because several persons who know the country well, and Mgr Kobès himself, had urged me not to send them out before the month of December, in the interests of acclimatisation.

I have sent them out directly to Dakar where Mgr Kobès has kindly offered us hospitality. There, we will see how the missionaries of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary live, and, after spending some time with them, they will go on to Freetown, the principal town in Sierra Leone.

As soon as possible, in accordance with the plan drawn up with Your Eminence, I myself will go out to explore the country, to see Mgr Kobès and Mgr Bessieux, to examine which are the points where we could do some good and establish ourselves without too great danger. For, in Freetown, according to what I have heard from the Ministry of the Navy, there are only about one hundred Catholics. And very serious reports, that I have received from various quarters, assure me that the air there is so bad that it is practically certain that Europeans cannot live there for more than three years. Accordingly those who are obliged to inhabit that town are forced to have recourse to frequent changes of air. All of which will oblige us too, without doubt, to seek out a healthier place whence our missionaries can come and go.

The void that the departure of our first missionaries has just made in our seminary of the African Missions has been immediately filled in by the arrival of two Spanish priests and a lay brother. They were brought to me by Abbé Papetart, of whom I have had the honour of speaking to you, a priest affiliated to our work and who at the moment, is collecting alms in Spain for the foundation of our seminary.

On this occasion, I must tell Your Eminence that my undertaking has aroused veritable enthusiasm in Spain. I was far from expecting this, and it is almost by chance that I sent Mr Papetart there to make our work known, after which God permitted that the episcopacy, the clergy and the faithful have taken it so much to heart that, in the first eight dioceses that he visited, he was able to collect, in the space of six months, over fifty thousand francs, and that several ecclesiastics are offering to come with us to Africa. I have considered it prudent to admit only two of them for the moment.

The ways seem to be opening up to enable us to found shortly, in Andalusia, the house of young Blacks which, as Your Eminence knows, is part of the plan for our work, so that after having brought them up in a Christian way, without being exposed to pagan influence, we can send them back to their country to carry out an art or a trade, and above all to provide an example of the Christian virtues.

Everything leads us to hope that such an undertaking, almost impossible in France because of the climate, would succeed in Andalusia, where we propose to try it out as soon as possible. For this we will need women religious who will provide the essential care to be afforded to the young Blacks and above all the young Negresses. Now it seems that, from this point of view too, Providence has stepped in to help us, through a community of Trinitarians who are eager to back us up,

I must tell you further, Your Eminence, that the work of Propagation of the Faith, with which we have always had a good understanding, has so thoroughly realised the importance of our undertaking that, in order to help us overcome the difficulties, without having to draw on the sums that we are collecting for the foundation of our seminary, has just granted us forty thousand francs for the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone.

Thus, Your Eminence, from all points of view, our work seems blessed by God. At the moment, in the seminary, we have priests who have completed their noviciate, others who have not yet finished it, students in philosophy, lay brothers and not only do I owe nothing, but at the moment I have over seventy thousand francs for beginning to endow it.

Allow me to hope that the S.C. will continue its benevolence towards us and that it will do everything possible to ensure that this germ undergoes the full development of which it is capable, thus doing a true service to the Church. For that, several of the graces that I have already requested would be extremely useful for us, and above all, we are anxious at the present time to obtain from the Holy Father's kindness, certain indulgences which would encourage the zeal and sustain the goodwill of those concerned with the work and who sustain it with their prayers and their charity.

Accordingly, allow me, Your Eminence, to insist on the request for these indulgences, such as are indicated in the sheet enclosed herewith, or as it may please Your Eminence to modify them.

I beg you to accept the fresh assurance of the perfect devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very respectful servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 20 November 1858)

Sheet enclosed with the letter of 20 November 1858 to Propaganda

INDULGENCES

That the S.C. of Propaganda is requested to ask of the Holy Father in favour of the Affiliates and Benefactors of the work of the African Missions :

1)Plenary indulgence on the Sunday following affiliation

2)Plenary indulgence on the day of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, principal feastday of the work ;

3)Plenary indulgence on the feast of Saint Augustine ;

4) Plenary indulgence once a month for those of the affiliates who will recite each day the following prayer, either in Latin, or in the vulgar language ;

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis ;

Sancti Angeli, custodes nostri, orate pro nobis,

Sancte Joseph, ora pro nobis,

Sancti nostri Protectores, orate pro nobis,

Sancte Augustine, ora pro nobis,

Sancte Cypriane, ora pro nobis,

Sancte Benedicte a Philadelphia, ora pro nobis,

Beate Petre Claver, ora pro nobis,

Sancti omnes qui missionum munere, praesertim in Africa,

salvi facti estis, orate pro nobis,

Omnes Sancti et Sanctae Dei, intercedite pro nobis.

In French :

Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous,

Nos Saints Anges Gardiens, priez pour nous,

Saint Joseph, priez pour nous,

Nos Saints Patrons, priez pour nous,

Saint Augustin, priez pour nous,

Saint Benoît de Philadelphe, priez pour nous,

Bienheureux Pierre Claver, priez pour nous,

Vous tous qui vous êtes sanctifiés dans les missions, et surtout en Afrique, priez pour nous,

Tous les Saints du Paradis, priez pour nous.

5)Plenary indulgence on the first free day after 2 November, when a service will be held to celebrate the dead Associates and Benefactors ;

N.B. :To obtain these indulgences, it is necessary to confess, to take communion and to pray according to the Holy Father's intentions.

6)Plenary indulgence under the article of death, providing that, inspired by good dispositions at least the heart invokes, if the mouth cannot, the holy names of Jesus and Mary ;

N.B. : The preceding indulgences are only granted to members of the work and its affiliates. In order to be affiliated, it is necessary :

to give alms once and for all in proportion to one's fortune,

  1. to promise to offer to the work, whenever occasion may arise, any services depending on one,
  2. to be entered in the registers of affiliation ;
  3. 7)Indulgences of 200 days each time that one recites the aforesaid prayer, that one attends a religious gathering or ceremony in favour of the work of the African Missions, or that one makes alms to its intention;

N.B. : All these indulgences are applicable to souls in Purgatory.

(Sheet enclosed with the letter of 20 November 1858 to Propaganda)

Sent_0858

Sent_0858 - à M. Reymond - le 20 novembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0858 - to Mr Reymond - 20 November 1858 /2

Sent_0858 - à M. Reymond - le 20 novembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0858 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 382-384

(to Mr Louis Reymond)

Letter of friendship with some news. Mr Papetart has brought three Spaniards : I do not know if they will persevere. Mr Papetart's plans for Spain. You have been commended to the Spanish Consul in Freetown ; send me a letter to publish in the Annals. Greetings.

Index : friendship, SMA (foundation), Spanish candidates

__________

Lyons, 20 November 1858

Very dear Mr Reymond,

Today is the 20th, and I do not wish to risk missing the post which, I hope, will give you our news, before your arrival in Freetown. For I hope that it will find you in Dakar.

It was not until yesterday that I arrived back in Lyons with the two priests and the lay brother whom Mr Papetart has brought me. I still do not know what these people will become and I fear that they may not persevere. They were shocked on arriving at our way of living that they had believed to be more regular. They could not conceive that we could be missionaries without living a more mortified life, as they put it.

They may be right, and undoubtedly mortification is one of the conditions of the perfect missionary, but he can be good without being perfect, and will they themselves be good if they do not mortify their spirit ? This is what we will see with time.

We spent eight or ten days at my brother's with Mr Papetart, always full of courage and making gigantic projects liable to compromise more or less our work in case of failure, above all if it were in France. There is less to be feared in Spain, only the sources of alms could dry up, as would very probably happen if the two priests that he has sent should return immediately with their minds badly disposed. It would have been better to wait longer and send only solid men. Finally, let us hope that God will settle all things.

You must have suffered a great deal during the first days of your crossing. You were constantly in our thoughts, and indeed we were not without fear, seeing the terrible weather in the South of France. However, I have just received news from Marseilles assuring me that the weather cannot have made you run any danger. I am eager to hear from you in person and we await your first letter with impatience.

It is useless to tell you how much all of those who know you directly or indirectly add their wishes to ours that the Lord will direct your steps and bless your first action. All my relatives in particular have asked me to assure you of this.

All of our Gentlemen send you their compliments, as well as Mr Papetart who left me two days ago, to go and spend some time in Marseilles with the plan of returning to Spain.

Kindly say three masses ad intentionem dantis, as soon as you arrive in Sierra Leone, for which Mr Papetart has received the fees.

Quite apart from the French consul, you would do well to immediately go and see the Spanish Consul to whom it appears you have been warmly commended.

Please send us a letter as soon as possible which could be published in the Annals of Propagation of the Faith, and another one for publication in the Spanish newspapers.

Do not leave anything undone to see what possibility there is of procuring some black children for us to be brought up in France or in Spain.

That is all I can say to you today for fear of missing the post, for since yesterday evening I have not had a single instant. This letter is as much for Mr Bresson as for you, so that I send him the same compliments as to you, commending to you holy patience and prudence and the other virtues of the moment that the Good Virgin will obtain for you, I hope, to an ever more eminent degree as it may prove more necessary according to the circumstances.

A thousand kind regards to good brother Eugène, and believe me, very dear confreres, all and for always, in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary, and in union of prayers and of works,

Completely yours in Our Lord,

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. My respectful hommage to Mgr Kobès and a thousand regards to his missionaries.

(Lyons, 20 November 1858)

Sent_0859

Sent_0859 - lettre d'affiliation n° 1 - novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0859 - letter of affiliation no. 1 - November 1858 /1

Sent_0859 - lettre d'affiliation n° 1 - novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0859 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 402 verso

(to.....)

Formula for accepting someone as an affiliated member (draft no. 1).

Index : affiliation

__________

Lyons, November 1858 ()

Letters of Affiliation to the Work of the African Missions

We, Superior of the Society of African Missions, touched at the interest you have shown in our work, at the good that you have already done for it, and at the intention you have evinced to us to help us in future insofar as it lies within your power, so that by combining our efforts, we may more easily extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ and work for the salvation of the barbarous peoples who thus far are groaning in darkness, sitting in the shadow of death, both in our name and in that of our dear confreres, we grant you, in all charity, these letters of affiliation, promising that you will be included in all of our prayers, and desirous, insofar as we can, for you to share in the merits of our apostolate.

Besides, we hope that, for your part, you will perpetually join your prayers to ours so that, despite our unworthiness, we are made co-operators in the work of redemption, and after having preached to others, are not ourselves damned.

You will also be included, after your death, in all the prayers of the Society for the repose of the souls of all dead benefactors and affiliates, so that God will be pleased to grant you full and entire remission of your sins and receive you in the company of the Saints whose number you will have increased, we dare to hope, through your affiliation in our work.

Issued at Lyons, in the seminary of African Missions, on...

Sent_0860

Sent_0860 - Lettre d'affiliation n° 2 - le 21 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0860 - Letter of affiliation no. 2 - 21 November 1858 /1

Sent_0860 - Lettre d'affiliation n° 2 - le 21 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0860 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F5, p 38

Issued at Lyons, in the Seminary of African Missions, on 21 November 1858 ()

Formula for accepting someone as an affiliated member (draft no. 2).

Index : affiliation

__________

Letters of Affiliation to the Work of the African Missions

We, Superior of the Society for African Missions, touched at the interest you show in our work, at the good you have already done for it, and at the intention you have expressed of helping us in future, insofar as lies in your power, so that by combining our efforts and our prayers we can more easily work for the salvation of the barbarous people groaning thus far in the darkness, sitting in the shadow of death, both on our behalf and on behalf of our dear confreres, we grant you, in all charity, these letters of affiliation, promising you that you will be included in all of our prayers, works, privations, sufferings and even martyrdom, if God finds us worthy of dying for the cause of the Holy Gospel.

You will also be included, after your deaths, in the prayers made in the Society for the repose of the souls of all dead benefactors and affiliates, so that that God will be pleased to grant you full and entire remission of your sins, and to receive you in the company of Saints whose number you will have increased, we dare hope, through your affiliation in our work.

Issued at Lyons, in the Seminary of African Missions, on 21 November 1858

Granted to.......... on........

By proxy

Sent_0861

Sent_0861 - à M. Vian - le 24 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0861 - to Mr Vian - 24 November 1858 /1

Sent_0861 - à M. Vian - le 24 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0861 Original, AMA 2F1, p 391

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

Why would he not be the chaplain of the house that he would like to open in Andalusia for young Blacks ? Can I count on you ?

Index : house in Andalusia

__________

Lyons, 24 November 1858 ()

Very dear friend.

Already retired ! It seems to me that it is very early still. Why not work on until the end, even while suffering ? Merits are increased tenfold by the suffering that accompanies work, witness Saint Teresa.

However, do not believe that this is a reproach that I am making you, but a temptation. What would you say if I were to offer you to direct in Spain, under the fine sun of Andalusia, a small colony of women religious such for example as the Trinitarians from Marseilles, with whom we are now negotiating, to direct them and help them set up a house of young Blacks and young Negresses whom we would send in order for you to give them back later after bringing them up there ?

All of this is in the contingent future, and very probably some time will elapse before we undertake it ; but, if I could count on you, there would be one difficulty less to have to overcome.

I will add nothing more for today, we are in a moment of adversity, for the bad days often follow the good ones. A Dieu. Pray for us, and believe me your affectionate friend in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 24 November 1858)

Sent_0862

Sent_0862 - à M. Albrand - le 27 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0862 - to Mr Albrand - 27 November 1858 /1

Sent_0862 - à M. Albrand - le 27 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0862 Original, AMEP, vol. 46, pp 359-360

(to Mr François Albrand)

(director of the Seminary in Paris)

Mr Bébin, a candidate for our society, was with the MEP for some months. Would you give me your opinion regarding him?

Index : recruitment

__________

Lyons, 27 November 1858

Seminary of African Missions

Monsieur le Supérieur,

Allow me to ask a service of you. Abbé Bébin,() a priest from the diocese of Rheims, has asked me to join our endeavour. In the letter I wrote back to him, he was asked to give me his story and told me, among other things, that he had stayed for a few months in the Seminary of Foreign Missions. This makes me fear that he may be inconstant or have other faults that make him unsuitable for the apostolic career in the missions.

I would be extremely grateful, Monsieur le Supérieur, if you would kindly tell me confidentially what your opinion is on this matter. We are all working for the same cause, we will always be happy to have the opportunity of helping one another. Please rest assured that this will always be my stance, meanwhile I beg you to accept such assurance with that of my completely devoted and affectionate sentiments.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. You would do me a favour to answer me as soon as possible.

(Lyons, 27 November 1858)

Sent_0863

Sent_0863 - aux supérieurs des séminaires - le 27 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0863 - to the Susperiors of Seminaries - 27 November 1858 /1

Sent_0863 - aux supérieurs des séminaires - le 27 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0863 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 403

(to all the Superiors of the major seminaries of France)

To send them a notice on the Society of African Missions in case of...

Index : publicity, recruitment

__________

Lyons, 27 November 1858 ()

Seminary of African Missions

Monsieur le Supérieur,

I have the honour of sending you a copy of the Notice on the Society for African Missions.

I hope, Monsieur le Supérieur, that you will be kind enough to read it carefully and communicate it to the directors of your major seminary so that if, among your pupils, there is anyone that the Spirit of God inspires to come to the help of completely abandoned peoples, you can help them with your wise advice in full cognizance of what is involved.

My first missionaries for the mission of Sierra Leone have just left and I shall soon be going out to join them, leaving our Seminary under the direction of Abbé Planque, who holds the office of Superior.

In union of prayers and of good works, I beg you to accept, Monsieur le Supérieur, the expression of my entire devotion in Our Lord.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 27 November 1858)

Sent_0864

Sent_0864 - au cardinal de Bonald - le 29 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0864 - to Cardinal de Bonald - 29 November 1858 /2

Sent_0864 - au cardinal de Bonald - le 29 novembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0864 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 410

(to His Eminence Cardinal de Bonald)

(archbishop of Lyons)

He has never had occasion to preach in Lyons, but could he launch a subscription for the building of a seminary ? Would the cardinal agree to enter his name at the top of the list ?

Index : funding, subscription

__________

Lyons, 29 November 1858 ()

Your Eminence,

You are perhaps on the point of departing for Rome, Your Eminence, while I myself cannot fail to leave quite soon for Africa. Accordingly allow me to ask of you a fresh grace in favour of our Seminary, that Y.E., I hope, will never have occasion to repent of having seen set up in the illustrious city of your primacy.

Y.E. has allowed me to preach our work in your diocese, and I have done so in several towns which all responded with generosity to my appeal. It is only in Lyons that I have been prevented from doing so by various circumstances, and my departure is too close now for me to await a favourable occasion. Besides all things come to an end, and I believe that I have already preached enough for this purpose.

However, I would be sad to see, Your Eminence, that Lyons had not contributed, as would be proper to its reputation for charity and zeal for the missions, to the foundation of the seminary of African Missions. I would like to be able to say and to allow it to be entered in our records that the diocese of Lyons had done more than any other either in France, or abroad.

Now, it is not the goodwill of the inhabitants of Lyons that is lacking, I feel sure, but merely the occasion which is not offered to them in a suitable manner. Well, Your Eminence, let us provide them with this occasion for a subscription to the building of our seminary, for as from now we have to envisage a construction.

If Y.E., as I dare expect, approves of this means, Mr de Serres will be good enough to present you with the notebook still blank, and I would be happy if you would kindly enter your name at the head of the subscription. However modest the figure that Y.E. is able to devote to this work, you would give it the full weight of your lofty approval, and I feel certain that everyone would wish to subscribe following Y.E.'s example

Finally, if, against all my expectations, Y.E. should feel you must refuse me this satisfaction, rest assured that I will be no less grateful to you for all the tokens of benevolence that you have given elsewhere and that I will never cease to entertain the feelings of respectful devotion with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 29 November 1858)

Sent_0865

Sent_0865 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 12 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0865 - to his sister Bathilde - 12 december 1858 /2

Sent_0865 - à sa soeur Bathilde - le 12 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0865 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1858

(to his sister Bathilde)

Of the three Spanish candidates, two have left and the third is preparing to leave. Perhaps Mr Papetart's collections will suffer as a result of these departures ? If you want to become a religious of the African Missions, you should go to Marseilles, to the Trinitarian sisters.

Index : Spanish candidates

__________

Lyons, 12 December 1858

Very dear friend,

The letter my father wrote me after yours proves that he has recovered his strength and I hope that this will continue despite the bad weather. In any case would you be kind enough to write to me from time to time to assure me of it.

Since I have come back to Lyons, I have lived withdrawn from everything, beside the fire, without any other amusement than the distractions of my poor Spaniards, who were really not cut out to be missionaries. As you know already, the two priests have left, while brother Narciso will soon be doing the same. This is a trial that will have cost us dear in effort and in money. While Mr Papetart is a good collector of money, it appears that he is not so clever at collecting men, or at least that he was not so adept at his first attempt.

I still do not know if this mishap will diminish his prestige in Spain or not, and if he will find himself hindered in the collections of alms that he still planned to make; he has left once more for that country, and should by now be at Valencia, though I still have not heard from him. I am leaving the day after tomorrow for Paris, where I will only be staying for a short time. If I stop off on the way, as I plan to do, I will only arrive there on Saturday in the evening, once more c/o Mrs Blanchet, rue de Londres 31. Tell my father that, as soon as I arrive, that is as from Monday or Tuesday, I will see to his errand.

If you have any to give me, let me know, but if you want to become a religious of the African Missions, you will have to go to Marseilles to do your noviciate, with the sisters who are very probably going to join us in the same work.

A Dieu. A thousand compliments to my father and my mother.

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 12 December 1858)

Sent_0866

Sent_0866 - à M. Vian - le 12 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0866 - to Mr Vian - 12 December 1858 /1

Sent_0866 - à M. Vian - le 12 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0866 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 394-395

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

We are grateful for any gifts received, but what we need above all are men ; news of his father.

Index : recruitment, funding

__________

Lyons, 12 December 1858 ()

A few words in reply to your good letter of the first of this month, very dear friend, which bears witness once more to your zeal and your goodwill ; may the Lord give you later the strength and the means of employing them for what we consider to be his greatest glory.

We will be extremely grateful to receive all you can send us for our the future seminary building, but what we would need above all at present are men, solid and devoted men, men of God and of zeal. Pray that the good God sends us such men, and that those whom he inspires are not prevented by the impediments that men, and doubtlesss also the demon, place in their way.

I was very sad to hear of your father's condition. At his age, one cannot expect anything else, however that does not make it any less painful. At a certain point I feared the same thing for mine who has just entered his 86th year. But he now appears to have recovered his full vigour, and has just written me a letter which, by its writing, style and ideas, is that of a man of forty.

A Dieu. Remember me to those who are close to you and know me, and commend me to their prayers.

Completely yours in Christo.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 12 December 1858)

Sent_0867

Sent_0867 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0867 - to his cousin Louis - 12 December 1858 /1

Sent_0867 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0867 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 30

(to his cousin Louis)

(Deputy Imperial Prosecutor, Toulouse)

In Paris where he is due to go shortly, he will do his best to be useful to him.

Index : friendship, family

__________

Lyons, 12 December 1858

It's ages since I received your letter of 12 November, very dear Louis, and of course you can count on my doing all I can for you while I am in Paris. I shall be leaving tomorrow or the day after, and stopping off in certain towns on the way, I do not expect to arrive in Paris until Saturday. If you have any new information to give me, write to me c/o Mrs Blanchet, Rue de Londres 31.

Kindly remember me to your wife and to your charming children.

In her last letter, Mrs Blanchet told me : "it is said that Mr de Sibert is no longer so powerful, and that he is due to retire from the Council of State. Mr de Launaguet has fully recovered the use of his legs, I have been told, and is very keen on having you".

A Dieu, completely and affectionately yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 12 December 1858)

Sent_0868

Sent_0868 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - le 14 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0868 - to the bishop of Grenoble - 14 December 1858 /2

Sent_0868 - à l'évêque de Grenoble - le 14 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0868 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 409

(to Mgr Jacques Marie Achille Ginoulhiac

(bishop of Grenoble)

Yet another letter to urge him not to retain any longer in his diocese those who are eager to join the African Missions.

Index : recruitment, Grenoble affair

__________

(Lyons), 14 December 1858 ()

My Lord Bishop,

Allow me, now that I am making my preparations for departure to Africa, to insist once more in respect of Y.L. not to restrain for too long the zeal of those of your ecclesiastics who are willing to sacrifice themselves for such an important work as that which we are undertaking with so much effort.

Immense regions which still do not know Jesus Christ ; the growing progress of Mohammedanism ; the establishment of the Protestants in a host of places where Catholics are not present ; the discoveries of the Livingstones, the Barths and other Protestant ministers who, to the detriment of our holy law, give such lustre to Protestantism ; the action that France is due to exercise on the African continent in the near future ; its views on Madagascar and a host of other reasons do not leave the slightest doubt as to the advantage that the Catholic religion would gain from a seminary of African Missions sufficiently numerous to meet some of these immense needs.

The work is begun, the good God has blessed the first germ, but how can this germ develop if those who are willing to sacrifice themselves to its future are prevented from doing so ? You blessed my first missionaries to leave, My Lord, give your blessing also to those of your children who are so generous as not to draw back in the face of this hard mission. Do not regret them. The zeal that they display will cause new ecclesiastic vocations to arise and will better those of whom a large number still remain with you.

By the apostolic spirit common to our episcopal office, I therefore beg Y.L. not to delay any further the permission requested by certain of your children, asking you at the same time, My Lord, to accept...

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons ?, 14 December 1858)

Sent_0869

Sent_0869 - au P. Planque - le 20 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0869 - to Father Planque - 20 December 1858 /1

Sent_0869 - au P. Planque - le 20 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0869 Original, AMA 2F1, p 362

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I have just arrivcd in Paris. I have nothing to tell you.

Index : friendship

__________

Paris, 20 December 1858

We arrived on Saturday evening, very dear Mr Planque, and although I have nothing to tell you, except that, I am writing these few short lines to say so and also that I was rather surprised not to find any letter for me, having received none yesterday either.

A Dieu. All the best to you.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 20 December 1858)

Sent_0870

Sent_0870 - au P. Planque - le 26 décembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0870 - to Father Planque - 26 December 1858 /2

Sent_0870 - au P. Planque - le 26 décembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0870 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 398-399

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Some news, He has visited several ministries in Paris and hopes to obtain certain advantages as a result. The candidates : those of Grenoble, useless to insist further; Mr Bébin, Mr Maunoury, the young man from Nîmes. His plans for going to Belgium. As for Ireland, it is cancelled. The Holy Childhood has allocated us 2,000 francs : this has been noted.

Index : house of Lyons. recruitment, recommendation, Grenoble affair

__________

Paris, 26 December 1858

The whole of this week has been employed, my very dear Mr Planque, in sounding out the intentions of the ministries : Foreign Affairs, the Navy, Cults, and the Colonies. I have good hope of obtaining letters of recommendation for the consular agents and officers of the navy in those waters, and even a passage on the State's ships. That will be more difficult. If I obtain it, I hope that we will be able to leave in February with the new commander of the station. That would be the utmost that could be desired because, during the voyage, I would have occasion to come into close contact with that senior officer who might later render us great services.

The bishop of Grenoble has answered me, still refusing under the pretext of lack of subjects, and ending up by begging me not to insist any further. Thus, I think that, for a long time, we have to give up the idea of our Gentlemen of Grenoble.

I have answered Mr Bébin in such a way that, if he comes, we may presume that he has a good vocation.

I have learned through the superior of the seminary of Rennes that Mr Maunoury was also in the seminary of Foreign Missions. Before admitting him, I want to know what were the causes of his departure from Rue du Bac.

See in your theology books to what extent the young man from Nîmes is irregular ; then we should answer that he can only be accepted if the bishopric of Nîmes would undertake to rectify his irregular position and grant him the necessary dimissorial letters. It is up to that young man to put his position right and overcome the difficulties. I think he will be unable to do so, but we could perhaps do so even less later on, and his condition does not make us regret him too much.

I am sending you a letter from Mr Papetart for the Superior of the major seminary of Lyons. He writes to me from Valencia, I received his letter today. It appears that he is doing nothing in that town. His confidence seems to be diminishing somewhat.

I still have not been able to deal with anything outside of the steps taken with the ministry. I do not know if, some time this week, I will have an answer. If I had it, I would try to go to Belgium, but as for Ireland, I think I will be obliged to give that up, above all if our departure were for February.

I have seen the factotum of the Holy Childhood who seems well inclined. Besides, they have allocated us two thousand francs instead of one thousand, and have handed them over to me. They are noted on the report.

Would you kindly tell Mr and Mrs Hobitz that I saw their son the day before yesterday. He is quite well and appears very content, preparing eagerly to undergo the challenge of a new examination. I introduced him to my cousin, but the difference in age and studies will perhaps not permit them to see each other often.

A thousand compliments to all those who ask you for my news, and in particular to the Superior of the Ursulines. A Dieu.

Kind regards to everyone from me and from Mr Riocreux.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 26 December 1858)

Sent_0871

Sent_0871 - au Ministre des Af. Etr. - le 26 décembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0871 - to the Minister of Foreign Affairs - 26 December 1858 /2

Sent_0871 - au Ministre des Af. Etr. - le 26 décembre 1858 -/2

Sent 0871 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 396-397

(to His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs)

He explains the creation of the African Missions, the goal of this institution, and requests the government's support : letters of recommendation to the consular agents on the spot, the possibility of using the State's ships.

Index : recommandation

__________

Paris, 26 December 1858 ()

Mr Minister,

Allow me to send Your Excellency a letter from the cardinal archbishop of Bourges, and meanwhile to outline the goal of the work that I have just founded at Lyons, as well as that of the voyage that I propose making along the coasts of Guinea. For I feel sure, Mr Minister, that the Government of His Majesty the Emperor will wish to facilitate the possibility for me of carrying through this difficult undertaking.

Accordingly I have founded at Lyons a Seminary of African Missions whose goal is to establish missions in the most abandoned countries of Africa. The venture is only just starting, and yet the Holy See has just created and entrusted to us a new Apostolic Vicariate which will bear the name of Sierra Leone.

I have already sent out two priests and a lay brother to Freetown where I am due to go myself shortly. But before establishing myself there, I have also to make a voyage of exploration, for the purpose of singling out the places at present unoccupied by Catholic missionaries where we could set ourselves up with some chances of success, and from where we might hope to penetrate into the interior of the continent later.

Such an undertaking, Mr Minister, is not only apostolic, but clearly it seems to me also of such a nature as to foster the civilisation of the peoples of Africa and to increase French influence everywhere where we send out our missionaries, which leads me to hope that the Government will not refuse me its benevolent support. Accordingly I am desirous of obtaining for the moment :

1) letters of recommendation to the consular agents and naval officers in the service of France in these parts;

2) the faculty of visiting the coasts on the State's ships, calling in at the largest number of points possible, from Saint-Louis or Gorée to Gabon ;

3) a passage on the State's ships for myself, one priest and one lay brother, both for leaving France and for making the above-mentioned voyage.

Kindly accept, Mr Minister, the expression of my highest consideration.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

Allow me to hope, Mr Minister, that you will be so good as to give me your support in respect of His Excellency the Minister of the Navy for everything regarding his department, for requesting of him the passages in question, and will yourself grant me, with a passport, everything that I could expect to obtain of your goodwill.

(Paris, 26 December 1858)

Sent_0872

Sent_0872 - au Ministre de la Marine - décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0872 - to the Minister of the Navy - December 1858 /2

Sent_0872 - au Ministre de la Marine - décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0872 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 400-401

(to the Ministry of the Navy)

He explains the creation of the African Missions, the goal of his work and the necessity of making a voyage of exploration. Since his work will increase the influence of France, he requests letters of recommendation for the consular agents on the spot and the possibility of making use of the State's ships.

Index : recommandation

__________

(Paris, 26 December 1858) ()

N O T E

Mgr de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse, (in partibus infidelium), has founded at Lyons the Seminary of African Missions, for the purpose of establishing missions in the most abandoned countries of Africa.

The Holy See has just created the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone and entrusted it to this prelate, who has already sent out two priests and a lay brother to Freetown. He will shortly be going to rejoin them himself, and quite apart from what he may believe it possible to do in Sierra Leone, he is due to carry out a voyage of exploration of the coasts of Guinea, to study which are the points at present unoccupied by Catholic missionaries, where religious establishments could begin to be set up with some chances of success, and from which hopefully to penetrate later into the interior of the continent.

Mgr de Marion Brésillac is persuaded that such an undertaking is not only apostolic above all, but that it is also of such a kind as to foster the civilisation of the peoples of Africa, and to increase France's influence everywhere he sends out his missionaries. He therefore hopes that the Government of His Majesty the Emperor will facilitate the means of carrying it out and, in such hope, is desirous of obtaining:

1) letters of recommendation to the consular agents and the naval officers in the service of France, in those parts;

2) the possibility of visiting the coasts on the State's ships calling in at the largest number of points possible, from Saint-Louis to Gabon ;

3)a passage on the State's ships for himself, one missionary priest and one lay brother who will accompany him, both for the above-mentioned voyage and for leaving France, and for the voyage back if he does not remain in Freetown after his return from Gabon.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 26 December 1858)

Sent_0873

Sent_0873 - à son cousin Louis - le 26 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0873 - to his cousin Louis - 26 December 1858 /2

Sent_0873 - à son cousin Louis - le 26 décembre 1858 -/1

Sent 0873 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 31

(to his cousin Louis)

The proceedings he has undertaken in Paris. For Louis, he has little hope of succeeding in doing anything. His father-in-law is irritated at the news that his daughter (Louis's wife) is once more pregnant.

Index : family (matters), recommandation

__________

Paris, 26 December 1858

Although I have been here for the last eight days, very dear Louis, I have done practically nothing. What I wish to obtain for myself seems almost nothing, since I am requesting neither money, nor place, and yet it involves endless proceedings, involving above all four ministries : of Worship, the Navy, Foreign Affairs and the Colonies, and all of this perhaps for nothing. However I am still hoping and then I would leave for Africa in the month of February, which would oblige me to leave Paris shortly.

I really would like, during this brief stay, to be able to do you some service, but I very much fear, I admit, that there is prejudice against you, both in the ministry and in the Court of Toulouse. As for your father-in-law, he is very irritated at this moment. I have seen him and he came to see me.

The first time, there was someone with him, and I was brief, but he found time to speak to me of the news he has just heard, and which failed to amuse him. I laughed at it, and did so again the second time when he came to see me, and if were only for that, I feel pretty sure that I would end up by making him laugh too, and after the event he would be glad about the child the good God will give you as with your last and so sweet child, but he appears to be cross about other things, and you know better than me what are the reasons for his discontent, about which I cannot do very much.

Finally, I will see him again and, without dealing with any question, I'll try and bring him round by repeating, on every possible occasion, the good qualities of your wife, which always mollifies him. From that point of view, I would fear that your presence in Paris, at the moment, might do more harm than good.

So that, dear cousin, is all that I can say to you, and in closing I would ask you to carry forward by a few days my new year's wishes for you, your wife and your children, whom I found charming, and who are so in fact, and who must unfailingly cause you to be congratulated on being a father once more. May God bless them, as well as the young creature of whom he has to make a Christian, and all the rest will be a small thing. A Dieu.

Completely, affectionately yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 26 December 1858)

Sent_0874

Sent_0874 - au P. Planque - le 1er janvier 1859/1

Sent 0874 - to Father Planque - 1 January 1859/2

Sent_0874 - au P. Planque - le 1er janvier 1859/1

Sent 0874 Original, Archives NDA, Rome

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

If this year were my last, you would be there to ensure that the work did not come to an untimely end. Proceedings in the ministries are very lengthy. Mr Papetart no longer has the same success in Spain. His programme for the next few days. Some internal matters.

Index : house of Lyons, preaching, administration

__________

Paris, 1 January 1859

May I begin, very dear Mr Planque, by offering you my best wishes for the new year. May heaven bless you and bless us with our work, which is completely its and of which we must be the faithful albeit unworthy instruments. It alone knows all that awaits me by way of sorrows and difficulties this year, but it seems to me that, through its grace, I am ready to suffer everything, the tests of physical and moral storm, and if the sea and its reefs decided that this year would be the last, you would be there to ensure that the work did not run aground.

It is not only at Rome that things are never-ending when dealing with any sort of offices. I am waiting each day for an anwer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without which I cannot go ahead. This annoys me extremely because, if there should be any further delay, I will find myself obliged to give up my journey to Belgium.

I have received another letter from Mr Papetart who is doing nothing in Valencia, or at least who had done nothing when he wrote to me. I do not know if I am mistaken, but I have the idea that the vein in Spain has dried up. That scarcely encourages me to undertake the considerable expenses for big medals, seals, etc. Would it not be better to see what transpires first ? What do you think ? In any case, I have forgotten to bring the image of the Holy Family going into Egypt ; please send it to me in your next letter.

In the Foreign Missions, according to Mr Ferron, they do not bother at all with the title, following the practice in some way established by the present state of the Church in France ; whereas, they require dimissorial letters and no longer accept just an exeat.

Mr Riocreux and myself have said 39 masses with the current intention.

I have seen Mr du Glayeux, President of the Institution of Propagation of the Faith, who invited me to dine next Wednesday. The Gentlemen of the Holy Childhood appear very well disposed. If I am still in Paris on the 13th, I have to go and say mass and address a few words to the general meeting. The day after tomorrow, I am going to sing pontifical high mass at Saint-Etienne-du-Mont for the celebrated feast of Saint Genevieve ; as you know, it was on the closing of this feast that the archbishop was murdered in that church.

A Dieu ; see that my wishes are passed on to all the others, to Mr Baylure, to the students, and the brothers, although I am writing a short note to Mr Courdioux who sent me new year's wishes. A Dieu.

P.S. I have seen Mr Maunoury ; I think he will come some time in January.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 1 January 1859)

Sent_0875

Sent_0875 - à son frère Henri - le 1er janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0875 - to his brother Henri - 1 January 1859 /2

Sent_0875 - à son frère Henri - le 1er janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0875 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 224-225

(to his brother Henri)

New Year's letter with some news of the work : the slowness of administration in Paris, Mr Papetart's lack of success for the moment in Spain, the departure of the three Spaniards, his good relations with Propagation of the Faith and the Holy Childhood.

Index : family, SMA (foundation)

__________

Paris, 1 January 1859

I am glad I did not write to you yesterday, very dear Henri, as I intended, since this morning I received your letter and can not only convey to you my best wishes for yourself and your family, but answer all of yours at the same time. I will not continue any further on this point, since my sentiments are well known to you and my pen would not say any more than your heart.

It is not only in Rome that things are never-ending when dealing with offices, whatever they may be. Here I am for the last two weeks, very eager not to stay for a long time in Paris, above all if my departure for Africa should take place in the month of February, and yet I still cannot see when I will be able to leave. I am waiting every day for an answer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and yet it never comes. I will write to you in any case before leaving Paris.

The departure of the Spanish priests in fact proved a great disappointment to me, all the more so since their arrival led me to incur considerable and quite useless expenses. Moreover, it appears that Mr Papetart is doing little or nothing in Spain since returning there. He has written to me in the last few days and asks to be remembered to you and to Joséphine to whom he offers his respectful homage.

The only benefit I have obtained from this journey thus far is to establish ever closer relations with the Institution of Propagation of the Faith and that of the Holy Childhood, the two foster-mothers of the missions. The latter, as you doubtless know, is ensured by children, for the children of pagan countries. And this gives me the opportunity of suggesting to you that your two children really should join it if they haven't yet done so. It would cost them one sol per month, until they are older when they could support Propagation of the Faith.

This charity, whose revenues this year amount to over one million francs, has allocated two thousands francs to me so that on arriving I see how to use them for the salvation of abandoned black children, or who are otherwise in need of aid.

I hope that Georges will learn to read well this year and even something more ; it would really be a shame for him to waste his early years. That would affect him later for the rest of his life. Give him my affectionate regards, as well as to Jeanne and to your wife who does not doubt of my good wishes, any more than do you, my dear friend, to whom long protestations would be superfluous. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 1 January 1859)

Sent_0876

Sent_0876 - au P. Planque - le 9 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0876 - to Father Planque - 9 January 1859 /2

Sent_0876 - au P. Planque - le 9 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0876 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 419-420

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Slowness of the administration, which will perhaps prevent me from going to Belgium. The Trinitarians of Marseilles give up the idea of supporting us in Spain. Some internal news : Mr Papetart, Mr Maunoury.

Index : administration, house in Andalusia, SMA (foundation)

__________

Paris, 9 January 1859

Still nothing is final, my dear Mr Planque, and they are still keeping me in suspense. The Minister of Foreign Affairs required information from the Minister of Cults. I saw the latter who appears very well disposed. It is incredible how much time it takes for every little thing ; and yet leaving Paris before completing it all would be extremely imprudent. So I do not know if I will be able to go to Belgium. In case I suddenly can, would you kindly give me exact directions for going to see your mother and her address so that I can write to her in advance.

I have renewed our subscription to l'Univers.

You do not owe me the balance for December.

To my great surprise, I received the following letter from Mr Margalhan Ferrat of the convent of the Trinitarians of Marseilles :

"As we had agreed, our Sisters have said prayers and asked others to pray in order to ascertain God's will regarding the work of the missions. Only after long reflection and after having used all the means that God gives us on such an occasion, did the community decide that it had not been chosen to back up your zeal in the missions of Africa..." The rest is to say that they will pray for us and the success of our work.

Nothing from Mr Papetart.

Abbé Maunoury does not have permission to come before Easter.

Kindly thank the Superior of the Ursulines. I think that you have already conveyed to her my new year's wishes for her and her pious community.

A Dieu. Kind regards to everyone.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 9 January 1859)

Sent_0877

Sent_0877 - à M. Vian - le 14 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0877 - to Mr Vian - 14 January 1859 /2

Sent_0877 - à M. Vian - le 14 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0877

Original, AMA 2F1, pp 425-426

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I am in Paris to ask for help from the State. Good news from our first missionaries who have arrived in Dakar. The Protestants are giving us a bad reputation. I regret the renunciation of the Trinitarian Ladies of Marseilles.

Index : Sierra Leone (first departure), Protestants

__________

Paris, 14 January 1859

Forgive me, my dear Mr Vian, for having delayed so long in thanking you for your New Year's wishes. You can have no doubt as to my feelings and will excuse me on the grounds of my occupations. Besides, I hope you will have preceded my wishes to your parents.

I hope that the government will grant me a passage on the State's ships, but I still do not have the official reply. And this is what is holding me back in Paris when I am so eager to leave, for if I depart for Africa in the month of February, as it would appear, time is precious to me and I would prefer to spend it in Lyons.

Yesterday I received news from my first missionaries. They write to me from Dakar which they are due to leave in a few days' time for Sierra Leone. Despite terrible weather and considerable suffering, they arrived safely at their first port of call. Let us hope that their guardian angels and the Holy Virgin will lead them in the same way to Freetown and make them capable of overcoming the first difficulties awaiting them there.

It appears that the welcome the Protestants give to them will not be the least. They have heard that, in their newspapers, the Catholic priest is represented as a monster that the poor Blacks are capable of believing ready to devour all the inhabitants of the country. Let us hope that on seeing us they will recognise that we are men like anyone else, with the sole desire to do good to them, them and the Protestants even who treat us in this way, and that we are desirous of saving everyone, not by force or violence, but exclusively by virtue from on high.

It is with great astonishment and not without some sorrow that I have been informed that the Trinitarian Ladies of Marseilles refuse to help us, as they seemed so desirous of doing, in our undertaking. On the basis of what I had seen and heard of them, I expected a diametricallly opposite answer.

We may expect plenty of difficulties as regards personnel. Everything that these Gentlemen have seen at Dakar and Gorée, and all that they have heard about Sierra Leone gives them the hope of a great deal of good to be done ; but how can this be achieved without a large number of priests ? Oh ! pray that the Lord sends workers unto his vineyard. It is in this union of prayers that I ask you, my dear friend, to accept the fresh assurance of my affectionate attachment.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 14 January 1859)

Sent_0878

Sent_0878 - au P. Planque - le 14 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0878 - to Father Planque - 14 January 1859 /2

Sent_0878 - au P. Planque - le 14 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0878 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 423-424

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

The slowness of the administration in Paris. He is planning a journey to Belgium in several seminaries, and to Cherny to see Father Planque's mother. Read out in the community Mr Reymond's letter and set up a register for news from Africa. Some internal news. Preaching to the Holy Childhood.

Index : administration, preaching, recruitment, finances, archives

__________

Paris, 14 January 1859

Truly, it is enough to make anyone lose patience, my dear Mr Planque, experiencing the longwindedness of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the only one with which we have to deal seriously later on. It seems that what I have requested has been granted, and yet I still have not received any clear official answer ; and Mr Faugères, who deals with these questions, is rarely to be seen, given his many occupations.

Meanwhile time is passing and, if we have to leave from Brest about the 10th or 12th February, time is very short. I would like to be in a position to leave Wednesday for Amiens, Thursday for Arras, Friday for Lille or rather Cherny and Saturday for Brussels : thus to visit each day one seminary of Belgium and then get back as soon as possible to Lyons. Will I manage it ?

You should receive this letter tomorrow and, since you have the time to do so, kindly write to your brother, etc., as well as to your mother, to whom I will write just a few words once I can tell her the day and time of my arrival at Séclin. Could you also give me directions on how to get from Séclin to your mother's place.

I think you have read in the community almost all of the letter from Mr Reymond ; it is written, it seems to me, to encourage and edify our young men. If you have not already done so, I will send it back to you after replying to it, so that you can read it all apart from a few lines.

It would be a good idea to set up a register entitled correspondence from missionaries, which would contain all the letters including the details, remarks, or which might be interesting from any point of view, integrally or in the form of extracts. Kindly prepare it so that, on my arrival, we can transcribe Mr Reymond's letter immediately.

Would you please say to Mr Menis, after thanking him for his wishes and offering him mine that, if I leave in February, I would be glad to take with me all that remains for us to draw from our allocation for 1858. If in order to do so we have to write to Propagation of the Faith to advise them in advance, I will do that, unless you could do it in my place, which would put them in official contact with you as my representative.

Yesterday I officiated in the Holy Childhood where I preached, urging all those youngsters to give their support later to Propagation of the Faith. On Sunday, I am going to celebrate in Saint-Sulpice. All of this is fine, but does not advance my business regarding Sierra Leone, which alone interests me absolutely. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 14 January 1859)

Sent_0879

Sent_0879 - au P. Planque - le 17 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0879 - to Fataher Planque - 17 January 1859 /2

Sent_0879 - au P. Planque - le 17 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0879 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 421-422

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

His programme for Amiens and Belgium. Foreign Affairs have granted my three requests. I will also have a diplomatic passport. I have seen Mgr Bessieux. I hope soon to be back in Lyons.

Index : recommandation, SMA (foundation)

__________

Paris, 17 January 1859 ()

Finally, very dear Mr Planque, I am leaving the day after tomorrow for Amiens and Belgium where I will dedicate a single day to each major seminary, and even then I almost regret this time, for the moments will be short indeed in Lyons before my definitive departure. On my return to Paris, I will have to spend a further two or three days to see once more the senior representatives in the Ministries of the Navy and of Foreign Affairs, in order to be sure that they have fulfilled their promises and to know exactly the time of departure. For, yesterday evening, I received the answer from the Minister for Foreign Affairs who assures that what I requested has been granted, namely :

1) a free passage for me, Mr Riocreux and brother Gratien on a State ship. I think that this will be a frigate that is being fitted out at this moment at Brest and which will carry the new station commander ;

2) the faculty of making use of the state's ships, when their service so permits, to visit the coast ;

3) recommendations to the consular agents and naval officers to protect us if need be, finally a diplomatic passport. This last concession has still not been agreed, but it has been more or less promised to me.

If departure takes place towards mid-February, as you see the time will not be long.

Kindly foresee whatever still remains to be done for this departure so that nothing is forgotten.

Mgr Bessieux is here. I saw him yesterday. He seems animated by good sentiments, as also does Mgr Kobès, as you will see from Mr Reymond's letter. I had asked him to lunch this morning, he had promised but then did not come under the pretext of an indisposition. I always distrust a little the Superior General of the Holy Spirit whom I have never met, but perhaps this is a false fear.

I hope to be back at the end of next week and by the beginning of the one after to be in Lyons. If any letters arrive, continue to send them here, c/o Mrs Blanchet, they will wait for me. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

Apart from a few words that you can easily omit from the reading, you can read out all of Mr Reymond's letter to the whole community.

(Paris, 17 January 1859)

Sent_0880

Sent_0880 - au Ministre des Af. Et. - le 17 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0880 - to the Minister of Foreign Affairs - 17 January 1859 /1

Sent_0880 - au Ministre des Af. Et. - le 17 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0880 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 407

(to the Minister of Foreign Affairs)

To thank him for what he has just granted him. In addition he asks for a diplomatic passport.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), recommandation

__________

Paris, 17 January 1859 ()

I have the honour of acknowledging receipt of the letter in which you inform me that, on your kind recommendation, His Excellency the Minister of the Navy is prepared to authorise our embarking on one of the State's ships due to put out to sea in about one month's time. I hasten to let you know, Mr Minister, that it is with joy and gratitude that we will take up and accept the offer made by the Minister of the Navy, for myself, a missionary priest and a lay brother who are to accompany me.

I will be infinitely grateful to you, Mr Minister, if you could kindly inform me, as early as possible, of the time fixed for departure, adding to this favour that of a passport and special recommendation to the consular agents of those parts.

I beg you to accept, Mr Minister, the assurance of my very high consideration.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 17 January 1859)

Sent_0881

Sent_0881 - à M. Faugères - le 17 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0881 - to Mr Faugères - 17 January 1859 /1

Sent_0881 - à M. Faugères - le 17 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0881 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 458

(to Mr Faugères)

(chargé d'affaires in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

To ask him to kindly hand over a letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs (containing an extract from that of Mr Reymond), to let him know as soon as possible the date of their departure and to see that he receives the promised passport.

Index : recommandation, Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Paris, 17 January 1859 (

)

Dear Sir,

I have the honour of sending you enclosed herewith a letter to His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the extract from a letter from Abbé Reymond.

You will appreciate, Sir, how set we are, as Frenchmen, on our consular agents being informed as soon as possible of our arrival in those countries, and being requested, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to offer us aid and protection in case of need.

() In my letter to the Minister, I let him know that we will accept with joy the passage on one of the State's ships due to set sail in about a month's time. I count on your goodwill, Sir, to notify us as soon as possible of the time fixed for departure, and to send on to us the passport that you have been so good as to request for myself and my secretary.

  1. Together with the expression of my gratitude, I beg you to accept, Sir, that of my very distinguished consideration.
  2. (Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 17 January 1859)

Sent_0882

Sent_0882 - à son frère Henri - le 18 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0882 - to his brother Henri - 18 January 1859 /2

Sent_0882 - à son frère Henri - le 18 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0882 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 226-227

(to his brother Henri)

To ask him for the address of a women religious whose collaboration could be useful to him in Sierra Leone. The news from Mr Reymond are good, but the Protestants had written virulent articles against them in their newspapers. The advantages granted by the ministries in France ; his future little periplus in Belgium ; his forthcoming departure for Africa.

Index : women religious (in Sierra Leone), Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), Sierra Leone, recommandation

__________

Paris, 18 January 1859

Despite my desire to write to you for the last few days, very dear Henri, perhaps I would still not have done so this evening, because of my numerous occupations, if I did not have some information to ask of you. That is, to know where to find Miss Duperier, the religious, and what her address is. The good that the Sisters of her order do in Gabon and at Dakar, according to the testimony that I have just received from Mr Reymond, prompts me to ask them whether, at a given moment, they would not consent to extend it to Sierra Leone.

As you see, I have received news from our Gentlemen, and Mr Reymond urges me to remember him especially to you. They were in good health and full of hope. Their crossing was very bad, and Mr Bresson suffered from sea-sickness to such a degree that he was only free of it for three or four days. The rest of the time, he lived on a few dried raisins.

They had news from Sierra Leone where the Protestants are enraged at our arrival. It is said that they have brought out, in their newspapers, some virulent articles, in which they represent the priest as a monster vomited from hell. However, they say, it is rumoured, and we will see later if it is true, that the English governor of the Colony has received orders from his government to protect us.

Here I have found considerable goodwill on the part of the Ministers and have obtained the concession of leaving with one of my priests and a brother on one of the State's ships. I still do not know when departure is due, but probably quite soon. I have further obtained permission to make use of the State's ships, when their service so permits, for my voyage to various points of the African coasts, as well as a ministerial passport and recommendations to officers of the Navy and consular agents. This is all that I could have hoped for the moment.

In order to be ready for departure by the time fixed, I intend straight away to make a little excursion in Belgium. It will be a question of eight days. Write to me during that time, so that I find your letter on my arrival. I will confine myself practically to crossing Paris once more before immediately returning to Lyons, where many things still remain to be done before leaving.

No news from Mr Papetart for some time now. I really fear that the vein has dried up. In his last letter, he asked me to convey his compliments to all your family.

Please excuse the haste with which I am writing, give a thousand affectionate regards to Joséphine and your children, and believe me for life

Your good brother.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 18 January 1859)

Sent_0883

Sent_0883 - à l'Empereur - le 18 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0883 - to the Emperor - 18 January 1859 /2

Sent_0883 - à l'Empereur - le 18 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0883 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 387

(to His Imperial Highness)

To ask him for a letter of recommendation for the authorities depending on the ministry directed by him (the Colonies)

Index : recommandation

__________

Paris, 18 January 1859 ()

My Lord,

On going to take possession of the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone that the Holy See has just entrusted to me, I have to make a voyage of exploration along the coasts of Guinea, in order to study which are the points where we could, with some chances of success, set up religious centres of action.

This undertaking, apostolic first and foremost, My Lord, is assuredly also of such a nature as to foster the civilisation of the peoples of Africa and to increase France's influence in the parts where we decide to establish ourselves.

From this threefold point of view, I feel certain that it will have Your Imperial Highness's backing, and as Their Excellencies the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Navy have been kind enough to authorise me to embark on one of the State's vessels and to permit me to commend myself to our consular agents and to our officers, may I be permitted to ask you to recommend me also in a special way to the authorities depending on the Ministry directed by Your Imperial Highness ?

It is true that my direct action will not touch on the French Colonies, but I cannot fail to have dealings with them, which makes me hope that Your Imperial Highness will not find my request misplaced.

I beg you to accept, My Lord, the expression of my respectful sentiments with which,

I have the honour of being,

Your Imperial Highness's

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Paris, 18 January 1859)

Sent_0884

Sent_0884 - au P. Planque - le 22 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0884 - to Father Planque - 22 January 1859 /1

Sent_0884 - au P. Planque - le 22 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0884 Original, AMA 2F1, p 427

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

I saw your family yesterday evening : everything goes well.

Index : friendship

__________

Séclin, 22 January 1859

I have no more than a minute, my very dear Mr Planque, to tell you that yesterday evening I saw the whole of your family gathered together with the addition of several parish priests.

Everyone is in excellent health ; I'll leave the details until another time. I have just said holy mass and the train is about to leave.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Séclin, 22 January 1859)

Sent_0885

Sent_0885 - au P. Planque - le 31 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0885 - to Father Planque - 31 January 1859 /1

Sent_0885 - au P. Planque - le 31 janvier 1859 -/1

Sent 0885 Original, AMA 2F1, p 428

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Finally our departure will perhaps be about 15 February. My journey to Belgium went well. I arrive at Lyons the day afrer tomorrow.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), preaching

__________

Paris, 31 January 1859

Very dear Mr Planque,

On arriving from Belgium the day before yesterday, I learned that the departure of the Danaé would perhaps take place earlier than I believed, and yesterday in the evening the Commander, whom I met, thought that it could be some time between 10 and 15 February ; to the point that he advises us not to send our belongings by slow haulage, for fear that they may not arrive in time. If I had known that, I would have hastened even more my journey to Belgium, so as to arrive at least by tomorrow in Lyons. However, I cannot leave until tomorrow Tuesday in the evening at 8 o'clock by the express train, and will arrive on Wednesday morning at 6.43 at the station where you should please send two brothers to collect my trunk.

Although somewhat rushed, our journey to Belgium went well, and I stopped for a little while at Cambrai on the way back. All details will be for later. Let us hope that we will have sowed some vocations for the future.

I will stop here for time presses.

Kind regards to everyone. Until the morning of the day after tomorrow.

A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 31 January 1859)

Sent_0886

Sent_0886 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 31 janvier 1859 -/2

Sent 0886 - to Mgr Bonnand - 31 January 1859 /2

Sent_0886 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 31 janvier 1859 -/2

Sent 0886 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 P, pp 1165-1168

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Drusipare)

(apostolic vicar of Pondicherry)

It is impossible for me to send you what I wrote some time ago to Propaganda regarding the questions of India, or to give you a motivated opinion today, since I have lost sight of these questions. I am always delighted to receive news from India ; continue your correspondence. I plan to leave from Brest on about 10 February. What is most difficult is to find men. Three missionaries have already left.

Index : religion in India, Sierra Leone (1st departure), Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), recruitment

__________

Paris, 31 January 1859

My Lord,

I am unexcusable for having delayed so long in answering your letter of 25 October. I received it as I was about to leave for Paris to make my last preparations for departure to Africa.

And since that time, I have been so busy with various matters and with a journey to Belgium that you will excuse me, I hope, all the more since it is impossible for me to respond to the overture that you are kind enough to make to me otherwise than by feeling gratified at the commission that the Holy See has given you and by assuring you of my best wishes for its perfect success. It would be impossible for me to go and dig among my old papers to find what I wrote long ago to the S.C., and which seems in any case not to have made a very good impression. I do not have these papers with me and, in the rush I am now involved in, I cannot get them together.

Apart from that, since I left India, and above all since I lost all hope of returning there, I have so totally lost sight of the questions related to it, and have been so little regularly updated on what has happened since my departure, that I could not give a motivated opinion. Accordingly I repeat, My Lord, I must content myself with assuring you of my sincere good wishes that the Lord will give you the means of doing all the good that may proceed from your visit.

I briefly saw Mr Albrand and Mr Tesson who informed me of the numerous losses that the missions of India have suffered of late. Mr Beauclair was still one of those whom I knew and whose great qualities I appreciated. How impenetrable are God's designs !

I also learned that you are going to have religious. Is this as a result of good Father Lazare's ideas ? No-one was able to tell me. The schools too, I was told, are prospering and Mr Dupuis's institute for schoolmistresses is doing better and better. May the Lord be praised for that !

As for us, as you know, My Lord, we are going to try to do some good in a new land. Two months ago I sent off two priests and a lay brother for Sierra Leone. I have had their news from Dakar, in Senegal, where they stopped off for a while to see Mgr Kobès and the priests of the Holy Spirit who are evangelising that region. From there, they were to come soon to Freetown, the principal town of the English colony of Sierra Leone, where I am going to join them, leaving in a few days' time.

I have just obtained a passage for myself, a priest and a lay brother, on one of the State's frigates that is due to leave from Brest shortly. It was only yesterday that I heard this definitively, so that I am hastening to return to Lyons, where I have a great many things to settle for my seminary in my absence, for it may happen that I shall be obliged to be at Brest by 10 February. Thus, I am leaving tomorrow for Lyons.

What is most difficult in my undertaking is to find men. The climate of Africa frightens everyone, and I have to admit that fever takes a terrible toll there. But finally, whether we go to heaven as a result of fever, of cholera or of martyrdom, is it not more or less the same thing, when the chances of these deaths are foreseen and accepted in advance for God ? Let us pray that we may understand this. So far, I have very few people at Lyons.

I hope, My Lord, that you will do me the charity of giving me your news from time to time. I think that your letters will arrive directly addressed to Freetown, or else via Lyons.

Please give my friendly regards to all of our old and dear confreres, and you, My Lord, kindly accept the fresh and sincere assurance of my affectionate and respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 31 January 1859)

Sent_0887

Sent_0887 - à son frère Henri - le 1er février 1859 -/1

Sent 0887 - to his brother Henri - 1 February 1859 /2

Sent_0887 - à son frère Henri - le 1er février 1859 -/1

Sent 0887 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 228-229

(to his brother Henri)

Finally we are leaving from Brest for Gorée around 15 February. Good news from Mr Papetart ; good journey to Belgium to speak in the seminaries.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), recruitment, preaching

__________

Paris, 1 February 1859

Just a word, very dear Henri, to tell you that I am leaving Paris this evening. On my arrival from Belgium I found your good letter of 24 January and thank you for the information you give me. I have also been told that my business is completed and even that departure for Africa would not be much delayed, since the frigate which is due to transport us to Gorée is already in the roads. This bothers me a little, for I was expecting to have almost a month after the conclusion, and will be obliged to hastily undertake what I still have to settle in Lyons whence I cannot send my belongings by slow haulage.

We are to leave from Brest so that, in a few days' time, we will have to cross France once more with our luggage, which doesn't amuse me, above all because of the cost.

I still do not know the day of departure ; the captain thinks it will be between the 10th and the 15th, which will leave me only a few days to stay in Lyons. However I hope to receive your news there.

Without his collections being as good as he expected, Mr Papetart is continuing our work in Spain ; he leads us to hope for a small sum shortly.

My journey to Belgium was exclusively to make our work known to the seminaries. I have got a bird's eye view of that charming country.

I have made no further attempts in respect of the Emperor.

Since I have to leave in a few hours from now, I will stop here, asking you to pass on my friendly greetings to your family and never to doubt of my feelings towards you. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Paris, 1 February 1850)

Sent_0888

Sent_0888 - à MM. Planque et Papetart - le 3 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0888 - to Messrs Planque and Papetart - 3 February 1859 /1

Sent_0888 - à MM. Planque et Papetart - le 3 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0888 Original, AMA 2F1, p 429

(Discharge of Messrs Planque and Papetart)

Discharge to Messrs Planque and Papetart, recognising that they owe me nothing.

Index : finances

__________

Lyons, 3 February 1859 ()

I, the undersigned, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse (in partibus) give discharge to Messrs Planque and Papetart of the mandate that I entrusted to them according to a deed in the minutes of Mr Berloty, notary public in Lyons, on the third of February eighteen fifty-nine, recognising that they have accounted to me for all the sums and securities that they have collected or been able to collect, for me, by virtue of the said proxy.

In testimony whereof, I am giving them the present discharge on....

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

Lyons, 3 February 1859

Sent_0889

Sent_0889 - à M. Faugères - le 11 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0889 - to Mr Faugères - 11 February 1859 /2

Sent_0889 - à M. Faugères - le 11 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0889 Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, p 408

(to Mr Faugères)

(chargé d'affaires in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

To ask him the exact date of departure from Brest and to send him a passage from the first letter sent from Freetown by Mr Reymond.

Index : Sierra Leone (1st departure), Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Lyons, 11 February 1859 ()

Dear Sir,

Allow me to write you a few words to inform you how our first missionaries have been received by the authorities at Freetown (Sierra Leone). This is what they write to me on 18 January.

"The English governor, who had received instructions to protect us, was astonished that we still had not gone to see him. On Monday 17th, we presented ourselves to him with the French Vice-Consul who was not able to introduce us earlier because of the news of his father's death brought by the mail-steamer. The governor received us very well and repeated to us that "he wished to offer us the same protection as to the other cults, and that, given the fruitlessness of the efforts of the Protestant missionaries to moralise the colony, he would be happy to see us succeed."

You can imagine, Sir, how eager I am to go and join those dear confreres. Every day I await notice of the departure of the Danaé, and I count on your benevolence to be informed as early as possible because of the distance between here and Brest, where however it would be highly desirable for us to stay for one or two days in order to make some purchases.

Kindly accept, Sir, the assurance of my very distinguished consideration.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 11 February 1859)

Sent_0890

Sent_0890 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 14 février 1859 -/5

Sent 0890 - to Propagation of the Faith - 14 February 1859 /5

Sent_0890 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 14 février 1859 -/5

Sent 0890 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyon, n°10

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F5, pp 126-127

(to the two councils of Propagation of the Faith)

(Lyons and Paris)

To accompany Mr Reymond's letter, requesting that it should be included in the annals. This letter from Mr Reymond is in fact the amalgamation of two letters sent by Mr Reymond, one from Dakar and the other from Freetown, put together into one only and well adapted by Mgr de Brésillac.

Index : Sierra Leone (1st departure)

__________

Lyons, 14 February 1859 (

)

Gentlemen,

I am sure you will be pleased to learn that the mission of Sierra Leone has been opened successfully. At the time of going out myself to my new vicariate, I have received news from my first missionaries who left three months ago. I flatter myself that Mr Reymond's letter will interest the pious readers of the Annals and all those who have contributed to the foundation of our seminary of the African Missions. Accordingly I am sending it to you and pray the Lord to ensure that, more and more, people understand the usefulness of this foundation capable, if God continues to bless it, of producing immense good in Africa.

When we think that there are in that unfortunate continent whole peoples who have never been evangelised and who would receive our missionaries with joy, others who have been abandoned for centuries after having received a beginning of evangelisation that the misfortune of the times has made insufficient, finally others among whom the ministers of heresy have slipped in before us, will not every truly Catholic heart allow itself to be moved by the hope that the seminary of African Missions of Lyons will be able, within a certain time, to become a powerful instrument of divine mercy in favour of so many wretches.

Kindly accept, Gentlemen, the assurance of my complete devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. for you alone. I would be very glad if this letter, as well as that of Mr Reymond could be published in the Annals. I enclose copy of it for the Editor.

(Lyons, 14 February 1859)

Letter from Abbé Reymond, apostolic missionary, to Mgr de Marion Brésillac, apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone (AMA 2F5, pp 127-134)

Jésus - Marie - Joseph

Freetown, 18 January 1859

My Lord,

You may rejoice and thank God and our Good Mother, I have exclusively good news to announce to you. On 3 December, we set foot on African soil. It was the feast of the patron saint of Propagation of the Faith. I was deprived of the happiness of offering the holy sacrifice of mass, but I hope that great apostle will have seen my good desire and that he will take account of the fast that I maintained until midday in the hope of landing in time.

Since morning, we were in sight of Capoverde, but it was only in the evening, at five o'clock, that we were able to leave the ship. The Reverend Father Lossedat, parish priest of Gorée, received us with all possible charity, as well as his vicar, the excellent Father Lacombe who is the angel of Gorée, since he does so much good there. The day after, having said the mass of thanksgiving, we proceeded to Dakar, to see Mgr Kobès, who welcomed us as his children and showered every possible attention on us.

Our journey thus far has been very happy, considering the weather we encountered. I suffered a little from seasickness, as likewise did brother Eugène, but Mr Bresson was far more afflicted. Half an hour after receiving your blessing, while we still followed you with our eyes on the pilot's boat which bore you away from us, this good confrere began to feel ill and, apart from two or three days' calm in the Canaries and the two days before arriving at Saint-Louis, he was unable to eat almost any food.

On the 7th in the morning, we crossed the straits of Gibraltar with a fine sun shining on the coast of Spain and the coast of Morocco, and for the first time we saw the land of Africa where the good Master has called us to cultivate his vineyard, to sow the good seed of the divine Word. You know, My Lord, the emotions one feels on seeing the land where one is due to employ all of one's strength for the glory of God. Why do so many priests who languish in France not feel them ? Ah ! if only they knew the gift of God !

On the 9th at midday, the wind turned against us ; at six in the evening, clouds of a greyish colour warn of the presence of the storm which descends on the ship and threatens to engulf it. The sea in fury breaks over the bridge, the riggings whistle and the sails, on the point of being carried away, bang against the yards and masts most terrifyingly.

From this moment until Tuesday the 16th at seven in the evening, there is an unending succession of squalls and gusts of wind following on one another from hour to hour or from two hours to two hours, at times with such violence that the ship, no longer answering to the helm, rolls from one wave to the next, creaking horribly. Enormous waves crash over the bridge or push the ship upwards so that the bowsprit ploughs the waves or rears up in the air.

Meanwhile, whenever a fresh squall arose, I took pleasure in climbing up on the poop-deck and there, clinging to the mizzen-mast or to the stern-gallery, I admired the magnificent sight of the sea in a fury, uselessly shaking the little ship which separated us from eternity as it ran before the tempest. The captain, possessed of a rare composure and energy, after calling on every possible resource, admitted that he had never seen such bad weather and told us ingenuously that the demon must be angry with us. Now and then I sung softly under my breath the Ave Maria Stella, so as not to lose heart, and then it seemed to me that we would arrive in Sierra Leone despite this hell.

At last, on the 19th in the evening, the wind drops and is less against us ; on the 21st the sea is calm and the sun bright ; on the 22nd, we sight the Canaries, but the wind is so weak, or so contrary, that we make little progress despite strenuous tacking, or stand still despite the swell. It is only on the 27th, after sighting the peak of Tenerife rising in the distance among the clouds, that we pick up the trade winds which thereafter freshen, bringing us rapidly in front of Saint-Louis on 1 December in the morning.

A little bird came to bid us welcome on African soil. We stayed one day and one night in front of this French town which rises only slightly above the water and which seems to emerge from the white sands of the desert. In the evening, we leave for Gorée, where we lose no time in landing amidst the continual bustle of the port where a large number of ships lie at anchor.

During the time we stayed in Dakar, we were not without spiritual consolations. On Saturday 4 December in the evening, on going to visit the very holy sacrament, I attended the baptism of a young Negress whose modesty and appearance would have done credit to a young French girl. When I heard her answering to the two names of Anna Maria, I could not prevent myself from shedding a few tears, thinking of my mother in heaven and of my mother on earth. When will I pour holy water on the forehead of some soul redeemed by the good Jesus at such high price !

The day after, I attended the Confirmation of three old negresses, already mothers, and when I myself was able to celebrate the holy mysteries, a negress dressed in the white apparel of the neophytes came to take communion : it was Anna Maria whom I had seen baptised the day before. Thus, the first time I had occasion to offer the adorable victim on the African continent, for the salvation of its inhabitants, I had the happiness of giving her first communion to a child of Africa.

May Jesus, the union of hearts, bring together, in his sacrament and by his sacrament, all these poor Blacks who would love him so dearly if they knew him. Likewise, may these attentions of the good Jesus for his unworthy minister be the first-fruits of the salvation that this good master wishes to give to the poor Blacks.

On the 8th, we witnessed the solemn distribution of prizes to the pupils of the Sisters. A little scene enacted by the pupils showed the progress they had achieved in French. And I had to crown those young negresses who had given proof of goodwill and hard work. On Sunday 12th, we attended the solemn prizegiving of the pupils of the Fathers. A small play acted by them, with musical and instrumental accompaniment, had drawn the whole white, brown and black population of Gorée and of Grande Terre. I believed myself back in France, but on seeing those shaven black heads emerging from white smocks, those shining bare feet, I soon shook off my illusion.

On the 21st, we left Gorée, taking advantage of a small French steamer, the Anacréon, to accompany Mgr Kobès to Sainte-Marie de Gambie, or Bathurst in English. After arriving at 10 in the morning of the day after, we were able to celebrate holy mass, after which we rented a small house for forty francs a month.

On the 25th, we attended pontifical midnight mass, and the following day I assisted Mgr Kobès in the baptism of two young women. I had not foreseen spending the Christian feasts in such a religious and consoling manner.

Mr Marion (from Marseilles), consular agent of France at Sainte-Marie, gathered together all the notables of the town to a tea. Mgr Kobès was invited, and I with him, so that I could make the acquaintance of the governor of Sierra Leone who was at that time at Sainte-Marie on a visit to the governor of the latter town. Unfortunately, he was obliged to leave the day before subito.

Finally, on Monday 10 January, we embarked on the English packet the Ethiopia bound for Freetown. The Captain was very obliging towards us, and our navigation was very pleasant. We arrived on Wednesday the 12th at half past four in the afternoon before Freetown. The panorama was magnificent. On a high steep bank, but covered with vegetation, the streets of the town were laid out at different levels for the length of half a league. Tropical trees mingled with the multitude of huts and European style houses forming the town. Behind the town, rose very picturesque high mountains, some covered in lush vegetation and some bare.

My first thought was to recite the Magnificat to thank God for having protected us up to that moment and to request the protection of Mary, our good Mother. The next day, Thursday, at 9 in the morning we landed on the soil of Sierra Leone, in the midst of a numerous and curious crowd.

The day before, we had received the visit of the French Vice-Consul and of Mr Porchat, representataive of the firm of Malfilâtre from Rouen. We landed from Mr Porchat's small boat and were brought directly to the Spanish consulate where we were very cordially received. The Consul put his house at our disposal, and until this day has welcomed us to his board.

It is in his house that, on Sunday, we celebrated holy mass, in the presence of some thirty Catholics, all in general well placed. I did not want to give a sermon, but during mass, I felt so moved that I could not prevent myself from announcing to the Catholics of the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone how much I hoped for the success of a mission beginning on the feastday of the Holy Name of Jesus.

The English governor had received instructions for our protection. We should have presented ourselves immediately to him, and he was astonished that we still had not gone to see him. We did so only on Monday 17th, because the French Vice-Consul was unable to introduce us having just heard the news of his father's death which was brought to him by the mail-steamer. The Governor received us very cordially ; he repeated to us that he intended to offer us the same protection as to the other cults. He appears good and firm.

Following the departure of the mail-steamer, I am going to search for premises where we can establish ourselves suitably. The house we now occupy, and which costs 75 francs a month, has only one room on the lower floor with a cellar ; up above, a room surrounded by a gallery two metres wide according to the custom of the country. It is for sale, but there is not sufficient ground surrounding it to build on.

We are besieged all day long by the curious who want to see the Virgin Mary and the crucifix which are on our provisional altar consisting of boxes piled on top of one another. This picture given to us at Lyons a few days before our departure is admired, all the inhabitants want to see it ; it is nice, it is fine, is all they know how to say and some of them stand still gazing fixedly at it.

Oh ! May Mary touch their hearts, as her picture astonishes them, so that they come to know how much finer the truth is than the shreds of truth given them by the Protestant ministers. People stare at us with curiosity, but without molesting us. These poor people are however prejudiced against us, for quite a few of them run away as soon as they see us make a movement in their direction.

The country is magnificent : fine roads ; a rich vegetation, good water, but everything is extremely expensive. Mutton is sold at 18 to 20 sous the English pound, one egg three sous, bread 12 sous a pound.

Several individuals have expressed the desire to come to our school or to our prayer. Classes here are held above all in the evening from 6 to 10 o'clock and in the morning from 5 to 8 o'clock. Many sects hold their meetings at night.

The almanac of the Methodists for 1859 indicates for Sierra Leone and surroundings : 30 Wesleyan chapels, two other meeting-houses, 363 paid or unpaid agents, 3993 school-children, 13,105 faithful, likewise Wesleyan. There are many other sects.

Freetown and its outskirts contain 40,000 inhabitants. The Anglican church dedicated to Saint George is as big as Saint-Irénée in Lyons.

I leave further details until later. The packet goes today. I have many things to say to all of our confreres; they will have to wait until the next post.

Great thanksgivings to Mary who has clearly protected us. Pray hard for us, the need is evident and deign to accept, My Lord, etc.

Reymond, apostolic misionary

P.S. We have some black Spaniards from Havana or Saint Lucia who come every day to mass.

(Freetown, 18 January 1859)

Sent_0891

Sent_0891 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 14 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0891 - to Propagation of the Faith - 14 February 1859 /1

Sent_0891 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 14 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0891 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, n° 11

copy, AMA 2F18/1859

Brésillac rough copy , AMA 2F5, p 50

(to the President of the General Council

of the Work of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

To inform them that Father Planque replaces him in every way during his absence from France, and is empowered to receive funds for the African Missions.

Index : funding, proxy

__________

Lyons, 14 February 1859

Mr President,

I have the honour of informing you that, during my abence, Abbé Planque is entrusted with taking my place for everything regarding the work and seminary of the African Missions. Accordingly you can have recourse to him in need for any information which may be useful and address to him anything you wish to have sent to me, when you do not choose to do so directly.

I authorise him especially to collect the funds that the Work of Propagation of the Faith may deign to allocate to us and to give receipt for it in my name.

Kindly accept, Mr President, the assurance of my completely devoted sentiments in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 14 February 1859)

Sent_0892

Sent_0892 - à la Propagande - le 17 février 1859 -/2

Sent 0892 - to Propaganda of the Faith - 17 February 1859 /2

Sent_0892 - à la Propagande - le 17 février 1859 -/2

Sent 0892 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, pp 648ss

Brésillac rough copy, AMA 2F1, pp 430-432

Handwritten copy, AMA 2C19, pp 44-46

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

My first missionaries have arrived safely and have been well received by the civil authorities. It is time for me to go and join them, even if I have to come back later to Lyons. Mr Papetart continues his good collections in Spain ; we will soon have enough to build an appropriate seminary. I regret that you have still not taken steps to obtain the indulgences and other privileges that I had requested of your kindness. In France, I am leaving everything in Mr Planque's hands.

Index : Sierra Leone (1st departure), Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), funding, indulgences, SMA development

__________

Lyons, 17 February 1859

Your Eminence,

I had the honour of writing to Your Eminence following the departure of our two first missionaries for Sierra Leone.

They first of all arrived at Dakar where they were received by Mgr Kobès with a truly apostolic charity, and then a few days later at Freetown, main centre of the English colony of Sierra Leone.

At Freetown, they were welcomed exquisitely by the French and Spanish consuls, to the great satisfaction of the few Catholics there, and the English governor assured them that he would offer them the same protection as the other cults.

Their first impressions were extremely favourable, and they are persuaded that there is much to be done there, which Mgr Bessieux, whom I saw at Paris a month ago, confirmed to me, not only for Freetown, but for many other places in those unfortunate countries.

Accordingly it is time for me to go myself to the mission that the Holy See has entrusted to me and which could become a powerful means of evangelisation for the most abandoned countries of Africa, if the Good God deigns to bless our seminary of the African Missions of Lyons.

Since my last letter to Your Eminence, we have had some trials and some consolations in this regard. The Spanish priests who had come to do their time as novices failed to persevere. Clearly they were not suited to our difficult missions, for which we need to have well tried men.

From the material point of view, manna from heaven has continued to fall on us, and I have the solace of leaving close on one hundred thousand francs of dowry to our nascent establishment. Mr Papetart is continuing his collection of alms in Spain and I hope that he will collect enough for us to quite soon set up a building better suited to the work than the one we possess at the present time.

I will never cease, Your Eminence, to commend our seminary to your kind attention. It is from the success of this seminary and our congregation that we can expect a great good in Africa. I pray God to see that they develop, and Your Eminence to foster this development in every possible way. Otherwise, we will give personally up to the last breath of our lives, but that will be little still compared to what the Church may expect from a Society of priests devoted to all that the Holy See deems fit to entrust to them of what is most difficult in Africa.

May I say, Your Eminence, that from this point of view, I regret that you have not seen fit, thus far, to gratify us with certain privileges bearing clear witness to the interest that the Holy See takes in our undertaking, and which would encourage those subjects who may have some desire to join us, while facilitating the means of their doing so. I had to refuse various priests who had offered themselves, but who could not give sufficient guarantees. On the contrary, there are others who have all the qualities required but who have not obtained from their bishop permission to leave their diocese. I will quote among others the young men of Grenoble, whose names you know, and who do not cease to long for the moment when they will be permitted to join our congregation.

Finally I regret that Your Eminence has still not obtained from the Holy Father the indulgences that I requested in my last letter, as a reward and encouragement of the Spanish faithful who have shown themselves to be so generous for the foundation of our seminary. Let us hope that the Good God is reserving me such consolations for later.

I realise that it would be extremely useful for me to remain some time longer in Lyons, but it seems to me more useful to go to Freetown to see things for myself and to try and organise this new mission well, at the risk of coming back after some time to see what is happening in our dear seminary, whose direction I leave to the excellent Mr Planque whom you know.

Although the mission of Sierra Leone is on an English land, the French government has just granted me a passage for myself, a priest and a lay brother on one of the State's frigates due to set sail any day now. I am leaving Lyons the day after tomorrow.

The S.C. can write to me, I think, directly to Freetown, or else sending their letters via Lyons and the Seminary of African Missions.

It only remains for me, Your Eminence, to commend this new mission to your good prayers and to ask you to kindly implore for it and for our seminary a special blessing from the Holy Father.

I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 17 February 1859)

Sent_0893

Sent_0893 - à son frère Henri - le 18 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0893 - to his brother Henri - 18 February 1859 /2

Sent_0893 - à son frère Henri - le 18 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0893 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 230-231

(to his brother Henri)

We are leaving tomorrow for Brest and will embark next week. You can easily write to me in Sierra Leone. The good welcome of the first missionaries to Freetown by the civil authorities.

Index : Sierra Leone (1st departure), Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), post

__________

Lyons, 18 February 1859

Yesterday evening, very dear Henri, I learned that the Danaé was due to leave next week, perhaps at the beginning. Thus, we leave Lyons tomorrow at midday and will arrive, I hope, at Brest on Monday or Tuesday morning. Although I am very busy as the time for departure draws near, as you can imagine, I could not omit to write you these few words. You can write to me at Brest, poste restante, from where I will write to you further if I have time ; if not I will write to you from Africa where we will soon be, since this frigate is, I believe, steam-powered.

There is a regular steamer service from Sierra Leone to England, thus I hope to receive your news as often as if I stayed in Lyons ; for, without reproaching you at all, you have never given me the luxury of writing to me more than once a month. In order for the letters not to risk remaining in the post-box, you should write from France by the 19th or 20th of the month. The address could not be simpler : At Freetown (Sierra Leone) English route. I think postage is obligatory. From that country, at least at the moment, letters leave from the 11th to the 14th of each month.

Thus it is that on the 11th we received news of Mr Reymond's arrival in Freetown. They were very well received by the French and Spanish consuls and by the few Catholics there. The English governor himself made them very welcome and told them that he would protect them as he would the ministers of the other cults, and that besides the Protestant ministers have had so little success in moralising these peoples that, if the Catholics should do better, he would be delighted. Thus, the beginnings are excellent. May the Lord deign to favour us in the continuation as at the beginnings.

I will not say goodbye, my dear friend ; as I said, I will write to you again from Brest, even if it is only a few words, if at all possible ; and I limit myself this time, as always, to renewing the very sincere expression of my friendship to you, as well as to Joséphine and to your children.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Lyons, 18 February 1859)

Sent_0894

Sent_0894 - à Mme Blanchet - le 19 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0894 - to Mrs Blanchet - 19 February 1859 /1

Sent_0894 - à Mme Blanchet - le 19 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0894 partial Le Gallen copy, pp 559-560

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

We are leaving for Brest and will embark next week.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Lyons, 19 February 1859

Dear Mrs Blanchet,

The day before yesterday, I received a letter from the Ministry of the Navy which tells me that Mr Boss is appointed, and that the "Danaé" may weigh anchor early next week. At which, I have arranged everything so as leave today at midday for Nantes. Meanwhile, I have not received official notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nevertheless I am leaving, and if Mr Henri would do me the favour of checking with Mr Faugères, chief administrative officer for political affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to make sure there is no tergiversation regarding our embarking at Brest, he would do me a great service.

It is past eleven o'clock, and we are leaving in five minutes, so I have no time to say any more.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Lyons, 19 February 1859)

Sent_0895

Sent_0895 - au P. Planque - le 25 février 1859 -/2

Sent 0895 - to Father Planque - 25 February 1859 /2

Sent_0895 - au P. Planque - le 25 février 1859 -/2

Sent 0895 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 437-439

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

His excellent journey from Lyons to Brest ; he was very well received at Tours by the archbishop and at Nantes in the major seminary. Good welcome likewise from the admiral of Brest and the commander of the Danaé. The Danaé is a fine frigate, but the passengers risk finding themselves rather packed. Mr Riocreux will certainly have only a hammock; as for the brother... The new trunks are worth nothing compared to leather trunks.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

(Brest, 25 February 1859) ()

It was not until today, very dear Mr Planque, that I received the documents I was waiting for from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ; but all the orders had already arrived at the admiralty, so that we had no need to worry ; only Captain Boss is still not here, so that it is probable that we will not leave before Tuesday.

We are staying with the parish priest of Saint-Louis who has graciously offered us hospitality. The bursar of the major seminary of Nantes had arranged things perfectly. On our arrival from Tours, where we went to lunch with the archbishop, after having celebrated holy mass, we found a carriage that the bursar had sent round, and went for a meal taken quite close to the seminary, while two domestic servants were put in charge of driving and loading up the diligence with our belongings.

At half past 7, we were on the road for Brest, since there is no regular steamer service from Nantes to here. We drove for the whole of Monday except for three hours spent at Lorient, and were delivered very early on Tuesday morning.

That same day, I went to pay a visit to the Admiral who was extremely agreeable and who sent the order to the commander of the Danaé to come and make arrangements with me for our belongings. In a short space of time, that commanding officer was there, he went to the parish priest's, had our belongings removed from the office of the diligence and, the day after, we went in the boat of the admiral himself, who had offered it and who came to pay me a call, to visit the Danaé.

It is a very fine frigate, however I very much fear that, despite its capacity, we will find ourselves cramped. If, in place of the cannons, there were cabins, it would be very good for the passengers, but we cannot disturb these respectable machines, and the space for passengers is quite limited. In addition, there are those who are entitled to be at the captain's table, including ladies, while various others will be at the officers' table, and very probably they will be sleeping in hammocks, as also will Mr Riocreux.

As for brother Gratien, I am not at all sure where they will put him, for quite apart from over four hundred members of crew, it appears that we will also be transporting troops. However, if the officers are as eager to make themselves agreeable to us as they seem to be thus far, they will do the best they can, and that is all that we can desire.

On returning from the frigate, we went on to the training-ship where I saw young Bigan who is well and is much appreciated. Kindly pass this news on to his brother through the excellent Mr Kelch. In addition, see that Mrs Kelch is told that the Blanchet ladies, from whom I received letters today, will be delighted to make her acquaintance. Incidentally remember me to her as well as to all her family.

I have not received any letters from Lyons.

I will write to you when it is time to depart.

Mr Riocreux and brother Gratien send you their compliments as well as to the community, and as for me, very dear Mr Planque, I do not need to tell you that, though I may be far away, my mind will often be with you others, and my heart always. Give my friendly regards to everyone, especially to the good Mr Borghero and believe me completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. A word from me to the Ursulines, it goes without saying, even when I may not specify it in some letters.

The new trunks are not worth anything. They are already quite battered and out of shape, etc. They really cannot compare to leather trunks. Mine, old as they are, would have borne better the numerous transhipments from Lyons to here. If I had taken these ones in my journeys in the last two years, there would be nothing left of them.

(Brest, 25 February 1859)

Sent_0896

Sent_0896 - à M. Vian - le 26 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0896 - to Mr Vian - 26 February 1859 /2

Sent_0896 - à M. Vian - le 26 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0896 Original, AMA 2F1, p 433-434

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

I do not wish to leave France without writing to you. Continue to take an interest in our work and pray that the Lord sends us men. Mr Papetart continues with his good collections in Spain. We are beginning to think of building a seminary. My regards to all the members of your family.

Index : friendship, SMA development, funding

__________

Brest, 26 February 1859

I have a doubt, very dear Mr Vian, and believe it to be founded. Assuredly you were on the list of those to whom I meant to write before leaving Lyons, and I must have been prevented from it by some distraction, for I have no recollection of having done so. If I have written to you, this will merely be a repetition of the farewell that I wanted to say to you on leaving, while begging you not to forget us before God.

I hope that you will continue to write to me from time to time in Sierra Leone, it is as easy as in France, since there is a regular post each month. Otherwise, you could send your letters via Lyons from where they would pass them on to me.

I also hope, very dear friend, that you will continue to take an interest in the work of the African Missions before God and before men. Accordingly do a holy violence on Heaven, insisting that it send us men ! Without doubt there is also need of money, for we now have to think seriously of building the seminary of Lyons, but afer all, what divine bounty has been pleased to send us thus far gives me confidence that it will continue to share the heavenly manna with us.

Mr Papetart continues to do wonders in Spain, whence he sends us consistent sums each month, which makes me hope that soon we will have about one hundred thousand francs to ensure a small income for the seminary, and, after that, whatever the good God sends us will be used on building.

On this occasion, it seems to me that you spoke, some time ago, of a thousand francs or so that you expected to collect soon. Once you have this sum, send it to Mr Planque. But, I repeat, men, men ! Pray and act on occasion with that in mind.

So, A Dieu, very dear Mr Vian, until we meet again, on this earth perhaps, for the interests of the work will force me to return if God gives me life and, in any case, in Heaven. Remember me to your father, sister, and all pious souls, especially in their prayers, and believe me,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. We expect to leave Tuesday or Wednesday.

(Brest, 26 February 1859)

Sent_0897

Sent_0897 - au P. Dominique - le 26 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0897 - to Father Dominique - 26 February 1859 /2

Sent_0897 - au P. Dominique - le 26 février 1859 -/1

Sent 0897 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Father Dominique, Capuchin)

I say Au revoir to you before leaving. Pray that the Lord sends us men. As for money, Mr Papetart is still doing wonders. Once we have one hundred thousand francs of income for the seminary, we are going to think of giving it a new building. You can write to me easily ; there is a regular post each month.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), SMA development

__________

Brest, 26 February 1859

I do not know if your letter which I have just received, very dear Father and friend, is a warning or a reproach. It seemed to me that I had written to you before leaving, but since you make no allusion to what I said to you, I can only think that a distraction may have led me to omit to write.

Besides, I would only have had to say goodbye to you, while today in addition to that I have to thank you for your letter and, through you, the person who was kind enough to make an offering to the work. Ah ! if only you could send us men too ! Of course, we need money, and a great deal of money even, for we now have to think seriously of our building, but after all what divine bounty has done for us from this point of view thus far gives me great confidence that it will continue to share the heavenly manna with us.

At the same time as your letter, I received another one from Mr Papetart who sent me ten thousand francs, which brings to seventy thousand francs the sum he has sent us from Spain. Accordingly we will soon have the one hundred thousand francs that I needed to ensure a small income for the Seminary, and whatever comes after that will be for our future building. But men, men ! I could do with some at this moment, and cannot see any appearing. Pray and act in your daily life and in your dealings with the seminaries.

Here I am in Brest about to embark on the Danaé one of these days. We even thought we would have left this week, I hope it will now be Tuesday or Wednesday. Pray for us during this voyage and always. Commend our undertaking too to your good Fathers and to pious souls.

We have to do a great violence on Heaven so that it will enable us to succeed at least a little from the outset, so as to encourage those who may be repulsed by the nature of the difficulties that we have to overcome, and in order for the work to become what, by its nature, it could become, if our sins do not prevent it and if the hour of divine Mercy has sounded for these poor peoples.

Accordingly give me your news from time to time. Incidentally, we are hardly further away than it is from Clermont to Lyons : for what are a few leagues seen from on high ? and in practice there is a regular post each month. Besides, you can if you want to avoid postage costs, send your letters to Lyons, from where they will be passed on to me. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Brest, 26 February 1859)

Sent_0898

Sent_0898 - à son frère Henri - le 4 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0898 - to his brother Henri - 4 March 1859 /2

Sent_0898 - à son frère Henri - le 4 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0898 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 232-233

(to his brother Henri)

Finally, I do not know when we will leave. I am edified by your resolution to write to me twice a month. Do it once only, since the post only arrives once a month. Mr Papetart is doing well, and his collections are too.

Index : family

__________

Brest, 4 March 1859

Without doubt, you believe me to be far from France, and yet I am still at Brest, not even knowing when I will leave. It is now a full month that the ship is on the roads, and two weeks that we are waiting for the commander who has still not arrived. Now it is thought he may not be here before the beginning of Lent, so that, if we leave before the 15th, it will be fortunate.

You may well believe that that all of this does not amuse me, wasting precious time here, with the chance of being out at sea at the worst moment of the equinox and arriving in Sierra Leone much later than would be necessary to avoid the rainy season, all of this is most annoying ; but what's to be done ? Practise patience, as on so many other ocasions.

I am very edified by your good resolution of writing to me twice a month ; but, until fresh order at least, I forgive you half of that, for, since there is only one mail-steamer service a month, the letter you would write between the two posts would only arrive with the second. Thus, I desire only one thing : that you write to me faithfully once a month, without expecting me to answer you each month,

1)because that will sometimes be materially impossible for me, if I am not at Freetown itself, and your letters have to come and find me elsewhere ;

2)because undoubtedly time will not always permit that, and just as I did in India, I will write regularly to one or other member of the family at least every two months and more often if possible, so that the news are for you all.

Here I am lodged with the parish priest of Saint-Louis, which lessens a little the boredom of not having anything to do.

If you write to me here still, address your letter to the presbytery, requesting that, if I have left, the letter be sent back to you.

A Dieu. A thousand loving greetings to you all, Mr Papetart has written to me a few days ago. He is doing well and his collections also. Since he returned to Spain, he has sent me 22,000 francs.

Completely yours.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Brest, 4 March 1859)

Sent_0899

Sent_0899 - au P. Planque - le 9 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0899 - to Father Planque - 9 March 1859 /2

Sent_0899 - au P. Planque - le 9 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0899 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 435-436

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We leave tomorrow ; the parish priest of Saint-Louis has made us very welcome since we have been at Brest. Question of investment of money.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), investment

__________

Brest, 9 March 1859

Definitively, my dear Mr Planque, we leave tomorrow. We should even have gone on board this evening, but the Admiral having offered us his boat to reach the Danaé as early as we wish, we will take advantage of it to say the holy mass once more before leaving.

The only letter I have received from you is that of 22 February which contained another from Mr Papetart.

Besides, I have nothing to say to you since I am here. This stay has perhaps been rather long and, all counted, this voyage will cost us dearly, although much less than if we had been obliged to stay in a hotel. We have received very gracious hospitality from the parish priest of Saint-Louis.

I think you have invested the money that Mr Papetart sent you. As soon as you have any new receipts in your hand, kindly indicate to me accordingly, so that I can always, at a glance, see what are the revenues of the work. The last that I noted is the 13th : 24 Austrian Preference Shares at 15 francs, bearing 360 francs of interest.

I have scarcely had time yet to see the Captain for an instant and I do not know if I will take advantage of the frigate to go elsewhere than to Gorée. In any case, I think that we will celebrate the Easter feasts at Dakar, where I count on receiving your news and those of our dear seminary.

I will write to you there.

At the next ordination, have Mr Brossard tonsured.

I am writing a note to Mr Papetart which you can send on to him.

A thousand kind regards to you all, pray for us, it goes without saying, and believe me more than ever, very dear Mr Planque,

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Brest, 9 March 1859)

Sent_0900

Sent_0900 - à son frère Henri - le 9 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0900 - to his brother Henri - 9 March 1859 /2

Sent_0900 - à son frère Henri - le 9 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0900 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 234-235

(to his brother Henri)

We are leaving tomorrow. The parish priest of Saint-Louis has made us very welcome since we have been at Brest. Doubtless we will be at Dakar for Easter. There are many people on board the Danaé. I will have a fine cabin, but Mr Riocreux will have to be content with a hammock. The admiral prefect has been very polite to us. My last mass in France, tomorrow morning, will be for the family.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), family

__________

Brest, le 9 mars 1859

Definitively, we leave tomorrow, very dear Henri, after two weeks of waiting which would have been very long were it not for the kind hospitality of the parish priest of Saint-Louis. Thus, when you receive this letter, we will doubtless be under God's eye, contemplating the solemn image of his immensity in the middle of the ocean.

I have scarcely had time to see for an instant the captain who has only just arrived, so that I do not know what his immediate plans for the voyage are, and whether I shall take advantage of the frigate to visit other points on the coast than Gorée. In any case, I think that we will celebrate the feast of Easter at Dakar, with Mgr Kobès. There, I could receive your news if, by the 20th of this month, you write to me at Dakar, near Gorée (Senegal) – frank.

Nothing new to tell you. I hope that we will make a good crossing on a big frigate with close on one hundred cannons, having over nine hundred members of crew, without counting the troops on board and a large number of passengers both civil and military of all ranks.

With all of this, Abbé Riocreux and the brother will be less well lodged than in a small merchant ship where everyone would have had his cabin. Mr Riocreux, like various officers, will have to content himself with a hammock or a cot. As for me, it appears that they are preparing a magnificent cabin for me. The officers appear very well inclined.

I believe I have told you how courteous the admiral prefect has been, he has once more placed his boat at our disposal for tomorrow, so that instead of embarking this evening, we will not join the frigate until tomorrow morning, after having said holy mass once more. I will offer it for all relatives and friends, thus also for you and your family, asking God to see that you have a good Lent and holy Easter, with all the other favours that he grants to his friends and his saints.

A Dieu, then, dear Henri, write to me soon, give my kind regards to Joséphine, with a kiss to your children and believe me, for life, the best of brothers.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Brest, 9 March 1859)

Sent_0901

Sent_0901 - au P. Planque - le 11 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0901 - to Father Planque - 11 March 1859 /1

Sent_0901 - au P. Planque - le 11 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0901 Original, AMA 2F1, p 440

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We are weighing anchor at this moment.

Index : friendship, Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

On board the Danaé, 11 March 1859

At this instant, I have received your letter and we are weighing anchor. The weather is bad, and I do not know if I can send off these lines with the pilot. If they reach you, kind regards to everybody.

Warn the good Mr Courdioux, and encourage him at the same time, for he has the stuff to make an excellent missionary.

Completely yours in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(On board the Danaé, 11 March 1859)

Sent_0902

Sent_0902 - au P. Planque - le 15 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0902 - to Fataher Planque - 15 March 1859 /2

Sent_0902 - au P. Planque - le 15 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0902 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 445-446

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

The great storm which has brought them to the roads off Torbay in England. The Danaé will have to go and be refitted at Brest or Cherbourg : two weeks' delay.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), storm

__________

Roads off Torbay, 15 March 1859

Whatever the weather in Lyons, dear Mr Planque, I am sure you will never guess that the weather we have had since putting out to sea has driven us to the anchorage of Torbay, near Dartmouth, after having brought us to within two inches of our deaths. Give thanks to the good Virgin whose protection has saved us and to our good angels, above all to that of Sierra Leone, who must ensure that we arrive in that unfortunate country despite winds and tempests.

Thus it was that yesterday the weather assumed a much more serious character than the two previous days. Until then, we had done nothing but tack strenuously, the greatest disadvantage being that it did not make us advance perceptibly ; but yesterday the weather was frightful ; by nightfall all of the ship's boats had been smashed or blown away, and unfortunately one man was swept into the sea and abandoned to his unfortunate destiny, for the sea was raging so furiously that it was impossible to attempt any form of rescue.

Mr Riocreux, who was on the bridge, was informed of the event immediately by the officer of the watch, and he ventured a blessing, but that is all that he could and should have done.

A few hours later, we were asking ourselves if we had a quarter of an hour left to live. A fearsome noise was heard, and with torrents of water arriving from all directions, we were asking ourselves : are we sinking ? The whole crew utters a shriek of horror, it even seems that there is a moment of hesitation and general confusion which increases the danger. The fact is that a gigantic wave had just crashed on to the bridge, knocking down the rails and staving in three port-holes. Since the mass of water covering the frigate prevented it from righting itelf immediately, a second wave would have dashed us to the bottom of the sea.

Instantly, men rush to the pumps, block the port-holes with hammocks, and in less time that it takes to write about it, the great danger had passed. I say the great danger, for the damages were considerable, the sea still dreadful and the wind furious. As from then we had to give up all other ideas than that of searching for an anchorage in order to wait until the weather would permit us to reach Cherbourg or Brest where the poor Danaé has to go to be refitted. As you see, we are well on our way ! Very probably, we will have to spend two weeks in one of those ports before putting out to sea again. What will become of us during that time ? I will write to you from Brest or Cherbourg.

You can write to me to this last town, on board the Danaé. If we go anywhere else, it is very probable that the post will send on the letter, and I will write to you again as soon as we are back in France. A Dieu. A prayer of thanksgiving.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Roads off Torbay, 15 1859)

Sent_0903

Sent_0903 - à son frère Henri - le 15 mars 1859 -/2

Sent 0903 - to his brother Henri - 15 mars 1859 /2

Sent_0903 - à son frère Henri - le 15 mars 1859 -/2

Sent 0903 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 236-237

(to his brother Henri)

The great storm that has driven them as far as the roads off Torbay in England. The Danaé will have to go to be refitted in Brest or Cherbourg : two weeks' delay.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), storm

__________

Roads off Torbay, 15 March 1859

Very dear Henri,

You will be surprised to receive my news so soon, and above all from the coasts of England, from the roads off Torbay, near Dartmouth, from where I am writing these lines. We have just cast anchor to shelter from the terrible weather which has troubled us ever since our departure from Brest and which yesterday brought us to within two inches of losing our lives. Never before have I seen death so close at hand. The agonies of an imminent danger were not long, but for an instant we asked ourselves: are we sinking ? and the whole night was frightful.

Already in the course of the day, the weather was so bad that all of our life-boats had been smashed and blown away, and unfortunately one man had himself been blown overboard by the violence of the wind, without our being able to lift a hand to rescue him. We did not really know how the day would end when, all of a sudden, a dreadful noise was heard, and a great wall of water advanced against us on all sides. The whole crew utters a shriek of horror, orders are shouted to man the pumps, a great groan goes up and the dull gasp: we are lost !

In fact a surge of the sea had hurled against the ship an immense wave which had broken down the rails and staved in three port-holes ; and the forward part of the frigate, overloaded by this enormous weight could not right itself and was letting in the sea through the openings of the staved in port-holes. If a second surge of the sea had occurred, with a second great wave, we were all irretrievably lost.

Fortunately in less time than it takes to write about it, men were blocking the openings and the pumps unloading the batteries ; so that, a quarter of an hour later, all that we had to fear was the continuation of the storm, against which it was by this time impossible to struggle. So that it was necessary to let the ship run according to the direction of the wind and to search for the nearest shelter.

Now, it is not finished. As soon as the weather permits, we will have to go to Cherbourg to get the damages repaired, and we will leave God knows when. So this is a voyage whose beginning is sown with very great contradictions. Write to me at Cherbourg on board the Danaé. If we stay here some time, I will write to you again.

Meanwhile, thank God with us for having preserved us from all evil in a tempest so terrible that many sailors never see the like of it in their whole lives. A Dieu, my compliments and friendly regards as usual to Joséphine and your children.

I am writing a few words to my father. Please share the content of this letter with the Ranchins, relatives and friends.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Roads off Torbay, 15 March 1859)

Sent_0904

Sent_0904 - au P. Planque - le 18 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0904 - to Father Planque - 18 March 1859 /2

Sent_0904 - au P. Planque - le 18 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0904 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 447-448

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We have escaped a great danger. We are at Cherbourg where the damages are being repaired. If you have any news from Mr Reymond, pass them on to me.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), storm

__________

Parish of Sainte-Trinité de Cherbourg,

Diocese of Coutances,

18 March 1859

Very dear Mr Planque,

You should have received a letter I addressed to you from Torbay on the coasts of England, on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, in quite fine weather, we set sail towards Cherbourg, where we arrived that same evening, and yesterday morning, I went into town to the parish priest of Sainte-Trinité, from where I am writing these lines. A large number of workers are engaged in repairing the disasters of the Danaé and it is said that, perhaps, we will set sail again on Monday.

I hope that, between now and then, I will receive a letter from you in which you give me the news that you should have received from Mr Reymond. If you have not received the letter from Torbay, answer this one immediately, addressing your letter c/o the parish priest of the Sainte-Trinité.

I do not know if it is an oversight, but I cannot find my new cassock, or the fringed belt which I would need, for all my other clothes are singularly spoiled by our long stay in Brest and by the sea-water which has soaked everything.

The further I go, the more frightened I am by what happened, for, at the critical moment, we did not really realise the position in which we found ourselves. However, Mr Riocreux and brother Gratien showed not a moment's weakness.

Help us to thank God once more for not allowing us to be drowned, and pray to him to preserve us from fresh dangers. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Cherbourg, 18 March 1859)

Sent_0905

Sent_0905 - au P. Planque - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0905 - to Father Planque - 22 March 1859 /2

Sent_0905 - au P. Planque - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0905 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 449-450

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We will be leaving perhaps tomorrow. The case of brother Eugène at Freetown. Get people to pray for the success of our voyage. I am frightened by the cost of this mission in Sierra Leone. Speak of it to Propagation of the Faith.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), Sierra Leone (dearness)

__________

Cherbourg, 22 March 1859

Very dear Mr Planque,

This morning I received your letter of the 20th, and am writing these few words this evening because we are due to re-embark tomorrow at 8 in the morning. The Commander insists on this, hoping to be ready to leave in the course of the day, although I think that it is not likely.

I have difficulty in expressing to you the sorrow that Mr Reymond's words about brother Eugène cause me. This makes me regret even more arriving so late there, because, perhaps, I could have some influence over his mind. Meanwhile, at the point where things are now, I very much fear that all hope is lost. We must hope that if he sends him back to France, it will be by making him leave the congregation and sending him to his parents. If he returned to Lyons, we should first of all consider whether the change of air may heal him ; and if he can continue his office of brother passably in the house, we would see later.

After all, we should expect all sorts of trials, and those arising as regards personnel will not be the least among them. Let us hope in God and offer him all of our sorrows. I hope that the Ursuline Ladies, the good Mr Burnichon, the Carmelites and other pious persons will have added their thanksgivings to yours ; that they will pray with you that no fresh storms stop us in our voyage.

All counted, this voyage will cost us very dear ; here we have had to provide for many things, to repair other ones, and, according to what Mr Reymond writes to us, the expenditures that this mission will imply are quite frightening. Speak of this when the occasion arises with Propagation of the Faith. It will be impossible for me to write a letter to the Council, as I hoped, that they receive by the month of May.

A Dieu. A thousand kind regards to you all, Pray hard to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Cherbourg, 22 March 1859)

Sent_0906

Sent_0906 - à son frère Henri - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0906 - to his brother Henri - 22 March 1859 /1

Sent_0906 - à son frère Henri - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0906 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 238-239

(to his brother Henri)

We set sail again tomorrow. I will receive your news at Dakar. The parish priest of Sainte-Trinité in Cherbourg has made us welcome.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Cherbourg, 22 March 1859

Very dear Henri,

You should have received a letter from Torbay, on the English coasts, informing you of the terrible mishap that has brought us to Cherbourg. It is so far from here to Lasserre that you cannot have had time to answer me. Meanwhile, I have just been told that we are due to go on board again tomorrow at eight in the morning. Accordingly I don't have any great hope of receiving your news, unless we stay one or two days longer on the roads. In that case I will await them at Dakar or at Freetown.

Here I have been staying with the parish priest of the Sainte-Trinité since the 16th, and have been made most welcome. We leave tomorrow once more, full of courage ; doubtless many other trials await us ; but that is the missionary's lot, let us take care not to complain, only may these labours count on our behalf for Heaven.

My friendly regards to everyone and believe me always the same towards you.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Cherbourg, 22 March 1859)

Sent_0907

Sent_0907 - au P. Planque - le 31 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0907 - to Father Planque - 31 March 1859 /1

Sent_0907 - au P. Planque - le 31 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0907 Original, AMA 2F1, p 451

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We are calling in at Madeira to take on coal. Nothing to report

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Madeira, 31 March 1859

On receiving this letter, dear Mr Planque, I hope you will not think a fresh catastrophe has occurred. I am addressing this note to you from Madeira, where we have put into port to take on coal, exclusively to give you a sign of life. Since leaving Cherbourg, nothing has come to disturb the monotony of a crossing which however would have been thwarted by the contrary winds, were it not for steam.

Until this morning, all we have seen is sky and land ; consequently do not expect anything new. We are going to leave again in a few hours, so that I have not even gone on land.

Mr Riocreux and the brother are at present in the town that we can see in front of us and from where I am writing these lines, commending ourselves once more to your prayers and those of the community. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Madeira, 31 March 1859)

Sent_0908

Sent_0908 - au P. Planque - le 15 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0908 - to Father Planque - 15 April 1859 /2

Sent_0908 - au P. Planque - le 15 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0908 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 452-453

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

We are at Dakar and obliged to stay here longer than we would like. Some remarks on the behaviour of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit with whom we are staying; the need to have women religious as soon as possible ; the exorbitant prices in Sierra Leone ; make these needs known to Propagation of the Faith. Moreover, we receive nothing from the French government, which helps the fathers of Senegal.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage ), Sierra Leone (dearness), women religious

__________

Dakar, 15 April 1859

Here we are still at Dakar, very dear Mr Planque, for everything seems to combine to prolong our voyage. You should have received a letter that I wrote you from Madeira, where we only stayed one evening to take on coal.

Since then, the voyage has carried on without anything remarkable. However, since the wind was contrary, we had to go slowly or else consume an enormous amount of coal, and the average that we made led to our arriving here two days too late for us to take advantage of the English steamer.

The commander of the Danaé proposed, it is true, to set out in a few days' time for Sierra Leone, but a complication in his affairs seems likely to hold him back here for a long time still in the roads off Gorée, and without doubt the next opportunity to stand into Freetown will be the English steamer that we will take, in that case, after having stayed here a whole month, which is not amusing, as you can imagine. A few days was alright. We needed time to see and hear, but a month is too long.

Nevertheless these Gentlemen treat us as good confreres, and although there is always something indefinable in their relations, we cannot but praise them, but according to the very uncertain judgement I am capable of passing thus far, they would seem to be marked by lack tact and on occasion awkwardness, rather than lack of goodwill. It even appears that this is the impression that they produce on others and which considerably impedes the good they are desirous of doing as much as and even more than us.

Accordingly there is much here to be learned, both regarding what we should try to imitate, and what should be avoided. But a month is not needed for this.

The further I go, the more the information I receive frightens me as regards the enormous expenses that it will be necessary to make in Sierra Leone. I have seen Mr Protet, commander of the station whom Mr Boss has come to replace, the chaplain of the Jeanne d'Arc, and several officers, all of whom agree with what I already know on the exorbitant price of everything ; and yet, we have to appear there in an honourable way and begin with certain external works.

It will be indispensable to set up boys' and girls' schools, and for the latter to have some Sisters. I have just written to the Superior General of the Immaculate Conception of Castres asking her to give me a final answer as to whether she can send me any this year, and as regards our project in Spain to come to an agreement with you and Mr Papetart. The Sisters here are all eager for the project to be concluded and I hope it will come about.

Impress all of this on Propagation of the Faith. If I had arrived earlier at Freetown, I would have written to the directors in the hope that they would receive my letter before the distribution for this year ; but being from here, my letter would not have borne weight. However I will write a few words to Mr Ménis, and, besides, you must be our advocate. Truly, we need to have about one hundred thousand francs allocated to us when I see that here everything is far from satisfactory, despite the fact that, quite apart from what they receive from Propagation of the Faith, and the relative inexpensiveness of food, they receive large sums from the French government.

Mr Laprade, governor of Gorée, has assured me that, directly or indirectly, the congregation sometimes receives, for their establishments on the African coast, up to seventy thousand francs in a year. This is something that I will omit to write to Propagation of the Faith, for fear it might be wrongly interpreted, but it could be said by word of mouth, in the course of conversation, to Mr Ménis.

I hope that one of your letters will be waiting for me at Freetown where I am eager to arrive as soon as possible. It will be in the bad season. Here it is incredibly hot at this moment, and since the fathers' house is as badly built as possible for hot countries, we suffer from it more or less than would be indispensable. However, we are well. In order to tell you anything else, we must wait until we are in Freetown.

Accordingly it only remains for me to pay my compliments to the usual people and to assure you once more of all my affection.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Dakar, 15 April 1859)

Sent_0909

Sent_0909 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 17 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0909 - to Propagation of the Faith - 17 April 1859 /2

Sent_0909 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 17 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0909 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, Africa no. 2, no. 121 Sierra Leone,

copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mr Ménis, secretary of the General Council

of the Work of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

He describes the difficult vicissitudes of his voyage. Then he speaks of the exorbitant outlay he will face in Freetown, according to all accounts received, without counting that, contrary to what happens at Dakar, the French government will not provide us with any financial aid.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), Sierra Leone (dearness)

__________

Dakar, 17 April 1859

Dear Sir,

Although I still have not arrived in my mission, allow me to address a few words to you, while waiting to acquire a better understanding of the situation, when I can write to the Council of Propagation of the Faith.

It seems that the demon is using every possible means to prevent us arriving in our dear and difficult mission. You may perhaps have heard of some of our mishaps : our long wait at Brest, the terrible high seas which flung us on the coast of England, after almost sending us to eternity, our putting into Cherbourg and, yet, here we are at this moment at Dakar with Mgr Kobès and his missionaries, obliged to stay here much longer than we would wish. The State's frigate, the Danaé, was expected to take us as far as Sierra Leone, but then it happened that the Commander of the station is detained here, and we foresee having to wait for a fortnight to take the English packet.

I assure you, Sir, that I am frightened at the thought of the expenditures which will be indispensable in Freetown, if we are to hope for some success and to do honour to the Catholic religion, in a place where Protestantism reigns supreme, and where everything is enormously expensive.

I dare not say that it is one hundred thousand francs that we will need this year. I will write it to the Council once I have seen with my own eyes what unfortunately I have no cause to doubt, according to all that I have heard already from the many naval officers I have met and who know this country, as well as the missionaries here who, despite the considerable aid they receive from the French government for those parts of their establishment having anything to do with the French colonies, and the allocations that you make them, have not ventured to undertake anything before our arrival, in these parts.

I place my trust in God and in the work of Propagation of the Faith, and, in spite of heresy and hell, I really hope that we will accomplish something for the glory of our good master.

Kindly accept, Sir, the assurance of my complete devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Dakar, 17 April 1859)

Sent_0910

Sent_0910 - à Mgrs Bessieux et Kobès - le 10 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0910 - to Mgrs Bessieux and Kobès - 10 May 1859 /2

Sent_0910 - à Mgrs Bessieux et Kobès - le 10 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0910 copy, AMA 2F18/1859(translation: following page)

(to Mgr J.M. Bessieux, bishop of Callipolis)

(apostolic vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(apostolic pro-vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

To grant them authority to administer the sacraments throughout the territory of the apostolic vicariate of Sierra Leone, and to communicate it to the priests depending on them.

Index : eclesiastical powers, canon law

__________

Gorée, 10 May 1859 (

)

Nos, Melchior Maria Joseph de Marion Brésillac, Dei et Sanctae Sedis Apostolicae gratia Episcopus Prusensis et Vicarius Apostolicus de Sierra Leone, universis praesentes litteras inspecturis salutem in Domino.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam et salutem animarum, Reverendissimo et Illustrissimo D.D. Joanni Remigi Bessieux, Episcopo Callipolitano et Vicario Apostolico utriusque Guineae et Senegambiae, potestatem facimus, pro toto Vicariatu nostro (tam) per seipsum quam per Reverendissimum et Illustrissimum D.D. Aloysium Kobès, Episcopum Coadjutorium suum, administrandi omnia sacramenta, praesertim paenitentia, et utendi omnibus et singulis facultatibus ac privilegiis, tam ordinariis quam extraordinariis, quibus nos ipse gaudemus in nostra propria jurisdictione, eumdemque potestatem communicandi sacerdotibus sibi subjectis prout in Domino judicaverit.

Datum Gorée, die decima Maii, anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo quinquagesimo nono.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Episcopus Prusensis

Vicarius Apostolicus de Sierra Leone

(Gorée, 10 May 1859)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING DOCUMENT

(to Mgr Bessieux and Mgr Kobès)

Gorée, 10 May 1859

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic Holy See Bishop of Pruse and Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone, to all those who see the present letters, greetings in the Lord.

For the greatest glory of God and for the salvation of souls, to the Very Reverend and Very Illustrious Lord Jean-Rémi Bessieux, Bishop of Callipolis and Apostolic Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia, we grant the authority, throughout our Vicariate, both by himself and by the Very Reverend and Very Illustrious Lord Aloyse Kobès, His Bishop Coadjutor, to administer all the sacraments, and in particular, penance, and to use each and every one of the faculties and privileges, both ordinary and extraordinary, which we ourselves enjoy in our own jurisdiction, and to communicate this same authority to the priests depending on him, according to his discretion in the Lord.

Issued at Gorée, on the tenth day of May, the year of the Lord eighteen fifty-nine.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Gorée, 10 May 1859)

Sent_0911

Sent_0911 - au P. Planque - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0911 - to Father Planque - 19 May 1859 /2

Sent_0911 - au P. Planque - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0911 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 454-455

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

Finally we have arrived, but the inconvenience of the house and the high cost of living cause me inner sorrow. There were many deaths last month, All excesses are the order of the day here. We will have to live prudently and wisely.

Index : Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), sadness, Sierra Leone (dearness)

__________

Freetown, 19 May 1859

After many difficulties, here we are : we have arrived, dear Mr Planque, and here we are in Sierra Leone, where the demon reigns supreme, aided by Protestantism which contributes to make of this place a veritable picture of hell.

In physical terms, the country does not seem too bad, but from the moral point of view, it is an indescribable disorder. The heat at this moment is overpowering and that, combined with the fatigue of the journey and the inconvenience of being on top of one another in a small house which has practically only one room, has got on my nerves, to the point of being incapable of doing anything ; I can barely hold my pen to write you two words.

It is impossible for me to write to Propagation of the Faith. I am only writing a few lines to Mr Ménis, and when I come to re-read these lines, they do not make sense. Excuse me to him. However, I am well and all of our Gentlemen also.

It is said that last month was extremely unhealthy, so that perhaps it was in order to protect us that Providence forced us to stay one month at Dakar, where we have begun to acclimatise ourselves. The fact is that the Europeans are dying off like flies. The Spanish consul and vice-consul are dead. Mr Porchat, from the firm of Malfilâtre, is dead : today Mr Combat died ; a Catholic lady is on her death-bed, etc. Soon we will have buried all of our Catholics. But also, how they live !

Here all excesses are the order of the day, and together with Mr Reymond I am persuaded that by living prudently and wisely there will be no more deaths here than in other hot countries. For example travelling will be very difficult and in order for the missionaries to have the bare essentials for living without exposing themselves to perishing in a hutment of Blacks, enormous expenses are necessary. In fact, I still have not got used to the idea of the cost of living here ; it is unbelievable.

All of this has thrown me into a certain inner sadness which I will overcome, I hope, through the grace of God, but which makes me incapable of writing to you at length and of speaking to you of business. That will be for next month.

A thousand kind regards to everyone, in the house and outside of it, to those who take an interest in us. Brother Eugène is better, brother Gratien is fairly well, Mr Bresson and Mr Riocreux are very well from all points of view. A Dieu, I do not know what I am writing.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 19 May 1859)

Sent_0912

Sent_0912 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0912 - to Propagation of the Faith - 19 May 1859 /2

Sent_0912 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0912 copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mr Ménis, secretary of the General Council

of the Work of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

We have arrived ; our lodging conditions, the oppressive heat, the place occupied by Protestantism, the cost of living here (it's is frightening !), everything puts me in the impossibility of gathering my ideas together ; and then we have only just arrived. Moreover, all the official representatives who were to have helped us are dead. I will write to you again next month. But be informed that the French govenment will not give us anything.

Index : Sierra Leone (dearness), difficulties, Protestants, Sierra Leone

__________

Freetown, 19 May 1859 ()

Dear Sirs,

After many difficulties, here we are arrived at last in Sierra Leone. Is it the power that the demon has acquired here which has given him the power of turning to evil several things which seemed to favour the beginnings of this difficult mission ? It is certain that the enemy of God and of men holds sway here ; but si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?

I had promised to write to the Council of Propagation of the Faith as soon as I arrived in the hope that it would receive my letter before the distribution of alms for this year.

However I cannot do it today :

1)because I have only just arrived and I am bent on saying only exact things ;

2)because until we find some other house to rent, which will be difficult and above all extremely costly, we will continue to be on top of one another in a tiny house in the midst of confusion and, in this condition, it is difficult to collect one's thoughts;

3)because the heat is oppressive and at the moment the air is charged with electricity which makes it impossible for me to put two ideas together.

However I am writing these few words to you, whose devotion to our difficult undertaking is well known, to tell you that I am terrified at the enormous expenses we will have to incur here, without any hope of serious results immediately. It is quite unbelievable.

Without counting travelling which will be extremely difficult and expensive, that however will have to be undertaken to try set up centres of action elsewhere than at Freetown, I think I am not exaggerating when I say that the living costs for a single missionary will be three thousand francs. That is what the French government gives to the priests of the Sacred Heart of Mary at Saint-Louis, at Gorée and elsewhere where the cost of living is not half as high as here; further, it gives six thousand francs to the person bearing the title of apostolic prefect. I repeat, it is terrible.

But what is even sadder, is to see that Protestantism reigns supreme and that, quite apart from what it has done here with the liberated Blacks, on the coast it has won over to Protestantism what remained of Christianity since the time when the missions were unfortunately abandoned. Thus it is that in several places where I might hope to send some of these Gentlemen, the Protestants are already there.

I will not speak of the difficulties we will have as regards the climate. On my arrival, all the Europeans, apart from my two missionaries, were in a stupor, to the point of advising the commander of the frigate not to allow the crew to go on shore.

The representative of the firm of Malfilâtre from Rouen had died, as well as the General Consul of Spain and the vice-Consul of that same nation, and others. So that the Spanish Consulate, which was to have protected us and which had already rendered services to these Gentlemen, is reduced to nothing. I do not know if Spain will be sending out other Consuls. The French vice-Consul has left for France. He was very helpful to our Gentlemen, while the person replacing him at the moment, one of the employees of the firm of Malfilâtre, cannot do too much for us.

Kindly excuse the disorder of this letter for the above-mentioned reasons and others. Next month, I will write at length to the Council. Pray to God for the mission of Sierra Leone and accept, I beg you, the expression of my perfect devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 19 May 1859)

Sent_0913

Sent_0913 - à Mgr Kobès - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0913 - to Mgr Kobès - 19 May 1859 /2

Sent_0913 - à Mgr Kobès - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0913 copy (), AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(apostolic pro-vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

To thank you for all you did for us on the occasion of our stay in Dakar. Here sadness and discouragement lie in wait for me : enormous expenses, almost nothing remains of the work of our predecessors, the heat, our lodging, the Protestants, the Spanish consulate closed... But my hope in God remains intact.

Index : Sierra Leone (dearness), difficulties, sadness, hope, Protestants

__________

Freetown, 19 May 1859

My Lord Bishop,

Here we are arrived at least in Sierra Leone, and I feel the need to thank you once more for the fine hospitality you offered me in Dakar and for which I have only very inadequately conveyed my gratitude to you.

What can I say to you about the first impressions that I have here ? They tend singularly towards discouragement, and I find it extremely difficult to overcome a great inner sadness. What can be done here, in a place where enormous expenses will be required, without any apparent results which interest the faithful in Europe for a long time? Even the missionaries' living expenses will be enormous, travel and establishments far from Freetown almost impossible, etc., etc.

It is true that the Master's power knows no limits and, if he decides to shower his mercies on these unfortunate populations, he will smooth out the ways for us. But who can say that the times of his anger have passed? Is it not supremely sad to realise that earlier on all the coasts, were more or less evangelised, and that almost nothing remains of what the former evangelical workers have done ? and that, in many places, Protestantism has taken over the little of Christianity that still remained ?

Despite these sad thoughts I am firmly resolved to do all I can, and to die even of sickness of heart, if God so wills, for the success of these Missions but, I repeat, while my hope in the infinite power of God is boundless, it is not so for the hope that the times of mercy have come for these peoples.

The stifling heat present here and the effect of electricity charging the air may have something to do with these inclinations of the spirit. Besides, we find ourselves on top of one another, in a tiny and extremely inconvenient house, until such time as we can find another house to rent. The Spanish vice-Consul died one month after the Consul General, so that the Consulate is closed. Perhaps we could go and stay there, but the rent is two thousand francs at least, without any furniture. However, it appears that any fairly large house costs that.

With that I have come to the end of my paper, and it only remains to commend myself to your prayers and to the good memory of all your missionaries.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 19 May 1859)

Sent_0914

Sent_0914 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 25 mai 1859 -/3

Sent 0914 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 25 May 1859 /3

Sent_0914 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 25 mai 1859 -/3

Sent 0914 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, pp 599ss

(for the P.S., see pp 654-655)

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Here I am in Freetown after staying for a month in Dakar. Here, the difficulties are enormous ; the climate is very unhealthy this year, many deaths, the place occupied by Protestantism and its implantation, the cost of living, our poverty. At the very least we would need powerful encouragements from the Holy See. 3 successive PSs announce the deaths of Fathers Riocreux and Bresson and of brother Gratien, Brother Eugène has gone back. There are now only two of us; our enemies exult. I am overwhelmed with sadness.

Index : Sierra Leone, difficulties, sadness, Sierra Leone (deaths)

__________

Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 May 1859

Your Eminence,

Although it is a long time now since I last received a letter from the Sacred Congregation, I hope that you have received those that I had the honour of addressing to you on different dates, including those in which I informed you of the departure of our first missionaries for Sierra Leone, in November of last year, and of my own departure from Lyons this year, in February, with another priest and another lay brother.

After a long and difficult crossing in the course of which we almost lost our lives, I arrived in Freetown on the 14th of this month. So that there are now six of us here : two lay brothers, three priests and myself. Two others will come to join us, I hope, in November. Here I have found few Catholics. Since the climate this year is much more unhealthy than usual, several of them have died including some of the most important ones. The Consul General of Spain, among others, and his vice-consul both died in the space of one month before my arrival.

We have rented a house where we say holy mass in one room, while in the town of Freetown and its neighbourhood alone, there are more than thirty Protestant churches or chapels officiated over by a large number of ministers and an Anglican bishop.

On passing through Gorée and at Dakar, I saw the worthy missionaries of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary. I even spent almost one month with Mgr Kobès and we spoke at length of the sad state of our holy religion in those countries. I will have the honour of voicing to you later my fears and my hopes for the success of the missions which, it seems to me, should be established at various points in Africa. Suffice it to say, meanwhile, that a truly Catholic heart feels itself humiliated here when faced with the activity of Protestantism and its successes which, however imperfect they may be, are nevertheless real and of such a sort as to impede more and more Catholic evangelisation.

Let us be clear here. The difficulties will be enormous. The bad climate, the vastness of the countries which would need to be attacked simultaneously, the innumerable diversity of languages, the sad antecedents posed by the Protestant ministers on almost all the points to which the missionaries should first of all necessarily be directed, the exceedingly high cost of living on those same points: these reasons and many more prove that, if we want reasonably to hope for a success worthy of our holy cause, we need many men and a great deal of money.

I will not repeat, Your Eminence, what I had the honour of conveying to you both by word of mouth and in other letters. I feel confident that the recent congregation of the seminary of African Missions could, in the hands of the S.C. of Propaganda, easily become one of the instruments of God's mercy for this great work.

But, allow me to point out, Your Eminence, that in order to achieve this, it would need to receive some powerful encouragements from the Holy See, it would need to be the object of its tender solicitude. It might be that I personally am the cause of the sort of coldness that I seem to have noted on the part of the Sacred Congregation towards us. If that should be the case, I beg you, Your Eminence, to forget my wrongs and to think only of the unfortunate peoples of Africa, for whom also Jesus Christ died on the cross and for whose salvation I desire to live and die, however unworthy my sacrifice is of being joined to the divine sacrifice of Calvary.

I beg you to accept the expression of profound respect with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 May 1859)

P.S. (of 3 June) Since the post was only due to take this letter in some days' time, I have time to let Your Eminence know the test and the great misfortune that the Lord has just sent us. Abbé Riocreux, the young priest who recently arrived with me from France, died yesterday, Ascension Day. I am heartbroken. He was a priest full of health, of talents, of piety and zeal, and the Lord has taken him away from us in the first hour, even before he could put his hand to the plough ! How impenetrable are his designs. Let us adore them.

2nd P.S. (of 6 June) God's hand descends even more heavily on us as if to wipe out all of our plans. Nonetheless it seems to me that these were shaped exclusively for his greatest glory. Abbé Bresson, one of the two missionaries remaining to me, died yesterday in the octave of Ascension, three days after Mr Riocreux. This latest blow may have the direst consequences, not only on account of the impossibility of doing what we had planned in Freetown and the neighbourhood, but above all because of the bad effect it is liable to produce on the minds of the young aspirants in the seminary of Lyons.

If the Good God spares me myself, I will write to Your Eminence what I think should be done to weaken this effect, as soon as I receive from Your Eminence a few lines evincing your sympathy for our difficult undertaking. Should this twofold and terrible test discourage us ? I do not think so, and so long as there is a breath of life in me, I want to hope for the success of the seminary of the African Missions. May I say to the Sovereign Judge when he calls me to him (perhaps it will be tomorrow) that, for my part, I have done everything, everything that it was in my power to do.

The frightful epidemic that reigns here at the moment appears to be quite extraordinary ; it is said that there has be none such for the last 17 years and to find a worse one should go back 27 years. The Europeans are the most numerous victims, proportionately ; the Protestant bishop has just died, and almost all of our Catholics are disappearing.

For fear that this letter does not arrive by ordinary post, I am sending it in duplicate via the Seminary of Lyons.

3rd P.S. (of 18th) The post is leaving tomorrow. God's hand descends more and more heavily on us. My second travel companion, lay brother Gratien, died on Monday of Pentecost. The other brother is going back to France. I myself have been very ill ; today was the first day that I could get up and I am told that the danger has passed. I am overwhelmed with sadness, fatigue and fever. We were six a few days ago, while today we are only two : the excellent Mr Reymond and myself. May God's will be done. It is very trying to see the demon of heresy triumph ; for our misfortunes are a happiness for the Protestant sects who dreaded our arrival so much. Now, if God preserves my life for me, what should be done ? I await your advice.

(Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 May 1859)

(with P.S.s of 3 June, of 6 June and of 18 June 1859)

Sent_0915

Sent_0915 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 9 juin 1859 -/2

Sent 0915 - to Propagation of the Faith - 9 June 1859 /2

Sent_0915 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 9 juin 1859 -/2

Sent 0915 Original, Archives or Propagation of the Faith

Lyons, Africa, no. 4

copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to the two Councils General of the Work

of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons and Paris)

The deaths of Fathers Riocreux and Bresson. I counted greatly on Mr Riocreux for his talent with children, Comparative prices of a dozen or so articles at Coimbatore and at Freetown. Pray that God gives me the strength to fight and help me on the material side. As a PS, the death of brother Gratien.

Index : Sierra Leone, difficulties, sadness, Sierra Leone (deaths)

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 9 June 1859

Dear Sirs,

I proposed to write you a long letter , but overcome with sadness after the terrible blow that has just struck us, my courage fails me. Within the space of three days, I have had the misfortune of losing two missionaries out of three, Mr Bresson and Mr Riocreux.

This dear Mr Riocreux, having such a perfect character and who seemed to be endowed with all the qualities desirable for the kind of action that we could expect to carry out in this country. Clearly, it is on the children that we would need to act first of all, and he felt a great liking for children who, for their part, felt attracted to him almost irresistibly. I counted on him to attract them first of all and to bring them together in a school. How many other things would he not have done with his admirable zeal. And now the Lord carries him away scarcely a fortnight after his arrival ! Let us adore his impenetrable designs ; but my heart is broken !

These two deaths may have the most terrible consequences on the establishment of this mission. Let us hope nevertheless that God will not permit them to discourage those due to take their place, and that the demon, who is in the habit of triumphing here on almost all points, will not carry off yet another victory. If the Good God keeps me myself for some years still, pray that he gives me the strength for the struggle, and you, Gentlemen, help me on the material side.

Among the aberrations of the philanthropic work of the liberated Blacks in Sierra Leone, one of the most absurd is to have tried to immediately raise these Blacks to the height of European civilisation, to boot, with English habits. This has resulted in one of the most monstrous social states under a deceptive appearance of wellbeing and even of wealth (some Blacks being more than millionnaires), however basically everything here is in a frightful disorder.

If the good God lets me live, I will deal with all of this later in detail, contenting myself with saying to you today that, when the local requirements are expressed in pounds sterling (here there is no talk of shillings or pence), it's enough to frighten anyone. Allow me to give you a comparative table of the prices of various basic commodities, in Coimbatore where I was apostolic vicar for a long time, and here :

in Coimbatorein Sierra Leone

One pound of bread 0.30 0.60

12 eggs 0.15 2.00

One fowl 0.15 1.50

A certain measure of rice 3.00 6.00

A certain measure of wood 4.00 12.00

Washing of a certain

quantity of linen 25.00 100.00

Service of a domestic servant

of average strength 120.00 900.00

Remedies readily available 10.00 150.00

A doctor's visit 0.00 25.00

Rent or interest on a more or less

comparable house 500.00 3,000.00

Wine indispensable for

a missionary 25.00 300.00

I could prolong this list and add, alas ! what a burial costs however modest one wishes to be ; for we have refused for our poor dead what one would ordinarily do for a simple captain of a merchant vessel. Whereas we pray a great deal for them. You too will pray for them and for us, Gentlemen, and whatever happens, kindly accept the fresh expression of my entire devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. Brother Gratien, my second travelling companion died on the Monday of Pentecost. The other brother has been ill, I am sending him back to France. I myself have been very ill. I only left my bed today 9 June. ()

(Freetown (Sierra Leone), 9 June 1859)

Sent_0916

Sent_0916 - à M. Vian - les 10 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0916 - to Mr Vian - 10 and 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0916 - à M. Vian - les 10 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0916 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 456-457

(to Mr Victorin Vian, priest)

My news are not good : difficult crossing ; I have just lost two priests, one of my brothers is very ill. May God's will be done. As a PS, the decease of the brother and his own illness.

Index : Sierra Leone (deaths), will of God, difficulties

__________

Freetown, 10 June 1859

I proposed to answer your good letter of 16 March, very dear Mr Vian, as soon as I arrived here, in the hope of having all sorts of good things to communicate to you. Alas ! It is quite the contrary, or if they are good things in the designs of Providence, to our rough appreciation, they are of the worst kind.

You have undoubtedly learned something of our rather sad crossing and of the accident which risked plunging us into the depths of the sea a few days after our departure from Brest. We hoped that after saving us in this way, God had decided that we would labour for a long time in his work, in a place where the demon has reigned supreme for so long.

Well, as soon as we arrived here, we were happy at being six for a beginning of action ; the two priests who had been waiting impatiently for me since the month of January were in perfect good health, despite the ravages of an epidemic in the country ; we were happy and were drawing up our plans of campaign when, in the space of three days, I lost two of these dear confreres, two priests out of three, the good Mr Bresson who had gone on ahead of me and the excellent Mr Riocreux who was my travelling companion.

The latter was quite young, full of health, of talents and of piety ; I founded my greatest hopes on him. And now he has been taken to heaven on the very day of the Ascension, while on Sunday of the octave, he was followed by Mr Bresson. It is impossible for me to describe to you the effect of this double bolt from the blue on my soul. Besides, the epidemic, the most virulent in memory for the last 27 years, has not passed, and almost all the Europeans are dying. Not many days ago, they buried the Protestant bishop.

At this time, I have one of the brothers seriously ill. Accordingly it is not improbable that Mr Reymond and myself may follow closely on those we are mourning, and at that point the mission of Sierra Leone will have finished as soon as it started. But if the good God chooses to let me suffer further on this earth, I very much fear that the misfortune which has just befallen us will have a terrible consequence and singularly impede our undertaking. I am speaking according to nature, for God is able to draw good from evil even, and perhaps, as I said at the outset, all of these evils are goods. But also, are they not, perhaps, the terrible effects of celestial wrath ?

However that may be, pray that God's holy will be done in us and through us, as outside of us. A Dieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 10 June 1859)

P.S. of 18 (June). The brother is dead, he was my other travel companion. Since the 12th I myself have been very ill ; today it appears that the danger has passed.

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

Sent_0917

Sent_0917 - à sa soeur Félicie - les 10 et 19 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0917 - to his sister Félicie - 10 and 19 June 1859 /2

Sent_0917 - à sa soeur Félicie - les 10 et 19 juin 1859 -/1

Envoi\-- 0917 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to his sister Félicie)

I am suffering from an immense sadness. Are we going to give up without fighting ? Two of my fathers are dead, the two brothers are ill. As a PS, brother Gratien is dead ; I myself have also been very ill.

Inde : Sierra Leone (deaths), sadness

__________

Freetown, 10 and 19 June 1859 (

)

Very dear Félicie,

On the fourteenth of last month I arrived at last in Sierra Leone. I could have written on the 19th but I did not do so, because I was under an unpleasant impression and I thought my mind would be freer and gayer this month, in order to write at length.

Alas ! I never thought that, on the contrary, I would be suffering from the effects of a much greater sadness. It is true that, on arriving, I found the town in mourning as the result of a cruel epidemic, such as has not been seen, they say, for over 27 years. However, I was full of hope that the good God would preserve us, that he had not sent us in vain to a place where the demon reigns supreme, to allow us to succumb without fighting, and that it was for that reason that he had saved us from the dangers at sea.

But the paths of his Providence are impenetrable, so that, in the space of three days, he has taken away from me two missionaries out of three, the good Mr Bresson and the excellent Mr Riocreux. The latter died on Ascension Day and the other the Sunday in the octave. As you can imagine, the sorrow I felt as a result is beyond all expression. What a frightful blow for this mission and for our work !

Mr Reymond is still fairly well, and I too am well, though we are both very tired, for it seems that we have come here only in order to bless graves.

Our Catholics, already few in number, are passing away one after the other, their houses are hospitals, and at the present time even I have the two brothers quite ill. Now from illness to death, there is not far to go here, above all at the present time. You can just imagine that I don't have the courage to speak to you of anything but our sadness ; if the good God preserves us, I will speak to you another time of this unfortunate country.

A Dieu. Friendly greetings to Melchior and to Etiennette.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 10 June 1859)

P.S. of the 19th. Brother Gratien is dead. I am sending Brother Eugène back to France. Since the 10th, I myself have been very ill. Today all danger is over.

(Freetown, 19 June 1859)

Sent_0918

Sent_0918 - à Mme Blanchet - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0918 - to Mrs Blanchet - 12 and 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0918 - à Mme Blanchet - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0918

partial Le Gallen copy, pp 582-583

(to Mrs Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

After the dangers of the voyage, we are faced with other misfortunes. I have just lost two fathers while the two brothers are very ill. My sorrow is extreme. If the good God preserves my life, I will write to you again. As a PS, brother Gratien is dead and I have sent back the other brother to France.

Index : Sierra Leone (deaths), sadness

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 12 and 18 June 1859

Dear Friend,

If I did not write to you last month... some days after our arrival in Freetown, it was because I could not shake off an extremely unpleasant impression, without knowing the reason why.

Is it the effect of a long and sad voyage ? was it a presentment of the misfortunes that awaited me ? There was nothing to make me presume so : we were in perfect health, and although a terrible epidemic reigned in the town, we were full of trust, hoping that the good God had not made us escape from such great dangers to call us to him through illness, before having done anything for his glory.

Alas ! a few days later, and at three days' interval, I was to lose two of my missionaries out of three : Abbé Riocreux passed away first, on Ascension Day (2 June), and he was followed by Mr Bresson, on the Sunday in the octave (5 June), at six in the morning. To tell you the profound sorrow I felt, and that I still feel, is beyond all expression.

Besides, our trials are still not over : my two lay brothers are ill at the time of writing to you ; and I have almost no more hope of keeping brother Gratien. Mr Reymond is dragging along, and I am half dead with fatigue, with sorrow and also with the reigning sickness. Accordingly please excuse me if I do not speak to you of anything else, and if I am writing in a disorderly way, for I can scarcely keep going... However I would have many things to tell you... If the good God preserves my life, that will be for another time, otherwise it will be in heaven.

The epidemic is striking everybody, but above all the Europeans almost all of whom are dying. They say it is twenty-seven years since there was such a high mortality.

What a frightful blow for our work ! In short, let us adore the impenetrable designs of Providence. Pray for us and ask our friends to pray.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 12 June 1859)

P.S. of the 18th (June). Brother Gratien is dead. I am sending the other brother back to France. Since the 12th I myself has been very ill ; I have only left my bed today. It seems that all danger is over.

I have asked Mr Reymond to write giving you the details ; he almost promised me, but I do not know if he will have the time or the courage.

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

Sent_0919

Sent_0919 - à son frère Henri - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0919 - to his brother Henri - 12 and 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0919 - à son frère Henri - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0919 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 240-241

(to his brother Henri)

My sadness is extreme : two of my fathers are dead, the two lay brothers are ill. Mr Reymond and myself are very tired. May God's will be done.

Index : Sierra Leone (deaths), sadness

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 12 June 1859

I did not write to you last month, very dear Henri, because I was under the effects of an undefinable sadness and I hoped that after having shaken it off, I would write to you this month giving interesting details.

Alas! Was it a presentiment of the misfortunes that were about to befall me ? I am so overwhelmed by it all that I don't have the strength to speak to you of other things ; just imagine that, at an interval of three days, I lost two missionaries out of three, the good Mr Bresson and the excellent Mr Riocreux, my travelling companion. And the trial is not over ; I have my two lay brothers ill. I have almost given up hope for brother Gratien ; Mr Reymond is overcome with fatigue, and I myself am half dead with fatigue, sadness and the evil influence of the climate which, they say, has never been worse than this year.

To find a mortality comparable to that of this year, you have to go back 27 years. Above all Europeans are the victims, in fact they are almost all disappearing. In the last few days, the Protestant bishop was buried. Will the good God preserve me, together with Mr Reymond, to continue our work, or does he wish this mission to finish as soon as it started ? He alone knows. May his holy will be done in everything. In any case, the misfortune that has just struck us is, humanly speaking, a frightful blow for this mission.

You will understand, very dear friend, that I don't have the courage to tell you anything else, especially since it is now three weeks that I cannot get a quiet night's sleep. If the trial passes and if the good God preserves me, I will write to you another time at greater length. It was on Ascension Day that Abbé Riocreux was taken to heaven, on the 2nd of this month ; we had arrived here on the 14 May. He was followed by Abbé Bresson on Sunday in the octave.

There is no other post here but that of England, once a month, and to write to somewhere ten leagues away, you have to wait for the packet, as you do for writing to France.

I have received your two letters of 18 April and of 20 May.

A Dieu. Warm regards and compliments as usual.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 12 June 1859)

P.S. of the 18th (June). Brother Gratien, my other travelling companion is dead ; I am sending the other brother back to France. Since the 12th, I myself have been very ill ; today all danger is over.

Another P.S. Mr Reymond is writing to you with the details ; you may pass them on to others to whom I have written only a few lines.

M. Reymond t'écrit des détails ; tu pourras les communiquer à d'autres à qui je n'écris ainsi que quelques lignes.

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

Sent_0920

Sent_0920 - à Mgr Kobès - le 14 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0920 - to Mgr Kobès - 14 June 1859 /2

Sent_0920 - à Mgr Kobès - le 14 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0920 copy (), AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(apostolic pro-vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

To inform you of our misfortunes : three deaths in ten days ; the enemies of our holy faith are triumphant. Ask God on our behalf for a perfect submission to his will,

Index : Sierra Leone (deaths), will of God

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 14 June 1859

My Lord Bishop,

A few short lines only in the interval between bouts of the fever, to inform you of our misfortunes. On Ascension Day, Mr Riocreux went to heaven ; three days after, on the Sunday in the octave, Mr Bresson followed him there ; yesterday brother Gratien also left us. Thus, from the six that we were a few days ago, three of us remain, overwhelmed with sorrrow and fatigue, while I myself have been devoured by the fever for the last two days. If the good God wishes our mission to finish as soon as it has started, may his holy will be done. In any case, this is indeed a terrible blow struck against our work and the enemies of our holy faith are triumphant. I don't have the courage to write to you at any greater length.

I wanted to send you a little English catechism to be printed for us ; but I do not have the strength to prepare it, that will be for the first occasion, if in a few days' time we are not in our graves.

Pray for me, requesting that the good God grant us perfect submission to his holy will, and deign to accept, I beg you, My Lord, the fresh assurance of my respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. For the last two days we have your good brother Ange with us.

(Freetown, 14 June 1859)

Sent_0921

Sent_0921 - au P. Planque - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0921 - to Father Planque - 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0921 - au P. Planque - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0921 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Mr Augustin Planque)

My sorrow is beyond all measure. Let us adore God's will. Deaths of Messrs Riocreux and Bresson and of brother Gratien. I am sending brother Eugène back to France. If you could send us some help ! (A few words here on the qualities required for the brothers). I still intend to go and see whether there is not some better place on the coast to set ourselves up. I'm worn out. Mr Reymond will write to you at greater length.

Index : sadness, will of God, Sierra Leone (deaths)

__________

Freetown, 18 June 1859

Very dear Mr Planque,

May God's holy name be blessed ! His ways are impenetrable, let us adore them and submit. As for the sorrow caused by the misfortunes that his hand sends us, I hope that he will not be offended, providing it is accepted without complaint. Now I may say that it is beyond all measure.

From the six we were only a few days ago, now we are only three, and will soon be two, for definitively I am going to send brother Eugène back to France. Mr Reymond is writing with the details, for I don't have the strength to do it, having myself been seized by this cruel fever Sunday evening ; it is only today that I have been able to get up for a little longer and I am taking advantage of this to address these lines to you. I assure you that I really thought I was going to follow our dear confreres, for the symptoms were from the outset the same as those of the terrible illness that have taken Mr Riocreux and brother Gratien from us.

The former went to heaven in the evening of Ascension Day ; on the Sunday in the octave, he was followed by Mr Bresson, and the Monday of Pentecost, when I myself was already in bed, brother Gratien. What a terrible blow for a beginning ! It is true that everyone agrees in saying that this year is quite exceptional, that there has been no example of such mortality for over 26 years. But in short, is this not going to singularly discourage vocations ?

Thus for the moment all our plans are overturned, we have absolutely to wait for more help. Despite all of this, I will go alone, if possible next month, on a voyage to Dahomey to see if it would not be better to found a centre there. Ah ! if Mr Borghero and Mr Brossard could come immediately, what services they would render us. As for the brothers, do not send any who are not perfectly solid. The example of brother Eugène is a perfect lesson. What we need here is men who are not only pious, but perfectly obedient, who do not meddle with what does not concern them, without ideas of their own, but prepared to do simply and solely what they are told to do, without reflections, without wanting to do better as they consider fit, etc., otherwise they are a veritable embarrassment and no help at all.

I think I have written enough and to spare for a man who for the last eight days has done nothing but take medicine on medicine. I've had enough ; and I did not believe I would write so much.

I would have wished to write to the Ursulines and to the Carmelites, but I can't!

I am sending some documents which may be of interest to the families of our dear deceased. The death certificates issued in the Consulate may not be ready until next month.

I hope that Mr Reymond will give you fuller details. I am overcome by sadness and fatigue !

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse,

apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

Sent_0922

Sent_0922 - à Mgr Kobès - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0922 - to Mgr Kobès - 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0922 - à Mgr Kobès - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0922 copy (), AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(apostolic pro-vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

Brother Eugène will hand over this letter to you. See that he leaves for France at the least cost. May God's will be done. We were six, now we are only two... !

Index : God's will, Sierra Leone (death)

__________

Sierra Leone, 18 June 1859

My Lord,

When Brother Eugène hands over this letter to you, you will already have received the one I addressed to you at Bathurst in which I told you of our incomparable misfortunes. Brother Eugène the bearer of this letter has likewise been very ill, and that, together with the ordeal that() his spirit had already suffered in contact with the sun of the tropics, determines me to send him back to France.

The captain of the Dialmath offers to take him () to your town, and since he thinks that shortly one of the State's ships will be sailing from Gorée to France, I beg you, My Lord, to take the necessary steps for him to be granted a passage. For really we must, if we can, try to save the expense of a voyage. However if this should entail waiting too long, I would ask you to see that he leaves on a merchant ship, as cheaply as possible, while using prudence, just as in a word you would do for one of your own congregation.

Besides, brother Ange, who has spent a week with us, seems to me destined to return to France. Perhaps it would be well for them to continue their voyage together, as they are going to begin it from here to Gorée.

I will not return to what I told Y.L., yet I cannot help thinking of anything else ! To have been six only a few days ago, and to be only two now ! I myself almost succumbed ; it is only today that I have left my bed, and I do not think I will be able to say mass tomorrow yet.

May God's holy will be done.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse

Apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. In Y.L.'s absence, I request that the Superior open this letter.

There is no need to give the brother any money. He has enough to get from the port to Lyons. If it should be absolutely necessary to send him on a merchant ship, kindly pay for his voyage and we will settle up with you.

(Sierra Leone, 18 June 1859)

Revised translation

***

This section contains 61 letters edited by some of our confreres to improve readability. We still need to work on 861 letters. If 30 people took 30 letters each, the whole work will be finished to our full satisfaction.

Those who would like to work on a few letters can contact Fr. Fachtna O'Driscoll (supgen@smaroma.org) or Fr. Francis Rozario (conseiller1@smaroma.org).

***
0001_New translation

Sent 0001 - to his cousin Louis - 31 December 1833 -1/1

Sent 0001 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 1

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

To create ties with his cousin Louis, eldest son of his uncle Pierre. Some "business" had taken place between the two brothers Pierre and Gaston. Melchior does not want this cooling off and this division to exist between him and his cousins.

Index : friendship, attachment (family), tie (family)

__________

Carcassonne, 31 December 1833

My dear cousin,

For the misfortune of families, interest is so often a cause of cooling off and even of division, that the business which unfortunately has taken place between our parents might make you suspect that this is the case with us. I don't have any such thoughts about you, my friend, and am anxious that you should not about me.

In order to prove the contrary I am taking up my pen at this New Year, to assure you that the feelings of friendship I have always kept alive in my heart, for everything that concerns me closely, have not changed by one iota towards you and your family, since my aunt's unfortunate death. I still feel the same attachment, the same friendship; my best wishes for your happiness are as all-embracing and sincere as they have ever been. Please God they may be granted!

My dear Louis, circumstances have always obliged us to live far from each other; I am already twenty years old, you are older than me, yet we have not met more than twice or three times ; we have never corresponded with each other and until a short while ago we hardly knew each other except through our parents ; for this reason I felt the urge today to break a silence which, while it said nothing against you, did not indicate either that the interest I feel in all of my family is in no way altered towards you.

Yes, my friend, I repeat to you once more in closing : at any time, in any circumstance whatsoever, please consider me always as a friend, a sincere friend. In presenting my respects to your father, wish for him on my behalf the best of years; tell him that he occupies his rightful place in my heart as a beloved uncle. Say to your brothers that the happiness I wish them is boundless, and to your sister that, although I don't know her, I never forget she is my cousin.

As for you, my dear Louis, please count always on my genuine attachment ; I count on yours, and leave you entreating you to love me as I love you.

Melchior de Brésillac

(Carcassonne, 31 December 1833)

0002_New translation

Sent 0002 - to his father - 1 July 18362/2

Sent 0002 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 1-2

(to his father)

He asks his father to advise him on what he should do the next year (1836-37). Should he remain in the minor seminary of Carcassonne as a teacher? Should he go to the major seminary of Carcassonne? Or of Toulouse? He has ruled out Saint-Sulpice once and for all.

Index : seminary, theological studies, indecision

__________

Carcassonne, 1 July 1836

My very dear Papa,

You will have received, a few days ago, a letter from Henri, wishing you a happy saint's day on his behalf and on mine. However, I am writing to you today through Abbé Tisseyre who has just spent two or three days in the seminary, to speak to you about a question of the utmost importance for me, which has to be decided soon. This is whether I should stay on here next year.

Dear Papa, you know how much I have always wanted to acquire a sound theology ; when I came back here, persuaded that that would not be the case, I felt a certain reluctance in accepting ; and entertained the hope of some day going to Saint-Sulpice ; but times have changed, and today there is no possibility of such a project, so that I no longer ask you for what I see is clearly above your means, and I even declare that I would not want to go to Paris, seeing the sacrifices you would be obliged to make, and perhaps even how my brothers might suffer thereby.

But will I stay on here, since I cannot do my seminary as I had at first wished? If so, I shall have to decide to make teaching my career; I must make the resolution of staying on here for a good part of my life; in that case, for me theology will only be something accessory, and all my studies will have the purpose of making me a good teacher, abandoning the other branches of the ministry. I am reluctant to take such a resolution.

You think I have had recourse to wise persons who could help me with their advice ; these persons are of the opinion that I should go to the major seminary, some of them even that I should make up somewhat for Saint-Sulpice by another seminary, for example Toulouse. Well, I decided not to leave it there. I went to the real ecclesiastical authority; I addressed myself to My Lord himself whom I went to see yesterday evening. This good bishop did not order me, which I would have preferred by far, since all discussion would have been ended; but gave me to understand clearly that he desired me to enter the major seminary.

You think that after that I too should want to enter it. I assure you that it would break my heart to leave the minor seminary; but I dare not commit myself to staying on for good: and if I should later enter the holy ministry, I can no longer postpone acquiring the difficult notions relating to it which are almost completely neglected here. However, since My Lord has not given me any order or decisive advice, I cannot bring myself to make a decision.

If Mr Arnal does not require me to give him a final answer before I know your opinion which I think will be similar to the unanimous feeling of all those to whom I have referred, I will say nothing to him before you have answered me. Here it is a question of my soul and that of the others. Quite apart from the personal grief I will feel in leaving the minor seminary, and which is nothing since it concerns me alone, being a sacrifice such as will necessarily have to be made, I have only that of making you incur greater expenses when you are still embarrassed, however I believe that these are indispensable.

You can well believe, dear Papa, that for the last few days I have been in a state of uncertainty which is quite painful, I hope that will soon be over, and feel sure that your answer will lead me to take a decision. I don't know if you can read my writing, I'm in a great hurry since Mr Tisseyre is about to leave.

Please convey my respects to Mamma, my kindest regards to my sisters and count on the respect

of the most submissive of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

junior cleric

(Carcassonne, 1 July 1836)

0003_New translation

Sent 0003 - to his father - 17 July 1836 -1/2

Sent 0003 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 3-4

(to his father)

He still does not know what he is going to do when school starts up again : stay on in the minor seminary or go to the major seminary He must ask the opinion of Mr Médus, former vicar-general of Pamiers. His day at Empetit passing by Fanjeaux with his brother Henri and two teachers.

Index : indecision, seminary, theological studies

__________

Carcassonne, 17 July 1836

My very dear Papa,

I have waited until now to answer your letter, since I wanted to be able to give you sure news regarding the question that concerns me. Since I still cannot do so, I feared to keep you in suspense, and accordingly I am picking up my pen without anything having been finally settled.

Although I quite foresaw the purport of your letter, I had to wait a long time to receive it : I had expected it by Friday and the two days that have elapsed since then seem incredibly long. Finally it came on Sunday and I read in it what in fact I was expecting to see. Almost all the considerations that you so kindly make to me had already been weighed up. However, coming from you, they assume a fresh degree of force, and I no longer dare to consider them destroyed; so that I still have not come to a decision.

It would be useless to refer once more to the person who first offered me the benefit of his advice, because I am sure it would not change, so that I propose to have recourse finally to Mr Médus, former vicar-general of Pamiers, a knowledgeable, prudent and wise man, but who unfortunately is not here, since he is accompanying My Lord the bishop of Pamiers who has just spent a few days here. I am pretty sure his opinion will be the same as that of the others, because the reasons motivating it are very strong; thus, in order not to prejudice Mr Arnal who might require an answer, I went Sunday evening to inform him of my dilemma.

This man whom I admire a little more every day, because day by day I get to know him better, made a point of not offering any advice, just as I made a point of not asking for it, since here he is an interested party. He must have referred the matter to Mr Barthe, since the latter spoke to me about it that very evening, with great warmth, desiring me absolutely to stay on. Once more I had foreseen everything he said, except for one or two reasons which I am still quite prepared to submit to Mr Médus, but which I believe will vanish like the others ; however I admit these are the strongest ones that have been presented to me. So this is my situation at present.

I will not attempt to answer each article of your letter, that is very instructive for me and from which I will try to draw the utmost benefit ; only, how can it be astonishing that I find my conscience deeply concerned by one of the most important questions of my life, since it is by the least important? And then, if I give up going to Saint-Sulpice, this is because it would be ridiculous, in your position, for me to ask you to send me there, or that I could only do so on conditions that cause me displeasure. The same reasons that exist today, the main one of which is your shortage of money, and the wrong my brothers might suffer, will exist next year ; and after that, it's too late. I assure you that I can't wait for it all to be settled, since this uncertainty has been difficult for me at times especially in the last two or three months. God willing, may everything we do be to his greatest glory !

Perhaps you have heard through Empetit, about the day we spent in the country last Thursday. Two teachers, Henri and myself, went to see if they had finished cutting. We had a beautiful day for it; a brisk but salutary north wind prevented us from feeling warm. We left here at four in the morning, at six we made a halt at Montréal where one of the travellers, who is a priest, said mass; we then breakfasted with Monsieur le Curé, and at eight we took the road to Empetit.

Not knowing the town, these gentlemen were very pleased to go to Fanjeaux ; in fact our horses had been idle for two or three days, we took them and Cadet, who could go off quite easily since he only had a small amount of oats still to cut and was in no hurry about it, came to take us there; from there we drove directly to the Villa to see it once more, and finally to Empetit where we dined. Jeanne had prepared some pigeons and some eggs for us with her usual kindness and attention ; finally at half past five, we set out on the return journey and, both to see the countryside and to take a different road, we came back by Bram ; at nine o'clock we were back at the seminary, well content with our day, so content that those not of the party conceived the idea of organising another such outing some other day.

Yesterday a little accident occurred : the poor linnet suffered a common destiny. It was taking the fresh morning air beside the window, when the servant accidentally knocked over its cage, which fell down in the courtyard and the poor creature was killed. I am sorry for the pain this will cause my sisters; but after all it was only a creature.

We are well. However for the last few days I have been feeling a bit off colour, above all with a great weakness in all of my limbs, and the plumpness I had acquired this winter has diminished. I think that the heat is the main cause of this, and that the holidays will soon put things to rights. Henri is also somewhat thin, but he is well.

I still have not received the money from Mr Crouset; I think he is awaiting a favourable occasion. Please convey my respects to mother and my warmest regards to my sisters. I think that by the holidays we will find them admirably knowledgeable and virtuous.

My paper is running out, so I will leave you. I hope you won't be angry at what is happening; if I were to follow my inclination and outside interest, I would not hesitate to stay; but if you and I have to make certain sacrifices, the good Lord will reward us for it.

Dear Papa, please count on the sincere respect of the most submissive of your children.

Mr de Brésillac,

junior cleric

(Carcassonne, 17 July 1836)

0004_New translation

Sent 0004 - to Mr Vian - 13 September 1837 -2/2

Sent 0004 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 5-6

(to Mr Victorin Vian, seminary of Carcassonne)

Will his friend Victorin Vian pray for him. He is experiencing a period of spiritual aridity. He feels great esteem and deep attachment to all the teachers in the minor seminary.

Index : attachment (teachers of the seminary), spiritual aridity

__________

Monestrol, 13 September 1837

L.J.C.

According to what you tell me in your note, I do not know if my answer will find you at Carcassonne. Indeed I hope that this is the case, since I was given to understand that cholera was the only reason that would decide you to go home if it were to invade your parts. I recognise your zeal and charity, and I realise that filial love makes this a duty for you. In any case, I will attempt to write to you, and if you do not receive my letter, I will in any case have had the opportunity of conversing a moment with you, as if you were listening to me, and will be happy.

Don't expect me to amuse you by the diversity of the adventures that have happened to me. This day of writing to you is similar to the previous days, and the latter were merely a repetition of the former. Quite countrified, I no longer know what is being said, or what is going on, so that I am almost a hermit or a solitary.

But those fortunate souls who plunged into deserts, or some cave, far from the affairs of the world, found in their voluntary exile the sole object of their love; prayer was their delight, the bread of life came to reinforce their heroic determination ; while I, miserable sinner, pray, but the fact is that prayer weighs heavily on me ; and I re-enact happy days when our good Jesus was in the habit of coming to see my wretchedness, I re-enact them, but the fact is that he doesn't come, and the fact is that my soul is sad...

O my dear friend Vian, if you had some power over our loving master, some protection in the person of Mary, ask them to have pity on my wretchedness, to put an end to the test and at last to give me some solace; or rather may God's will be done and not mine ; even better, much better, ask them on my behalf ; but if they make the cross weigh down so heavily, may they slip underneath it the grace which enables us to bear it.

But I am an ungrateful creature ; to hear me, you would believe that God is wicked, if you did not know him. Oh no! He puts me to the test, it is true, in my duties, in prayers, etc., but he is good, but he does not allow all of this to go as far as I would deserve, and often in the midst of it all, he reminds me that he is my father. So, do not think that I am downcast, only I really want to persuade you of the need I have for your prayers so as to make you promise never to forget me.

This is a long page to say perhaps what I should not have said. But Vian is charitable, Vian is more sensible than me, he will laugh at what is laughable and he will pray, which is what I require.

I have asked Mr Gleises to convey my compliments to all the teachers, however such a request may usefully be made a second time. Firstly, because Papa Gleises will certainly forget someone, and a perfect chord on the piano will soon put poor Brésillac and all his vain words out of his mind. And secondly, because if twenty persons were to repeat twenty times each to these gentlemen how much I esteem them and how attached I am to them, they still would not have exhausted the sentiments of my heart.

As to Mr Gleises, I would ask you to join particularly your prayers to mine next Sunday, XVIII S. Let us offer to God our holy communion, requesting him mutually to grant us the graces of which we have such pressing need.

Farewell, my dear friend, wherever you are, and if it is not granted for us we to meet again, I count on your friendship and ask you to believe that in me you have a sincere friend.

I am, in the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

subdeacon

I have not made a retreat.

(Monestrol, 13 September 1837)

0005_New translation

Sent 0005 - to his cousin Louis - 9 August 1838 -2/2

Sent 0005 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 2

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

He deplores the position of his uncle Pierre and his cousin Auguste (Louis's father and brother). He sends 50 francs to help them out: They must know nothing of it. Let us embrace the cross of our lives. He is soon to become a priest. Invitation to spend a few days at Monestrol.

Index : cross of life, trials, delicate charity

__________

Carcassonne, 9 August 1838

My very dear cousin,

What joy and what sorrow the Lord has seen fit to deal to me! You must know that, for the last few years, I have been a teacher in the minor seminary of Carcassonne; we have just come to the holidays, and before breaking up the teachers decided to hold a retreat together. It is good father Tinseau who came to give it to us. As soon as this worthy priest heard my name, he spoke to me of you, of my dear uncle, of Auguste, and we both sighed together over your brother and father's position.

O my dear Louis, it is impossible to tell you what my heart felt. I took my grief to the foot of the Cross, I prayed! And prayer is so sweet to a Christian's heart. I mingled my tears with yours, for I imagined that you too were at that moment at Our Lord's feet and that you were making him the sacrifice he demands of our weakness. Lastly, I asked my sweet Jesus if I was not in a position to do something for an uncle so dear to me and for a cousin whom I love with all my heart.

O my friend, would that I could effectively help them out! Alas! My means are slight, here I only receive very small emoluments; however I am happy to have made a few savings in the course of the year with the result that I can offer you the small sum I am sending you (50 francs). Receive it, o dearest of friends, as the assured pledge of the tenderness I have always felt in my heart for you and your family. Only, not a word to anyone, not even to your father, nor to Auguste ; see that this modest gift serves them as best it can, without them knowing where it comes from. How I wish I could do more, but the Lord does not give me the means to do so at the present time. Perhaps later? Let us hope in him, he has never abandoned his children.

It is true that often he subjects them to terrible tests ; but let us remain faithful to him even at the times of most cruel abandonment. God keeps his eyes fixed on his children; if he puts us to the test, well, that means he loves us; he want us to atone for our sins, he wants us to feel that our only hope is in him, and finally he wants to make us deserving of glory.

O my dear Louis, I have no fear in informing you of my sentiments in this regard, for I know that they are yours likewise ; I know that you too have taken the Lord for your share and that you taste the sweetness one feels in serving him ; so that I let my heart go, assured that it sympathises with yours.

Let us not only not be discouraged, my dear friend, let us embrace the Cross, let us hold it tight, let us plant it well to the fore in our heart, and let us be happy to have to offer to our good master crucified for us true pains, true afflictions, that he will give us the strength to bear for his greatest glory. Courage and love!

I shall l be leaving tomorrow for Monestrol, where I will stay until the 15 or 20 October. Later on I hope to spend two months in the major seminary for preparing myself, in a larger retreat, to receive the formidable burden of priesthood. Pray for me.

I cannot end without a word of reproach. Why did you not have some more direct communications with me? O my dear friend, if you knew the sorrow I feel at not seeing in our family that union which would constitute its strength, that union which would alas! have prevented so many misfortunes. Ah! You do not know, I am sure, how much I love you, and how much I care about those in our family who are unfortunate. You should come to spend a few days at Monestrol some time in the holidays; what happiness it would be to embrace you. My father would be delighted to see you, rest assured. Doubtless he is cross about the unfortunate matters which have put all of us in a difficult position, but he is so kind-hearted! He loves his family so much! But, if you should have any fears, let me know them in your answer to this letter, that I await at Monestrol with impatience, and I will write back to inform you of my father's feelings.

Farewell, my dear Louis, may I embrace you in the charity of Jesus Christ ! Kindly convey my friendly feelings to dear Auguste and to Virginie when you see her, present my respects to uncle; tell him to hope in God, who will never abandon us. And you, dearest of my friends, count on an attachment whose ties are merely reinforced by misfortune.

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

Since I was unable to find any bill on Toulouse for such a small sum, I am sending it to one of my fellow teachers, without him knowing who it is for and who will remit it to anyone who comes to ask for it on behalf of Mr de Brésillac...His address is: Abbé Lézat, c/o his father, Rue des Tisserands no. 3, or else Place Saint-Sernin no. 4. If he and his parents should be in the country, you should refer to Mr Berdoulat, vicar of the parish of Saint-Sernin.

Abbé Lézat will be at Toulouse next Thursday the 16th.

(Carcassonne, 9 August 1838)

0006_New translation

Sent 0006 - to Mr Vian - 25 August 1838 -2/2

Sent 0006 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 7-8

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Will he send the third volume of the prayerbook. Why does he not write? He went to hear Mgr Flaget, bishop of Barstow. He has just received a letter from him. I feel involved in your difficult situation.

Index : cross of life, attachment (teachers at the seminary)

__________

Monestrol, 25 August 1838

Laudetur Jesus Christus ()

How silly of me! Would you believe it, I've forgotten to bring the autumnalis part of my prayerbook, so now what's to be done? Luckily I have realised far enough in advance to receive it in time. Accordingly I appeal to your kindness, asking you to send it to me immediately; you'll find it in my bookcase; perhaps you could make a packet of the little things you were going to send me and the rug that I've left on my bed, and slip in the prayerbook and address it all to the lock-keeper of Gardouch, to be delivered to me as soon as possible. I think you need to pay in advance, would you mind, then I'll pay you back as soon as we meet.

It is already several days since you left us, my dear friend, and we have not heard anything more from you ; however you were to have written to us soon, but the pastimes of the holidays have doubtless made you forget the nasty chateau of Lasserre. However that may be, we do not practise vengeance, we think of you often, we have sent you your things that you have undoubtedly received, and as for me, I love you as much today when you are far away as when I had the happiness of having you close by me.

We arrived safe in port here Friday evening : I say we, because the good Mr Sipolis was quite willing to come as far as here where he found not a kingdom like Saul, but one of his father's pigs. Sipolis the elder had lost this fellow at the fair of Villefranche, and the animal had the clever idea (stupid animal that he was) of following our head servant; recognised by his brand-mark, Papa had already written when we arrived.

Since then, I have made another very prompt but pleasant journey to Castelnaudary. This was on the occasion of My Lord the bishop of Barstow('s visit). The good Mr Tisseyre had come to invite us to dinner last Wednesday, and in passing he told us that Mgr Flaget was at Castelnaudary, and that he himself had the idea of going to hear him preach the day after in Saint John's church. I ask you now; he managed to touch a sensitive chord; I immediately responded that I would go with him, thus we agreed to go and sleep in his house, to arrive at Castelnaudary early on Thursday morning.

With this in mind we set off quietly after four in the evening, only to exclaim at a certain point: and what if we were to arrive this evening at Castelnaudary? No sooner said than done; we change route so as to go straight to Chaury, with the idea of being (fresher) the next morning. But, even better: half an hour away from the town, we notice Saint Michael's church lit up, we spur on the horses to get there as soon as possible, and they were still at the sermon, My Lord still had not begun his touching address. At the blessing, I had the honour and the pleasure to act as his deacon. You can imagine how happy I was at Mr Tisseyre's bright idea!

The next day I had the incomparable pleasure of seeing My Lord alone. I had a little conversation with him for a quarter of an hour, he gave me his blessing, and (I) came back after attending his mass once more, receiving holy communion from his hand, having acted as deacon in the blessing that he gave after, happier than if I had received a bequest.

This happy day ended gaily ; we left in number from Castelnaudary, for the neighbouring priests had come to see the angel of the Lord ; several of us dined with the parish priest of Mas Saintes-Puelles, whence I went to stay with Mr Tisseyre.

It's become quite a long story, but I am sure I'm not boring you ; let us pray, pray together for the good that this intrepid missionary is doing in our midst to become stable, let us pray that God's will may be revealed to us and we be faithful to it.

Nothing new, we are here as usual. Everyone asks to be remembered to you, and for my part I would ask you not to forget to mention me to any of our confreres. Please pay my respectful homage to the venerable Mr Arnal, for you know that I venerate him. And you whom I love in Jesus Christ, you from whom I await the same friendship and the succour of your prayers, be assured of the sincerity of your faithful friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

I have just this minute received your letter. Believe me, dear friend, I quite realise your difficult position. This is one of those heavy crosses that we have to carry if we follow Jesus Christ, up to the top of Calvary. I know that you will have the necessary strength because you go to draw it from the true source. However feeble my prayers, I promise you to address some to heaven so that, on this occasion, as on all the others, his holy will be done for his greatest glory. Courage, we are not at the end yet, let us arm ourselves with the bread of the strong, since there is still a long way to go before we arrive at Mount Horeb.

(Monestrol, 25 August 1838)

0007_New translation

Sent 0007 - to his cousin Louis - 26 August 1838 -1/2

Sent 0007 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 3

(to his cousin Louis, Bagnères de Luchon)

He has seen Mgr Flaget, bishop of Barstow. Joy of friendship which unites them; let us thank Providence. Problem of the smallholding of Monestrol. Soon ordination to the priesthood. He asks for prayers.

Index : friendship, ordination (his)

__________

Monestrol, 26 August 1838

My dear friend,

Receiving your letter made my joy overflow. I arrived from Castelnaudary where I had been to see a saint, the bishop of Barstow, Mgr Flaget. This intrepid missionary who, at the Pope's order, as you should know, has been visiting all over France, was in our diocese in these last few days; I was fortunate enough to see him, to receive his blessing and to kiss his ring, and I hope that he has drawn down some blessings from heaven on me. How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the good news of salvation afar!

From your letter, I see with great pleasure that I was not mistaken in what I thought your feelings to be. They are the only ones worthy of a noble and generous heart; what would I say in speaking of a Christian heart like yours today? Let us preserve them, my dear Louis, these feelings; and do they not do our soul good? Let us mutually preserve the friendship which should naturally derive from them; why, I could even make this proposal to all of those who perhaps believe that I hold something against them in my heart! But perhaps I would not be understood; let us wait for Heaven to give me the occasion to say to them that, if the agitation of which we have been the playthings has affected me in some way in their regard, this is only in drawing the ties of friendship tighter through misfortune.

But I have been understood by you, and that's enough for today. Let us thank Providence for the rapprochement it helped being about, as you say, to lead us to become mutually acquainted, and to form a closer attachment. I expect great benefìt from this. Only, take care to continue what the good God has begun ; let us maintain a fairly regular correspondence ; we will benefit from this mutually ; we will find consolation together, we will edify each other, and we will be happier in O.L.J.C.

I was asked who this letter was from, and I felt it more prudent not to name you. I said that it was from one of my friends that I had at Bagnères. The reason for this was not to stir up past thoughts, which all too often come to mind, at a moment in which one outcome of these unfortunate matters once more places my father in fresh financial difficulties.

I find it somewhat difficult to explain, since I am not well versed in the law, however essentially it is this : Mr Frédéric is about to be expropriated from his smallholding of Monestrol, and my father, against whom the children have a right, is forced to say (yes) to this expropriation until it amounts to the price of the debt in favour of our young cousins. You can bet that it will stay with him, which bothers him greatly since, already indebted, he will see himself obliged to become even more so. Let's hope it will all work out.

I am here for some time longer ; I have the hope this year of being raised to the redoubtable dignity of priest. God knows I am unworthy; but I also know that he loves to use feeble means to bring about great things; so that I will advance when the time is come, with as much confidence as fear. I only need those good souls who are attached to me to pray to the Lord on my behalf.

When you see any of our relatives, whoever they may be, you can tell them how much I love them ; but what I would beg you at once is to be the interpreter of my feelings to my dear uncle, the good Auguste and to Virginie whom I know so slightly. And you, my dear friend, count on the unalterable attachment

of your devoted friend

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

(Monestrol, 26 August 1838)

0008_New translation

Sent 0008 - Mr Vian - 11 September 1838 -2/2

Sent 0008 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 9-10

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Thanks for the prayerbook that has finally arrived. Health of Mr Lucet, a priest of the diocese. 8 September, local feastday at Castelnaudary. He has received a long letter from Mr Gleises.

Index : friendship

__________

Monestrol, 11 September 1838

J. M. J.

Laudetur Jesus Christus ()

My dear friend, I am very sorry for all the bother I have given you regarding my wretched prayerbook. At last I received it, a few moments before the letter from Mr Gleises. Mr de Lacger had addressed it to the canal collector, and since I had asked you to send it to the lock-keeper, I kept on calling on the latter, and it was not until Papa chanced to send a melon to the collector that I received it. But finally it has been here for the last few days so that it only remains for me to thank you for your kindness and to feel humiliated at my absent-mindedness ; if Mr Médus knew about it, he would certainly call me the scatterbrain. If you see him, please give him my compliments.

You can't believe how interesting I found the details you have given me on Mr Lucet. Ha! It is certainly religion which provides us with these fine examples of virtue that are only found in it. According to the expressions used in your kind letter, it would appear that you see a lot of him ; how did you achieve this happiness, since you had practically no communication with each other? Have you had the happiness, you and the other doctors, of healing this worthy minister of the altars? I hope to hear so from you soon.

If it is possible, assure the good Mr Lucet, whom I have the honour of knowing a little, of the interest I take in him, and with what pleasure I address to Heaven my feeble prayers for such a good priest! And you who use every means to raise yourself to God, who draw merits on every hand, you for whom the holidays are as fruitful in grace as the best employed months of the year, write to me so that the overabundance with which you are inundated at least splashes back on my wretchedness.

I have not left Monestrol since Mgr Flaget passed through Castelnaudary ; and except for a little trip which I plan to make next week, I do not intend to go out of this manor until the end of October. My life is more or less always the same; however, in the last few days we had a fine ceremony at Monestrol. Last Sunday we celebrated the local feastday (the Nativity), and as Mr Mazeroles was here, we acted as deacon and subdeacon. Just think, it's a long time since this famous town had witnessed so much pomp ; all the same we could have done with a master of ceremonies. Ah! If only you had been here. But finally a cleric did the best he could, making a genuflection every now and then in salutation (in front of the deacon or subdeacon), or else giving a kick for a genuflection, who cares! In any case it was magnificent.

In the evening, I sung vespers to the great pleasure of all the peasants, and above all the churchwardens who could not be satisfied with seeing so many things in a single day in their little church ; I took the collection during the Magnificat ; this amounted to a vast sum for the place – 16 francs – and Monsieur le Curé who sung vespers in his parish, for it was also the local feastday at Seire, arrived just in time to give the blessing and sing the Te Deum for the Count of Paris.

I hope this was one of those days, when people are happy to do something for the Lord ! Poor people ! How much good is to be found among the peasants ! but the poor parish priests are in sore need of an adjutorium, for their zeal is sometimes paralysed by the habit of seeing and hearing them, and yet this habit is necessary in order for his sheep to know him and for him to know his sheep. Thus, what good could not be done perhaps by a few good missionaries in the villages! Just think!

In Mr Gleises's long letter, there was a mysterious word, in the style of the dear abbé : "perhaps in a short while you will be hearing something new". Could this mean that he is preparing for the September ordination? He would undoubtedly have said something to us. However , give him my compliments, and tell him that he sells his words at a dear price, since they cost one sol per line; truly, not at all cheap.

Mamma asks me to tell you that she does not need any wool, she thanks you for your kindness and conveys a thousand kind thoughts, as also do Papa and the whole family. Please be the interpreter of my respectful and friendly regards towards all those who are with you. Pray for me; if I dared, I would say with Saint Paul : Festina ante hiemem venire (), for the weather is cold here and you had told me that you would try to come back, if it was possible. But if you cannot spend a few days longer with us, I say to you with that same apostle : Dominus Jesus Christus cum spiritu tuo. Gratia vobiscum. Amen. ()

Mr de Brésillac,

deacon

(Monestrol, 11 September 1838)

0009_New translation

Sent_0009 - à M. Vian - le 28 septembre 1838 -/2

Sent 0009 - to Mr Vian - 28 September 1838 -1/2

Sent_0009 - à M. Vian - le 28 septembre 1838 -1/1

Letter 0009 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 13-14

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Reflections on the tears and sentiments following the death of two people, Mr Vian's uncle and Fr Lucet, a priest of the diocese. The difference between the man who lives on faith and the man of the world. He sends a small floral decoration for the congregation's chapel. He will not return to the seminary in order to better prepare his ordination, but asks for news of the house.

Index : death, bereavement, compassion, ordination (his), devotion to Mary

__________

Monestrol, 28 September 1838

A.M.D.G. - Amen

Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo Domini.() This phrase which you say so often, my dear friend, has often been repeated by those whose loss you mourn. "And why these tears? they may ask us from the place where God has put them. It is true that our days have passed like a shadow, but whether we live, or die, are we not always of the Lord? Dry these tears and rejoice with us in the happiness that God has given us by calling us to him: Weep rather for yourselves, because your exile on earth is prolonged, and strive to deserve soon the same grace as us".

This is how I seem to hear your dear uncle, in the midst of his glory, forbidding you from weeping, and the blessed Fr Lucet, as you yourself call him, singing the hymns of the Almighty while we are shedding tears to his memory. So such deaths should not be marked by sadness, but by a holy joy and songs of jubilation. Let us show that our trust in God is not in vain, and if nature cannot prevent us feeling an involuntary shudder when she loses a friend, a protector, a parent, may our faith not hesitate to silence it when the parent and friend are saints.

Alas, we weep and mourn for the rest of our days for those whose doubtful end is all too capable of filling us with a righteous fear; may the others always be present in our memory, but with no regrets and no tears.

There is a difference between the man who lives on faith and the man of the world. The latter is inconsolable the first day; he weeps both for the just and the guilty. But soon he leaves the thought that worries him and the memory of the person whom he only loved for himself. The other never forgets the person he loved with a true love; he prays for him always, for who is it who is just in God's eyes to the point of not having any need of prayers? We can expect this for a few, but rarely be assured of it; and that is why we must pray always. So he prays for him always; however his sorrow is only truly such when he fears for his friend's fate.

Doubtless you will have made these reflections already; the Lord has told you much more in the Holy Communion; but for that reason I have no fear in saying to you what my heart feels, assured that one is always pleased to hear from someone else what one has already said to oneself. I join my prayers to yours with all my heart. I pray also for Fr Lucet, but I do not weep for him. I weep for the unfaithful people he has surely saved who were perhaps unworthy of so good a priest, for it is they who deserve our tears. Let us weep for our sins and the sins of other men, but rejoice at the death of the just.

I am sending you a small floral decoration for the chapel of the congregation. I am happy to show by this little present how attached I am to the latter. I am addressing it to Fr Arnal, as

head of the congregation, and also to you as prefect, asking you to receive it as a pledge of the happiness I feel to be a member of it and of my desire to participate always in the good done there. I would like to do more, but still it is the widow's mite, that our Lord did not reject and that his divine mother will assuredly accept.

I owe these flowers to a large extent to the deft hands of my eldest sister and the Misses Dupérier. These kind ladies were responsible for the arrangements and I for the expense and the request. As they are very pious, they expressed the desire that we should think of them on the occasion of the Mass to be said when the bouquets are used for the first time. I trust that your charity will take care to ensure that this pious desire is met. The arrangement consists of four bouquets for putting between the candle-holders, and of a posy to be placed at the feet of Mary, as well as a bouquet for the Holy Sacrament. Since this last did not fit into the box, I will let you have it when I go to Carcassonne. Kindly keep the box and the cloth covering it until I should ask for it be collected from you, or until I ask you for it myself.

I have decided not to return to the minor seminary, which it seems I shall probably soon be leaving. What will I have done without employment of the same kind amid the zeal of our confreres? But the main reason is that I wish to use all the time remaining in preparing for the terrible burden, at the approach of which the Saints went deep into some desert. May I not, while awaiting that happy and fearful day, cover myself with sackcloth and ashes, and urge my friends to pray for the most unworthy creature ever to receive this honour.

But, how incredible! one appears extraordinary in asking someone else to pray for oneself, while the penances our ancestors did are today regarded as so many extravagances. At least let us pray for each other, my dear friend, and let us ask the Lord to give us the strength to bear at least with profit the sorrows he sends, in place of those we do not have the strength to assume ourselves. In just one more month more I hope we will embrace each other. Write to me soon to tell me if the bouquets have arrived safely. All the best to everyone. Saluta amicos nominatim () and count on the sincere attachment

of your devoted friend.

M de Brésillac,

Deacon

PS. When you write to me, which I hope will be as soon as possible, please tell me how things are going: if there are many students, who are the teachers of the various courses, what is the time and especially moral hope we can have for the year about to begin, etc., etc... All this interests me as much as if I was there. I will never forget the minor seminary.

(Monestrol, 28 September 1838)

0010_New translation

Sent 0010 - to his uncle Pierre Jacques - 15 December 1838 -1/1

Letter 0010 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 4

(to his uncle Pierre Jacques Joseph) ()

To inform him of his forthcoming ordination.

Index : priesthood, ordination (his)

__________

Carcassonne, 15 December 1838

My very dear uncle,

On the point of taking the biggest step in my life, I pick up my pen to tell you how happy I am and to ask you to remember me in your prayers. I hope to be made a priest next Saturday, the twenty-second of the month. Afraid at the sight of the terrible burden about to be laid on me, I put my whole trust in the Lord; let us pray Him that this be exclusively for his greater glory. To describe my joy is impossible, for the Lord reserves for those who serve him favours impossible to express. But suffice it for me to tell you that it exceeds everything one can enjoy from other goods on earth.

Kindly convey to my cousins this news of my promotion; likewise would you kindly inform Virginie, since time presses and I cannot write to everyone I would wish. Please tell my cousins that I require of their friendship what I expect from the interest you have always shown in me.

Farewell, my very dear uncle, and please receive the expression of my respectful sentiments with which I choose to call myself, for life, and in the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your very humble and very devoted nephew.

M de Brésillac,

Deacon

(Carcassonne, 15 December 1838)

0011_New translation

Sent_0011 - à M. Vian - le 26 décembre 1838 -/2

Sent 0011 - to Mr Vian - 26 December 1838 -1/2

Sent_0011 - à M. Vian - le 26 décembre 1838 -1/1

Letter 0011 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 11-12

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

His arrival in his parish after his ordination. The first days of his ministry at Saint Michael's of Castelnaudary. Great pomp on Christmas Day. He asked for his books left at Carcassonne to be sent to him. Some visits of etiquette. Pray for me.

Index : ministry

__________

Castelnaudary, 26 December 1838

My very dear friend,

I don't want to send for my books without writing you a short note. How many things I would have to tell you if I found words to adequately convey the ineffable wonders that the Lord has been pleased to effect through his unworthy minister, in these forever memorable days! But who am I to speak of the Lord? What am I? I can't even feel, I can't think! Well then, I am just going to tell you the story of what happened and your heart will tell you more than all my vain reflections could do.

The journey was disagreeable, with rain all the time, sed quid hoc?() Once here, I find my closest relatives waiting for us impatiently, and after some time spent in conversation the main subject of which you may guess, I went to the church to present my credentials to Fr de Lacger. I can't tell you how happy he was; he asked me to sing matins and to take over the services of the day, then he returned to the confessional where over 60 people were still waiting for him, although it was eight in the evening.

The offices of the night were held with pomp, and when it came to the Communion, someone brought me a stole to distribute it with another priest. So here I was distributing the Bread of Life! And is there life in my soul? Alas! Only God knows. Let us worship him and love him in the darkness of the shadows where we are doomed to live during this life. There were two of us and yet the Communion lasted over half an hour.

(interruption of two hours)

I resume. I scarcely rested the whole night, and at 9 in the morning I was fortunate enough to say three Masses. I was a bit long, it goes without saying, and the last was the High Mass, celebrated with all imaginable pomp; then at the house which was full of people congratulating my parents, then dinner with quite a great number of family members, then visits, then solemn vespers, then a sermon, then the blessing, then visits, and finally to bed which was not the least necessary of things; and at last this day is a little quieter, though I get diverted many times so that I cannot converse with you for a single moment, except by cutting short a thousand times what I was saying.

I am going to go out with the Parish Priest to pay a few courtesy visits, like to the other parish priests, to the Fabricians, etc. What else should I tell you? I have described out all my activities for you to see, and they are beautiful if they are not deprived, as I fear, of the principle of life which alone can give them some merit. Pray for me, I really need it, you can be sure of that.

Would you kindly send me, together with the books, a little desk that Mr Marques should have, and buy for me a mandatum from the bishop's printer that he has recently had reprinted, and pass by Guadrat to get me an Ordo if he has received them. I'm always giving you some errand to do, but I know that you will forgive me. Have the person who takes the books pay you back what they cost. Also take care that the St Augustine is arranged in such a way that it gets as little damaged as possible.

I have so many compliments to make to you, and all of your confreres, on behalf of so many people, and so little space that it's better not to say anything.

Completely yours for life

Fr de Brésillac,

Priest

(Castelnaudary, 26 December 1838)

0012_New translation

Sent_0012 - à M. Vian - le 5 janvier 1839 -/2

Sent 0012 - to Mr Vian - 5 January 1839 -2/2

Sent_0012 - à M. Vian - le 5 janvier 1839 -1/1

Sent 0012 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 15-16

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Asks to have a stole made, to send a leather skullcap and books. Great feast at Gaja for 1 January 1839, a day of black ice in the region. Beginnings of ministry. Greetings to seminary teachers. He will soon be alone in the house.

Index : ministry

__________

Castelnaudary, 5 January 1839

L. J. C.

My very good friend,

What it is to have a troublesome friend! Today, once again, I am going to tire you with my errands; but as always every cloud has a silver lining, and this gives me the sweet pleasure of conversing a moment with you, which delights me.

Starting from the beginning then, this is what I require of your obliging goodness: would you be so kind as to go to the Misses Gout and see if they have, or if they could make me between now and Monday evening, a simple violet stole, with silk braiding and a fine silk cord, for not more than five francs. I can get it here at that price, but I would have to wait because they don't have time to make it up immediately.

In addition to this I want to buy a leather skullcap, a little bigger that the one Mr Gleises handed on to me last year; you can see with him. The latest edition of the treatise on the Holy Mysteries by Collet; I doubt that Gadrat has it. At least he didn't have it when I was at Carcassonne. If he has received it, you could get it from him, and he would put it on my account; if he doesn't have it, please get it from Arnaud's and pay for it; I will pay you back for everything all together.

In any case, kindly check with Rev Mazeroles to make sure that what you buy is exactly right; it should be the same as his own. I know that Fr Goute should come on Tuesday, which is why I make haste to write to you, thinking that he could bring me all of these objects; and if he doesn't come himself, I think that Fr Faure, vicar of the City, will be coming that same day. What trouble I am giving you, but you are so kind.

What more interesting news can I give you now, my dear friend, except that I am expecting an epistle from you through Fr Goute, giving me your news and those of my friends of Carcassonne? But, meanwhile, I can tell you that New Year's Day was a solemn feast for me. My uncle de Gaja() was anxious to gather us all together in his home, and the parish priest of the place had arranged everything to make it the finest day of the year. Neighbouring priests were invited, I had taken some white dalmatics from here; some singers from other villages had got together; we had obtained permission from the bishop's palace to display the Blessed Sacrament, so that it was all done in great pomp and such as the villagers of Gaja had never seen the like.

So the church was filled, and I can assure you that it needed great determination to get to the village from the various hamlets where a large part of the population lives; for the good Lord had covered that part of the country in a general black ice leading to many a fall. But all the same, people arrived limping or black with bruises, but they arrived. And that is how I started off the year. Please God the sacrifice of the heart was as agreeable to God as the external worship which I helped offer him.

Since then, I have not left Castelnaudary, where little by little I am plunging into the occupations of the holy ministry. I have already confessed several persons, and tomorrow I am going to take my week, during which I will undoubtedly have all kinds of holy things to do. Pray for me.

I am still up in the air. However, I am soon going to manage my household alone; my future cook is making dinner today; Papa has left for Monestrol and Mamma proposes to follow him shortly with my sisters. So in two or three days' time, I shall be quite a hermit.

I don't need to tell you but convey my kind wishes to the teachers of the minor seminary, excluding no one. But, in particular, if you have the opportunity to see the good Mr Beaufils kindly present my respectful homage to him.

For you, my dear friend, who I think of almost every day at the holy sacrifice, do the same for me, and believe in the sincere attachment I feel for you in the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

M de Brésillac,

Priest

(Castelnaudary, 5 January 1839)

0013_New translation

Sent_0013 - à M. Vian - le 25 janvier 1839 -/2

Sent 0013 - to Mr Vian - 25 January 1839 -1/2

Sent_0013 - à M. Vian - le 25 janvier 1839 -1/1

Sent 0013 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 17-18

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Testimony of friendship towards Mr Vian. Attachment to his dear congregation of Mary. He should look after his health and come for a fortnight's rest at Castelnaudary. Fr Arnal already agrees. He is going to preach for the first time.

Index : friendship, congregation

__________

Castelnaudary, 25 January 1839

L. J. C.

My very good friend,

If my letters do you good, yours are balm to my soul. I am delighted that your numerous occupations still allow you to find a moment for me from time to time and I thank you for the goodness you have in remembering me. As for me, I do not forget you. Rest assured that, very often, I think of you, happy to count you in the ranks of my best friends, and above all happy that the friendship I have for you, and that which I hope you have for me, are based on the charity of our good Master. On such a foundation, I hope that they will be solid, above all when they are cemented by our common piety towards the divine Mary.

How I would like one day to go on the altar of our dear congregation to celebrate the holy mysteries for my confreres! So far circumstances have prevented this, but I hope that later on I will be more fortunate; but when will that be? I have absolutely no idea. Meanwhile, tell my confreres how attached I am to them, and how I would love to join them in their fervent prayers. I hope that they will obtain for me the graces of which I have such pressing need and, to this end, at a meeting would you be so good as to request for me a Pater and an Ave.

Fr de Soubiran, who saw you a short while ago, was not very satisfied with the state of your health. Take care, my dear friend, look after yourself, thus put greater calm in your affections, worry less and think a little of yourself; for charity requires this of you. You have just had to deal with many patients; it is to be hoped that, in this case as in the others, the bad weather will be followed by fine days and that soon you will have no more cases. If that should be so, or even if you only have slight illnesses that could be attended to without you, you would do well to come and rest here for a while with me. I think that a fortnight here, away from your ordinary occupations, would do you no harm.

You may think I am dreaming, but that is not quite so, and what gives me courage to make such a proposal to you, is a word from Fr Arnal himself. He was good enough to come and ask me to lunch the other day; as you can just imagine, we lost no time in speaking of you and the other gentlemen of the minor seminary and, after saying that you were not very well he added: I think I'd better send him to you, he said, to take a rest. I didn't let that suggestion fall, and since, of his own accord, Fr Arnal said that much, I can only hope that by pressing a bit, you will obtain the twelfth part of a semester. Think it over and do it.

I am writing this note in haste, since I doubt whether I have time to say my office this evening. Next Sunday, I am due to give my first sermon; and since grown-ups are only big children, this is a question which greatly excites the public curiosity of a little town. All the best to everyone, above all to Mr Gleises and Barthe and Cros, and...and all the others.

Farewell, pray for me.

Your friend in Jesus Christ.

Fr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 25 January 1839)

0014_New translation

Sent_0014 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1839 -/2

Sent 0014 - to Mr Vian - 14 February 1839 -2/2

Sent_0014 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1839 -1/1

Letter 0014 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 19-21

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Why does he not write more often? He is in a bad mood. Reflections on the sacrament of the sick, last moments of life, death, hell, salvation. Where are the valiant knights of France with their ardent faith?

Index : friendship, death, hell, salvation, sacrament of the sick

__________

Castelnaudary, 14 February 1839

My dear Mr Vian,

It's a century since I have heard any news of you or of the dear minor seminary. I don't even know, whether it was you or me who wrote last; however I think it was me, but no matter, I cannot put off any longer asking you the reason for such a long silence on your part? How are your patients doing? The worldly parties, among which religion finds its benefit in a house like that where you have the good fortune to find yourself, what about them? Lo and behold isn't there plenty of material for writing a letter to a friend?

I don't know what prevents me showering reproaches on you. I think it is the resolution I took not to get angry, precisely because of the despondent mood which has been tormenting me all morning. You know as well as anyone, and perhaps even more than anyone else, that there are days when, without knowing why, you feel annoyed with everything around you, you would fight with a chair, if it could answer either yes or no. Well, that's how I'm feeling this morning and I console myself because, since I don't even have the desire to pick up a book, I feel a more pressing need and more appreciable joy in conversing with you.

Could the lack of lunch have had this negative effect on me? But as you know such a cause ordinarily affects me very little. Could it be because, just as I was putting away the sacred ornaments of the holy sacrifice, I was sent for post haste to administer to a sick person, who couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't understand and couldn't feel anything, who was not even able to squeeze my hand to make me understand that he loved his God. Rather that! Poor blind people, how senseless you are when you say: I will repent when the time comes for me to die!

I would like those who keep deferring their most essential business to be present sometimes at the scene of a dying person trying to come to grips with death which robs him of the use of his senses, and to see if now is the time to concern themselves with their salvation. Unfortunately if we fear so mcuh for those who have lived good lives when they are taken by surprise, since they hadn't expected it, what is to become of those who have never lived like Christians ?

And so we have come to the end of Carnival, and here we are well on into holy Lent. We need to pray, my dear friend, to be useful to so many sinners who seem more deaf than ever to the voice of grace! It's really sad. Our good Master had in fact predicted this: few are chosen, he told us; and if there were many living according to the exact maxim of the Gospel, I would be shocked, the good and respectable Mr Barthe remarked one day saltem quoad sensum().

But is it necessary for everyone to be lost in order for the divine oracle to come true? Would hell not continue to reap a great many victims even if it only swallowed up, in its abysses, those who do not know God, those enticed by heresy, those whose passions get the better of them, for wherever there are men, there are passions, and it is not their victims that I deplore most. Personally I pity those who plunge into these cesspools of iniquity, I pity the societies that, far from restraining them and preventing them from overflowing on all sides, seem on the contrary to favour them by an absence of all principles. However, I know that these are the great evils that will never be prevented.

But that, with an indifference of which the past offers no example, everyone lets himself be dragged along by the current of life, without asking himself, who am I? where am I going? whose hand put me here? After the end of my race which I perceive already so close is it, what will I find? Where will I go to rest? Is it not depressing, my dear friend? And yet this is the sort of thing we are doomed to witness every day.

Even someone we call a decent chap, what does he do to show that he is also a good Christian? He goes to Mass sometimes, he does not always swear, he has some degree of charity for his brothers, above all (he is) just, ordinarily true, and that's all. He speaks (good) of religion, he even considers it to be the safeguard of good principles and habits, but he doesn't practice it. Poor France, where are your valiant knights who combined the virtues of the heroes of our days, with a faith more ardent than the feeling of honour of which, I hope, they gave famous examples?

I would do well to read my letter, if I want to know what I have said. However, my three pages are up; all of this will make you realise I have no grudge against you and will urge you perhaps to the same. Forgive me if I have been extravagant, but I still prefer that to not saying anything. All the best to everyone. I will soon be sending the trunk to Mr Neyral. I do not know when I will get to see you. Unless some misfortune occurs, I shall be going to preach at Carcassonne for the Propagation of the Faith, the day of the octave of the Holy Cross. I hope to see you before then. My cordial greetings to dear Mr Gleises and to all the others.

All the best to you.

Fr de Brésillac,

Priest

(Castelnaudary, 14 February 1839)

0015_New translation

Sent_0015 - à M. Vian - le 6 mars 1839 -/2

Sent 0015 - to Mr Vian - 6 March 1839 -1/2

Sent_0015 - à M. Vian - le 6 mars 1839 -1/1

Letter 0015 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 21-22

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Compassion for Mr Vian's illness. A lot of work in the parish: preaching, instructions, confessions, etc. I need you to pray often for me. Benefits of education in the minor seminary. Come and spend a few days at Castelnaudary or Monestrol.

Index : friendship, ministry, preaching, confession, compassion

__________

Castelnaudary, 6 March 1839

L. J. C.

My very good friend,

How sorry I am to hear that you're health is unsatisfactory! Mr Vialier, who came by here just lately told me that you were ill. How is it that I learn this from a stranger? So is there no other friend in the minor seminary who can tell me that you are not well? Ah! Mr Gleises, Mr Gleises! I am almost angry with him, and if I didn't have two sermons to give this week, I would write him a letter. Let me hear news from you, my dear friend; I would like very much to go and get it myself, but I believe this would be impossible before the month of May.

Since there is no Lenten preacher at Saint Michael's, you can just imagine how much work we are faced with. As you know, I had never made any speech suitable for a parish audience, so now I have to make one that will measure up; I have already given a sermon at vespers, and it's my turn again next Sunday ; I have just finished my sermon, but I still have to learn it off; and what makes matters even worse is that my turn for giving instruction during the week also comes next Friday. Up to now, I have always managed to cope, but this time I think I will be obliged to give it a miss, for I have not even begun my instruction; I will have to resort to the kindness of a confrere; indeed these gentlemen are so good that they may be willing, I hope, to replace me this time.

Confessions are going on. People don't approach the sacraments as we would wish, but there is still enough to keep us quite busy. I often confess for over three hours a day. Fr de Lacger, who is quite brisk – and he couldn't manage if he weren't! - sometimes finds himself in his confessional at nine in the evening having entered it at four, and that after he already had heard confessions for two hours in the morning.

But the poor men! These wretches do not come in great numbers. However a few come to me but the Parish Priest gets hundreds; when seven o'clock comes round, they arrive at his chapel in procession. There is a real need for us to pray. Good Mr Vian, since you are ill your prayers are better than ours, so, from time to time, please remember a friend who does not forget you.

In your last letter, you do not seem very happy with the large family? These poor children would be so insensitive to all that is being done for them. Tell them that, if the poor children in the world had a hundredth part of the graces that are showered on them, they might perhaps be great saints. But at the same time, don't be too hard on them. Perhaps you are expecting too much from them? And my God, they are young, they have vivid imaginations and all of the enthusiasm of their age, the devil is vexed at the sight of a house which ruins his authority and he torments them. So don't be too hasty in thinking that they are wicked, and don't make them think so. Concentrate as much on encouraging the good that is in them as fighting the evil that may be there. I don't know if these principles are quite in line with yours, but they seem to me to resemble the sweetness which converts more quickly, I think, than harshness.

My father has just left me; he had (come) for the elections. On learning that you were not well, he asked me to tell you that if the country air would benefit you, he hoped that you would not forget that it is pure at Monestrol. I assure you that the sea breeze of recent days must have blown any miasmas there far away. Accordingly, if you can, come and see me, you will rest better here, away from the worries of the infirmary. And don't be afraid of disturbing me. You will treated as well as in the seminary. I am alone with a maidservant who will be at your service from morning to night.

Farewell, and all the best to everyone. In spirit I am often in the midst of the Gentlemen of the minor seminary. I don't know if they have forgotten me, they may have, but I cannot forget them.

The best of your friends.

M de Brésillac,

Priest

(Castelnaudary, 6 March 1839)

0016_New translation

Sent_0016 - à M. Vian - le 21 mars 1839 -/2

Sent 0016 - to Mr Vian - 21 March 1839 -2/2

Sent_0016 - à M. Vian - le 21 mars 1839 -1/1

Letter 0016 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 23-24

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Thanks for your letter with its reassuring news. As always much to do in the parish, but basically a vicar's work in a church is quite pleasant. There is no real work involved except for the mind; but what saintliness that supposes! One must be vigilant at all times. Regards to the teachers of the seminary.

Index : piety, friendship, ministry, saintliness, devotion to Mary, congregation

__________

Castelnaudary, 21 March 1839

L. J. C.

My very dear friend,

At last I can catch my breath! So here I am set free from the Lenten instructions and, for a novice, that's no small thing, especially when one has to do one's bit. I gave my last instruction yesterday, so now I am free on this count until further notice. There's still the confessions to do, and that's quite something, but we shall get by I hope, like the rest, and then the Easter sun will begin to peep out. That makes me glad; I don't know if my contentment could pass into your soul, but that is at least what I am attempting in my letter, because I would feel happier if I knew that you were too.

Your letter gave me great pleasure. I note with joy that they had exaggerated your condition. However, take care of yourself, my dear friend; I know that you are prudent, but also that your zeal at times leads you to worry too much about your affairs. How I long to see you! and you make me fear that that won't be for some time still. For I think now that I won't be going to Carcassonne before the month of May. In fact I cannot go there before the end of Easter time, and then it would be practically going twice in close succession. Besides, there will be plenty to do here with the first communions hard on our heels, plus daily catechisms, the instruction of children, etc. etc. Here, as at your establishment, one thing follows on another.

You told me to take care of my health; well, my friend, if you saw me, I'm as fat as a monk. For all things considered, a vicar's work, above all in a church where there are several of us, is not unpleasant, especially in a church where everything goes like clockwork as in Saint Michael's. I assure you that it is very agreeable. Everyone knows what has to be done, no-one does two things at the same time, and if it happens that you have occupations which make you think, at least they don't kill your body. You stay in the confessional two, three or four hours, but that doesn't kill you; burials give you a walk; baptisms (I am only speaking for the body) are a recreation; visiting the sick serves as a distraction; you preach so hard that you are hoarse by the time you leave the pulpit, but a nice hot Bavarian cream (bavoroise) gets rid of all that. So a vicar has no real work except of the mind, and since the mind is not much accustomed to exerting itself, you can only get fat, which is what I am doing.

But what saintliness would be required to carry out our functions worthily. The life of a priest in the ministry is merely a continual exercise in what is most saintly. O my dear friend Vian, how happy you are to love the good Lord as you love him! take advantage of your position to assure yourself a good provision of graces, on which to draw later, if the good God intends you to work in the ministry. For you must not wait to be in it before stocking up.

Even so, it is not that I believe that one cannot be, or even become, saintly doing the work of ministry, but I am convinced that it is easy to let oneself go, to become lax, to abandon everything in the nature of advice in favour of precepts, and thus to become day by day less pious, while being surrounded with the means of becoming more so every day. Pray for me. Luckily under my eyes I have good examples, of extremely virtuous priests; ensure by your prayers that I take after them.

I hope that Mr Neyral received some days ago the trunk that he was kind enough to lend me. Please repeat my heartfelt thanks to him. I had put in the trunk two in-folio volumes belonging to the library of the minor seminary. Please be so kind as to make sure that everything arrived in good order. And please present my respectful regards to Mr Arnal and my friendly greetings to all your respectable and amiable confreres. Above all do not forget dear Mr Gleises. Tell Mr Metche that I have not forgotten his promise.

For you, my best friend, count on my sincere attachment. Pray for me from time to time to the divine Mary. I would ask you to request for me, through the members of your congregation gathered at the foot of the altars of this good mother, the spirit of my calling. If you judge that compliments from me to some of the pupils could do them good or give them pleasure, I give you carte blanche. Farewell in Our Lord.

Your good friend.

M de Brésillac,

Priest

(Castelnaudary, 21 March 1839)

0017_New translation

Sent_0017 - à M. Vian - le 24 avril 1839 -/2

Sent 0017 - to Mr Vian - 24 April 1839 -1/2

Sent_0017 - à M. Vian - le 24 avril 1839 -1/1

Letter 0017 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 33-34

(to Mr Victorin Vian, at the baths, Campagne, Limoux)

Very busy with ministry. Acting as chaplain in the hospital. Concerns at having to preach at Carcassonne. I think I can complain that I am in too good health.

Index : congregation, devotion to Mary, ministry, preaching, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 24 April 1839

L. J. C.

My dear, my very dear friend Vian,

How grateful I am to you for having remembered me in the midst of your activities. That is how one recognises a true friend, if already irrefutable proofs had not already assured me of it. Don't think that I have forgotten you, although I haven't written to you for some time now. The fact is that these days I am perhaps busier than ever. Lent was not too bad. The children's first communions gave us plenty to do in the parish, then there are the sermons which continue to require our attention, confessions which go on regardless, and the stream of baptisms, burials etc., all of which together means that we are not yet out of work.

In addition I have a new job which gives me plenty to do. The chaplain of the hospital is away on a journey and asked me to replace him. There's no little work in a hospital, and although at present there are not so many patients as at other times, it's always a lot for me. Apart from that, I am delighted, for all this is very good for an apprentice. So far in the parish I have only seen two or three sick people, whereas here I have as many as I like of all kinds. Already, I have tried my hand at everything: I have confessed persons covered in smallpox, not to mention other less disgusting diseases; yesterday I was called out in the night to attend one of them who was dying, and I was only just in time to give him the sacraments.

What a pleasure it is to be woken from sleep to send a soul to heaven. With faith, how fine a priest's ministry is. But how sad it is to be imperfect; how sad it is to tremble for oneself, when one tells others not to worry, to be in peace!... Such is my destiny. Yet I reassure myself at the thought of the Lord's mercies.

In short, my dear friend, the height of my concerns is the address I am due to preach at Carcassonne. Never has an address cost me more, although I have not yet produced anything valid. Just imagine that today, Wednesday, I am still far from my goal, and I have no idea at all when I will have finished; and yet practically I have only eight days left. I'll manage as best I can, but if I could go back on my promise, I'd lose no time in doing so. I cannot do that, I have to make the effort. But I do not plan to preach in the minor seminary. I do not have the time to prepare or to learn the slightest thing.

Besides, I cannot be there on the Sunday. The Holy Cross is a big feast day at Saint Michael's, transferred to the Sunday. A great many people receive Holy Communion on that day, so I must be back here by Saturday evening. I even have to repeat the sermon for the Propagation of the Faith at vespers in Saint Michael's. However, I will give a small instruction to the congregation as I think it is useless to overdo it. If possible I will make sure to go to Carcassonne on Wednesday evening by the stagecoach, so as to spend the Thursday among you. I eagerly look forward to seeing you and to talking a little together.

To finish, like you, I will talk of health. That of my parents must be good since I have had no news of it. However I saw Henri just lately and he didn't give such a good account of himself. As for me, I have still only been to Monestrol for one solitary day. Regarding my health, do not give me any advice because I don't know if it is the memory of everything that you've told me or what, which has caused me to manage so well that it's a scandal; indeed, provided you yourself are not shocked when you see me, I will be happy. I think I could almost complain of being too well, and sometimes I even feel that perhaps I ought to confess it.

Moreover, if things go on like this, I don't know whether Fr de Lacger (would surpass?) me. The work we have demands care and time, but is not at all unpleasant, at least for me. I don't know if you can read my writing. Farewell. I have said nothing for our good mother Mary, or for our divine Saviour Jesus. I leave it to your heart burning with love to make up for this shortcoming. O my friend, how dry mine is, how arid! Pray for me.

Your devoted friend.

M de Brésillac,

Priest

(Castelnaudary, 24 April 1839)

0018_New translation

Sent_0018 - à M. Vian - le 15 mai 1839 -/2

Sent 0018 - to Mr Vian - 15 May 1839 -2/2

Sent_0018 - à M. Vian - le 15 mai 1839 -1/1

Letter 0018 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 25-26

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Give me news of the seminary. Marriages. Preparation of the first communion in the parish. Encouragements for Mr Vian to advance to the priesthood. I pray for Mr Mazeroles who is about to be ordained. Why not come to Monestrol? My parents send greetings.

Index : friendship, marriage, first communion, children (the)

__________

Castelnaudary, 15 May 1839

L. J. C.

My very dear friend Vian,

These last few days I was counting on a letter from you, and I see that I am frustrated in my hope. You surely can't think that I am so insensitive to what is going on in the minor seminary as not to ardently desire to know the happy results of your generous efforts? How did your retreat go? What fruits did it bear? Did these meet your expectations? Did the good pupils do well, and have the bad ones (if there can be any such in your house) improved? So tell me something about this, talk to me about the minor seminary; I am happy when I hear good reports, or when I make them myself; but I would be even happier if I could procure some for it; but who knows? What I cannot do today, perhaps I may be able to do later? Let us be content for the time being with goodwill and prayer.

I wanted to write to you yesterday, but the whole morning was filled with the celebration of five marriages; and now it is yet another marriage which gives me plenty of time to converse with you for by forcing my eyes open and yawning, I who in the ordinary way go to bed with the hens, am waiting patiently, or if you like impatiently, for midnight to come to bless a sixth one in the darkness. You see, my dear friend, that humankind does not want to come to an end yet, and if the end of the world comes, it will not be for lack of wanting to go on propagating.

What was most significant for me in exercising the sacred ministry during the week was that we were still quite busy with the First Communions. Ah, my dear friend! if you find your children dissipated, what would you say of a flock of scatterbrains that a not very Christian education has so far influenced so little, and that bad examples, plain for them to see every day, have so far removed from true piety? It is for them that we must pray. Without doubt, I know very well that the Lord will not require of them what he demands from yours whom he has favoured with the grace, so rare today, of an education according to God's heart, but what fears does this not give for the future?

It might be said perhaps, wait a little longer, wait until these poor children are more ready. But will they be any more ready next year than this? What have they gained since last year? Is it not to be feared that, after another year, they will have acquired but another year's malice? On the contrary, should we not hasten as much as possible to forestall passion? Poor children! Let us pray for them that, despite their superficiality, the grace which will fall on them takes root in their young hearts and remains there.

Ordination is close; have you quite given up the idea? I feel sorry for you, but I look forward to seeing you irrevocably engaged in the sacred militia. I hope that the obstacles you feared will disappear and that, by Christmas at the latest, you will irrevocably be a minister of the Church. I think that the saintly Mazeroles is still inclined to go on and that, in ten days at most, we will have one more zealous and pious priest in the diocese.

I would be much obliged if you could tell him, on my behalf, that I cannot have the sweet pleasure of attending his first mass, but that I really hope that he will come as soon as possible to see me and that I will have the happiness of attending his holy sacrifice. Tell him also, please, that my parents entertain the same hope, and count on a forthcoming visit from him to Monestrol. He must not forget us in his prayers. I think of him at holy mass and, if it is possible, I will offer it for him on the day of his ordination. If I do not write all of these things to him in person, it is because I consider you as another me, and that, moreover, perhaps I won't have the time before his retreat. I count on your goodness to convey all of this to him.

My parents often speak to me of you. They are always eager to hear your news. If you spend your holidays in the village, you really must pay them a visit. Mamma's character hits it off splendidly with yours; and if you have not already put your plan to write to her into effect, I would ask you not to lay it aside, I am sure that you will be giving her great pleasure. But it is now close on midnight. All the best to everyone, and Mr Gleises first and foremost. Tell him that I am not pleased with him.

Completely yours for Jesus and through Mary.

M de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 15 May 1839)

0019_New translation

Sent_0019 - à M. Vian - le 24 mai 1839 -/2

Sent 0019 - to Mr Vian - 24 May 1839 -1/2

Sent_0019 - à M. Vian - le 24 mai 1839 -1/1

Letter 0019 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 27-28

(to Mr Victorin Vian, minor seminary, Carcassonne)

Great joy at hearing of Mr Vian's subdeaconate. How did your preparatory retreat go? What were your outstanding impressions? What influences on your physique? I am writing also to Mr Mazeroles. He speaks of the education of young people.

Index : friendship, priesthood, ordination, commitment, education

__________

Castelnaudary, 24 May 1839

My very dear friend,

I want to be one of the first to congratulate you, which is why, at this time when your head is perhaps in turmoil and bubbling over, at this time when your mind is active and your heart is sunk in God's heart, I am taking up my pen to participate in advance in the happiness you will be feeling when these words reach you.

So, my dear friend, you have enlisted and here you are for good in the holy militia whose sacred ranks you envied for so long. Ah, if man's enemy has yet some temptations to offer you, reject them at once and be grateful for the great happiness that you have once more felt. For my part, I feel happy at the thought that you are one of us and that you can no longer escape us. I bless Heaven three times over for this and ask it to bring the work to completion and I pray that the day will come when the complement to all your gifts will be given.

That will happen, my dear friend, now that the dawn has just been broken; it will happen and it will be for your eternal happiness, for our mutual happiness, for the glory of our good Master. How I love to soothe myself in this hope and talk to you yourself about it becasue it is not without merit, and the vows that you have pronounced today before Heaven and the Church are its unshakeable foundation. What breviary do you use? When you grant me the sweet pleasure of a visit so long awaited and so ardently desired, will we have the joy of praising the Lord together? Tell me, and tell me soon, for I await your news incessantly.

I still do not know how your retreat went, what were your most powerful impressions and how these affected your physique. More than others, you are subject to the good or bad effects of a great disturbance, but whatever these may have been, I know that everything will have been directed to God and turned to his glory. I am writing to Fr. Mazeroles. To save postage, I am enclosing his letter with yours, and for the same reason, you could do the same to me.

You would do me a great service if you could provide me with the name of someone you know who would help in the education of two young people of a highly respectable family, starting as soon as possible and until school resumes. I somehow hope that these two young people will be swelling the ranks of your pupils. I am working, behind the scenes, to get their parents to take this decision. It will be all the better since after those two, others would perhaps follow their example, for they form the head of quite a long queue. Maybe they will go to Montelieu? Anyway, whatever happens, I would be very happy to get them a good supervisor, who would make them quite capable of doing a good fourth or fifth class when they go back to school.

My compliments and customary respects to the usual addressees. And believe me always, in the union of your holy prayers and in the charity of Jesus, through the intercession of Mary,

Your dearest friend.

M de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 24 May 1839)

0020_New translation

Sent_0020 - à M. Vian - le 11 juin 1839 -/2

Sent 0020 - to Mr Vian - 11 June 1839 -1/2

Sent_0020 - à M. Vian - le 11 juin 1839 -1/1

Letter 0020 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 29-30

(to Mr Victorin Vian, subdeacon, Carcassonne)

Thank you for your letters. Very busy with the preparation of the children's first communion. Concerns for the future of these children. How these children shed floods of tears during their retreat of preparation. We are going to have a third vicar. What if it is Fr Gleises?

Index : children, first communion, ministry, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 11 June 1839

My very dear friend,

I cannot tell you how pleased I was to receive your last letters, and if I did not respond earlier you mustn't believe that it due to negligence; I certainly wouldn't say it was indifference, because I am sure that you know me to be incapable of that. No, it's not even out of laziness, since in the last few days we've been working like mad in connection with first communions.

This is worthwhile work so we undertook it wholeheartedly even though it is tiring. Moreover, it's not without some consolation; one feels such enthusiasm and sensitivity which compensates one well for all the fatigue, were it not for the fear, we could say the certainty, of soon seeing the devil take possession of these young hearts once more. But this last thought is terrible especially in the case of boys.

O though it is difficult to bring back the lost sheep it is even more difficult to keep it once it has been regained it, and even more difficult still to fix it finally for good when it has been unfaithful several times over. However it is hoped that the good sentiments inspiring these tender children will bear fruit, and if the enemy manages to snatch their innocence from them, can he ever take away the memory of the ineffable delights that they have enjoyed these last days? Will they not recall in their old age the tears that the sight of their sin drew from them last Friday?

O, you would have enjoyed it. That children cry at their first communion not surprisingly is the fashion. But that, during the retreat, the day they least expected it, they shed floods of tears, is not so common.

Abbe Taurines mounts the pulpit, and one of those vehement improvisations that make such an effect when one is happy, or rather when God blessed them as he blessed his own, he moved the hearts of any audience When finally he published, as in days of passion, a great Christ, and in a voice steeped in pain, he sent to Jesus crucified by our sins his peroration whole, and sobs were heard on all sides; it goes down and de Lacger speaks, his words of fire fell on land already prepared. Nothing is heard but the weeping. But it brings a black shawl, and each child is invited to kiss Jesus, to testify at his feet, his act signed by him as the most authentic protest of his pain and his good resolution. So it is almost moaning.

It was on Friday evening, when preparing them to profitably receive the sacrament of penance. The Parish Priest, who is incredibly clever at all this, had made them all write an act of contrition signed by their hand, without telling them what this was for. Fr Taurines climbed into the pulpit and, by one of those vehement improvisations which make such an effect when one is happy, or rather, when God blessed them as he blessed his own, he moved the hearts of the whole audience, when at last he reveals, as on the day of the passion, a great Christ, and in a voice thick with sorrow, he addresses to Jesus crucified for our sins his whole peroration, and sobs break out on all sides; he comes down and Mr de Lacger speaks in his turn; his words of fire fall on already prepared ground. Nothing but weeping may be heard. But a black stole is brought out, and each child is invited to come and kiss Jesus, and to lay at his feet the act signed by him, as the most authentic protestation of his sorrow and of his good intent. Then the weeping turns to groaning.

The many persons present mingle their tears with those of the children, and the whole church resounds with cries of sorrow. At last, the great pedals of the organ arrive to cover with their terrible sound the stifled voices of these thousands of repentant sinners; but not to stop them; it was a stormy sea which takes time to calm down, and after forming a long procession with the very holy sacrament, after the blessing has been given, and the evening prayer said, etc. etc., they went off weeping. This, my dear friend, is the climax of our story; and I see that my paper is running out; however I think I still had quite a few things to tell you, that will be for another time.

Now they are saying that we won't be having a third vicar (since we have lost one, to be a parish priest) until the holidays, and that it will be a teacher from the minor seminary ; I dare not flatter myself that this is Mr Gleises, I don't want to pin my hopes on it, for fear of being caught out later if it is not so, especially since I think I heard talk a long while ago that he was to go to Montréal. At the same time there are not, either at Narbonne, or at Carcassonne, such a vast number of available teachers, for my hope to be totally out of the question. In two months' time we'll see.

All the very best to all those who live with you. My affectionate feelings for the minor seminary cannot diminish with distance, since they are based on a thorough acquaintance with the merits of that establishment. And that is why I would like it to be even better.

Farewell.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 11 June 1839)

0021_New translation

Sent_0021 - à M. Vian - le 8 juillet 1839 -/2

Sent 0021 - to Mr Vian - 8 July 1839 -2/2

Sent_0021 - à M. Vian - le 8 juillet 1839 -1/1

Sent 0021 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 31-32

(to Mr Victorin Vian, subdeacon, Carcassonne)

Now it's holidaytime, we should be able to meet up. Come to Monestrol if you are not going home. He has to go to Carcassonne for his first examination as a young priest. No-one knows still where Abbé Gleises will be. Illness of Abbé Mazeroles (tuberculosis). He hopes for a visit from the teachers of the seminary.

Index : friendship, attachment (seminary)

__________

Castelnaudary, 8 July 1839

L. J. C.

My dear friend,

I an offered an opportunity for going to Carcassonne, and at that word, it occurs to me that it's some time since I last wrote to you. I hope that in a short while we will be able to converse at somewhat greater length and a little more agreeably than by letter. For at last the holidays are not so far off, and at that point what reasons will you give for not directing your steps here ?

I have just arrived from Monestrol where, for the second time, I went to spend twenty-four hours, and there too they count on a visit from you, above all if you don't go home. I must admit that, on account of my interest in you and the friendship I feel for you, I would prefer that you go back home. What pleasure could compare with yours, what pleasure could replace for you the sweet embraces of a converted father. However if prudence, if a thousand reasons oblige you to postpone such a visit further, you can be sure we will do everything possible to compensate you as far as we can.

For the rest, I still count on the pleasure of seeing you earlier. I have to take my first examination at the end of the month; very probably in order to do so I will be obliged to make a little trip to Carcassonne and, if I delay ever so little, I see that that could very well coincide with your departure. What are people doing in the minor seminary? Are you impatient to dismiss that merry band? Do you propose to hold a retreat on the model of those we held last year? O, how pleased I am! That was certainly one of my best retreats.

And Abbé Gleises, who doesn't deserve my thinking of him any longer, since he no longer thinks of me, and who I think of all the same because I didn't give him my esteem lightly, will Abbé Gleises be our collaborator ? or will our hope go up in smoke? What do they say at Carcassonne? As for me, I would be delighted if he was added to our numbers, and as soon as possible. Tell him he must not be afraid to accept immediately; at that point, he will rest here just as well as in his own home, since practically speaking there is nothing to do.

I have the good Abbé Mazeroles here with me. You should know that he fell ill almost as soon as he went back home. A severe chill that he caught at Charlemagne went to his already weak chest, and since then he hasn't improved. Indeed considerable fears are entertained on his condition. Constant high temperature, sweating every night, a stubborn cough, these are bad symptoms. With all of this, a fairly good appetite, great courage and much hope, but what tubercular ever lacked these? Let us pray for him; if the good Lord wishes to keep him for his Church, he is the master of death and life. He asks me to convey his greetings to you.

Please remember me to everyone. I expect Mr Lizat when he passes through. If he does not promise to stop, I will have nets put up. And the same goes for Mr Neyral if he passes by this way. As for Mr Metche, I have his word for it. Mr Babin will be coming to see his uncle, or his cousin I forget, but finally the hospital chaplain, who in fact came to see me yesterday with your colleague's brother, a young man of great charm and promise. All the others know in general, and each in particular, how pleased I would be to see and welcome them. As for you, I will say nothing, for you wouldn't be any the wiser.

All the very best to you in the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 8 July 1839)

0022_New translation

Sent_0022 - à M. Vian - le 13 septembre 1839 -/2

Sent 0022 - to Mr Vian - 13 September 1839 -1/1

Sent_0022 - à M. Vian - le 13 septembre 1839 -1/1

Sent 0022 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 35-36

(to Mr Victorin Vian, subdeacon, Carcassonne)

He will undoubtedly be going to Toulouse for his annual retreat. Shake off your state of uncertainty. I know what three years of uncertainty have cost me. Bad reputation of the minor seminary of Carcassonne. To certain parents, he attempts to prove the contrary. Local feast at Monestrol.

Index : indecision, minor seminary (Carcassonne), congregation

__________

Castelnaudary, 13 September 1839

My dear friend,

Since Abbé Metche left earlier than I thought, I was not able to answer your kind letter through him. I hoped soon to replace him with a nice conversation with you, since I had arranged everything so as to take advantage of the ecclesiastic retreat, however today we have been told that this will not be taking place. So that I do not know when I shall be seeing you, for it is already mid-September, and if possible, I will try to do my retreat in Toulouse with the Jesuits.

It is indeed surprising that you haven't received other letters from your home. I regret that you were not there from the beginning, your presence would have done much more than a thousand letters, and you would know finally where you stand. Great virtue is required to feel at peace in a state of uncertainty, which is considered only transitory, without even knowing if it will lead you to the goal. Whereas when you know that the position you occupy is truly what God wishes, well then yes, whatever happens, fiat. If I had any advice to give you, it would be to take effective steps to determine without doubt where you should be. I know what three years of uncertainty cost me!

I think the seminary will gain if Mr Montginon hands over the third class to Mr Barthe. Here the minor seminary is far from being regarded as a very good establishment, and there is talk above all of the weakness of the teachers, of the poor food, and the rudeness of the pupils. I think people prefer the college of Montelieu.

Recently I had a long talk with Mr Mas who is, I think, determined to put two of his children into the minor seminary. He seemed fairly satisfied with everything, but someone must have warned him about the food. I hope that, with the proof to the contrary that I tried to provide, he came to accept that the food, without being succulent, was healthy and abundant; he seems quite satisfied by it. But should not the necessary steps be taken to ensure that this bad reputation, perhaps having some basis disappears? vide et dic.

Yes, I went to spend two days, and even to officiate the local feastday, at Monestrol. This was a great feast for this small village where they had never seen any dalmatics. I took the good Mr Sipolis, and Abbé Mazeroles had the strength to act as deacon, but without singing the gospel. My parents would have been happy to see you in this gathering, but there is no use speaking of that.

Farewell. Let us at least be united in heart, and let us pray for each other. Send me the leaflet of the congregation and believe in my friendship for you in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

My compliments to everyone, and to Mr Médus in particular.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 13 September 1839)

0023_New translation

Sent_0023 - à son cousin Louis - le 19 décembre 1839 -/1

Sent 0023 - to his cousin Louis - 19 December 1839 -1/2

Sent_0023 - à son cousin Louis - le 19 décembre 1839 -1/1

Sent 0023 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 5

(to his cousin Louis, articled lawyer)

He sends him his congratulations on having been chosen to make the speech on the opening of the conference of lawyers. Place of God and of religion in the life of every man. I saw your father at Mirepoix.

Index : God (in life), religion (in life), friendship, attachment (family)

__________

Carcassonne, 19 December 1839

My very dear cousin,

What unpardonable laziness, I agree. I have been wanting to write to you for I don't know how long and the days have passed, the weeks have gone by without putting my plan into action. I could easily find some excuses for this. But I don't want to take the trouble to justify them, for I am eager to congratulate you and to convey to you the joy that my heart felt, on reading the account of the speech that you pronounced at the opening of the conference of lawyers. What happiness I felt first of all on seeing that you had been chosen for this honourable function and above all on ascertaining both the choice of subject and the brilliant manner in which it seems that you have dealt with it.

So you have understood that, in all positions in life, man's true duty is to make full use of the faculties and talents that God has given him, for the glory of that God who is our beginning and our only end. You have understood that to avenge religion for the everlasting reproaches of a blind ignorance or lying malice was to render to God this glory that we all owe him, and you have fulfilled this duty with courage, accordingly your glory will be great, and the happy presages that your success gives us for your future are better founded, for the Lord will bless your efforts. He will bless you yourself and you will be doubly happy, my dear friend.

Write to me, dear Louis, I'm impatient to know your own judgment, your position and your hopes ; and if you could include with your letter that I hope to receive soon, a copy of your speech, you would do me a kindness.

Since your father has been at Mirepoix, we have had the pleasure of seeing him from time to time. He was kind enough to come and see me sometimes. I think he has told you this. However, I haven't seen him for quite some time now; so give me tell his news.

My kind regards to your brother and your sister on my behalf, if you have the opportunity of seeing them or writing to them. Tell me about them. And you, my dear and worthy cousin, please count on the unalterable attachment

of the most sincere of your friends.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 19 December 1839)

0024_New translation

Sent_0024 - à son cousin Louis - le 10 février 1840 -/2

Sent 0024 - to his cousin Louis - 10 February 1840 -1/2

Sent_0024 - à son cousin Louis - le 10 février 1840 -1/1

Sent 0024 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 6

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

Louis has not received the weekly note from his father, but this note has certainly been sent, never mind ! Happy to take this opportunity to reiterate my friendship. A few words added by the hand of his uncle Pierre, Louis's father.

Index : friendship, attachment (family)

__________

Mirepoix, 10 February 1840

My dear friend,

What it is to have a bad habit! What am I saying? What it is to have a good habit; for when one is deprived of one's daily bread, one finds it difficult to accept such deprivation for even a single day. I do nothing but pass by Mirepoix, and I find my dear uncle the same old joker as ever and Jeannette angry; and why? Because Mr Louis has not received the weekly note from his dear father. Nothing terrible, however, my dear friend; and if I pick up my pen to tell you so, it is because I have decided not to let this occasion pass of assuring you of my friendship.

Your father wrote to you by ordinary post ; but this post, for circumstances that I will not explain in detail, did not function. The carrier will soon be bringing you the long epistle from your father, for he had written in proportion to the long period of his silence, so that you will soon be amply compensated for the sacrifice, which I will force you to make, by depriving you of the pleasure of receiving from your father an answer to your complaints. In any case I hope that you will not be angry with me, and as for me I get such satisfaction from it, that I consent to bear with the effects of your disappointment and anger, rather than deprive myself of the pleasure of writing you a few words.

All the very best to your brother from me ; please assure him of my sincere attachment ; and you, my good friend, don't doubt for a single instant of my sentiments for you and for the whole family with such happiness. For a long time now you have led us to hope for a short visit. Will your various activities at last allow you to give us the pleasure of seeing you? I hope so, and meanwhile, I beg you to believe me throughout life

Your devoted friend.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Mirepoix, 10 Mirepoix 1840)

(On the same letter, written in the hand of Msgr de Brésillac's uncle, Louis's father)

"My dear Louis, I don't know if ( ?) will arrive before this letter, but it is nonetheless true that on arriving here, I wrote you and Auguste a long letter. The bad weather prevented my delivery man from leaving, that's my excuse.

"Adrien, ( ?) and Melchior are urging me to accompany them to church, and only give me time to embrace all of you wholeheartedly.

"Your cousins do the same.

"de B(résillac)"

(Mirepoix, 10 February 1840)

0025_New translation

Sent_0025 - à M. Vian - le 4 décembre 1840 -/2

Sent 0025 \- to Mr Vian - 4 December 1840 -2/2

Sent_0025 - à M. Vian - le 4 décembre 1840 -1/1

Sent 0025 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 37-38

(to Mr Victorin Vian, major seminary, Fréjus)

It's not from indifference that I haven't written to you. You are soon to be ordained a priest. Pray and ask others to pray. His first steps for the MEP. His visit to Hyères. His parents suspect his plans to leave as a missionary. Reflections on the qualities of certain families.

Index : friendship, MEP, father, mother

__________

Castelnaudary, 4 December 1840

Perhaps you will be wondering whether I have forgotten you, since for the last six weeks I have been asking myself the same question about you, when your kind letter arrived to prove that it was not true. May this present letter be a similar proof, my dear friend, of fidelity. How can one forget a friend born of charity, maintained by charity, and who himself maintains charity? May such a thought never enter your head. Accuse me on occasion of laziness, realise that my many duties come into it to some extent, but indifference : never !

However Christmas is now coming and without doubt I am going to receive pleasant news, without doubt you will inform me of your elevation to the priesthood. Since I can have no doubt about this, congratulations in advance; and since between now and then I shall not be writing to you, please do not forget me in the fervent prayers that the Spirit of God inspires in you both before and after this solemn time. O my friend, how I need the memory of those who pray with fervour. Make them pray, make them pray, writes Mr Langlois !

By this name, you may perhaps recognise the superior of the Seminary for Foreign Missions. This is what it's coming to, my dear friend. My first visit to My Lord was useless, but it leaves room for hope. Of course he did not reply to the letter that I wrote to him at his home address; of course he refused to allow me to leave at once, but it appears he may yield once he is really sure that it is my vocation.

In the meantime, I have received two letters from Paris, one in reply to the one I wrote at your address, and the other in reply to that which informed the superior of My Lord's initial refusal, but in one and the other hope was held out to me, above all through the intercession of the saints and through the aid of the good prayers of pious souls. Accordingly I am entitled to yours. Pater, fiat voluntas tua. ()

Once you are a priest, please write to me and tell me the post to which you are assigned, however before that I should receive the news of your promotion ; I count on it. It is true that in my letter I forgot to speak to you of Hyères. The gentleman for whom I brought a letter from your good parish priest was ill. All the same I paid him a visit, he was very decent, overjoyed to receive news of his former pastor, and he offered, as far as I can remember, to send someone to accompany me to visit the curiosities of the town. I had only thanks to convey to him, for the charming vicar of Saint-Tropez had given me a letter for the vicar of Hyères at whose house I had dined earlier and with whom I had visited everything. How happy I would have been to see Mr Mélis with you! God doubtless did not want this. If you learn, or if you see something still truly worthy of attention, kindly let me know in any case.

My parents are well ; they remember you with great pleasure and never fail to ask me to tell you so. I think they suspect something of my plans; my mother could not be more reasonable about it; since she opened up her heart to me several times, I have been able as it were to prepare her; thus I am fairly satisfied on that side. My father seems rather severe, he has not uttered a single word ; does he fear something ? It is very likely. What will be the outcome? I fear he may be violently affected if the project goes through; but that is not an obstacle for those whom the Lord calls. Fiat, fiat.

Do not forget me to anyone in your establishment. I will often remember the good, the excellent Vian family. How glorified God would be if there were many such families ! They are, alas, rare! And for this reason they are even more worthy of esteem. Kindly convey my respectful regards to Monsieur le Curé, and tell him, please, that at Marseilles I did not have the pleasure of meeting the priest for whom he had also entrusted me with a letter.

Farewell, my dear friend. Here at Saint John Baptist's church, we are celebrating the octave of Saint Francis Xavier. Let us pray together to this great missionary, this good priest, this saint, which is saying all.

Truly yours in the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 4 December 1840)

0026_New translation

Sent_0026 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 janvier 1841 -/1

Sent 0026 - to his cousin Louis - 21 January 1841 -1/2

Sent_0026 - à son cousin Louis - le 21 janvier 1841 -1/1

Sent 0026 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 7

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

He asks him to get him some books that he will indicate to him on the Protestant doctrine. He is in correspondence with his cousin Emilie, a Protestant, and he finds excellent aptitudes in her. How could he receive these books?

Index : Protestants, conversion, studies, informing himself, controversy

__________

Castelnaudary, 21 January 1841

My dear cousin,

I need as soon as possible an Exposition de la doctrine de l'Eglise catholique sur les matières de controverse, by Bossuet. I would like this to be in small format, soft-cover edition and if possible pretty. I had an inquiry made about it at Toulouse, and they replied that it was not to be found there. However I would ask you to see if it is not possible to find it for me, and to employ your utmost zeal in this small matter.

I have heard talk of an explanation of the Protestant doctrine, compared to the explanation of the Catholic doctrine, I am very anxious to have it, and perhaps if you were to ask in the major seminary you could get it for me. If you should also hear of some new book where the errors of our poor strayed brothers are clearly refuted, you would give me great pleasure by passing it on or at least indicating it to me.

You will have no difficulty in imagining the reason for all of this. The good Emilie() is in correspondence with me, and I believe that she shows good aptitudes. Let us pray for her. Pray above all the good Mary and the glorious Saint Michael to whom I entrust the matter of her conversion.

I am writing to you today because you could send these various articles to Mrs Borrel who lodges at Mr Fabre's house where our uncle Auguste lives. This lady is due to bring Mamma some other things; she would make no difficulty about accepting this new errand. In addition, could you ask her, if it is not inconvenient to her, if she would oblige me by paying you back the price of these books and tell her that, in my turn, I will reimburse her here.

Please forgive me for the trouble I am giving you, but it is for the glory of God, thus trouble turns into delights.

May I ask you to pay my respects or to convey my regards to anyone who asks after me or to whom you think that this mark of affection would give pleasure. I am too much in haste to name them one by one.

To God, my very good friend. Count on the unalterable attachment of your good cousin.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

P.S. Mrs Borrel comes back Monday.

(Castelnaudary, 21 January 1841)

0027_New translation

Sent_0027 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 février 1841 -/2

Sent 0027 - to his cousin Louis - 12 February 1841 -1/2

Sent_0027 - à son cousin Louis - le 12 février 1841 -1/1

Sent 0027 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 8

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

He asks for more books on the Protestants, the history of the Reformation, and the history of England. I have some hope with Emilie but in any case this study will be useful to me. He also asks for a small catechism of controversy from the Catholic standpoint.

Index : Protestants, conversion, studies, informing himself, controversy

__________

Castelnaudary, 12 February 1841

Since Raymond is going to Toulouse tomorrow and has to come back at once, I am taking this opportunity to thank you for your last letter, and also to have recourse once more to your obliging services. I am furnished with books of controversy, I have the Voyage d'un Irlandais and catechisms of controversy and others – but no books quite from the Protestant standpoint. You would do me a service to get some such for me, by borrowing above all if possible, for it's useless to buy books that one cannot put in one's bookcase.

I would like above all the text of their various confessions of faith – a history of the Reformation – a history of England, at least the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth – some catechisms – and some devotional books. By having recourse to the Refugium peccatorum (), this good Mr Tinseau will undoubtedly find the way to lay hands on these books, and you will see with him what permission you require, to obtain them and send them to me, as well as later to undertake some research into certain heretical books, which I could ask of you perhaps, if need be, for I think that, in the public libraries the works of Luther, Calvin and their following should be available.

You will perhaps be astonished, my dear Louis, at all this commotion. It is not that our affair with the good Emilie has advanced very much, but this provides me with the occasion to study thoroughly the question of Protestantism, an advantage which might be quite important for me, even if my dear cousin should stop writing. However I have high hopes of the fortunate premises that she has advanced thus far. One of these last days I sent my answer to her first letter ; to judge by the sentiment of certain friends to whom I entrusted it, I was quite pertinent. But only God works in people's hearts.

Let us pray then, my dear cousin, that the Lord will deign to develop such good aptitudes and to smooth away the obstacles which almost always oppose a conversion. Can they not see the weakness of their cause, these poor strayed brothers! Can they not add faith to the happiness that we would like to procure for them ! Oportet haereses esse

Although I told you that I have excellent books of controversy from the Catholic standpoint, I would always be obliged to you to indicate any which may come to your knowledge, especially new ones – and even to send me your little catechism of controversy, in the case of its not being identically the same as a new catechism of controversy which comes out in small issues at Montpellier and that I have in my hands.

Farewell, my dear cousin, I don't know if you can read my writing, I am in a great hurry, and I only have time to tell you how sincerely attached I am to you. The errand I have mentioned regarding the heretical books, I would give to you only, as you can well understand; take all the necessary precautions as far as Father Tinseau is concerned and send them to me as soon as possible. All the best from me to your brothers and to my good relatives of Toulouse. Farewell.

Truly yours in the sacred hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 12 February 1841)

(Two notes added by two different hands follow.)

L'histoire de la Réforme, by William Cotebelt.

Tableau de l'hérésie de Calvin

From Del ? (Deltoure ?) and Pradel, booksellers, Rue Gourmande.

Réponse au mandement de Mgr

Arsenal spirituel au 19ème siècle

Controverse réponse à l'abbé Guyon Demoulin and

Abrégé de controverse by Charles Drelincourt.

0028_New translation

Sent_0028 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1841 -/2

Sent 0028 - to Mr Vian - 14 February 1841 -2/2

Sent_0028 - à M. Vian - le 14 février 1841 -1/1

Sent 0028 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 39-40

(to Mr Victorin Vian, deacon, Lorgues - Var)

He explains his discussions and his efforts with his Protestant cousin, Emilie : her mother, her education and her upbringing. She asked if he could have a religious conversation with her. After that, she has written once. Let us pray. Regards to your parents. Write before your ordination. Nothing new regarding the missions and the MEP.

Index : Protestants, conversion, controversy, MEP, father, mother, friendship

__________

Castelnaudary, 14 February 1841

My very dear friend,

I don't know how it is I have taken so long to write to you. I haven't forgotten you, I haven't even lost sight of the nice letter you wrote me at Epiphany. But one thing leads to another, and so I have arrived at today, when however I have a moment to devote to you. First of all I have to talk to you about one of the main occupations which have filled my time, for I feel sure that this will afford you some pleasure.

I don't know if you are aware that I have an aunt of British nationality who is a Protestant. As a colonel's wife, you can just imagine that it was easy for her to bring up her daughters in her communion; she even took all the necessary precautions in this matter, for she is as zealous for her sect as she is an excellent wife and parent. I hardly knew her, and even less my charming cousins, the eldest of whom is nineteen or perhaps twenty. On my arrival from Provence, I heard that they were all due to come and spend some time visiting their family, and consequently I have had the opportunity of seeing them now and then.

Just imagine my good cousin(

), one of those perfect persons, of fine upbringing and rare education, having all the qualities, alas, except that of being a Catholic! You can well imagine that I was not the first to speak of religion. At times I even avoided following up on certain little provocations so common in Protestants, and which in the general way serve no good purpose, but at last my cousin asked me explicitly if I wouldn't mind if she had a religious conversation with me. I could not and would not draw back.

Perhaps I should tell you that she had already come with her mother to listen to one of my sermons. Accordingly we had a conversation lasting a few hours. God came to my aid, for though not well prepared, I will wager not to persuade my good cousin, but to trouble her mind somewhat. I have not defended myself well, she said, but it is not surprising that in a conversation I am weaker than you, who are accustomed by your profession to speak of religion; if you will allow me, I will write to you. I was delighted with this proposal.

Only a few days later she left ; and some time afterwards, when I thought that she must have abandoned the plan to correspond, I received a letter which I would have liked you to read and which I answered scrupulously. Will this continue? I hope so for my good cousin who puts an edifying good faith and candour into her search for the truth. However I fear lest her ministers dissuade her from it. Let us pray that this does not happen. I count on your prayers which I would ask you to address periodically to heaven on this subject, by the intermediation of the glorious Saint Michael, in whose hands I have placed this matter, as well as in those of the good Mary, our mother.

But already I see I have almost no paper left. What more is there to say ? My affair of the missions is still at the same point. However everything is smoothed out regarding the Seminary at Paris, but His Lordship has still not given his consent. Nevertheless I hope that he soon will give it, for he is shaken.

I do not know whether my letter will find you at Lorgues or at Fréjus. I am writing to Lorgues, thinking that from there they will send it on to you if you are not there. I would like my letter as it passes by to let slip the compliments that I would ask you to make on my behalf to the good inhabitants of this village whom I remember quite clearly, but since it will undoubtedly be mute, perhaps you would undertake this little errand yourself.

My parents who are here send you a thousand friendly greetings. They remember you with pleasure. Mamma is better, though there is still something not quite right, but still she is well. I think that you will not fail to write to me a few days before you have the fortune to be raised to the sublime order of the priesthood, and that from the height of the altar you will not forget poor Abbé de Brésillac.

Farewell, Pray for my cousin, pray for the missions, pray for the greatest of sinners. Farewell.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

I would be obliged if you would present my respects to the venerable superior of the seminary of Fréjus.

(Castelnaudary, 14 February 1841)

0029_New translation

Sent_0029 - à Mgr de Gualy - début mars 1841? -/1

Sent 0029 - to Mgr de Gualy - early March 1841? -1/1

Sent_0029 - à Mgr de Gualy - début mars 1841? -1/1

Sent 0029 partial Brésillac copy, AMA 2F3, pp 22-23

"Souvenirs", p 33

(to Mgr de Gualy)

(bishop of Carcassonne)

Why does he take so long to authorise him to go to the MEPs ?

Index : missions (desire)

__________

Castelnaudary ? early March 1841 ? ()

[...] The silence that Your Lordship has maintained with regard to me, I said to him among other things, has greatly distressed me. It is certainly not difficult for a son to interpret the silence of a loving father, on such an occasion; but it would have been very nice, My Lord, for me to have received a word from you, even if it were a word of refusal. For how long, My Lord, will you continue be so cruel to me? Do you wish to distress to the end a son who loves you dearly? [...]

(Mr de Brésillac)

(Castelnaudary ? early March 1841 ?)

0030_New translation

Sent_0030 - à son cousin Louis - le 16 mars 1841 -/1

Sent 0030 - to his cousin Louis - 16 March 1841 -1/1

Sent_0030 - à son cousin Louis - le 16 mars 1841 -1/1

Sent 0030 Original, AMA 2F89, n° 9

(to his cousin Louis, Toulouse)

Why doesn't he send the books he asked for? Emilie has written to him.

.

Index : informing himself, Protestants

__________

Castelnaudary, 16 March 1841

What is the meaning of this long silence, my dear friend ? Tell me if you cannot get what I asked you for some time ago. Day by day I await a packet or at least a letter, but in vain. Have you forgotten it? In any case, the good Emilie has written to me in the last few days to acknowledge receipt of my letter, and announcing another one soon, in which she will try to refute me. Kindly let me know soon if there is or is not the possibility of getting the books that I asked you for, and of sending me them soon if that is possible.

I have just time to bid you farewell, asking you kindly to present my respects and regards to the entitled parties.

Your devoted cousin in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mr de Brésillac,

priest

(Castelnaudary, 16 March 1841)

(Added by hand by Mr Joseph de Marion Brésillac)

"Emilie, is Emilie de Marion Gaja, daughter of the General who turned Protestant in order to marry Lord Fitz-Gerald's daughter."

0224_New translation

Sent_0224 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0224 - to Mgr Bonnand - 4 March 1847 -1/1

Sent_0224 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Letter 0224 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 51-54

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 58

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, bishop of Druzipara)

(Apostolic Vicar of Pondicherry)

Thank you for the cart which has arrived with my things. You cannot come to my aid? I bless the hand of God which strikes me. A gun for Mr Laugier? Why not? Our health is good. But how heavy our moral troubles are to bear!

Index: thanks, troubles (moral), trials (of life), newspapers

__________

Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847

My Lord,

The (cart and ?) (... ?...) that you have had (the kindness to?) send out to me arrived safely yesterday. I thank you for the trouble that you took attending to that.

I received your letter of 21 February the day before yesterday. I can only bless the hand of God that strikes me in not allowing Y.L.'s advisers to find a way of helping me. It is a very difficult trial; I pray our Lord to permit me to bear it in peace.

Mr L. is making a retreat together with Mr Métral at the present time. If he has sent some money for the purpose of buying him a gun, I don't see why it shouldn't be bought for him. Unless Y.L. sees some serious drawback, it seems to me that we could buy it for him, especially if he has requested it by some other channel than through the bursar's office. It seems to me that then it would be (...?...).

(I have?) sent back by the (cart?) the wooden crozier, the ewer and the candle-stick. As for the mitre, I thought that Y.L. would undoubtedly be good enough to lend it to me for some time more, since they have forgotten to send one from Paris.

I don't think that there is anything much else to say to Y.L. Our health is always pretty good. However, the class fatigues me greatly, what with the confessions and the other work in Lent. But these physical troubles are unimportant compared to the moral troubles with which the Lord is pleased to favour me.

I believe I have already thanked you for the jubilee message. As for the Holy Father's Encyclical, Y.L. need not bother to send it to me. I have received via Bombay the back numbers of the newspapers which contain it in extenso, with the translation in French.

I have received the memorandum of Mgr Blanchet, following the example of Mgr Luquet, and under (... ?...) of the latter's thoughts. (... ?...) in the newspapers that this venerable pontiff has succeeded perfectly; he left with the real title of

(here three lines are illegible).

I believe that he himself was appointed archbishop.

I commend myself more than ever to your prayers in the union of which I have the honour of being,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847)

0225_New translation

Sent_0225 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0225 - to Mgr Charbonnaux - 4 March 1847 -2/2

Sent_0225 - à Mgr Charbonnaux - le 4 mars 1847 -/2

Letter 0225 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 58-60

(to Mgr Etienne Charbonnaux, Bishop of Iasus)

(Vicar Apostolic of Mysore or Bangalore)

In the face of the non-assistance of my fellow priests, I have not offended God against charity. You continue to prevent Mr Chevalier from coming to Coimbatore; you reproach me for having encouraged him. I accept with joy these reproaches for my sins. The wrong that Mr Jarrige did me by leaving Coimbatore so quickly in contrast with what he had said. The voice of conscience makes itself heard differently to those who consult it on a practical case.

Index: delicate charity, conscience, religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847

Two days ago I received your letter of 27 February and hasten to answer it. First of all I pray the Lord not to permit that the Holy Charity that unites us in its love be the least altered in the world. As for me, it seems that I can testify that, in the midst of the trials that I have had to put up with and which still continue at the hands of my confreres, and above all those from whom I felt the most entitled to expect assistance, benevolence and succour, I have not offended God against charity, at least in any serious way. Without doubt nature quivered more than once on seeing myself so despised, suspected and abandoned, but it knew that my sins deserved far more.

Another no less considerable trial has come to put me to the test when, in the midst of the abandonment of some and the desertion of others, more than one confrere and a few other ecclesiastics besides offered themselves to me with a generosity which I pray God will take into account, and that I saw their goodwill towards me rendered useless by the proprieties or by formal refusals. I repeat, I have not held it against those who treated me in this way even for a single instant; up to the end I will love them no less for it before the Lord. I will not respect them any the less, I will not be less well-disposed to render all the services that may depend on me. May the Lord put me in a position to prove to them one day the truth of these words, not by making them unhappy and finding the means of helping them out, but by finding the way of making them happier and above all more capable of spreading the good that I recognise fills their souls.

Thus, My Lord, you may continue to stop short Mr Chevalier's good inclinations with regard to me, and I will not hold it against you, and I hope that you will not hold it against this dear confrere or me the fact that he had the charity to take an interest in my destiny and that I said to him that if he could "while maintaining the proprieties request and obtain permission to come, etc.", I would be delighted. Thereupon, I gave him the reasons which may bring him to take this step and I urged him to examine everything before God and if, after prayer and meditation, he believes he should do it, to hand over my letter, otherwise why give you this trouble? So, My Lord, that is what I have done; and it seems to me that there is nothing there to deserve the humiliating reproach that Y.L. saw fit to make me, which however I accept with joy for my sins.

As for the sorrow Mr Jarrige caused me, these are things of which I speak as little as possible; but since it is necessary, I will say to you that this dear confrere has done me a great wrong, not by withdrawing, (for he had every right and it was quite natural to do so, especially if he had returned to Pondicherry), but by assuring me just a few days earlier that he would stay on for some time. It was on this assurance that our arrangements were made at Pondicherry. Accordingly he should have retracted his word before my departure from Pondicherry, and other arrangements would have been made. I will not speak of the manner in which he left, that only affects the proprieties. But I do not hold it against him; it seems to me however that he should repair the harm he has caused us by insisting with Y.L. on Mr Chevalier's departure.

As for conscience, you know that its voice makes itself heard differently to the different persons who consult it on a practical case. Thus mine certainly does not tell me that I cannot ask Y.L. and that Y.L. cannot grant me what I ask. On the contrary, it tells me that Y.L. would be doing a very great act of charity and brotherhood, an act that, if done with a good heart and with joy, would lead to the disappearance of the sad diffidence that unfortunate antecedents have established and which force me to remain within certain limits with those whom I would like to be able to call my confreres, or rather my brothers in the full sense of the word. It is useless to tell you that the condition of giving you Mr Métral in his place would be equivalent to a formal refusal.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 4 March 1847)

0226_New translation

Sent_0226 - à M. Tesson - le 15 mars 1847 -/2

Sent 0226 - to Mr Tesson - 15 March 1847 -2/2

Sent_0226 - à M. Tesson - le 15 mars 1847 -/2

Letter 0226 Original, AMEP, vol. 1011, n° 13

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 61

(to Mr Jean Tesson)

(Director in the Seminary of Paris)

Thanks for your letter. We are in great trouble. Problem of Mr Laugier. For certain urgent things, we have had to borrow. Refusal of Mgr Bonnand and of Mgr Charbonnaux to give or lend me anyone. Ten times each day I resolve to suffer in silence. What Mgr Bonnand thinks of the latest edition of the regulations of the MEP. My sufferings are great, but the Lord makes his grace proportionate to our needs. How the Jesuits help a newly created mission. Problem of correspondence.

Index: moral suffering, religious collaboration, grace of the calling, newspapers, correspondence

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847

My dear Mr Tesson,

I have just received your letter of 24 January. You tell me that Mgr Verrolles expected to receive a letter announcing my consecration! But I wrote to him in October, as well as to you and to the directors of the Seminary. Do you think the packet containing these letters could have gone astray? The same packet contained another letter for the members of the Council of Propagation of the Faith, and another one for Mgr Luquet and for Propaganda. Would you kindly let me know immediately if that packet got lost, so that I can make up as far as possible for this loss which I would regret very much?

Last week I received the miniature chapel that you were good enough to send me through the missionaries who recently arrived in Pondicherry. Thank you very much. It is far too fine for our churches of earth and straw. If, nevertheless, we are fortunate enough to build a decent church at Coimbatore soon, it will not be too much there, for Coimbatore is a real town; it is very important for you to find some way to be there soon.

I have written to Mr Dubois wishing him a Happy New Year, and I have sent him my pastoral letter for Easter. So I do not think it is necessary to write to him again. If he wishes to do something charitable for Coimbatore he will deserve our warmest gratitude.

I cannot tell you what straits we are in at this moment. I still have not received a letter telling me to what extent you have understood my position and have had the possibility of responding to it. I wrote to you in January and, in February, I wrote to the council of directors to inform them of the purchase of a house at Coimbatore and of our moral and physical difficulties. I will not repeat all of that. I will merely say that things are not going any better.

I have little hope of the withdrawal of the unfortunate Mr Laugier; of course, after such an error, it will be very difficult for him to stay on in our mission. For the last two months, I have been reduced to taking classes for the children of our seminary, which, together with the work of Lent, fatigues me very much. The debt which we have incurred on the purchase of the house in Coimbatore causes me some worry and, above all, it forces us to cut out any other expenditure. Already we had incurred some debt both for a small sacristy and for some furniture, for we had neither chairs, nor tables, nor cupboards. Not even a small safe place for keeping the money received from Pondicherry.

I cannot tell you the moral grief I feel regarding the Bishops of Iasus and Druzipara. It is impossible to express. I fear that the former will be even more irritated against me as a result of the request made to him by Mr Chevalier to come and join me. This dear confrere is one of those who are most concerned at my fate, of whom there are several. However I will not accept him except with the Bishop of Iasus' explicit permission, which I do not think he will obtain. I confess that, in the grief of these hurts, it may happen that I allow some rather imprudent or not very charitable words to escape me. I reproach myself for it before God; for the worst of all, as you say so rightly, would be to have disunity between us. Ten times a day I resolve to suffer in silence, but from time to time I fail in my resolution. Ask the Lord to give me the necessary strength.

For the rest, I feel convinced that the two venerable prelates who give me such pain have no intention of causing me pain, but that they are carried away by some mayakam () that the Lord has permitted for our sins. I feel quite sure that the Bishop of Druzipara who possesses about thirty priests and 7 or 8 ecclesiastics really believes he cannot spare a single one of them, when he could help me out effectively by sending even one of those in minor orders.

To give you proof of this mayakam (and it seems useful to tell you so that you can judge the validity of his complaints to which we are all exposed) the following is what he wrote to me regarding the items which you had printed at the beginning of the regulations: "They have also had the general regulations of the Congregation printed (it is an in-12), and have had the bright idea of printing at the same time the letters patent that have been put right at the beginning, and with all the preambles of discussions and of disagreements occurring prior to the letters patent and supposed to have been ended by royal edict. So that, on opening these regulations, you see that the bases are resting on a background of contestation etc. Truly, this is an appetising morsel!! I only know that if they had been presented to me in Paris, it would have made me vomit and would have given me the strength to go back to my village. [...] May the good God keep us under his holy protection". (letter of 25 November 1846).

As you can see, I was not wrong in telling you that H.L. complained about what was printed together with the regulations. As for Mgr Luquet's booklet, it goes without saying that H.L. had to complain about it, and here, it seems to me, with some reason. If the Bishop of Druzipara has not complained to you, do not let him know that I have transcribed these words. It was right that you should know them in order to realise that it is with the greatest reserve that such complaints should be received, and that is all.

I repeat yet again, I cannot tell you to what point I am suffering, but the Lord also fits his grace to the need; never perhaps has he given me more courage, or more attachment to our beloved congregation that I hope to serve unreservedly throughout my life. I still feel grief on hearing certain confreres very often repeat that our congregation is nothing, especially compared to the Jesuits, that the latter would never leave a newborn mission abandoned for close on a year, that starting from the first years they were in Madurai, they obtained one hundred thousand rupees to build a cathedral at Trichinopoly and two other fine churches, etc, etc.

A Dieu, my paper is finished, pray for us and come to our aid.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

bishop of Pruse

P.S. When you are good enough to send me something other than letters and newspapers, kindly use some other means than the steamer. Newspapers and letters are not too expensive and the Bombay or Madras route is more or less the same price, but an ordinary brochure, like the synod for example, costs close on four rupees in carriage, that is 9 to 10 francs. Now for us 10 francs are today a great sum! I need many things, but I dare not request anything before knowing what I can rely on.

(Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847)

0227_New translation

Sent_0227 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0227 - to Mgr Bonnand - 15 March 1847 -1/1

Sent_0227 - à Mgr Bonnand - le 15 mars 1847 -/1

Letter 0227 Original, AMEP, vol. 1000 J, pp 55-58

Brésillac summary, AMA 2F6, p 61

(to Mgr Clément Bonnand, Bishop of Druzipara)

(Apostolic Vicar of Pondicherry)

The letters he has just received. Some political and economic news from Europe.

Index: news, correspondence, Europe (news)

__________

Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847

My Lord,

I have had the honour of receiving your letter of 3 March with the items it contained, for which I thank you. The steamer brought me a letter from Mr Tesson in which I learn bad news regarding the work of Propagation of the Faith, plus a copy of the regulations. The newspapers (... ?...) that Mgr Blanchet is definitively Bishop of Oregon with two suffragans, one of whom is already consecrated.

In his latest consistory, Pius IX sent the pallium to Mgr (... ?...) of Oregon (... ?...).

A letter from Mgr Luquet which does not tell me much, except that the Holy Father is full of regards for him.

Hardship is at its height (... ?...) (... ?...) In France, the high cost of (... ?...) is hindering the machinery of State; immense imports and other causes put (...?...) in the bank, and serious disorders have taken place in several departments. Spain is restless. England is sulking at France, and would perhaps come to the point of breaking off relations if it too did not have so many difficult situations to deal with. Meanwhile, she favours the plans of the Count of (...?...) who is beginning to make some...

(The rest of this letter, as from the last lines of page 56 to the end, is illegible and unusable).

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 15 March 1847)

0228_New translation

Sent_0228 - à M. Tissot - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0228 - to Mr Tissot - 18 March 1847 -1/1

Sent_0228 - à M. Tissot - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Letter

Letter 0228 Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 61-62

(to Father Jean-Marie Tissot)

(Priest of the Missionaries of Annecy)

Thank you for your letter. I hope that collaboration between our two Societies will be excellent for the formation and emancipation of the Churches of Asia. You should aim at having your superior made bishop. I am undergoing great trials. I must practice prudence.

Index: thoughts on the missions, prudence, trials, religious collaboration

__________

Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847

It is some time now, my dear Mr Tissot, since I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of 15 February. At the time I already knew that Mr Gailhot had been replaced by one of the new Fathers who had left Italy and who should have arrived by now. Perhaps that is what you meant by the trial that the Lord reserved for your newborn Congregation. But I who know the purity of your intentions, feel persuaded that, in the form of a trial or otherwise, the Lord will make this event turn to his glory and to the good of your Society, perhaps destined one day to produce great good in this country. It only remains for me to repeat to you what I wrote to you in another circumstance: Nolite timere pusillus grex! ()

Although belonging to two different Societies, I hope that we will consider ourselves in this unfortunate country as brothers and confreres in the big family of Christ and in the sublime work of the formation and emancipation of the Churches, two words which in the work of the missions in Asia for 300 years would seem not to have been understood. Thus I hope that you will continue to write to me from time to time, and to give me details on your position, your fears, your hopes, etc., etc. Your new superior is he Pro-Vicar? is he a Bishop? or will he become one soon? This is what I ardently desire, and what you should aim at seeing achieved soon if it has not already occurred.

As for me, I have had plenty of trials too, and I hope that they are not quite over, for it is usually among such that the Lord sees his work develop, like a lily in the midst of thorns. These only force me to use, much more than I would wish, the virtue of prudence that the great Saint Francis de Sales loved so much, but that nonetheless we are quite obliged to combine with that of simplicity according to the word of Our Lord and very good Master.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847)

0229_New translation

Sent_0229 - à M. Chevalier - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0229 - to Mr Chevalier - 18 March 1847 -1/1

Sent_0229 - à M. Chevalier - le 18 mars 1847 -/1

Letter 0229 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 62-63

(to Mr Joseph Chevalier)

(Apostolic missionary)

Do not attempt to snatch Mgr Charbonnaux's consent from him by force. Ordinarily he ends up by understanding good reasons; be patient.

Index: patience, religious collaboration, native clergy

__________

Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847

Before your letter of 12 March, my dear Mr Chevalier, I had received a letter from the Bishop of Iasus which grieved me, grief that I have tried to place, like the others, at the feet of Jesus Christ crucified. I am not at all of the opinion that you can snatch someone's consent by force and as it were by moral violence. Those are not the ways of the Lord. We know that we have followed them up to now, so let us never depart from them. If the Lord continues to inspire in you the desire to come and work here for the cause of the native clergy such as you and we understand it, persevere gently, but always gently, praying to God, as you remarked very aptly yourself, "to direct men's wills for his greatest glory, and events for the salvation of our souls".

It is necessary that, when you do come, the Bishop of Iasus makes the sacrifice of your person benevolently and even with pleasure, and not through the channels of Paris and Rome. By this pleasure I mean, not that of seeing you leave - that is impossible - but that of contributing to your vocation and to the greatest glory of God. Two things that we must not despair of making him understand, for H.L. usually ends up by understanding good reasons; only with him it takes time for the fire of his good heart to get the better first of the ice of cold reason. So it is a shock at first to see flames coming out of this heart (whose only fault is to be too good) making one initially draw back in fright, but bit by bit things calm down and when he sees the truth he submits to it no matter how painful it might be for him.

I go on to speak to him of the success of Mgr Blanchet, now Archbishop of Oregon.

When will we stop, in our old missions of Asia, committing fault after fault, becoming irritated when we should be admitting that we are far from being perfect? etc., etc.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 18 March 1847)

0230_New translation

Sent_0230 - à M. Barot - le 23 mars 1847 -/1

Sent 0230 - to Mr Barot - 23 March 1847 -1/1

Sent_0230 - à M. Barot - le 23 mars 1847 -/1

Letter 0230 partial copy + Brésillac summary

AMA 2F6, pp 63-64

(to Mr Jean-Baptiste Barot)

(Apostolic missionary)

Does one have to hit Christians to get them to go to church? People's ignorance? The Lord will not require too much of them. Hatred between persons? Let people work it out between themselves.

Index: corporal punishments, instruction (of the Christians)

__________

Carumattampatty, 23 March 1847

I thank him for certain items he has sent me to read. On the way in which to behave with the Christians, with special reference to hitting them, I answer:

I really do not know what to say regarding your method of making people go to Church. In itself, it is somewhat difficult to approve; in particular cases, when a missionary believes that no other resource is left to him, and after considering things before God, he believes in all conscience that in acting thus he is not following the instinct of his nature, and he does not dread for the future any evils worse than the remedy, I too might not blame him. Thus, I do not blame you.

As regards ignorance, hatreds and Gentile practices, without doubt these are deplorable things, but you should not make of them monsters bigger than they are. Let us try to lose no opportunity of instructing the people. Let us work at introducing catechisms, etc., etc. and let us believe that the Lord will not require of these poor Christians, so little advanced in spiritual matters, what he would require from other men. Hatreds are ordinarily more superficial than real. Let us try to let them settle things among themselves, without taking a direct hand in these matters and not confusing a whole village with two or three muddle-headed individuals. Let us leave these two or three confused ones to settle their differences, but let us confess the others.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty, 23 March 1847)

0231_New translation

Sent_0231 - à Mgr Luquet - le 26 mars 1847 -/5

Sent 0231 - to Mgr Luquet - 26 March 1847 -6/6

Sent_0231 - à Mgr Luquet - le 26 mars 1847 -/5

Letter 0231 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 462ss

Brésillac copy, AMA 2F6, pp 64-73

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(Bishop of Hésébon)

Thank you for your letters, even if they are distressingly laconic. In India we need veritable Episcopal sees, and not delegated jurisdictions. The jurisdictions must not be too large. If need be, I could communicate my thoughts to the S.C. The Jesuits should understand that perfection does not mean being right in everything. Dire pecuniary straits. I still hope that you will be the man of providence that Rome should send out to India. Take care that the Vicar Apostolic of Madras doesn't take up too much room. There should be a meeting of all bishops in India. I am still convinced that the work of the native clergy is possible here. A few words on his four missionaries. The bungalow of Coimbatore. I would like to write a book on the missions.

Index: native clergy, ecclesiastic jurisdiction, Jesuits, financial straits, my thought on the missions, missionaries (my), bungalow

__________

Carumattampatty, 26 March 1847

My very dear friend,

Since writing to you on 6 January, I have had the pleasure of receiving your two letters of 19 November and of 22 December, a pleasure all the keener since there was an interval of a full four months in your correspondence. I hope that you will not repeat such mortification too often. Despite the fact that your letters are distressingly laconic, they always do me a world of good and give me a consolation that I need in the midst of the trials to which the Lord subjects us, and also help me bear the pain of not being able to work more efficiently for the good of the Church, on seeing this good, of which at least a part seems possible, bogged down by extraneous problems very difficult to destroy, if the Lord himself does not lend us a hand in a supernatural way.

While admitting in your letter of November that you have not answered all my questions, you do not make up for your fault. I will try not to do the same with regard to you and accordingly I will follow you step by step.

I still have not spoken to you at all of the admirable work of Mgr Blanchet because I was waiting until I had read his report which I only received in the last few days. I have read this document with all the more pleasure as I seemed to recognise your touch in it. You will undoubtedly have had something to do with it, and I congratulate you for having found the means of doing good for another portion of the Church which our faults forced you to abandon for the old and unfortunate Christians of India.

As for the principle of the usefulness, of the necessity even, of genuine Episcopal sees in any part of the universe, it seems to me as incontestable and as easy to demonstrate as that of the need for a native clergy. This is what I wrote on 1 January to Mr Albrand:

"First of all I will say that I agree with you on almost all the points, except for two however, based on this principle which appears unquestionable, namely, that permanent institutions which depart from the natural constitution of the Church are always dangerous, that they sometimes bear bitter fruits and that they always oppose the development of the faith, often without the hidden cause being discovered.

"Now, it seems to me: 1) that it is against the natural constitution of the Church to have such large ecclesiastical jurisdictions which the bishop can only visit once or twice in his life. So I would certainly rejoice to see the jurisdictions divided as soon as there is the shadow of a possibility; and 2) that it is against the natural constitution of the Church for the ordinary jurisdiction to be exercised for a long time by priests and bishops vested only with a delegated jurisdiction. Accordingly I do not understand the perpetuity of the Vicars Apostolic, and I must say that, if the transformation of Vicars Apostolic into proper ordinaries of the places went against the principles of our Society, I would regard it as a great misfortune and as the weak side of our beloved congregation that I love above everything after the Church. But I do not think that this is the case.

"Because of the novelty of the thing, it will undoubtedly be necessary to take precautions to establish some rules and to develop some rudiments of regulations; but I do not think that our natural rules have the misfortune of not being in harmony with the natural rules of the Church. Thus, I can only yearn for the moment when it will be possible to establish bishops and parish priests where for such a long time there have only been Vicars Apostolic and itinerant missionaries."

In order for this measure to be applied in India, however, there are many precautions that would need to be taken due to the unfortunate and complicated state of this poor country. The execution is very desirable and necessary, but we should not delude ourselves, it is also difficult and a mistake on this point may be followed by the direst consequences. I pray the Lord to enlighten those dealing with it and, if God did me the grace of seeing this grave and fundamental question a little more clearly, I would consider myself obliged in conscience to inform the S.C. of my thoughts and, moreover, I could count on my words being received with benevolence by it.

As you know, the sentiments of the Bishop of Heliopolis regarding the Reverend Fathers of the Company of Jesus are also mine. It seems to me even that if these good Fathers could read into my heart, they would not see in these sentiments anything that is hostile to them. They would understand that, by desiring the good of the Church above all, we also want their good. They would see that in desiring for them a few virtues more, virtues which would make them capable of doing good without anyone having to dread them, we do not want their ruin. I often pray the Lord to give to this very respectable body the spirit of humility which ordinarily inspires its individual members.

They would understand that there is no perfection in wanting to be right in everything, everywhere and always; and not seeking further to dominate those that they would be happy to serve for Jesus Christ, they would no longer be a cause of fear for those who, not having enough power to make them bend in certain circumstances where that would be necessary, keep them at a distance or go away from them in order to avoid unfortunate conflicts. With a little more humility as a body, it seems to me they would do all the good they now do and much more. Nevertheless, we should not make mountains out of molehills.

If my consecration had taken place at Trichinopoly, at the same time as that of Father Canoz, there would have been nothing to fear, and I would have saved big expenses. Now if you only knew what dire straits I am in and what a precious help five hundred rupees would be for me at this moment, I believe that you would regret that I was unable to save them. Anyway, this situation only developed because Father Canoz's bulls had not arrived. And, in this regard, where are we exactly in this business? I no longer hear it mentioned. Will this immense Christian community be still left for a long time without a bishop, without a seminary, without the sacraments of ordination and confirmation, and with all the disorders necessarily caused by such an anomaly?

I have received a silver crozier without any explanation. I think this must be the one that Y.L. kindly offered me. I cannot tell you what pleasure this attention on your part gave me; for which please receive my very sincere thanks. But you remarked on the same occasion: "India will see me no more". These words are a source of great sadness to me. I think I said to you some time ago and I am now more convinced than ever that, in the present state of things in India, Rome, despite the steamer, is too far away, much too far away. If God wishes to save this unfortunate country, it is necessary for Rome soon to have an intelligent man imbued with the apostolic spirit in whom she has full confidence, and for this man to have full confidence in Rome; in the sense that Rome may say to herself: this man will only do things that I approve, and that for his part this man has the assurance that Rome will uphold him, that she will judge his acts in themselves quite apart from what anyone else might say, etc.

I do not expect him to be infallible, and even less that he should believe himself such, but it would be necessary for him to be assured of having Rome alone as judge and consolation, even in any involuntary mistakes that he might make. Finally it would be necessary for this man to be vested with all possible authority. Now I will not hide from you that I had hoped that you would be such a man, and that the Lord had only led you to Rome in order for them to be in a position to appreciate fully your devotion to the Catholic cause. I don't know why and I do not despair yet, but it would be essential for you to have spent some time in India before this can come about. That is why your assurance of not returning saddened me. Everything is in God's hands and I do not cease to address to him the following words which came from my heart as soon as I became aware of the needs and evils of India, these same words which earned me your remarkable letter from Gondelour: Mitte quem missurus es! ()

I certainly did not give you the details regarding Madras in order for you to show my letter to the S.C.; but only so that you could use this knowledge, if need be, in order to avoid, if possible, a fresh misfortune in India. I dread such a misfortune very much. Mr Chevalier wrote to me that you think that the Irish priests should be exclusively entrusted with the troops. I have nothing to say against this measure in itself; only, if we are not extremely prudent in this matter, it may lead to a great deal of harm. If, for example, it is the Vicar Apostolic of Madras who is vested with the jurisdiction of these regiments and the priests in charge of them, you will see the other bishops more and more despised by the government which already only recognises the Bishop of Madras as head of Catholicism in the whole residency. The two jurisdictions will clash and, with all the external honour and material power remaining with the Irish bishop, he will soon increase likewise in ecclesiastic power.

Fine reports and magnificent narrations in letters or in the newspapers will speak of the extension of Catholicism in India, when it will merely be a question of the Irish, or of a few topas; while the people, the real natives, will be more and more abandoned, despised and wretched. In a word, if we do not take the utmost care to avoid the English government becoming involved in the ecclesiastic affairs of India, it could happen that in the future we will have to deplore it more than the patronage of Portugal; for the Portuguese were even more Catholic than the English, even those non-Protestant.

Finally, the more we see heterogeneous things, and the more we complicate the affairs of religion in a country where one of the greatest misfortunes that exists is not finding there the simplicity of proper episcopal action, the more we will impede the development of Christianity. Oh for the holy and venerable ecclesiastic hierarchy, quite pure and simple according to the holy canons! That is what we need, especially if the principal archbishops were Indian.

As far as I can judge, the other remedies could prove to be disastrous illusions bringing with them a hidden evil. But above all we should not bother about the governments, principally in those places where they are so unstable and so unpopular as in the colonies. Where these governments are good, even humanly, they foster the Catholic religion both because they find it to their advantage, and because the force of events obliges them. If they are bad, they will have even more means of impeding the work of God if we are obliged to have recourse to their favours or even only to their protection.

The meeting of the bishops of India could not have any great effects unless it was presided over by the man of whom I spoke to you earlier. Now, who is the bishop at the present time in India who has the qualities required for that? I do not see a single one. So that there too nothing would be solid, and the particular good that we could hope for from it would be paralysed by the present state of the schism of Goa. I would desire such a meeting with all my heart, yet I still do not see it as either possible or liable to do good. It is necessary for Rome to prepare it from afar.

Before you had given me the idea, I had written a letter to the Holy Father that I asked you to pass on, open. I hope that you handed it over, and you will undoubtedly have noted the passages in which I allude to the need to regularise the Churches of India. This indicates how I am thinking and if my thoughts are blessed by the Holy Spirit I pray that the Spirit will nurture the seed that I have planted in this letter which is the only thing I feel able to do at this moment since I have no guarantee that Rome will listen favourably to my remarks nor do I have the necessary qualities to expect anything else.

I am not acquainted with the question of the Jesuits in Calcutta nor the question regarding Father St-Léger. For the rest, since I have been here, I live in very great isolation. As a man of the land, I no longer know what is happening around me.

I now come to the letter of 22 December. Since the Lord has given me the grace, though very little deserved, of being a bishop, pray him to grant me also that of bearing its dignity and of fulfilling its formidable obligations for his greatest glory. It is true that since then it seems to me I have never been animated by a greater desire than to see the Holy Church prosper, not only here, but in all parts of the world. Alas, because of my sins, these may be only unproductive wishes. May Our Lord deign one day to listen to them.

Since I have been here, I have already had plenty of troubles to bear regarding our beloved work. With only four priests, one of whom has behaved badly (for your ear alone), and another is beyond the bounds of reason, while a third is opposed to our work at least in practice; moreover he is all Jesuit; nothing is good, nothing is fine in his eyes except what those fathers do, etc. So that I am obliged to treat him diplomatically because he replaces with many other qualities what he lacks a little on the side of the spirit of our Society. Nevertheless, I do not think that he will persevere and would be very astonished if he did not go back to France at a certain point (again for your ears alone). Finally the fourth is an excellent missionary, although he does not fully understand, I believe, the question of the native clergy. I have been obliged to hold the children's classes for the last two months and, now that I can no longer do so, I don't know what will happen.

In the midst of all this, I remain convinced : 1) that there are vocations here as everywhere, and many even; 2) that it is possible to make clerics here as everywhere who truly have the spirit of their calling, but, in order to do so, we should not require perfection from the outset and should get rid of the prejudices of Europe, something few missionaries are ready to do; and 3) that for this work, at least for some time, considerable expenses are required. I do not know how I will get over these difficulties in future.

Various confreres and two or three native clerics of Pondicherry, who could have helped me, effectively offered themselves to me with a generosity that I pray the Lord to find agreeable; but the Bishop of Iasus and the Bishop of Druzipara absolutely refused to allow me to have them. Besides, I have many fears because of the extreme difficulty in which I find myself regarding money, the complete lack of resources on the part of the Christians, all poor and most in extreme poverty for the last two years, and the various needs of the Christian communities. And yet I believe that I could do something if I was really backed up by a few confreres and by the S.C. I am writing today to the S.C. to ask for its approval of a plan which I consider to be very advantageous. You would do me a service if you would kindly hand it over after having read it, and if you could obtain an answer to it promptly.

I do not think that I can yet take up the questions that you would like me to; likewise it is impossible for me to deal at present with the statistics of which you speak to me. I hope that will come later if the Lord gives me the courage and if he has pity on my weakness overwhelmed at times under the weight of sadness.

I have not received the work you speak of; I did see in l'Univers some extracts or analysis of the translation that you made of a work on Russia. Is it that or something else? I pray the Lord to make your leisure fruitful by the publication of works useful to the Church in whatever part of the world it may be.

I do not know what will become of Mr Gailhot. I have not heard any mention of him for a long time. I believe that, for the general good of Religion, we should not be angry at his lot. I think I have answered all your questions.

Since my last letter, we have bought a house and ground in Coimbatore. This was absolutely necessary, but it puts us terribly in debt. It was important for us to have a place to protect us from the whims of the Christians, who, in a moment of turmoil stirred up by the schismatics whom they have not completely disavowed, would have been able to put us out in the street. Then there are still other reasons. It is there that I propose to establish my base as soon as that is possible.

Coimbatore is a big Indian town made significant by the presence of many English. There is a quite numerous Christian community, but totally lost as regards morals because of the shortage of priests and not having a church. It has come to the point that various marriages are celebrated according to the pagan ceremonies, without even reporting to the priest. A neighbouring and fairly good Christian community that could be compared to Ariancoupam (minus the church) in respect of Pondicherry, would make it possible almost immediately to hold services if we had a church. For a long time Mass will very probably have to be said in our house; because I doubt that people understand the extent of our needs or that I will be granted the necessary aid to set it up reasonably soon.

Besides, since Coimbatore must necessarily become the main town of the Vicariate, it would be expedient to build a fine church there. Finally, the English make everything enormously expensive. The directors of Paris seem well disposed, but I still see nothing coming and God knows the need I have of a few priests and of some money.

I will finish this long letter by telling you that I have a growing desire to write a book on the missions. I do not know if it is the Spirit of God which impels me to do this or if this wish is the fruit of my own mind. In it I would like to deal with all the fundamental questions related to this great work, without procrastinating with the principles, without fearing to fight error wherever it may be, but also without ever departing from a great gentleness; and if the Holy Spirit deigned to assist me, I would like this to be in a simple and pious style that made all those who read it love God at the same time as the missions. For that I would need advice and a few books; whereas here I am without anything. Could you not help me?

At times I think of giving it the form of letters, but in order for them to be really useful, it seems to me that they should be addressed to some great personality who would be supposed to press and to oblige me to tell him everything without any reserve. I cannot see how this plan could be carried out. While other times, I have the idea of opening up a prolonged correspondence with you on this subject; of course this would only be in the hypothesis that you were quite willing, but I think that people would mistrust you and me, in order for the good not to have to suffer thereby. Finally, the form of discussions with serious people still attracts me. In this form, the work would be more difficult. It would have to be more carefully constructed than the supposedly improvised letters for which less erudition and exactitude would be required. Kindly let me have your opinion on all of these points, and if you think that the Holy Spirit is behind this thought, please help me in carrying it out. A Dieu. Pray for me.

I am sending you this letter via Alexandria; kindly acknowledge receipt of it as soon as possible, so as to ascertain the expediency of using this route, which would be speedier than that of the Seminary of the Foreign Missions.

Completely yours in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac,

Bishop of Pruse

(Carumattampatty, near Coimbatore, 26 March 1847)

0232_New translation

Sent_0232 - à Mgr Luquet - le 5 avril 1847/1

Sent 0232 - to Mgr Luquet - 5 April 18471/1

Sent_0232 - à Mgr Luquet - le 5 avril 1847/1

Sent 0232 Original, Luquet Fund (Langres) 256, pp 472ss

(to Mgr Jean Luquet)

(bishop of Hésébon)

Consolations on the occasion of the feast of Easter. We are very poor. I would like to have a relic of the true cross.

Index: financial difficulties, consolations, relic

__________

(Carumattampatty), 5 April 1847

May the great mysteries that we have just celebrated, my very dear friend, fill your soul with joy and your heart with consolation.

The Lord has deigned to grant me some consolations in the course of Holy Week by the way in which people have thronged to the holy ceremonies. Although these Christians live at one, two or three leagues' distance from the church, one could say that the church was filled from Easter Thursday until the evening of Easter Sunday. It was not big enough to hold them all on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. However we are so poor that we were not able to have even once a deacon and sub-deacon; the vestments of Easter Day were the same as those of Ash Wednesday, turned inside out, etc., etc. I made my first appearance in the Malabar pulpit on Easter Day when I had the consolation of preaching twice to the people in their own language.

I have no relics. I would be very obliged if you could procure some fully authenticated ones for me. If you could get me a fragment of the true cross very well authenticated, and in a reliquary in the shape of a cross and clearly visible, you would do me a great favour. Above all if you arrange things in such a way that I can simply say to the people that it is the Pope who has sent it to me, and if I had the means of allowing an indulgence to be granted on exhibiting it solemnly.

A Dieu: Write to me as soon as you have received these letters.

(Mgr de Brésillac)

(Carumattampatty ?, 5 April 1847)

0901_New translation

Sent_0901 - au P. Planque - le 11 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0901 - to Father Planque - 11 March 1859 /1

Sent_0901 - au P. Planque - le 11 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0901 Original, AMA 2F1, p 440

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

We are weighing anchor at this moment.

Index: friendship, Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

On board the Danaé, 11 March 1859

I have just received your letter and we are weighing anchor. The weather is bad so I do not know if I can send off these lines with the pilot. If they reach you, kind regards to everybody.

Caution the good Fr Courdioux, and encourage him at the same time, for he has the makings an excellent missionary.

All yours in Jesus and Mary.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(On board the Danaé, 11 March 1859)

0902_New translation

Sent_0902 - au P. Planque - le 15 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0902 - to Father Planque - 15 March 1859 /2

Sent_0902 - au P. Planque - le 15 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0902 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 445-446

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

The great storm which brought them to the Bay of Torbay in England. The Danaé will have to go and be refitted at Brest or Cherbourg: two weeks' delay.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), storm

__________

Bay of Torbay, 15 March 1859

Whatever the weather in Lyons, dear Fr Planque, I am sure you would never have thought that the weather we have had since putting out to sea would drive us to an anchorage in Torbay, near Dartmouth, after having brought us to within two inches of our death. Give thanks to the blessed Virgin whose protection has saved us and to our blessed angels, above all to that of Sierra Leone, who took care that we should arrive in this wretched country despite winds and storms.

Thus it was that yesterday the weather took on a much more serious character than the two previous days. Until then, we had done nothing but tack tediously, the greatest disadvantage being that this did not cause us to noticeably advance; but yesterday the weather was frightful; by nightfall all of the ship's boats had been smashed or blown away, and unfortunately one man was swept into the sea and abandoned to his unfortunate destiny, for the sea was raging so furiously that it was impossible to attempt any form of rescue.

Fr Riocreux, who was on the bridge, was immediately informed of the event by the officer of the watch, and he ventured a blessing; that is all that he could and should have done.

A few hours later, we were asking ourselves if we had a quarter of an hour left to live. A fearsome noise was heard, and with torrents of water arriving from all directions, we were asking ourselves: are we sinking? The whole crew uttered a shriek of horror and it even seemed as if there was a moment of hesitation and general confusion which increased the danger. The fact is a gigantic wave had just crashed on to the bridge, knocking down the rails and smashing in three port-holes. Since the mass of water covering the frigate prevented it from righting itself immediately, a second wave would have dashed us to the bottom of the sea.

Instantly, men rushed to the pumps, blocked the port-holes with hammocks, and in less time that it takes to write about it, the great danger had passed. I say the great danger, for the damage was considerable, the sea still dreadful and the wind furious. From that moment onward we had to give up all other ideas so as to seek an anchorage in order to wait until the weather will permit us to reach Cherbourg or Brest where the poor Danaé will go to be refitted. As you see, we are well on our way! Most likely, we will have to spend two weeks in one of those ports before putting out to sea again. What will become of us during that time? I will write to you from Brest or Cherbourg.

You can write to me at this last town, on board the Danaé. If we go anywhere else, it is very probable that the post will send on the letter, and I will write to you again as soon as we are back in France. A Dieu. A prayer of thanksgiving.

All yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Roads off Torbay, 15 March 1859)

0903_New translation

Sent_0903 - à son frère Henri - le 15 mars 1859 -/2

Sent 0903 - to his brother Henri - 15 march 1859 /2

Sent_0903 - à son frère Henri - le 15 mars 1859 -/2

Sent 0903 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 236-237

(to his brother Henri)

The great storm that has driven them as far as the Bay of Torbay in England. The Danaé will have to go to be refitted in Brest or Cherbourg: two weeks' delay.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), storm

__________

Bay of Torbay, 15 March 1859

Very dear Henri,

You will be surprised to receive my news so soon and, above all, from the coast of England, and the Bay of Torbay, near Dartmouth, from where I am writing these lines. We have just weighed anchor to shelter from the terrible weather which has troubled us ever since our departure from Brest and which yesterday brought us to within two inches of losing our lives. Never before have I seen death so close at hand. The agonies of such imminent danger were not long, but for an instant we asked ourselves: are we sinking? The whole night was frightful.

Throughout the course of the day, the weather was so bad that all of our life-boats were smashed and blown away, and unfortunately one man was blown overboard by the violence of the wind, and we were not able to lift a hand to rescue him. We did not really know how the day would end when, all of a sudden, a dreadful noise was heard, and a great wall of water advanced against us on all sides. The whole crew uttered a shriek of horror; orders were shouted to man the pumps. A great groan went up and then a dull thud: we are lost!

In fact a surge of the sea had hurled an immense wave against the ship which broke down the rails and smashed in three port-holes; the forward part of the frigate, overloaded by this enormous weight could not right itself and was letting in the sea through the openings of the destroyed port-holes. If a second surge of the sea had occurred, with a second great wave, we were all irretrievably lost.

Fortunately in less time than it takes to write about it, men were blocking the openings, and the pumps bailing out the armaments; a quarter of an hour later, all that we had to fear was the continuation of the storm, against which, by this time, it was impossible to struggle. In the end it was necessary to let the ship simply run according to the direction of the wind and find the nearest shelter.

Now, all is not finished. As soon as the weather permits, we will have to go to Cherbourg to repair the damage, and we will set sail God knows when. So this is a voyage whose beginning is sown with very great contradictions. Write to me at Cherbourg on board the Danaé. If we remain for some time, I will write to you again.

Meanwhile, thank God with us for having preserved us from the evil of a storm so terrible that many sailors never see the like of it in their whole lives. A Dieu. My compliments and friendly regards, as usual, to Joséphine and your children.

I am writing a few words to my father. Please share the contents of this letter with the Ranchins, relatives and friends.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Roads near Torbay, 15 March 1859)

0904_New translation

Sent_0904 - au P. Planque - le 18 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0904 - to Father Planque - 18 March 1859 /1

Sent_0904 - au P. Planque - le 18 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0904 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 447-448

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

We have escaped a great danger. We are at Cherbourg where the damage is being repaired. If you have any news from Fr Reymond, pass it on to me.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), storm

__________

Holy Trinity Parish, Cherbourg,

Diocese of Coutances,

18 March 1859

Very dear Fr Planque,

You should have received a letter I sent to you from Torbay on the English coast, on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, in quite fine weather, we set sail for Cherbourg, where we arrived that same evening. Yesterday morning, I went into town to the parish priest of Holy Trinity, from where I am writing these lines. A large number of workers are engaged in repairing the disasters of the Danaé and it is said that, perhaps, we will set sail again on Monday.

I hope that, between now and then, I will receive a letter from you in which you give me the news that you should have received from Fr Reymond. If you have not received the letter from Torbay, answer this one immediately, addressing your letter c/o the parish priest of Holy Trinity.

I do not know if it is an oversight, but I cannot find my new cassock, or the fringed belt which I will need; all my other clothes are singularly spoiled by our long stay in Brest and by the sea-water which soaked everything.

The further I go, the more frightened I am by what happened, for, at the critical moment, we did not dully realise the position in which we found ourselves. However, Fr Riocreux and Brother Gratien showed not a moment's weakness.

Help us to thank God once more for not allowing us to be drowned, and pray to him to preserve us from new dangers. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Cherbourg, 18 March 1859)

0905_New translation

Sent_0905 - au P. Planque - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0905 - to Father Planque - 22 March 1859 /1

Sent_0905 - au P. Planque - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0905 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 449-450

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

Perhaps we will be leaving tomorrow. The case of Brother Eugène at Freetown. Get people to pray for the success of our voyage. I am frightened by the cost of this mission in Sierra Leone. Speak of it to Propagation of the Faith.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), Sierra Leone (cost)

__________

Cherbourg, 22 March 1859

Very dear Fr Planque,

This morning I received your letter dated the 20th, and am writing these few words this evening because we are due to re-embark tomorrow at 8 in the morning. The Commander insists on this, hoping to be ready to leave in the course of the day, although I think that it is not likely.

I don't know how to express the sorrow that Fr Reymond's words to you about Brother Eugène have caused me. I regret even more the tardiness of my arrival, because, perhaps, I could have had some influence over his mind. Meanwhile, at the point where things stand now, I am afraid that all hope is lost. We must hope that if he sends him back to France, it will be by making him leave the congregation and sending him to his family. If he returns to Lyons, we should first of all consider whether the change of air might heal him; and we would then see if, as a brother, he might continue passably at the house.

After all, we should expect all sorts of trials, and those arising as regards personnel will not be the least among them. Let us hope in God and offer him all our sorrows. I hope that the Ursuline Sister, good Fr Burnichon, the Carmelites and other pious people have added their thanksgivings to yours; may they pray with you that no fresh storms hinder us in our voyage.

All told, this voyage will be very costly; we have had to do many things here, while repairing others, and, according to what Fr Reymond writes, the expenditures that this mission will incur are quite frightening. Speak of this with Propagation of the Faith as the occasion arises. It will be impossible for me to write a letter to the Council, which I had hoped that they would receive during the month of May.

A Dieu. A thousand kind regards to you all. Continuously pray to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Cherbourg, 22 March 1859)

0906_New translation

Sent_0906 - à son frère Henri - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0906 - to his brother Henri - 22 March 1859 /1

Sent_0906 - à son frère Henri - le 22 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0906 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 238-239

(to his brother Henri)

We set sail again tomorrow. I will receive news from you at Dakar. The parish priest of Holy Trinity in Cherbourg has made us welcome.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Cherbourg, 22 March 1859

Very dear Henri,

You should have received a letter from Torbay, on the coast of England, informing you of the terrible mishap that brought us to Cherbourg. It is quite a distance from here to Lasserre so you cannot have had time to answer me. Meanwhile, I have just been told that we are due to go on board again tomorrow at eight in the morning. Accordingly I don't have any great hope of receiving any news from you, unless we stay on the road one or two days longer. If that is the case I will expect it at Dakar or at Freetown.

I have been staying with the parish priest of Holy Trinity parish since the 16th, and have been made most welcome. We leave tomorrow once again, full of courage; doubtless many other trials await us but that is the lot of the missionary. Let us take care not to complain, and may these labours count on our behalf in Heaven.

My friendly regards to everyone and believe me to have always the same towards you.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Cherbourg, 22 March 1859)

0907_New translation

Sent_0907 - au P. Planque - le 31 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0907 - to Father Planque - 31 March 1859 /1

Sent_0907 - au P. Planque - le 31 mars 1859 -/1

Sent 0907 Original, AMA 2F1, p 451

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

We are calling in at Madeira to take on coal. Nothing to report

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage)

__________

Madeira, 31 March 1859

I hope that you will not think that a fresh catastrophe has occurred upon receiving this letter, my dear Fr Planque. I am addressing this note to you from Madeira, where we have put into port to take on coal, simply to give you a sign of life. Since leaving Cherbourg nothing has disturbed the monotony of our crossing which, however, would have been thwarted by contrary winds, if it were it not for steam.

Until this morning, all we have seen is sky and land; consequently do not expect anything new. As we are going to leave again in a few hours, I have not even gone ashore.

Fr Riocreux and brother are presently in the town that is in front of us and that I can see from where I am writing these lines commending ourselves once more to your prayers and those of the community. A Dieu.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Madeira, 31 March 1859)

0908_New translation

Sent_0908 - au P. Planque - le 15 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0908 - to Father Planque - 15 April 1859 /2

Sent_0908 - au P. Planque - le 15 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0908 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 452-453

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

We are at Dakar and obliged to stay here longer than we would like. Some remarks on the behaviour of the Holy Ghost Fathers with whom we are staying; the need to have women religious as soon as possible; the exorbitant prices in Sierra Leone; make these needs known to Propagation of the Faith. Moreover, we receive nothing from the French government, which helps the Fathers of Senegal.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), Sierra Leone (costliness), women religious

__________

Dakar, 15 April 1859

Here we are still at Dakar, my very dear Fr Planque, for everything seems to combine to prolong our voyage. You should have received a letter that I wrote you from Madeira, where we only stayed one evening to take on coal.

Since then, the voyage has continued without anything remarkable. However, since the wind was contrary, we had to go slowly or else consume an enormous amount of coal. The average speed that we made led to our arriving here two days too late for us to take advantage of the English steamer.

The commander of the Danaé had hoped, it is true, to set out in a few days' time for Sierra Leone. However, it seems that a complication in his affairs will likely detain him here, in the Bay of Gorée, for some time. Without doubt the next opportunity to head for Freetown will be the English steamer that we will take. If that is the case, we will have remained here a whole month, which, as you can imagine, is not amusing. A few days would be fine; we need the time to look and listen. But a month is too long.

Nevertheless the fathers treat us as good confreres. Even if there is always something indefinable in their manner, we cannot but praise them. According to the very uncertain judgement I am capable of passing at this time, they seem to be marked by a lack of tact and, on occasion, certain awkwardness, rather than a lack of goodwill. It even appears that this is the impression that they produce on others; this considerably impedes the good they are desirous of doing, as much as and even more than us.

Accordingly there is much here to be learned, both regarding what we should try to imitate, and what should be avoided. But a month is not needed for this.

The longer I remain here, the more the information I receive and I become alarmed regarding the enormous expenses that it will be necessary to undertake in Sierra Leone. I have seen Mr Protet, commander of the station, whom Mr Boss has come to replace, the chaplain of the Jeanne d'Arc, and several other officers. They all agree with what I already know about the exorbitant price of everything; and yet, we have to arrive there in an honourable way and begin certain external works.

It will be indispensable to set up boys' and girls' schools. We will need some Sisters for the latter. I have just written to the Superior General of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Castres asking her to give me a final answer as to whether she can send me any this year, and as regards to our project in Spain, to come to an agreement with you and Fr Papetart. The Sisters here are all eager for the project to be concluded which I hope will come about.

Impress all of this on Propagation of the Faith. If I had arrived earlier at Freetown, I would have written to the directors in the hope that they would receive my letter before the distribution for this year; but if I were to write it from here, my letter would not bear weight. However I will write a few words to Mr Ménis, and, besides, you must be our advocate. We really need to have about one hundred thousand francs allocated to us for I see that here everything is far from satisfactory. This is the case despite the fact that, quite apart from what they receive from Propagation of the Faith, as well as the relative affordability of food, they receive much funding from the French government.

Mr Laprade, the governor of Gorée, has assured me that, directly or indirectly, the congregation sometimes receives up to seventy thousand francs a year for their establishments on the African coast. This is something that I will omit to write to Propagation of the Faith for fear it might be wrongly interpreted, but it could be said by word of mouth to Mr Ménis in the course of conversation.

I hope that one of your letters will be waiting for me at Freetown where I am eager to arrive as soon as possible. It will be in the bad season. It is incredibly hot at the moment, and because the fathers' house is as badly built as possible for hot climes, we suffer from the heat more than is necessary. However, we are well. We must wait until we arrive in Freetown before telling you anymore.

Accordingly it only remains for me to pay my compliments to the usual people and to assure you once more of my affection.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Dakar, 15 April 1859)

0909_New translation

Sent_0909 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 17 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0909 - to Propagation of the Faith - 17 April 1859 /2

Sent_0909 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 17 avril 1859 -/2

Sent 0909 Original, Archives of Propagation of the Faith,

Lyons, Africa no. 2, no. 121 Sierra Leone,

copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mr Ménis, Secretary of the General Council

of the Work of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

He describes the difficult vicissitudes of his voyage. Then he speaks of the exorbitant outlay which, according to all accounts he has received, he will face in Freetown. Contrary to what happens at Dakar, the French government will not provide him with any financial aid.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), Sierra Leone (costliness)

__________

Dakar, 17 April 1859

Dear Sir,

Although I still have not arrived in my mission, allow me to address a few words to you while waiting to acquire a better understanding of the situation. Then I will write to the Council of Propagation of the Faith.

It seems that the demon is using every possible means to prevent our arrival at our dear and difficult mission. You may perhaps have heard of some of our mishaps: our long wait at Brest; the terrible high seas which cast us onto the coast of England, after almost sending us to eternity; our putting into Cherbourg. Yet, here we are, at this moment, in Dakar with Mgr Kobès and his missionaries, where we are obliged to stay much longer than we would wish. The State's frigate, the Danaé, was expected to take us as far as Sierra Leone. But then it happened that the Commander of the station was detained here, and we foresee having to wait a fortnight to take the English ferry.

I assure you, Sir, that I am alarmed at the thought of the expenditures which will be necessary in Freetown, if we are to hope for some success and to do honour to the Catholic religion: this in a place where Protestantism reigns supreme, and where everything is enormously expensive.

I dare not say that we will need one hundred thousand francs this year. I will write about it to the Council once I have seen with my own eyes what unfortunately I have no cause to doubt. This is according to all that I have heard from the many naval officers I have met and who know this country. It also comes from the missionaries here who, despite the considerable aid they receive from the French government for those parts of their mission that have anything to do with the French colonies, and the allocations that you give to them, have not ventured to undertake anything, before our arrival, in these areas.

I place my trust in God and in the work of Propagation of the Faith, and, in spite of heresy and hell, I really hope that we will accomplish something for the glory of our good master.

Kindly accept, Sir, the assurance of my complete devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Dakar, 17 April 1859)

0910_New translation

Sent_0910 - à Mgrs Bessieux et Kobès - le 10 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0910 - to Mgrs Bessieux and Kobès - 10 May 1859 /2

Sent_0910 - à Mgrs Bessieux et Kobès - le 10 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0910 copy, AMA 2F18/1859(translation: following page)

(to Mgr J.M. Bessieux, Bishop of Callipolis)

(Apostolic Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, Bishop of Modon)

(Apostolic Pro-Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

To grant them authority to administer the sacraments throughout the territory of the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone, and to communicate it to the priests depending on them.

Index: ecclesiastical powers, canon law

__________

Gorée, 10 May 1859 (

)

Nos, Melchior Maria Joseph de Marion Brésillac, Dei et Sanctae Sedis Apostolicae gratia Episcopus Prusensis et Vicarius Apostolicus de Sierra Leone, universis praesentes litteras inspecturis salutem in Domino.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam et salutem animarum, Reverendissimo et Illustrissimo D.D. Joanni Remigi Bessieux, Episcopo Callipolitano et Vicario Apostolico utriusque Guineae et Senegambiae, potestatem facimus, pro toto Vicariatu nostro (tam) per seipsum quam per Reverendissimum et Illustrissimum D.D. Aloysium Kobès, Episcopum Coadjutorium suum, administrandi omnia sacramenta, praesertim paenitentia, et utendi omnibus et singulis facultatibus ac privilegiis, tam ordinariis quam extraordinariis, quibus nos ipse gaudemus in nostra propria jurisdictione, eumdemque potestatem communicandi sacerdotibus sibi subjectis prout in Domino judicaverit.

Datum Gorée, die decima Maii, anno Domini millesimo octingentesimo quinquagesimo nono.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Episcopus Prusensis

Vicarius Apostolicus de Sierra Leone

(Gorée, 10 May 1859)

TRANSLATION OF THE PRECEDING DOCUMENT

(to Mgr Bessieux and Mgr Kobès)

Gorée, 10 May 1859

We, Melchior Marie Joseph de Marion Brésillac, by the grace of God and the Apostolic Holy See, Bishop of Pruse and Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone, to all whom this letter is presented for their consideration, greetings in the Lord.

For the greater glory of God and for the salvation of souls, to the Very Reverend and Very Illustrious Lord Jean-Rémi Bessieux, Bishop of Callipolis and Apostolic Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia, we grant the authority, throughout our Vicariate, both by himself and by the Very Reverend and Very Illustrious Lord Aloyse Kobès, His Bishop Coadjutor, to administer all the sacraments, and in particular, penance, and to use each and every one of the faculties and privileges, both ordinary and extraordinary, which we ourselves enjoy in our own jurisdiction, and to communicate this same authority to the priests depending on him, according to his discretion in the Lord.

Issued at Gorée on the tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord eighteen fifty-nine.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Gorée, 10 May 1859)

0911_New translation

Sent_0911 - au P. Planque - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0911 - to Father Planque - 19 May 1859 /2

Sent_0911 - au P. Planque - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0911 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 454-455

(to Fr Augustin Planque)

Finally we have arrived, but the inconvenience of the house and the high cost of living cause me inner sorrow. There were many deaths last month. Overwork is the order of the day here. We will have to live prudently and wisely.

Index: Sierra Leone ( Brésillac voyage), sadness, Sierra Leone (costliness)

__________

Freetown, 19 May 1859

After many difficulties, here we are: we have arrived, dear Fr Planque, and here we are in Sierra Leone, where the demon, aided by Protestantism which contributes to make of this place a veritable picture of hell, reigns supreme.

In physical terms, the country does not seem too bad, but from the moral point of view, it is in an indescribable disorder. Right now the heat is overpowering. That, combined with the fatigue of the journey and the inconvenience of being on top of one another in a small house with little space, has got on my nerves. I am at the point of being incapable of doing anything; I can barely hold my pen to write you two words.

It is impossible for me to write to Propagation of the Faith. I have written only a few lines to Mr Ménis, and when I re-read these lines they do not make sense. Excuse me to him. However, I am well and all of our confreres also.

It is said that last month was extremely unhealthy, so maybe it was in order to protect us that Providence forced us to stay one month in Dakar, where we began to acclimatise ourselves. The fact is that the Europeans are dying off like flies. The Spanish Consul and Vice-Consul are dead. Mr Porchat, from the firm of Malfilâtre, is dead; today Mr Combat died; a Catholic lady is on her death-bed, etc. Soon we will have buried all of our Catholics. But, how they live on!

Overwork is the order of the day. Together with Fr Reymond, I am persuaded that by living prudently and wisely there will be no more deaths here than in other hot countries. For example, travelling will be very difficult. In order for the missionaries to have the bare necessities to survive without exposing themselves to perishing in an African hut, enormous expenses are necessary. In fact, I still have not got used to the idea of the cost of living here; it is unbelievable.

All of this has thrown me into a certain inner sadness which I will overcome through the grace of God, I hope, but which makes me incapable of writing to you at length and of speaking to you of business. That will be for next month.

A thousand kind regards to everyone in the house, and to those outside the house who take an interest in us. Brother Eugène is better; Brother Gratien is fairly well; Fr Bresson and Fr Riocreux are very well from all points of view. A Dieu. I do not know what I am writing.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 19 May 1859)

0912_New translation

Sent_0912 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0912 - to Propagation of the Faith - 19 May 1859 /2

Sent_0912 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 19 mai 1859 -/2

Sent 0912 copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mr Ménis, secretary of the General Council

of the Work of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons)

We have arrived; our lodging conditions, the oppressive heat, the place occupied by Protestantism, the cost of living here (it is frightening!), everything makes it impossible for me to gathering my ideas together; and we have only just arrived. Moreover, all the official representatives who were to have helped us are dead. I will write to you again next month. But be informed that the French government will not give us anything.

Index: Sierra Leone (dearness), difficulties, Protestants, Sierra Leone

__________

Freetown, 19 May 1859 ()

Dear Sirs,

After many difficulties, we have arrived at last in Sierra Leone. Is it the power that the demon has acquired here which has given him the power of turning to evil several things which seemed to favour the beginnings of this difficult mission? It is certain that the enemy of God and of men holds sway here; but si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?

I had promised to write to the Council of Propagation of the Faith as soon as I arrived in the hope that it would receive my letter before the distribution of alms for this year.

However I have not done it yet today:

1)because I have only just arrived and I am bent on saying only exact things ;

2)because until we find some other house to rent, which will be difficult and above all extremely costly, we will continue to be on top of one another in a tiny house in the midst of confusion and, in this condition, it is difficult to collect one's thoughts;

3)because the heat is oppressive and at the moment the air is charged with electricity which makes it impossible for me to put two ideas together.

However I am writing these few words to you, whose devotion to our difficult undertaking is well known, to tell you that I am terrified at the enormous expenses we will have to incur here, without any immediate hope of serious results. It is quite unbelievable.

Without counting transportation, which will be extremely difficult and expensive, and which has to be undertaken in order to set up centres of action in places other than Freetown, I think I am not exaggerating when I say that the living costs for a single missionary will be three thousand francs. That is what the French government gives to the priests of the Sacred Heart of Mary at Saint-Louis in Gorée and elsewhere where the cost of living is not nearly as high as here; furthermore, they give six thousand francs to the person with the title of Apostolic Prefect. I repeat, it is terrible.

But what is even sadder, is to see that Protestantism reigns supreme and that, quite apart from what has been done with the liberated Blacks here, it has won over to Protestantism what remained of Christianity on the coast since the time when the missions were unfortunately abandoned. Thus it is that the Protestants are already in several places where I might hope to send some of the confreres.

I will not speak of the difficulties we will have as regards the climate. On my arrival, all the Europeans, apart from my two missionaries, were in a stupor, to the point of advising the commander of the frigate not to allow the crew to go ashore.

The representative of the firm of Malfilâtre from Rouen has died, as has the General Consul and the vice-Consul of Spain, and others. The Spanish Consulate, which was to have protected us and which already rendered services to the confreres, is reduced to nothing. I do not know if Spain will be sending out other Consuls. The French vice-Consul has left for France. He was very helpful to our confreres, but the person now replacing him, one of the employees of the firm of Malfilâtre, cannot do too much for us.

Kindly excuse the disorder of this letter for the above-mentioned reasons and others. Next month I will write to the Council at length. Pray to God for the mission of Sierra Leone and accept, I beg you, the expression of my perfect devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 19 May 1859)

0913_New translation

Sent_0913 - à Mgr Kobès - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0913 - to Mgr Kobès - 19 May 1859 /2

Sent_0913 - à Mgr Kobès - le 19 mai 1859 -/1

Sent 0913 copy (), AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, bishop of Modon)

(Apostolic pro-Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

To thank you for all you did for us on the occasion of our stay in Dakar. Sadness and discouragement lie in wait for me here: enormous expenses, almost nothing remains of the work of our predecessors, the heat, our lodging, the Protestants, the Spanish consulate closed. But my hope in God remains intact.

Index: Sierra Leone (dearness), difficulties, sadness, hope, Protestants

__________

Freetown, 19 May 1859

My Lord Bishop,

At last we have arrived in Sierra Leone, and I feel the need to thank you once more for the fine hospitality you offered me in Dakar and for which I have only very inadequately conveyed my gratitude to you.

What can I say to you about my first impressions of this land? They tend singularly towards discouragement, and I find it extremely difficult to overcome a great inner sadness. What can be done here, in a place where enormous expenses will be required, yet without any immediate apparent results that will be of interest to the faithful in Europe? Even the missionaries' living expenses will be enormous, travel and establishments far from Freetown almost impossible, etc., etc.

It is true that the Master's power knows no limits and, if he decides to shower his mercies on these unfortunate people, he will make a way for us. But who can say that the time of his anger has passed? Is it not supremely sad to realise that these coasts were once more or less evangelised, that almost nothing remains of what the evangelical workers had done, and that in many places Protestantism has taken over what little remained of Christianity?

Despite these sad thoughts I am firmly resolved to do all I can for the success of these Missions, to even die of a broken heart if God so wills it. But I repeat, while my hope in the infinite power of God is boundless, I do not have the hope that a time of mercy has arrived for these peoples.

The stifling heat and the effect of electricity charging the air may have something to do with these inclinations of the spirit. Besides, we find ourselves on top of one another in a tiny and extremely inconvenient house, until such time as we can find another house to rent. The Spanish vice-Consul died one month after the Consul General, so that the Consulate is closed. Perhaps we could go and stay there, but the rent is at least two thousand francs, and it is unfurnished. However, it appears that this is the cost of any fairly large house.

With that I have come to the end of my paper, and it only remains to commend myself to your prayers and to the good memory of all your missionaries.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 19 May 1859)

0914_New translation

Sent_0914 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 25 mai 1859 -/3

Sent 0914 - to Cardinal Barnabò - 25 May 1859 /3

Sent_0914 - au cardinal Barnabò - le 25 mai 1859 -/3

Sent 0914 Original, APF, Congressi, Congo, Senegal,

1841-1860, pp 599ss

(for the P.S., see pp 654-655)

(to Cardinal Barnabò)

(Prefect of Propaganda)

Here I am in Freetown after staying for a month in Dakar. The difficulties are enormous here; the climate is very unhealthy this year, many deaths, the place occupied by Protestantism and its implantation, the cost of living, our poverty. At the very least we would need powerful encouragements from the Holy See. 3 successive PSs announce the deaths of Fathers Riocreux and Bresson and of Brother Gratien; Brother Eugène has returned. There are now only two of us; our enemies exult. I am overwhelmed with sadness.

Index: Sierra Leone, difficulties, sadness, Sierra Leone (deaths)

__________

Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 May 1859

Your Eminence,

Although it is a long time since I received a letter from the Sacred Congregation, I hope that you have received those that I had the honour of addressing to you on different occasions, including those in which I informed you of the departure of our first missionaries for Sierra Leone in November of last year, and of my own departure with another priest and another lay brother from Lyons in February of this year.

After a long and difficult crossing in the course of which we almost lost our lives, I arrived in Freetown on the 14th of this month. There are now six of us here: two lay brothers, three priests and myself. I hope that two others will join us in November. I have found few Catholics here. Since the climate this year is much more unhealthy than usual several of them have died, including some of the most important ones. Before my arrival, the Consul General of Spain and his vice-consul, among others, died within the space of one month.

We have rented a house where we say holy Mass in one of the rooms, while in Freetown and in this neighbourhood alone, there are more than thirty Protestant churches or chapels officiated over by a large number of ministers and an Anglican bishop.

When passing through Gorée and while in Dakar, I saw the worthy missionaries of the Holy Spirit and of the Sacred Heart of Mary. I even spent about one month with Mgr Kobès. We spoke at length of the sad state of our holy religion in those countries. I will have the honour of later voicing to you my hopes and fears for the success of the missions which, it seems to me, should be established at various points in Africa. Suffice it to say, meanwhile, that a truly Catholic heart feels itself humiliated here when faced with the activity of Protestantism. Its successes, however imperfect they may be, are nevertheless real and of such a sort as to increasingly impede Catholic evangelisation.

Let us be clear here. The difficulties will be enormous. The bad climate, the vastness of the countries which need to be attacked simultaneously, the innumerable diversity of languages, the sad antecedents posed by the Protestant ministers on almost all the points to which the missionaries should first of all necessarily be directed, the exceedingly high price to be paid because of all of the above: these reasons and many more prove that, if we want to reasonably hope for a success worthy of our holy cause, we need many men and a great deal of money.

I will not repeat, Your Eminence, what I had the honour of conveying to you both by word of mouth and in other letters. I feel confident that the new congregation at the seminary of the African Missions could, in the hands of the S.C. of Propaganda, easily become one of the instruments of God's mercy for this great work.

But, allow me to point out, Your Eminence, that in order to achieve this, we would need to receive some powerful encouragement from the Holy See and we would need to be the object of its tender solicitude. It might be that I am the cause of a sort of coldness that I seem to have noted on the part of the Sacred Congregation towards us. If that should be the case I beg you, Your Eminence, to overlook my faults and to think only of the unfortunate peoples of Africa, for whom Jesus Christ also died on the cross, and for whose salvation I desire to live and die, however unworthy my sacrifice is of being joined to the divine sacrifice of Calvary.

I beg you to accept the expression of profound respect with which I have the honour of being,

Your Eminence's

Very humble and very obedient servant.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 May 1859)

PS (of 3 June) Since the post was not able to take this letter for some days' time, I have time to let Your Eminence know of the test and of the great misfortune that the Lord has just sent us. Abbé Riocreux, the young priest who recently arrived with me from France, died yesterday, Ascension Day. I am heartbroken. He was a priest full of health, talent, piety and zeal, and the Lord has taken him away from us in the first hour, before he could put his hand to the plough! How impenetrable are his designs. Let us adore them.

2nd PS (of 6 June) God's hand descends even more heavily on us as if to wipe out all of our plans. Nonetheless it seems to me that these were shaped exclusively for his greatest glory. Abbé Bresson, one of the two missionaries remaining with me, died yesterday during the Octave of Ascension, three days after Fr Riocreux. This latest blow may have the direst consequences, not only on account of the impossibility of doing what we had planned in Freetown and the neighbourhood, but above all because of the bad effect it is liable to produce on the minds of the young aspirants at the seminary in Lyons.

If the Good God spares me, as soon as I receive a few lines from Your Eminence expressing to us your sympathy for our difficult undertaking, I will let Your Eminence know what I think should be done to dampen this effect. Should this twofold and terrible test discourage us? I do not think so. And so long as there is a breath of life in me, I hope for the success of the seminary of the African Missions. May I say to the Sovereign Judge when he calls me to himself (perhaps it will be tomorrow) that, for my part, I have done everything, everything that was in my power to do.

The frightful epidemic that reigns here at the moment appears to be quite extraordinary; it is said that there has not been its equal for the past 17 years and to find a worse one it is necessary to go back 27 years. The Europeans are proportionately the most numerous victims; the Protestant bishop has just died, and almost all of our Catholics are disappearing.

For fear that this letter does not arrive by ordinary post, I am sending it in duplicate via the Seminary of Lyons.

3rd PS (of 18 June) The post is leaving tomorrow. God's hand descends more and more heavily on us. My second travelling companion, Brother Gratien, died on Pentecost Monday. The other brother is going back to France. I myself have been very ill; today was the first day that I could get up and I am told that the danger has passed. I am overwhelmed with sadness, fatigue and fever. We were six a few days ago, while today we are only two: the excellent Fr Reymond and myself. May God's will be done. It is very trying to see the demon of heresy triumph; our misfortunes are a joy for the Protestant sects who dreaded our arrival so much. Now, if God preserves my life for me, what should be done? I await your advice.

(Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 May 1859)

(with PSs of 3 June, of 6 June, and of 18 June 1859)

0915_New translation

Sent_0915 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 9 juin 1859 -/2

Sent 0915 - to Propagation of the Faith - 9 June 1859 /2

Sent_0915 - à la Propagation de la Foi - le 9 juin 1859 -/2

Sent 0915 Original, Archives or Propagation of the Faith

Lyons, Africa, no. 4

copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to the two Councils General of the Work

of Propagation of the Faith, Lyons and Paris)

The deaths of Fathers Riocreux and Bresson. I counted greatly on Fr Riocreux for his talent with children. Comparative prices of a dozen or so articles at Coimbatore and at Freetown. Pray that God gives me the strength to fight and help me on the material side. As a PS, the death of Brother Gratien.

Index: Sierra Leone, difficulties, sadness, Sierra Leone (deaths)

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 9 June 1859

Dear Sirs,

I had proposed to write you a detailed letter, but overcome with sadness after the terrible blow that has just struck us, my strength fails me. Within the space of three days, I have had the misfortune of losing two out of three missionaries, Fr Bresson and Fr Riocreux.

This dear Fr Riocreux, having such a perfect character, seemed to be endowed with all the desirable qualities for the kind of action that we could expect to carry out in this country. Clearly, it is initially with the children that we would need to concentrate, and he felt a great liking for children who, for their part, felt almost irresistibly attracted to him. I counted on him to win them over and to bring them together in a school. How many other things would he have done with his admirable zeal? And now, scarcely a fortnight after his arrival, the Lord has carried him away! Let us adore his impenetrable designs; but my heart is broken!

These two deaths may have the most terrible of consequences on the establishment of this mission. Let us hope nevertheless that God will not permit them to discourage those due to take their place, and that the demon, who is in the habit of triumphing here on almost all points, will not carry off yet another victory. If the Good God keeps me for some years still, pray that he gives me the strength for the struggle, and you, Gentlemen, to help me on the material side.

One of the most absurd aberrations of the philanthropic work of the liberated Blacks in Sierra Leone is to have tried to immediately raise these Blacks to the height of European civilisation, with English habits to boot. This has resulted in one of the most monstrous social states, with a deceptive appearance of wellbeing and even of wealth (some Blacks being more than millionaires); however, everything here is basically in a frightful disorder.

If the good God lets me live, I will deal with all of this in greater detail later. I will content myself with saying to you today that when the local requirements are expressed in pounds sterling (here there is no talk of shillings or pence) it is enough to frighten anyone. Allow me to present you with a table comparing the prices of various basic commodities in Coimbatore, where I was apostolic vicar for a long time, and here:

in Coimbatorein Sierra Leone

One pound of bread 0.30 0.60

12 eggs 0.15 2.00

One fowl 0.15 1.50

A certain measure of rice 3.00 6.00

A certain measure of wood 4.00 12.00

Washing of a certain

quantity of linen 25.00 100.00

Service of a domestic servant

of average strength 120.00 900.00

Remedies readily available 10.00 150.00

A doctor's visit 0.00 25.00

Rent or interest on a more or less

comparable house 500.00 3,000.00

Wine—indispensable for

a missionary 25.00 300.00

I could prolong this list and add, alas!, what a burial costs however modest one wishes to be; we have refused our poor dead what one would ordinarily do for a simple captain of a merchant vessel. However we pray a great deal for them. You too must pray for them and for us, Gentlemen; and whatever happens, kindly accept the fresh expression of my entire devotion in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. Brother Gratien, my second travelling companion died on Pentecost Monday. The other brother has been ill; I am sending him back to France. I myself have been very ill. I only left my bed today, 9 June. ()

(Freetown (Sierra Leone), 9 June 1859)

0916_New translation

Sent_0916 - à M. Vian - les 10 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0916 - to Mr Vian - 10 and 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0916 - à M. Vian - les 10 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0916 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 456-457

(to Fr. Victorin Vian, priest)

My news is not good: difficult crossing; I have just lost two priests, one of my brothers is very ill. May God's will be done. As a PS, the death of the brother and his own illness.

Index: Sierra Leone (deaths), will of God, difficulties

__________

Freetown, 10 June 1859

I proposed to answer your good letter of 16 March, very dear Fr. Vian, as soon as I arrived here, in the hope of having all sorts of good things to communicate to you. Alas! It is quite the contrary; or if they are good things in Providence's design, as opposed to our rough appreciation, then they are of the worst kind.

You have undoubtedly learned something of our rather sad crossing and of the accident which risked plunging us into the depths of the sea a few days after our departure from Brest. We hoped that after saving us in this way, God had decided that we would labour at his work in a place where the demon has reigned supreme for so long, for a long time to come.

Well, as soon as we arrived, we rejoiced at being six who had come together for the beginning of our enterprise; the two priests who had been waiting impatiently for me since the month of January were in perfectly good health despite the ravages of an epidemic in the country; we were happy and were drawing up our plan of action when, in the space of three days, I lost two of these dear confreres, two priests out of three, the good Fr. Bresson who had gone on ahead of me and the excellent Fr. Riocreux who was my travelling companion.

The latter was quite young, full of health, talent and piety; I placed my greatest hopes in him. And now he has been taken to heaven on the very day of the Ascension, while on the Sunday of the Octave, he was followed by Fr. Bresson. It is impossible for me to describe to you the effect othat this double bolt out of the blue has had on my soul. Besides, the epidemic, which is the most virulent in memory for the last 27 years, has not passed, and almost all the Europeans are dying. A few days ago, they buried the Protestant bishop.

At this time, one of the brothers is seriously ill. Accordingly it is not improbable that Fr. Reymond and myself may follow closely on those we are mourning, and at that point the mission of Sierra Leone will have finished as soon as it started. But if the Good God chooses to let me suffer further on this earth, I very much fear that the misfortune which has just befallen us will have a terrible consequence and singularly impede our undertaking. I am speaking according to nature, for God is able to draw good from evil as possibly, as I said at the outset, all of these evils are goods. But also, are they not, perhaps, the terrible effects of celestial wrath?

However that may be, pray that God's holy will be done in us and through us, as outside of us. Adieu.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 10 June 1859)

PS of 18 (June) The brother is dead; he was my other travelling companion. Since the 12th I myself have been very ill; today it appears that the danger has passed.

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

0917_New translation

Sent_0917 - à sa soeur Félicie - les 10 et 19 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0917 - to his sister Félicie - 10 and 19 June 1859 /2

Sent_0917 - à sa soeur Félicie - les 10 et 19 juin 1859 -/1

Envoi\-- 0917 photo copy, AMA 2F18/1859

(to his sister Félicie)

I am suffering from an immense sadness. Are we going to give up without fighting? Two of my priests are dead, the two brothers are ill. As a PS, Brother Gratien is dead; I myself have also been very ill.

Index: Sierra Leone (deaths), sadness

__________

Freetown, 10 and 19 June 1859 (

)

Very dear Félicie,

On the fourteenth of last month I arrived at last in Sierra Leone. I could have written on the 19th but I did not do so, because I was under an unpleasant impression and I thought my mind would be freer and gayer this month, in order to write at length.

Alas! I never thought that, on the contrary, I would be suffering from the effects of a much greater sadness. It is true that, on arriving, I found the town in mourning as the result of a cruel epidemic, such as has not been seen, they say, for over 27 years. However, I was full of hope that the Good God would preserve us, that he had not sent us in vain to a place where the demon reins supreme, to allow us to succumb without fighting, and that it was for this reason that he had saved us from the dangers at sea.

But the paths of his providence are impenetrable, so that, in the space of three days, he has taken two out of three missionaries from me, the good Fr. Bresson and the excellent Fr. Riocreux. The latter died on Ascension Day and the other on Sunday of the Octave. As you can imagine, the sorrow I felt as a result is beyond all expression. What a frightful blow for this mission and for our work!

Fr. Reymond is still fairly well, and I too am well, though we are both very tired, for it seems that we have come here only to bless graves.

Our Catholics, already few in number, are passing away one after the other, their houses are hospitals, and at the present time even I have two brothers who are quite ill. To travel from illness to death is not a great distance here, especially at the present time. You can just imagine that I don't have the strength to speak to you of anything but our sadness; if the Good God preserves us, I will speak to you another time of this unfortunate country.

A Dieu. Friendly greetings to Melchior and to Etiennette.

Completely yours in Our Lord.

\+ M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 10 June 1859)

PS of the 19th Brother Gratien is dead. I am sending Brother Eugène back to France. Since the 10th, I myself have been very ill. Today all danger is over.

(Freetown, 19 June 1859)

0918_New translation

Sent_0918 - à Mme Blanchet - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0918 - to Mrs Blanchet - 12 and 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0918 - à Mme Blanchet - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0918

partial Le Gallen copy, pp 582-583

(to Mrs. Angélique Edmée Flavie Blanchet, née Jahan)

After the dangers of the voyage, we are faced with other misfortunes. I have just lost two priests while the two brothers are very ill. My sorrow is extreme. If the good God preserves my life, I will write to you again. As a PS, Brother Gratien is dead and I have sent the other brother back to France.

Index: Sierra Leone (deaths), sadness

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 12 and 18 June 1859

Dear Friend,

If I did not write to you last month... some days after our arrival in Freetown, it was because I could not shake off an extremely unpleasant impression, without knowing the reason why.

Was it the effect of a long and sad voyage? Was it a presentment of the misfortunes that awaited me? There was nothing to make me presume so: we were in perfect health, and although a terrible epidemic reigned in the town, we were full of trust, hoping that the good God had not made us escape from such great dangers to call us to him through illness, before having done anything for his glory.

Alas! a few days later, and at three days' interval, I was to lose two of my three missionaries: Abbé Riocreux passed away first, on Ascension Day (2 June), and he was followed by Fr. Bresson, on the Sunday of the octave (5 June), at six in the morning. To tell you the profound sorrow I felt, and that I still feel, is beyond all expression.

Besides, our trials are still not over: my two lay brothers are ill at the time of writing to you; and I have almost no more hope of keeping Brother Gratien. Fr. Reymond is dragging along, and I am half dead with fatigue and sorrow, and also with the reigning sickness. Accordingly please excuse me if I do not speak to you of anything else, and if I am writing in a disorderly way, for I can scarcely keep going... However I have many things to tell you... If the good God preserves my life, that will be for another time; otherwise, it will be in heaven.

The epidemic is striking everybody, but above all the Europeans, almost all of whom are dying. They say it is twenty-seven years since there was such a high mortality rate.

What a frightful blow for our work! In short, let us adore the impenetrable designs of Providence. Pray for us and ask our friends to pray.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 12 June 1859)

PS of the 18th (June) Brother Gratien is dead. I am sending the other brother back to France. Since the 12th I myself has been very ill; I have only left my bed today. It seems that all danger is over.

I have asked Fr. Reymond to write giving you the details; he almost promised me, but I do not know if he will have the time or the strength.

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

0919_New translation

Sent_0919 - à son frère Henri - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0919 - to his brother Henri - 12 and 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0919 - à son frère Henri - les 12 et 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0919 Original, AMA 2F1, pp 240-241

(to his brother, Henri)

My sadness is extreme: two of my priests are dead, the two lay brothers are ill. Fr. Reymond and myself are very tired. May God's will be done.

Index: Sierra Leone (deaths), sadness

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 12 June 1859

I did not write to you last month, very dear Henri, because I was under the effects of an indefinable sadness and I had hoped that after having shaken it off, I would write to you this month giving interesting details to you.

Alas! Was it a presentiment of the misfortunes that were about to befall me? I am so overwhelmed by it all that I don't have the strength to speak to you of other things; just imagine that, at an interval of three days, I lost two out of three missionaries, the good Fr. Bresson and the excellent Fr. Riocreux, my travelling companion. And the trial is not over; my two lay brothers are ill. I have almost given up hope for Brother Gratien; Fr. Reymond is overcome with fatigue, and I myself am half dead with fatigue, sadness and the evil influence of the climate which, they say, has never been worse than this year.

To find a mortality rate comparable to that of this year, you have to go back 27 years. Above all, Europeans are the victims; in fact they are almost all disappearing. A few days ago, the Protestant bishop was buried. Will the good God preserve me, together with Fr. Reymond, to continue our work, or does he wish this mission to finish as soon as it started? He alone knows. May his holy will be done in everything. In any case, the misfortune that has just struck us is, humanly speaking, a frightful blow for this mission.

You will understand, very dear friend, that I don't have the strength to tell you anything else, especially since it is now three weeks since I have had a quiet night's sleep. If the trial passes and if the good God preserves me, I will write to you another time at greater length. It was on Ascension Day, the 2nd of this month, that Abbé Riocreux was taken to heaven; we only arrived here on 14 May. He was followed by Abbé Bresson on Sunday of the Octave.

There is no other post here but that of England. It goes once a month, so to write to somewhere ten leagues away you have to wait for the frigate, as when writing to France.

I have received your two letters of 18 April and 20 May.

A Dieu. Warm regards and compliments as usual.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 12 June 1859)

PS of the 18th (June) Brother Gratien, my other travelling companion is dead; I am sending the other brother back to France. Since the 12th, I myself have been very ill; today all danger is over.

Another PS Fr. Reymond is writing to you with the details; you may pass them on to the others, to whom I have written only a few lines.

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

0920_New translation

Sent_0920 - à Mgr Kobès - le 14 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0920 - to Mgr Kobès - 14 June 1859 /1

Sent_0920 - à Mgr Kobès - le 14 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0920 copy (), AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, Bishop of Modon)

(Apostolic pro-Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

To inform you of our misfortunes: three deaths in ten day; the enemies of our holy faith are triumphant. Ask God on our behalf for a perfect submission to his will.

Index: Sierra Leone (deaths), will of God

__________

Freetown (Sierra Leone), 14 June 1859

My Lord Bishop,

A few short lines in the interval between bouts of fever to inform you of our misfortunes. On Ascension Day, fr. Riocreux went to heaven; three days after, on the Sunday of the Octave, Fr. Bresson followed him there; yesterday Brother Gratien also left us. Thus, from the six that we were a few days ago, three of us remain, overwhelmed with sorrow and fatigue, while I myself have been devoured by the fever for the last two days. If the good God wishes our mission to finish as soon as it has started, may his holy will be done. In any case, this is indeed a terrible blow struck against our work and the enemies of our holy faith are triumphant. I don't have the strength to write to you at any greater length.

I wanted to send you a little English catechism to be printed for us; but I do not have the strength to prepare it; that will be for later, if in a few days' time we are not in our graves.

Pray for me, requesting that the good God grant us perfect submission to his holy will, and deign to accept, I beg you, My Lord, the fresh assurance of my respectful devotion.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

P.S. For the last two days we have your good brother Ange with us.

(Freetown, 14 June 1859)

0921_New translation

Sent_0921 - au P. Planque - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0921 - to Father Planque - 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0921 - au P. Planque - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0921 Original, AMA 2F1A

(to Fr. Augustin Planque)

My sorrow is beyond all measure. Let us adore God's will. Deaths of Frs. Riocreux and Bresson and of Brother Gratien. I am sending Brother Eugène back to France. If you could send us some help! (A few words here on the qualities required for the brothers). I still intend to go and see whether or not there is some better place along the coast to set ourselves up. I am worn out. Fr. Reymond will write to you at greater length.

Index: sadness, will of God, Sierra Leone (deaths)

__________

Freetown, 18 June 1859

Very dear Fr. Planque,

May God's holy name be blessed! His ways are impenetrable; let us adore them and submit to them. As for the sorrow caused by the misfortunes that his hand sends us, I hope that he will not be offended, providing it is accepted without complaint. Now I may say that it is beyond all measure.

We were six only a few days ago; now we are only three. Soon there will be two, for I am definitively going to send Brother Eugène back to France. Fr. Reymond is writing with the details, for I don't have the strength to do it, having myself been seized by this cruel fever on Sunday evening; it is only today that I have been able to get up for a little bit and I am taking advantage of this to address these lines to you. I assure you that I really thought I was going to follow our dear confreres, for the symptoms were, from the outset, the same as those of the terrible illness that has taken Fr. Riocreux and Brother Gratien from us.

The former went to heaven during the evening of Ascension Day; he was followed by Fr. Bresson on the Sunday of the Octave, and on Pentecost Monday, when I myself was already in bed, Brother Gratien. What a terrible blow for a start! It is true that everyone agrees in saying that this year is quite exceptional, that there has been no example of such mortality for over 26 years. But in short, is this not going to singularly discourage vocations?

Thus all our plans are overturned for the moment; we absolutely have to wait for more help. Despite all of this, I will go alone, if possible next month, on a voyage to Dahomey to see if it would not be better to start a centre there. Ah! if Fr. Borghero and Fr. Brossard could come immediately, what services they would render us. As for the brothers, do not send any who are not perfectly solid. The example of Brother Eugène is a perfect lesson. What we need here are men who are not only pious, but perfectly obedient; who do not meddle with what does not concern them, without ideas of their own but prepared to do simply and solely what they are told to do, without reflection, without wanting to do as they consider fit, etc. Otherwise they are a veritable embarrassment and no help at all.

I think I have written enough and more for a man who for the past eight days has done nothing but take medicine upon medicine. I have had enough; and I did not believe I would write so much.

I wish I could write to the Ursulines and to the Carmelites, but I can't!

I am sending some documents which may be of interest to the families of our dear deceased. The death certificates issued by the Consulate may not be ready until next month.

I hope that Fr. Reymond will give you fuller details. I am overcome by sadness and fatigue!

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse,

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

(Freetown, 18 June 1859)

0922_New translation

Sent_0922 - à Mgr Kobès - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0922 - to Mgr Kobès - 18 June 1859 /2

Sent_0922 - à Mgr Kobès - le 18 juin 1859 -/1

Sent 0922 copy (), AMA 2F18/1859

(to Mgr Al. Kobès, Bishop of Modon)

(Apostolic pro-Vicar of the Two Guineas and of Senegambia)

Brother Eugène will hand over this letter to you. See that he leaves for France by the least expensive way. May God's will be done. We were six, now we are only two...!

Index: God's will, Sierra Leone (death)

__________

Sierra Leone, 18 June 1859

My Lord,

When Brother Eugène hands this letter over to you, you will have already received the one I addressed to you at Bathurst in which I told you of our incomparable misfortunes. Brother Eugène, the bearer of this letter, has likewise been very ill, and that, together with the ordeal that() his spirit had already suffered in contact with the sun of the tropics, has convinced me to send him back to France.

The captain of the Dialmath has offered to take him () to you, and since he thinks that shortly one of the State's ships will be sailing from Gorée to France. I beg you, My Lord, to take the necessary steps for him to be granted passage. We must, if possible, try to minimize the expense of the voyage. However if this should entail waiting too long, I would ask you to see that he leaves on a merchant ship, as cheaply as possible, while using prudence, just as you would do for one of your own congregation.

Besides, Brother Ange, who has spent a week with us, seems to me destined to return to France. Perhaps it would be well for them to continue their voyage together, as they are going to begin it from here to Gorée.

I will not return to what I already told Y.L., yet I cannot help thinking of anything else! To have been six only a few days ago, and to be only two now! I myself almost succumbed; it is only today that I have left my bed, and I do not think I will be able to say Mass tomorrow.

May God's holy will be done.

\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse

Apostolic Vicar of Sierra Leone

PS In Y.L.'s absence, I request that the Superior open this letter.

There is no need to give the brother any money. He has enough to get from the port to Lyons. If it should be absolutely necessary to send him on a merchant ship kindly pay for his voyage and we will settle up with you.

(Sierra Leone, 18 June 1859)

1. May Jesus Christ be praised.

2. May Jesus Christ be praised..

3. Do your best to come before the winter (2 Tm 4, 21).

4. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen (2 Tm 4, 22).

5. One thing I ask of Yahweh, one thing I seek : to live in the house of Yahweh (Ps 26 (27), 4).

6. Greet each of our friends by name (3 Jn 15).

7. This is the brother of Gaston de Marion Brésillac (Mgr's father). This Pierre Jacques Joseph is the father of his cousin Louis with whom, it seems, Mgr de Brésillac always maintained very close ties.

8. But, what matter?

9. This is undoubtedly his uncle Jacques Melchior Madeleine de Gaja, his mother's brother, and his godfather. .

10. At least as regards the sense.

11. Father, let it be as you would have it (Mt 26, 40).

12. He is referring to Emilie de Marion Gaja, daughter of Victor Melchior de Marion Gaja, youngest brother of Mgr's mother, married to an English lady who is a Protestant. Mgr has tried to convert this Protestant cousin to Catholicism.

13. Refuge of sinners (cf. the litanies of the Virgin Mary).

14. There must no doubt be separate groups among you (1 Co 11, 19).

15. This is Emilie, daughter of Victor Melchior de Marion Gaja, his mother's youngest brother.

16. This passage is given in the "Souvenirs". The only indication of date that we have for this letter is the following : "towards the beginning of Lent..."; that is why it is dated from the beginning of March.

17. I can see that my body follows a different law that battles against the law which my reason dictates (Rm, 7, 23).

18. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death ? (Rm, 7, 24).

19. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord ! (Rm, 7, 25).

20. If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple (Lk 14, 26).

21. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple (Lk 14, 27).

22. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth ; it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother (Mt 10, 34-35).

23. Let the father not be irritated, for only God is preferred to him (Saint Augustine).

24. Cf. Jb 1, 21.

25. If there is any one of you who needs wisdom, he must ask God who gives to all freely and ungrudgingly (Jm 1, 5).

26. If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink ! (Jn 7, 37).

27. We prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering : in times of hardship and distress, when we are flogged, sent to prison or mobbed ; labouring, sleepless, etc., by a love free from affectation (2 Co 6, 4-6).

28. You did not choose me, no, I chose you ; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last (Jn 15, 16).

29. Anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, says the Lord (Jn 8, 12).

30. For, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified (1 Co 9, 27).

31. "to Mr François Jeanson, to be handed over to Mrs de Brésillac at the Villa Savary fair, Smallholding of Empetit, Villa Savary (Aude)" (mention on the outside of the letter written by Mgr himself).

32. This was not the place for it . (Horace, Art of poetry, 19).

33. The text in fact says "allusion", but it should certainly read "illusion".

34. Rm 8, 31.

35. Jn 7, 37.

36. Jn 4, 14.

37. Mt 11, 30.

38. This is his first cousin (1813-1898), the eldest son of his uncle Jacques Melchior (see note 6).

39. This is Jacques Melchior Madeleine de Marion Gaja (1780-1851), brother of Msgr's mother.

40. The measuring line marks out delightful places for me (Ps 15 (16), 6).

41. What return can I make to Yahweh for all his goodness to me ? (Ps 115 (116), 12).

42. For those who travel by sea..

43. Now Réunion.

44. The measuring line marks out delightful places for me, for me the heritage is superb indeed. (Ps 15 (16), 6).

45. I am filled with consolation (2 Co 7, 4).

46. Once the hand is laid on the plough, no-one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Lk 9, 62).

47. Knowledge gives self-importance, but it is love that makes the building grow (1 Co 8, 1).

48. Now, therefore, we fight them.

49. God is Love (1 Jn 4, 16).

50. Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, together let us extol his name (Ps 34 (33), 4).

51. I would willingly be condemned and be cut off from Christ if it could help my brothers (Rm 9, 3).

52. I should be punished if I did not preach the Gospel! (1 Co 9, 16).

53. If you love God, bring all others to love God (In Ps. 33 en. II,6).

54. I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already ! (Lk 12, 49).

55. Yahweh my heritage, my cup (Ps 16 (15), 5).

56. Let him take up his cross and follow me (Mt 16, 24).

57. We are fellow workers with God (1 Co 3, 9).

58. Their salvation depends on you.

59. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you (Jn 20, 21).

60. Everybody has his own particular gifts from God (1 Co 7, 7).

61. I will pour out my heart to you... since I have called and you have refused me (Pr 1, 23-24).

62. Look around you at the fields ; already they are white, ready for harvest (Jn 4, 35).

63. The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest (Mt 9, 37-38 et Lk 10, 2).

64. Physician, heal yourself ! (Lk 4, 23).

65. My Father, ... your will be done (Mt 26, 42).

66. Abba, Father! (Ga 4, 6).

67. Let it be as you, not I, would have it ! (Mt 26, 39).

68. My deliverer is my God, I take shelter in him (Ps 17 (18) , 3).

69. Not one of those you gave me have I lost (Jn 18, 9).

70. Greet each other with a holy kiss (Rm 16, 16).

71. How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me ? (Ps 115 (116), 2).

72. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord ; they are happy who trust in him (Ps 33 (34), 9).

73. To the good man, a just master.

74. Mt 11, 30.

75. Cf. Ac 4, 32 : The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul.

76. Make disciples of all the nations (Mt 28, 19).

77. Cf. 2 Th 3, 5. The exact quotation is: in caritate Dei et patientia Christi : May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ.

78. Foreigners !

79. Permission is not granted.

80. Sami , samy or souamy : form of address for a superior

81. On the photo copy of the Original, the text of this P.S. is very difficult to read and the first two lines are missing. On the handwritten copy made of this letter by Father Reyser, he only gives, after the signature, this summary of the post-scriptum.

82. Souamy, samy : form of address to a superior

83. In such a way that this body remains a continual seedbed of ministers of God (Council of Trent, session 23, canon 18).

84. .

85. You can trust God not to let you be tried beyond your strength (1 Co 10, 13).

86. This mention " see above" is explained by the fact that the letter given here is the copy made by Mgr de Brésillac, in the "Souvenirs", of the one he sent to the seminarians of Carcassonne, and not the transcription of the Original. We are in chapter 4 of the "Souvenirs" and the feast of Ariancoupam has already been described a few pages earlier, a few pages "above".

87. Go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 P 3, 18).

88. Here, the Original in fact says "instability". It should undoubtedly read "stability".

89. Savady : caravanserai by the side of the roads; common house at the entrance to the villages.

90. Coullou : sorst of porridge

91. In the Original there is in fact here a drawing measuring about 8 cm x 8 cm.

92. At the cock's call, hope is reborn, ,

93. The sick man is restored to health,

94. The danger of brigands disappears,

95. The sinner returns to the faith.

96. Let us go to Dothan (Gn 37, 17).

97. Pariah: outcast.

98. Hence, anger.

99. Samy : term of respect when addressing a superior.

100. Savesouvaram tostiram : Glory to God!

101. Calli : bush used for making hedges.

102. Angui : cassock.

103. Coulla : sort of headgear.

104. Term of respect for a superior

105. This is "Lettres à Monseigneur l'évêque de Langres".

106. The real title is: "Lettres à Monseigneur l'évêque de Langres".

107. Abba (Father)... Let it be as you, not I, would have it (Mk 14, 36).

108. I do not desire what I do not know (Ovid, Art of love, III, 397).

109. Cf. Sg 8, 1. The exact quotation is the following: Adtingit enim a fine usque ad finem fortiter et disponit omnia suaviter : It deploys its strength from one end of the world to the other and governs the universe in a beneficent way.

110. Send anyone you will (Ex 4, 13).

111. Abba (Father)... let it be as you, not I, would have it (Mk 14, 36).

112. Yes, this man has truly done marvellous things.

113. This man has done all that God told him to do.

114. All the paragraphs given here in inverted commas are extracts of a more complete work entitled: Exposition abrégée de l'état de la religion dans l'Inde (cf. Documents of mission and foundation, pp 105-121).

115. This is "Lettres à Monseigneur l'évêque de Langres".

116. Coudireicaren : groom, horse servant

117. In the Souvenirs de douze ans de mission, on page 267, we find the following lines: "Then as a post-scriptum, I speak to them of Mr Luquet's book, and ask them to accept a copy of it which I send them through Mr Tesson. And there this correspondence ended. I received no answer to this letter, and wrote to them no more. Why this silence ? Did the Gentlemen of Saint Lazarus fear to see their pupils engage in the discussion on the work of the native clergy? I have no idea."

118. Pottou : round spot (often red) that women often imprint on their foreheads

119. This transcription by Mr Luquet is not certain.

120. Lord God, bless this place.

121. The Original of this letter was handed over by Father Carof, MEP, archivist at Pondicherry, to Father Bernard Favier, SMA, in March 1992. This is the letter from which Mgr de Brésillac quotes certain extracts in the "Souvenirs" pp. 363 to 366.

122. This letter is undated, but according to the "Souvenirs", it may easily be dated between 5 and 10 February 1844.

123. We may also note how Mgr de Brésillac, who certainly had under his eyes a copy of this letter when writing the "Souvenirs", has in fact recomposed numerous passages in it: thus, for example, the last six lines on page 366 of the "Souvenirs" do not exist in the Original.

124.

125. Samy or souamy : term of respect when addressing any superior.

126. Mâmoul : Custom of the country or else present in money for someone to be favourable to me.

127. Coulla : sort of headgear.

128. This is undoubtedly a shelter covered with leaves affording protection against the sun and the rain.

129. Custom of the country or else present in money to obtain someone's favour.

130. Pottou ou pouttou : round spot (often red) that women imprint on their foreheads.

131. Sandal or santal : Asian bush whose erfumed wood is used in cabinet-making.

132. Moudeliar : member of an Indian caste.

133. Poullé : member of an Indian caste.

134. This is the finger of God (Ex 8, 15).

135. Poullé : member of an Indian caste.

136. Note of the 12th. Mr Roger seems somewhat calmer. He had a talk with me in the presence of Mr Dupuis. The outcome would appear salutary, but can he be trusted?

137. pion : foot servant or messenger

138. As many ways of thinking as there are persons (quoted by various authors like Horace in Satires, 2, 1, 7).

139. There is no need to be afraid, little flock (Lk 12, 32).

140. Or the journey will be too long for you (1 K 19, 7).

141. I come against you in the name of Yahweh Sabaoth (1 S 17, 45).

142. Jon 1, 12.

143. You are Peter (Mt 16, 18).

144. Someone has written at the top of this letter ˝1845˝. Undoubtedly however this letter was written in 1844, for on the last page, the postal stamp of arrival reads "Villefranche, 4 FEB 45". Moreover, there is no question in it of his promotion to the episcopate that he seems still not to know about; he makes no allusion to the famous false news of his brother, dating from 1845. Finally, the death of his friend Triboulot (which he refers to in the letter) took place in 1844. Although this letter gives no indication of place, it was clearly written from Pondicherry.

145. Scarcely even will the just be saved. (quotation from "Dies irae").

146. If a blind man...

147. I do not refuse the work (Saint Martin of Tours). Here is the complete quotation: Domine, si adhuc populo tuo sum necessarius, non recuso laborem – Lord, if your people still needs me, I do not refuse the work.

148. In the text, the passages or words of the Original written in italics and underlined are those which have been changed or not included in the "Souvenirs".

149. As a note, in italics, the annotations added by Mgr de Brésillac will be given, when in 1855, he summarised this letter in the "Souvenirs".

150. He should have said : it could be.

151. On these details, he is perhaps less mistaken than I considered him to be then.

152. I thought then that certain decrees and decisions of the S.C. were modifications of the bull, but this is not true. As for the tolerance still exercised on a host of Malabar usages, is this not a practical modification of the bull ? Can we say that this bull is exactly observed, both in the letter and in spirit? I doubt it, more than then. But it appears certain that, if it is not exactly observed, this is a fault that good faith alone can make excusable..

153. These fears could be exaggerated ; however one should not be dissuaded that they are very serious. From another point of view, would it not be better that such an obligation were laid on us, rather than letting us persevere in a false way, if our tolerance is illegitimate ? And, if it is legitimate, would it not be desirable for the Holy See to declare it so, in order to put an end to the division reigning in people's minds, and which takes the form of ruinous acts, as will be seen later?

154. If it is possible, but today I can almost not hope that.

155. He should have said principally.

156. Doubtful.

157. There were none of them in our mission, nor in that of Madurai in 1845 ; perhaps we could not say the same thing in 1855 ; there certainly are some today who doubt of the legitimacy of certain observances and who only tolerate them or practice them while laying the responsibility on their superiors who order them, when in doubt, to do as they do.

158. Supposing that it is not through a principle of gentility, that the Christians of India abstain from it.

159. It seems to me that we have often abused of this passage. If Saint Paul had had to preach the Gospel in a place where meat passed for an impure thing, he might have believed that to abstain from it absolutely would have meant confirming his brothers in the error and scandalising them. He would have eaten then in order not to scandalise them. The question is to know if the Indians really attach an idea of superstition to absolute abstinence from eating beef.

160. If they are true, we have to undergo the consequences of them and trust in divine Providence., Only, before affirming it, the ecclesiastic superiors of India should make every possible effort to put the Holy See in a position to know perfectly everything about India and to take a decision.

161. A general consideration which greatly diminishes the force of this article, is that if the seniors and those dealing particularly with the holy ministry to the Indians, are more inclined than others to tolerance, this is not always because they know things better. In the impossibility in which they are, first to form a conscience of their own, and due to the respect that they owe to authority, they begin by following the way marked out; they persevere thereafter in this way by virtue of this same respect for authority and by habit. I saw a very remarkable example of this sort of thing. One of the most senior missionaries who passes for having superior talents, was one of the warmest partisans of tolerated usages and customs. After thirty years, and without his head being enfeebled in any way, be became one of the most fearful on the legitimacy of a whole host of our practices. If he had died after thirty years of ministry, he would have been invoked as a powerful authority (for). Now that he has spent thirty-two years in India, if his words are preserved, he could pass for an authority (against). I myself, in the circumstances that we will see later, and very probably if I had not been made a bishop, with an obligation to give account of things myself, I would most likely have maintained the convictions that I had, when I wrote this letter. Today, I would hesitate to say that we have to trample under foot all the customs of India ; but I think that serious doubts exist on the legitimacy of some of our practices.

162. As for the following article, I would take care not to write it today. I would not even transcribe it here, if I did not have reasons to fear that this writing might be used against myself, since someone could have made a copy of this letter. I wish it to be known then that I retract everything that may not seem very respectful towards the Holy See and towards the thing judged.

163. Undoubtedly I meant to say : a little.

164. Without doubt, but in conformity with the apostolic decisions which have always been respected..

165. Pouttou or pottou : round mark (often red) that the women imprint on their foreheads.

166. Very false thoughts.

167. This is far from being true.

168. If Rome deigned to make a new ruling, it would base itself on other facts..

169. I must point out here that, personally, I have never doubted of this infallibility in the ultramontane sense. I have always detested Gallican distinctions. These feelings were mine at the time when I wrote this letter in which several expressions escaped me which might suggest the contrary.

170. Because he has only spent a few months in India.

171. Not of course if they show they are better acquainted with the customs of the country than Mr Luquet could, after such a short stay, and if they take greater care in choosing the facts.

172. I repeat, this whole letter contains many things that I disavow, and especially everything referring to the subject of this second observation. In order to have written it, it must have been that the general indignation expressed all around me against Mr Luquet, disturbed me somewhat..

173. The state of the pariah would be more anti-Christian, if it was essentially contrary to charity, which one may well doubt.

174. That is not the right word.

175. Moudeliar : member of an Indian caste.

176. Poullé : member of an Indian caste.

177. Yes, but Saint Paul could implore Philemon's charity for his dear neophyte Onesimus, which would have been impossible with the caste system.

178. Insofar as it touches on caste. .

179. According to what I heard in Rome, I very much fear that they may only now ask this innocently if excused by their good faith..

180. Is the public conscience of a single people a very powerful testimony of truth ?

181. This remains to be established

182. I am not so strongly persuaded of this today. .

183. It is more or less this plan that I wanted to explain in Rome, so that they could say to me with authority, yes we can consider this, or else it is impossible even to think of it. In the first case, we would have worked seriously on laying out all the elements, but we would only have begun to implement it after it had been approved by the Holy See, overall, and in its details. But the coldness, and one might even say the repulsion I encountered from my first overture, prevented me from continuing, and must lead me to believe that it is incompatible with evangelical purity.

184. See note 17.

185. More than doubtful. .

186. True for animals, but not for cereals.

187. I repeat for the third time, this letter contains many things that I disavow. Certain of them only escaped me under the influence of the lively reproaches that I heard addressed everywhere to the work by Mr Luquet ; while others are the consequence of the intimate persuasion that I then had, that the tolerance that we had found established on our arrival in India was legitimate, and of the thought that I shared with the more senior and serious of my confreres, that with the authorisation of the Holy See, we could use more tolerance still, which appeared to us as incontestably desirable, if it was possible, both for the conversion of the pagans and for the consolidation of the Christians..

188. Courrouchel : modification, change.

189. 1 Co 1, 27.

190. It was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning (1 Co 1, 27).

191. The exact quotation is as follows: "Quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus et investigabiles viae ejus". How impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods ! (Rm 11, 33).

192. This is Jacques de Marion Gaja (brother of Mgr's mother), father of his cousin Raymond.

193. Choutre : peasant caste

194. Pandel : rough shelter or triumphal arch in leafy branches.

195. Here he is talking of ecclesiastical administration.

196. Moudeliar : member of an Indian caste.

197. Pandel : rough shelter or triumphant arch in leafy branches.

198. Mamoul : custom of the country or present in money for someone's favour.

199. Koi : false note.

200. For dating this letter, see the letter of 19/1/1847 to Mgr Retord : Sent 0220.

201. Sandochamai : happily

202.

203. Tamouler : anyone who speaks Tamoul.

204. The text clearly reads "complicated "; undoubtedly it should read "implicated".

205. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The present typewritten transcript reproduces the partial transcription (cf. the numerous question marks and suspension points) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India in volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double: by hand and typewritten – exists as far as the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand are concerned, for the letters of 1846 only; but at the present time constitute the only source of reference for this period.

206. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten copy hereafter reproduces exactly the partial transcription (cf the many question marks and suspension marks) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. The latter, bound in India in volume 1000 J, have stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – twofold: handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand for the letters dated 1846; but at the present time it is the only source of reference for this period.

207. This part of the letter goes perhaps with the letter to Mr Tesson of 1 July 1846 where it is a question of "information that I was able to obtain on the churches of Pondicherry ...".

208. In any case, it is not in its right place in the middle of the sheets of the letter of 9 November 1846 to Mr Tesson, the place where it is found in the AMEP, Vol. 1000.

209. tamouler : every person speaking Tamoul.

210. moudeliar : member of an Indian caste.

211. poullé : member of an Indian caste.

212. govear: those who recognise as the only religious authority the archbishop of Goa (schism of Goa).

213. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter exactly reproduces the partial transcription (cf. the numerous question and suspension marks) made at the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India in volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double, handwritten and typed – only exists for the letters of Msgr de Brésillac to Msgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today it is the only source of reference for this period.

214. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter reproduces exactly the partial transcription (cf. the numerous question marks and suspension points) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India in volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is twofold: handwritten and typed – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today it is the only source of reference for this period.

215. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter reproduces exactly the partial transcription (cf. the numerous questions marks and suspension points) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double: handwritten and typed – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today it is the only source of reference for this period.

216. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter exactly reproduces the partial transcription (cf. the numerous question marks and suspension points) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is twofold, handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today it is the only source of reference for this period.

217. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter reproduces exactly the partial transcription (cf. the numerous question marks and suspension points) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these document. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, have stayed over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double, handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but it is today the only source of reference for this period.

218. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text given hereafter reproduces exactly the partial transcription (cf. the question marks and suspension points) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, stayed for over 1000 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double: handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846, but today this is the only source of reference for this period.

219. In reply to Mgr Bonnand's letter dated 5 August, M. de Brésillac writes 5 days later, on 10 August. This letter in reply to the one of 27 July from Mgr Bonnand might quite reasonably be dated 1 or 2 August 1846.

220. These suspension points are in the text.

221. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter reproduces exactly the partial transcription (cf. the question marks and suspensions points at the beginning of the letter) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double: handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today this is the only source of reference for that period.

222. Undoubtedly here we should read "conditions" although the text in fact says "ambitions".

223. This letter, dated by Mgr de Brésillac himself, in AMA 2F6, 11 April 1946, is clearly written on 11 August because of its content and by an allusion regarding this letter to Mgr Luquet of 10 August 1846.

224. Tavaram : veranda, open gallery

225. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter exactly reproduces the typewritten transcription (that is partial : see the suspension points at the end of the letter) made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India in volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double: handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today it is the only source of reference for that period.

226. In the special catalogue Pondicherry AJ, p. 257, this letter is dated 19 September 1846 ; the transcription made in the MEP and reproduced here bears the date of 16 September 1846.

227. 1) What should be understood when we speak of human testimony?

228. 2) What conditions are required in order for human testimony to be an infallible ground for passing judgment ?

229. 3) Can the knowledge of supernatural facts exist through human testimony?

230. 4) Is the conclusion of such a syllogism correct ?

231. "Human testimony may be an infallible ground for judging facts that exceed human intelligence.

232. Thus supernatural facts exceed human intelligence.

233. So that human testimony may be an infallible ground for judging supernatural facts. "

234. The Original of this letter bears the date of 4 October 1846, day of his consecration. In 2F6, de Brésillac indicates it as being 5 October 1846. But the first sentence of the letter and the beginning of the second paragraph allow the date of 4 October to be maintained.

235. We know, from AMA 2F6 p. 9, that these minutes were attached to a letter to Mr Tesson dated 15 October 1846. Of this letter there only remains the summary made by de Brésillac himself in 2F6: "I send him a copy of the first council held here"; the Original of this letter to Mr Tesson very probably no longer exists.

236. These are the first two words of a prayer to the Virgin Mary :

237. Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, sancta Dei Genitrix ;

238. nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus,

239. sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper,

240. Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

241. In the shelter of your mercy, we take refuge, Holy Mother of God

242. Do not disdain our prayers when we are hard tried,

243. But deliver us from all dangers always,

244. Glorious Virgin, blessed Virgin. Amen.

245. The typewritten copy hereafter is made according to the de Brésillac copy, in AMA 2F6, p. 9 et seq. . This text drawn up by Abbé Guizard according to the archives of Propagation of the Faith comprises certain small differences which are indicated in red.

246. You are a man specially chosen [...] Seventy weeks are decreed for your people (Dn 9, 23 et 24). In this letter, the reference "Dan, 9" is a part of the letter..

247. Throughout this letter, the numerous Latin quotations are followed by the reference to the Holy scripture, with only the name of the book and the number of the chapter. These references are part of the text. In the notes, the numbers of the verses of these chapters will be specified.

248. This I know : that my Avenger lives, and he, the Last, will take his stand on earth (Jb 19, 25).

249. Ah, would that these words of mine were written down, inscribed on some monument with iron chisel and engraving tool, cut into the rock for ever! (Jb 19, 23-24).

250. For he is but flesh (Gn 6, 3).

251. For corrupt were the ways of all flesh on the earth (Gn 6, 12).

252. There will be nothing too hard for them to do (Gn 11 6).

253. It was from there that Yahweh scattered them over the whole face of the earth (Gn 11, 9).

254. The Lord [...] revealed to them good and evil; [...] he set knowledge before them, he endowed them with the law of life ; [...] he revealed his judgments to them ;; [...] he gave each a commandment concerning his neighbour. (Si 17, 6...14).

255. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten text hereafter reproduces exactly the typewritten transcription made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double: handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today it is the only source of reference for this period.

256. This letter (the photo copy of the AMEP) is dated 9 November 1846, whereas de Brésillac, in the 2F6, p. 27, gives the date as 15 November 1846.

257. The Original of this letter is absolutely unusable. The typewritten copy hereafter reproduces exactly the typewritten transcription made in the MEP in Paris, on receipt of these documents. These, bound in India into volume 1000 J, stayed for over 100 years in Pondicherry. This transcription – which is double, handwritten and typewritten – only exists for the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand, as regards 1846; but today this is the only source of reference for this period.

258. The author of this copy is unknown.

259. As may be noted, this table does not exactly repeat the explanations of the letter of 7 December sent to Mr Tesson (Envoi-0197) which consists of 5 numbers : the no. 2 of the letter is omitted, the no. 3 of the letter becomes the no. 2 of the tables, etc. This document is not presented here as on the Original . In addition, it is presented here as a separate document for reasons of clarity, whereas it was part of the letter sent to Mr Tesson on that same day.

260. We are merely servants (Lk 17, 10).

261. This letter was published in the Annals of Propagation of the Faith, tome XIX, pages 422-440.

262. Savady : caravanserai at the side of roads, or else a common house at the point of entry into villages.

263. Saniaci or sannyasi : holy man of the Hindu religion.

264. Calli ou cally : bush used for making hedges.

265. Couli ou coolie : porter, any workman hired on a daily basis for unspecialised work.

266. Pion : foot servant, messenger.

267. Mogol : old-fashioned cart used for transporting persons and goods.

268. Topa : Indian-European half-caste.

269. Calabam : quarrel, palaver, revolt.

270. Govear : the person who only recognises the religious authority of the archbishop of Goa (schism of Goa)

271. Cf. Ws 8, 1 : Adtingit enim a fine usque ad finem fortiter et disponit omnia suaviter – She deploys her strength from one end of the world to the other, ordering all things for good.

272. This letter is sent with the previous one (0213) to Mr Chevalier in order for him to hand it over if necessary.

273. oubaiam : polite formula.

274. Expression very often used by Saint Thomas of Aquinas, that could be translated here by: according to what is necessary for the country.

275. You will be able to tell them by their fruits (Mt 7,16).

276. We only have the second part (the second sheet ?) of this letter.

277. Mayakam : drunkenness, here rather blindness.

278. There is no need to be afraid, little flock. (Lk 12, 32).

279. If it please you, my Lord, send anyone you will ! (Ex 4, 13).

280. Tavaram : open gallery, veranda.

281. The following sign (...? ...) means two or three words unusable or torn in the Original, but never a whole line. In the latter case, it is indicated.

282. This letter is written from Verapoly (see AMA 2F6ì, p. 89) and not from Cochin, as is marked (in brackets with a question mark) in the special Pondicherry catalogue, AJ 297.

283. The Original is unutilisable. The typewritten version hereafter follows integrally (and exclusively) the summary of the letter made by Mgr de Brésillac himself in AMA 2F6, pp 88-89.

284. Undoubtedly this should read "Trichinopoly".

285. The sign following (...? ...) means two or three words that are unusable or torn in the Original, but never a whole line. In this latter case, this is stated.

286. At the bottom of page 81 in the Original, we find the following two lines : "and his behaviour towards you hardly encourages me to pass over it".

287. Pichicarer or pitchecarer (pichicaren or pitchecaren in the singular) : beggars.

288. govear or govea : someone who recognises the archbishop of Goa as the only religious authority (schism of Goa).

289. vissarané : pastoral visit of the priest to his district.

290. parissou : craft, basket lined in skin on which one floats down the river with the current..

291. This is Mr Laugier, as is written in all the letters in the summary of this letter in AMA 2F6, p. 102.

292. carea : white ant or termite.

293. Sambalam : salary.

294. Whence the three things that are proposed in the letter mentioned are very useful and in conformity with the above-mentioned instruction ; accordingly we inform you that they are completely approved by the Sacred Congregation.

295. Whence the three things that are proposed in the letter mentioned are very useful and in conformity with the aforesaid instruction ; accordingly we hereby inform you that they are completely approved by the Sacred Congregation.

296. talicattou or talé cattou : meeting after a death to convey sympathy to the family ; each person brings a gift of a white turban (talapa).

297. Statim : straightway (in latin).

298. I would like the children, after a few months' probation to see if there is any hope of a vocation in them, to receive the first tonsure.

299. Whence, the three things that are proposed in the letter mentioned, in order to achieve and promote such a plan in the rules, are very useful and in conformity with the aforesaid instruction ; for this reason we inform you that they are completely approved by the Sacred Congregation.

300. One rupee is equivalent to 16 annas.

301. Free quotation from Tb 5, 27 : Angelus Dei bonus comitetur ei – A good angel will go with him.

302. For memories of me are sweeter than honey (Si 24,27).

303. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and what vanity it all is! (Qo 1, 14).

304. Neither of the two texts given heretofore, the text sent to the directors of which Father Reyser made a typewritten copy (in 2F17) and the text maintained in 2F11, is in the hand of Mgr de Brésillac. Nevertheless, on the text of 2F11, there are crossings out and additions made by Mgr de Brésillac himself. The copy presented hereafter is that made according to the text sent to the Directors on 5 September 1847 (2F17). But each time that the crossings out or the additions of 2F17 lead to a discrepancy between the two texts, the text of 2F11 will be repeated, after that of 2F17, in Italics.

305. These draft regulations were enclosed with the letter of 5 September 1847 to the Directors of the Seminary. It is for reasons of convenience that they are dealt with here as a separate letter.

306. Father Reyser's copy reads "the districts of Palghat". Not possessing the Original to check this point, we consider this plural as an error (Editor's note).

307. insofar as he has authority

308. This is the father of Rose de Guiraud, herself the wife of Jacques Melchior Madeleine de Marion Gaja (1780-1851), one of the brothers of Mgr de Brésillac's mother.

309. The Original is in poor condition. It could just as well be 3 as 6 October.

310. These three suspension points are in the text.

311. Ter : large processional float

312. Statim : straightway (in latin).

313. Oubaiam : polite formulas

314. On (the photo copy of) the Original, this letter is dated 4 October 1847. In 2F6, Mgr de Brésillac indicates it as 8 October 1847.

315. vissarané: for a priest, the pastoral visit of his district.

316. Oubaiaim : polite formulas

317. This table was enclosed with the letter to Mr Tesson of 7 November 1847, of which only the summary of Mgr de Brésillac in AMA, 2F6 pages 134-135 remains.

318. This letter is dated 25 November 1847 in the AMEP in the special Pondicherry catalogue, AJ 259. But the Original, as well as the summary made by de Brésillac in AMA 2F6 on pages 137-138 are dated 27 November 1847.

319. For the negative things, we must abide by the strict sense.

320. Three dispensations for the impediment of the second mixed with the first degree of consanguinity and of affinity in collateral line.

321. Two dispensations for the impediment of the first with only second degree affinity originating from an illicit relationship.

322. I do not refuse the work (Saint Martin of Tours). This is the complete quotation: Domine, si adhuc populo tuo sum necessarius, non recuso laborem – Lord, if your people still needs me, I do not refuse the work.

323. oubaiam : polite form

324. Maniacarer (in the singular maniacaren) : heads of villages.

325. There are many small differences between the two copies made by Brésillac himself, in 2F6 (recension of the letters sent) and 2FG3 (manuscript of the "Souvenirs"). The typewritten version hereafter is that of 2F6, the earlier and undoubtedly the closer to the Original.

326. Malealam : word meaning both a region on the south-west coast of India (region of the vicariate of Verapoly), the language spoken there and the people who live there.

327. In 2F6, page 144, de Brésillac dates this letter 7 December 1848. This is undoubtedly an error.

328. 8 January on MEP photo copy - 7 January in AMA 2F6. (B. Favier)

329. On the photo copy based on the Original, this letter is dated 1847. It is written in 1848, as is noted in 2F6, pp 149-157. Moreover, if we consider the place of origin of the letters sent, as this is indicated in 2F6, Mgr de Brésillac was at Citour at least between 6 and 8 January 1848, and at Palghat between 20 and 25 January 1848. (B. Favier)

330. Malealam : a word designating at one and the same time a region on the south-west coast of India (region of the vicariate of Verapoly), the language spoken there and the inhabitants.

331. This parenthesis is not in the Original, but only in the copy in 2F6, p. 152.

332. Tavaram : veranda

333. When 2F6 and 2F3 diffèr, the typewritten version hereafter follows 2F6.

334. The copy made by de Brésillac in 2F6 is almost complete ; it only lacks the first and last paragraphs, and the same goes for the copy of 2F3, likewise made by de Brésillac. However, the latter presents numerous differences with the Original text of 2F1 that we follow for the typewritten copy hereafter. As regards the date, we accept that of 27 January 1848, as indicated on the Original, although the copy of 2F6 is dated, by de Brésillac himself 24 January 1848.

335. Malealam : word designating at one and the same time a region of the south-west coast of India (region of the vicariate of Verapoly), the language spoken there and the inhabitants.

336. combou : horn shaped like a buffalo's horn.

337. This letter is dated 3 February 1848 on the Original, and 5 February 1848 on the protocol of Mgr Brésillac, in AMA 2F6. It seems preferable to keep this last date of 5 February 1848 for, in the letter of 3 February 1848 to Mgr of Jassen (AMA 2F6, p. 166), it says that he has just arrived at Coimbatore, and in this one it says that he arrived the day before yesterday in the evening. Thus we could suppose that the letter to Mgr of Jassen dates from 1 February (Editor's note).

338. Since the photo copy of the Original is difficult to read, the typewritten text hereafter is that of 2F6, but verified as far as possible by the photo copy of the AMEP.

339. The author of this copy is unknown.

340. The text photocopied in the AMEP, vol. 1000D, is not in de Brésillac's hand.

341. Pangou : village

342. Vissarané : pastoral visit by a priest to his district.

343. scheder : weaver of heavy duty cloth

344. The copy in 2F6 is not made by de Brésillac. The typewritten text hereafter follows the photo copy of the Original, in AMEP, vol. 1011, no. 28.

345. Vissarané : Pastoral visit by a priest to his district

346. The author of this copy is unknown to us.

347. The copy in 2F6, pp 185-186, is not in de Brésillac's hand. The photo copy made in the MEP is that of a copy of this letter made in Paris. It is very incomplete, with numerous blank spaces, and only reproduces the first half of the letter. Nevertheless, it deserves a closer look for, for example, the last phrase of the first paragraph: "If that were so, my joy would be very much diminished.", is only found in the photo copy of the MEP made in accordance with the Original received in Paris.

348. cathou or cattou : moral prohibition.

349. Vissarané : a priest's pastoral visit to his district

350. The copy in AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand ; it is only crossed out and corrected by his hand. In AMEP vol. 1000J, the end of the letter, as well as the P.S., are not filed with the rest of the letter. For the typewritten text hereafter, we will follow as far as possible the photo copy of the Original, and not the copy of AMA 2F6, for there are a few small differences.

351. The author of this copy is unknown.

352. Neither the letter photocopied in the AMEP, or the copy of 2F6 , are in the hand of de Brésillac. Both would appear to be written by the same person. The typewritten copy hereafter follows, as far as possible, the photo copy of the AMEP.

353. Cf. Ph 4,12 : Scio et humiliari scio et abundare ubique et in omnibus institutus sum et satiari et esurire et abundare et penuriam pati – I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere : full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty.

354. Do what is in you, and God will back up your goodwill (Imitation of Jesus Christ, book 1, chap. VII).

355. The copy of 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand. Insofar as possible, the typewritten copy hereafter follows the text of the photo copy of the AMEP.

356. Pangou : village

357. Pangou : village

358. By mistake, in AMA 2F6, p 204, Mgr de Brésillac has dated this letter 1 June.

359. These suspension points are in the Original. In the summary in AMA 2F6, Mgr de Brésillac specifies that this chalice is for the church of Covilpaleam.

360. The photo copy of the AMEP is not complete A whole page is missing from the middle of the document. For the lacking passage, the typewritten text hereafter will be made based on a copy by Father Reyser, in AMA 2F17/1848.

361. Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom (Ps 110, 10 et Si 1, 16).

362. The author of this copy is unknown.

363. A time for silence and a time for speaking (Qo 3,7).

364. couli or coolie : porter, any labourer hired out by the day for unspecialised work.

365. This letter, dated 26 July 1848 in AMA 2F6, is dated 27 July 1848 on the Original, in the AMEP, vol. 1000 J.

366. Sambalam : wage

367. Pangou : village

368. The photo copy of the Original, in AMEP vol. 1011, bears the date of 1 September, whereas the de Brésillac summary, in AMA 2F6 is dated 2 September.

369. "Soumma" = "idle ".

370. Tonderavou = trouble.

371. In an extremely remote place.

372. This letter is not reported in AMA 2F6.

373. This letter is dated 14 October 1848 on the Original, whereas in AMA 2F6 de Brésillac dated it 16 October 1848.

374. [...] we will stay without saying it (soumma = without doing anything), since we have not brought any liturgical clothes.

375. We have so many things to found that the figures placed under this item clearly cannot be determined ; if it was possible that we were allocated 5,000 francs, we could for example begin a church in the bishop's residence where there is not even a chapel.

376. Send anyone you will. (Ex 4, 13).

377. The author of this copy is unknown, doubtless one of the priests of the vicariate, but it is certainly sent by Mgr de Brésillac himself (see the contents of the letter).

378. In AMA 2F6, the copy of this letter, written by someone other than de Brésillac, is amputated of its first part : several sheets disappeared between 1848 and February 1852. In the margin of page 234, de Brésillac writes this: "I noticed on 28 February 1952 that several sheets following this one had been torn out. It is very painful to have to suspect Mr. N .of having been guilty of this abuse of confidence while I was not at home."

379. The first part of the present letter was written on the torn out sheets.

380. For a priest, the pastoral visit in his district.

381. The Original (AMEP) of this letter bears the date of 8 February, while the copy (AMA) is dated 9 February. The two are by the hand of Brésillac.

382. You are worth more than hundreds of sparrows (Mt 10, 31).

383. There is no need to be afraid, little flock. (Lk 12,32).

384. avasté or avastaï : sacrament of the sick.

385. Pangou : village

386. pitalatam or pittalatam : sort of calumny, false accusation.

387. coudireicaren : groom.

388. sambalam : wage.

389. coudireicaren : groom.

390. There are 6 annas in a rupee.

391. Vissarané : for a priest, the pastoral visit to his diocese

392. But the European missionaries and the halfcasts living in the same place are bound to observe all the fasts prescribed by the Church..

393. maniam : revenue or gift.

394. pratiné or prarthanaï : prayer through the intercession of Mary or of a saint, on their feast day.

395. Of the three references indicated heretofore, only the first, which is the photo copy of the Original, is complete ; the others merely contain the part concerning the "Barot" affair : they lack the last twenty or so lines.

396. Pangou : village

397. For a priest, pastoral visit to his district

398. Mestry : mason

399. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand, although written in his notebook.

400. Pangou : village

401. Of the three references indicated heretofore, only the first, a photo copy of the Original, is complete ; the second, which is a copy sent to Paris, contains a full account of the "Barot" affair, but certain passages of the second part are summarised by de Brésillac ; as for the last reference, it lacks only the last paragraph which is summarised in the words : "I then ask him to send me four Christs by Mr Pacreau".

402. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand.

403. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand.

404. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's writing.

405. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's writing.

406. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand.

407. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand.

408. The photocopied copy in MEP vol. 1011 n° 59, is not in de Brésillac's hand; moreover, only the first reference contains the postscriptum of this letter. As in all other cases, whenever little differences exist between the different copies in our possession, we always choose the text of the Original, here MEP vol. 1000. (B. Favier)

409. In AMEP, vol 1000 J, p 279, the date of this letter is absolutely illegible ; someone has written on the first page of the photo copy "6 September 1849". But, in AMA 2F6, p 269, de Brésillac dates this letter 5 September 1849. It is this latter date that we have taken for this letter.

410.

411. The author of this copy is unknown. This copy was undoubtedly made by one of the priests of his diocese, being attached to the letter sent by Mgr de Brésillac to the directors in the Seminary of Paris, on 23 September 1849. The typewritten copy hereunder resumes the de Brésillac rough copy kept in AMA 2F1, pp 124-125. (B. Favier)

412. The author of this copy is unknown.

413. The photocopied letter in the AMEP, vol 1011, n° 59, is a copy sent by Mgr de Brésillac to the directors in the seminary of Paris, together with his letter of 25 September 1849. But neither this copy of the AMEP, nor the copy of AMA 2F6, pp 271-273, are in Mgr de Brésillac's writing ; however both are written in the same hand. The typewritten copy hereafter follows the copy of AMA 2F6.

414. The author of this copy is unknown. This copy was attached to the letter sent by Mgr de Brésillac to the directors in the seminary of Paris, enclosed with his letter of 25 September 1849; it is by the same hand as the copy kept in the AMA in 2F6. The typewritten copy hereafter follows the copy of AMA 2F6

415. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand. (B. Favier)

416. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand.

417. Only the first of these two references is complete. The second does not contain either the last paragraph, or the greeting, or the postscript..

418. The copy in AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand.

419. The copy of the AMEP is not in Mgr Brésillac's hand : in fact it is more a handwritten text than a copy. In all probablility it is the secretary of the Council of the Directors of Paris who made this copy from the Original, which has been sent by Mgr de Brésillac to Paris in order for it to be sent on to Rome.

420. The text of AMA 2F6 in fact bears the date "13"; but it should certainly read "23". See this letter of 23 October 1849 of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Charbonnaux in (Sent 0423)

421. The author of this copy is unknown.

422. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not in de Brésillac's hand. Only the photo copy of the AMEP, made on the Original, contains the postscript relating to Mr Pacreau.

423. On the Original, in AMEP, the date is illegible. At the head of this letter, someone has written: "19 December 1849". In 2F6, this letter is dated 18 December 1849 by de Brésillac. This is the date that we have taken.

424. "Calabam" = revolt

425. "Mamoul" = habit, custom of the country

426. Maniacarer : heads of villages

427. Tavaram : veranda, open gallery

428. "Natamacaren" = village headman

429. "Sorrou" = food, rice

430. Sami : term of respect for a superior

431. The Original of this letter bears the date of 15 February 1850. In 2F6, where de Brésillac merely indicates it, he dates it 13 March 1850. The first of these two dates is undoubtedly the true one, for the postage stamp on arrival is marked "20 April 1850, Villefranche de Lauraguais", and five weeks for a letter between India and France was not sufficient at that time.

432. Moreover, the day after, 16 February, he writes to his brother Henri (Sent 0446): "I am writing a very long letter to my mother..."

433. Note: de Brésillac's precision in 2F6, page 321: this letter written in February was only sent off in March.

434. "Soumma" = idle

435. "Sambalam" = wage

436. The second half of page 2 of this typewritten text, as well as the first lines of page 3 are based on a copy by Father Reyser ; in fact, the photo copy in our possession, as the result of an error, reproduces the same passage twice but omits another one. (B. Favier)

437. "Mandabam" = sort of portico in front of the church.

438. There is nothing that authorises us to state that the undated PS following this letter was in fact written with the latter. In volume 1000 J of the MEP, these two documents are besides not filed together, the PS being on pages 379 and 380. However it is most probable, for this PS was written before his departure for Verapoly where de Brésillac had already arrived by 14 July 1850, and after receipt of the powers granted by Rome on 21 April 1850, and that he received at Coimbatore, through Mgr Bonnand, on 1 July 1850; cf AMA 2F7, p. 185. Between these two dates : 1 July 1850 and 14 July 1850, the letter hereafter is the only one we have, written by Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand. (B. Favier)

439. The copy of AMA 2F6 is not by de Brésillac.

440. We do not possess this brief of erection. A correspondence of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Bonnand tells us that he thought it preferable for the Original to remain in Pondicherry.

441. Faith comes from what is preached (Rm 10, 17)

442. What did you come to do here?

443. This letter is not reported in 2F6. (B. Favier)

444. For the typewritten version of this letter hereafter, although the three documents in our possession are all in de Brésillac's hand, we will follow the photo copy of the Original in AMEP vol 1000 J, pp 361-365; moreover, it is the only one of the three documents to contain the final paragraph.

445. Vissarané : for a priest pastoral visit to his district

446. Here the text should undoubtedly read "Drusiparensem".

447. It seems we should read here "My Lord of Drusipare".

448. Here, perhaps, as in the preceding letter, we should read "Drusiparensis"?

449. Perhaps here the text should read "My Lord of Drusipare"?

450. Pangou : village

451. Sheder or scheder : weaver of heavy duty cloth

452. souroubam = statue of a saint in a church

453. "Excuse me, I turned the page wrongly." \- (This note is found in the margin.)

454. The photocopied letter in AMEP does not contain the last paragraph of the copy of AMA 2F6; but is the only to bear the note under 2 explaining the "reason".

455. My Lord of Jassen told me that he thought that the reason leading to this claim was a question of money regarding some change of Christian community. (This explanation is given by Mgr de Brésillac himself.

456. In fact the text reads "Tanens" (in Latin it would be "Episcopus Tanensis"), but it should read "Tana". (B. Favier)

457. This letter is not indicated in AMA 2F6.

458. Vissarané : for a priest, pastoral visit to his district

459. This letter gives as sole indication of the date: "the 12th", without the year or the month. Someone has written on the photo copy of the letter: "12 April 1850", and in the AMEP, in the special Pondicherry catalogue, on p. 265, it is likewise dated 12 April 1850. Moreover, in volume 1000 J, it is filed with the letters for the year 1850.

460. But it certainly dates from 1851, and undoubtedly from the month of April, for the following reasons:

461. 1)Mr Malhaire (this letter refers to his crossing) arrived on 1 July 1851: see "Le Journal d'un missionnaire" p 62.

462. 2)We read in this letter: "I plan to send my answer to Rome next month". Now Mgr de Brésillac writes to the Pope on 12 May 1985 to let him know his opinion on the Immaculate Conception.

463. 3)Finally, it is only starting off from the letter of 3 July that he signs "respectful confrere " when writing to Mgr Bonnand (see the explanation he gives of this himself at the end of this letter of 3 July 1850: Sent 0456). Before his appointment as apostolic vicar, he always signed with the word "servant". The letter hereafter is signed "very devoted confrere ".

464. This letter is not indicated in AMA 2F6.

465. This is Rose Guiraud, wife of Jacques Melchior de Gaja (brother of Mgr's mother) and mother of his cousin Raymond. It is this uncle Jacques who has just died.

466. As de Brésillac himself indicates, this letter was sent to Propaganda. He writes in AMA 2F6, p 383: "I am sending it the aforesaid answer to the Holy Father, asking it to draw his attention to it and to ask him for his blessing".

467. Nagigué : measure of time for a short distance, as we might say "it won't take me five minutes".

468. No reference is made to this letter in AMA 2F6.

469. Very Illustrious and Very Reverend Lord,,

470. At the order of our very Holy Father Pope Pius IX, we are sending Your Grace the address pronounced by His Holiness on the occasion of a recent Consistory, and now printed, so that you make every effort to divulge it in those regions and for it to be known wherever you can. Moreover you will realise that it is of great importance on account of the things expressed in the aforesaid address, and we feel sure that, with God's help, it will serve to advance, in a better way, the interests of religion in those missions, or that it will be of the utmost use ..

471. And now, we pray God the almighty and merciful to keep and protect Your Lordship for a very long time.

472. Issued at Rome, in the headquarters of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, on 1 March.

473. Your Lordship's

474. Very well intentioned confrere.

475. Signed : Cardinal J. Ph. Fransoni ,Prefect.

476. (countersigned : Al Barnabò, Secretary).

477. Pangou : village

478. See the very long letter BRE_INFO\REC_0433. (B. Favier)

479. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F6. On the Original, the place from which it was written is not specified.

480. Pangou : village

481. Catalecarer :

482. The copy of 2F11 is entirely written by Brésillac himself ; whereas, the photocopied letter from AMEP is not in Brésillac's hand, he has merely signed it. These two documents are entitled " copy of a letter to the S.C. of Propaganda regarding some usages that we tolerate in these missions of India, and which arouse doubts of conscience in certain apostolic workers".

483. This letter will be inserted integrally in the report to Propaganda of 24 June 1854, and accompanied on that occasion by twelve notes that we will reproduce in this typewritten version, but at the bottom of pages, as footnotes, so as to clearly show that they are not a part of the Original of 1851. To avoid all confusion, each note of 1854 will be preceded by the mention in bold "Note of 1854". The typewritten version hereafter is based on the copy in 2F11. (B. Favier)

484. "What you have taken care to show to us and make known in another letter is indeed of a very great importance. Thus, just as you thought, quite rightly, that it was your duty to keep the S.C. informed of these things, likewise you will understand that the Apostolic See cannot prevent itself from inquiring, carefully and without delay, so as to become thoroughly acquainted with what has been introduced into these regions against the purity of the faith and morals, or rather what has persisted for a long time in secret, so that, knowing the nature and the quality of the illness affecting Christ's flock, it will make every effort to come to its rescue by means of appropriate remedies. This is the reason why we ask Your Lordship, in conscience, to share with us in detail what you merely allow us to understand in your letter, and to write us a careful report of all the abuses, habits, etc. which, despite the condemnation of the Apostolic See, are still in force in these missions, and that you specify clearly the regions where these evils are hidden." (letter of 21 December 1850)

485. (Note of 1854) I ask the S.C. to note this passage which will explain to it in part the reason for my letter of 12 January 1852, which I will give hereafter and which was taken, it would appear, for a contradiction on my part. It is true that I could not have explained myself clearly, but in my mind, there was never any contradiction. There was, and still is : 1) real doubt as to the legitimacy of our present conduct; 2) the profound persuasion that we cannot remain in such a doubt; 3) the founded fear that several of the practices that we tolerate, and even practice in person, may be truly superstitious; 4) the moral certainty that harsh measures and fresh condemnations would cause irreparable harm to these missions; 5) the ardent desire to get over these difficulties by different means than that used by Cardinal de Tournon, of precious memory, because of his zeal for the purity of the faith, but which does not seem to me to have found the appropriate remedy for the patient. In his time, perhaps no other one was possible; but in the present circumstances, could we not find something else? All of this brings us back to the first part of this work.

486. (Note of 1854) Absolutely speaking, it would be possible to do without this commission by holding a thorough discussion on the questions that I will ask the S.C. to propose to the principal evangelical workers of these missions, and that I will indicate at the end of this paragraph.

487. (Note of 1854) This may go as far as a certain divergence in their way of explaining the facts. This divergence, however, would not be grave, unless we were to interrogate very young missionaries, or those who, while having spent a long time in India, have not had to deal with the holy ministry to the Indians of our missions; and unless there are some still who would hold that they need not reveal everything to the S.C.

488.

489. In the copy of AMA 2F11, we read here "him "; but the grammatical correction required "them".

490. (Note of 1854) I do not mean of course that this is the only cause of the sterility of their ministry, but it is one of the main causes that prevent them perverting a large number of our Christians, who would undoubtedly turn to them once we were less tolerant than them on caste observances.

491. (Note of 1854) There is a task to be done that might be useful for us, and that would be to seek to establish, as exactly as possible, how many Catholics there were in India at the various times. The archives of the S.C. perhaps contain sufficient data for that.

492. (Note of 1854) We should except the cases of extreme unction and when there is occasion to carry the holy oil. In this case the missionary enters the home of the Pariahs.

493. (Note of 1854) I even doubt that anyone could be found who would consent to take them into their houses surreptitiously.

494. (Note of 1854) It appears that in certain places the missionaries tolerate certain things, or at least that they close their eyes to certain practices which are regarded as certainly superstitious by others, although they are not named in Cardinal de Tournon's decree. Here I would call your attention to the quotation I made from a letter by Mgr de Charbonnaux, pages 13 and 14. Cf de Marion Brésillac, Documents de mission et de fondation. Médiaspaul 1985. pp. 31-32).

495.

496. sandanam = sandalwood powder

497. (Note of 1854) What above all makes them think that there is some superstitious idea in all of this is that, without speaking of the lingamists who all wear the infamous lingam covered in a tube or in a silver box, hung around their neck or arm, most of the other Indians also wear amulets on their person.

498.

499. And so that, from what has been explicitly ordered or prohibited by us, no-one may deduce that, for the other things practice of which is common in these missions, what has passed in silence has our consent or our approval (whereas perhaps several things which require reforms have escaped our knowledge, and for others study of which should be deepened nothing has been decided), we completely reject this interpretation and declare that it is contrary to our way of seeing things.

500. choutre = member of the peasant caste

501. (Note of 1854) Their number is diminishing as new churches in the shape of a cross are built. But it is morally impossible to build such churches everywhere, and if Christianity should spread, we would be obliged to celebrate in a crowd of chapels similar to those where this abuse still exists.

502. taly : distinctive neckband worn by married women

503. Pandel : sort of triumphant arch

504. (Note of 1854) I ask the S.C. to pay attention to this remark which may serve to explain the accidental divergence of certain reports.

505. (Note of 1854) I know in very little detail the missions of the north of India. As for those of Ceylon, of Quilon, of Verapoly and of Mangalore, although they are much more regular than ours, however there would be certain small things of this kind to say.

506. dazildar: mayor.

507. catcheri: tribunal of the dazildar or mayor.

508. This letter is not reported in AMA 2F6.

509. Chelingue : local craft of the Coromandel coast.

510. This is Félicie de Marion Gaja, his mother's sister (and thus his aunt), married to Pierre de Nicol who has just died.

511. The real name is "Etudes historiques sur l'établissement hospitalier du Grand-Saint-Bernard", Paris 1849.

512. This is the "Government Council of the Swiss Confederation ".

513. The copy in of AMA 2F11 says "no. 3". We have no other letter for that same day ; doubtless this should be understood as the third document of the report of 24 June 1854, no. 1 being the report proper, and no. 2 being the letter of 12 June 1851 with the twelve notes.

514. The copy of this letter photocopied in the AMEP is not in de Brésillac's handwriting; it is not even signed. It was written by someone in the seminary of Paris, for the paper bears the heading of the Seminary for Foreign Missions. For the typewritten copy hereafter, we will follow the copy of AMA 2F11. Like the letter of 12 June no. 2 (Sent 0499) , this one, dated 12 January 1852 no. 3, belonged to the report addressed to Propaganda of 24 June 1854. But when writing his report, de Brésillac added ten notes to this letter. These notes will be reproduced as footnotes with the mention : (Note dated June 1864) . The place of note no, 7 is approximate only, for de Brésillac failed to make this clear in AMA 2F11.

515. (Note dated June 1854) I believed this to be exact when I wrote this letter. Unfortunately, since then I have had powerful reasons for fearing that today still corporate allegiance is one of the causes that prevents much good in India.

516. (Note dated June 1854) Despite the fear of arousing dangerous susceptibilities, it seems to me that we find ourselves in the most favourable circumstances possible to deal with these questions and solve them once and for all. For the time which has elapsed since Cardinal de Tournon's decree is quite sufficient for the effect of this measure to be appreciated. The Jesuits are no longer interested, as they were then, in going to any lengths to defend their system; but they are of defending it, as far as possible, within the limits of truth. Despite the power that these religious have regained in India since their return to Madurai, they are not yet strong enough to suppress the voice of their cooperators in the apostolic ministry, but they are strong enough to immediately disassociate themselves from the language of passion, if it was possible that such language were still to be used, as it unfortunately was formerly on the part of their adversaries.

Besides, I do not think that, at present, they have a single enemy in this part of India. There are people who do not share their opinions on many points, but it would be unjust to call those people their enemies. In the 15 years or more since that they have resumed their work in Madurai, they have once more come to be perfectly acquainted with things personally ; on another hand, the Gentlemen of the Foreign Missions are equally well acquainted with them, unlike the Capuchins of former times who, dealing almost exclusively with European Christians, did not know things practically. Finally the diminution of the Europeans and their dispersion all over India, which means that it would now be absurd to wish to pass themselves off as Roman Brahmins, Brahmins of the North, etc. ; in brief, the present state of India is a new element which deserves the greatest consideration in any proceeding that might be adopted for the evangelisation of India.

517. (Note dated June 1854) This supposes that we could find some other means than that employed by Cardinal de Tournon.

518. (Note dated June 1854) Same remark as heretofore.

519. (Note dated June 1854) I am persuaded that, if the adversaries of the Jesuits had put more moderation into their proceedings, and the Jesuits had not obstinately defended the excesses at which they had arrived by an incredible condescendence, and if they had acted more frankly, Cardinal de Tournon would not have been obliged to issue his decree and things would have been settled with more consideration for the weakness and prejudices of these peoples.

520. (Note dated June 1854) The following passage is perhaps one of those which have appeared contradictory to what I have said elsewhere. I admit that it needs to be better worded in order to avoid all misunderstanding ; but if great attention is paid to the expressions that I have used, it will be seen perhaps that there is perseverance in this idea that, to my mind, a veritable doubt exists as to the legitimacy of our present behaviour in India, in other words, I see very serious reasons to support its licitness, and very serious reasons to sustain that it is intolerable. Whence it follows that, not wishing in any way to make one system prevail, but merely to ensure the triumph of truth, I would find it as difficult to produce only the reasons for as only the reasons against.

521. Thus I would say : I will try to prove instead of I will prove. It is true that I am convinced, as I have said elsewhere, that certain of our observances are in themselves superstititous, like for example abstaining absolutely from beef. But this does not imply the conviction that, in actu, we are participating in superstition by ourselves abstaining, because we have civil reasons which oblige us to do so, for example, public honesty, the reluctance of the castes distinguished by this food, etc. But are these reasons sufficient ? Do not others of the same kind exist in favour of certain condemned practices ? That is the doubt that only the Holy See can dispel.

522. (Note dated June 1854) It is clear that, in order to deal with these questions in this way, it would be necessary to return more or less to what Cardinal de Tournon did. While leaving indubitable the legitimacy of the prohibitions and condemnations already decided, by considering them with all their attendant circumstances, it would however be necessary to examine whether, by envisaging them from other points of view, whether, by modifying certain forms or by covering ourselves from public and effective protestation against any participation in idolatry, etc., we could not tolerate in part some of the prohibited things. God forbid that I should wish in this way either to judge my judges, or to impair in any way the infallibility of the supreme tribunal in its ruling. May my tongue stick to my palate rather than pronounce one word in that sense ; may my pen remain motionless in my numbed fingers, rather than I should write such a condemnable line. Only it is certain that here we find ourselves on the verge of rash opinions, that, unintentionally, certain dangerous expressions may escape us, worthy of indulgences in respect of him whose devotion to the Holy See is well known, while they could cause umbrage against him whose devotion to the Holy See is boundless, but not known.

523. Pariah : outcast.

524. (Note dated June 1854) Quite apart from this report, it will be a pleasure for me to give you personally any information that the members of the S.C. might wish to obtain from me.

525. (Note dated June 1854) The word convinced is too strong. It should be replaced by another one which would express hope and not conviction. Besides, I repeat, the whole of this letter is badly drafted. It was written too fast and a little too much under the influence of the protests of those who blamed me for having written my first letter.

526. (Note dated June 1854) Absolutely speaking, it might be possible to do without this meeting, as I noted previously, on page 27.

527. (Editor's note: on page 27 of the report, the note referred to its note no. 2, added to letter no. 2 of 12 June 1851, which runs thus : "Absolutely speaking, it might be possible to do without this commission, by means of a thorough discussion on the questions that I will ask the S.C. to propose to the principal evangelical workers of these missions, and that I will indicate at the end of this paragraph.").

528. This letter, dated 5 February, is mentioned in 2F6 as being written on 7 February.

529. Literally: "will of God ".

530. "Vari" = tax.

531. coolie: porter, any worker for hire by the day for unspecialised work.

532. Sarcar =

533. Vissarané : for a priest, visit round his district

534. The Original may be found in the archives of Jaffna and is in a very poor state. See what is said by Father Paul Sion, archivist of the OMI in his letter dated 23/11/1981, no. 2749/81 in AMA 2F34H.

535. These lines in italics are from the personal diary of Father Semeria, superior of the OMI at Jaffna (he will become apostolic vicar of Jaffna in 1858) and explain the quotation from Mgr de Brésillac's letter which follows.

536. The copy of 2F1 is not in de Brésillac's handwriting. High up on the right hand side, written in pencil, we find the following mention : "copied on the registers of Propaganda by the official copyist". The typewritten version hereafter follows the copy of 2F6.

537. Si 25, 17.18.

538. Si 25, 13 (verses 17 and 18 in the Latin version)

539. The copy of 2F1 is not in de Brésillac's handwriting ; we find, written in pencil, in the top right hand corner of the first page the following mention : "copied into the Archives of Propaganda". The typewritten version hereafter is based on the copy of 2F6.

540. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F6.

541. In 2F6, this letter is dated 4 July 1852.

542. In 2F6, this letter is dated 5 July 1852.

543. The copy in 2F1 is not in de Brésillac's handwriting; it contains a mention, written in pencil, in the upper right hand corner of the first page as follows : "copied into the Archives of Propaganda by the official copyist". For the typewritten version hereafter, we will follow the copy of 2F6.

544. callare : tomb.

545. The Original reads "Lefeuvre", the name of one of the missionaries of Coimbatore. However here it should clearly read Mgr Lefebvre, bishop of Isauropolis, vicar of Singapore : see the beginning of letter 0554.

546. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F6.

547. Persist in taroumarou = persevere in one's bad behaviour.

548. Vissarané : for a priest, pastoral visit of his district.

549. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F6.

550. Could this be Marie Xavery, former disciple of Mgr de Brésillac? It is difficult to tell.

551. The typewritten version of this copy is to be found in letter 0559.

552. This is a long quotation from the letter dated 28 July – see Sent 0552.

553. The above document is the copy of two letters, sent for his information to Mgr Bonnand, and enclosed with the letter of 23 October 1852. In fact we read in this last letter : "I am enclosing herewith copy of the answer from the Holy Inquisition. We have managed here to make consecrated wafers, etc." These two copies are :

554. 1) copy of Mgr de Brésillac's letter to Propaganda, of 21 November 1851 ( Brésillac copy in AMA 2F6, pp 403-404, Sent 0516);

555. 2) copy of the answer given by the Holy Inquisition, and sent through Propaganda in its letter to Mgr de Brésillac of 13 July ( Original in AMA 2F13, no. 18) in which we read : "Huic vero et aliud addimus a Suprema Inquisitione latum quoad quaestionem ab Amplitudine Tua propositam circa praxim, aut rationem istis in locis vigentem conficiendi panos Eucharisticos" (We have added to it another bull produced by the Holy Inquisition, relative to the question which had been posed by Your Lordship on the practice, or the manner applying in your parts, of making eucharistic bread).

556. This answer from the Inquisition is dated "Fer. IV, die 23 junii 1852", which led to the mistaken supposition that the one copied was of that date.

557. Undoubtedly here we should read "constitutions".

558. Between the photocopied Original in AMEP and the copy made by de Brésillac in AMA 2F7, there are a dozen or so small differences. Whenever possible, the typewritten version hereafter will follow the photo copy of the Original.

559. If Yahweh does not build the house, in vain the masons toil (Ps 127 (126), 1).

560. Vatiar : scholmastser or, in a more general way, anyone who teaches something.

561. Table attached to the letter to Mr Tesson dated 1 December 1852 and to be sent to Propagation of the Faith.

562. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F6.

563. The document hereafter is undated and unsigned, but the writing is clearly that of Mgr de Brésillac ; it is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso.

564. In his letter to Mgr Bonnand, dated 4 March 1853 (Sent 0581), Mgr de Brésillac writes: "As for the statues, there is no hurry. I was very glad to get my information in advance, and I thank you for what you have given me˝. The document hereafter accordingly precedes the letter of 4 March 1853, since at that date, the answer to the question posed had already been received, although we no longer possess it.

565. Apart from this, since this document is not signed, and appears almost like a P.S., it may be considered to have accompanied a letter, for example that of 23 January 1853 ; moreover, in the MEP, in volume 1000 J, this document is filed between the letter of 23 January 1853 and that of 4 March ; accordingly we have chosen to place it with the letter of 23 January 1853.

566. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso. The postmark indicates "Coimbatore".

567. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso.

568. Vissarané : for a priest, pastoral visit of his district.

569. In AMA 2F7 verso, this letter is undated. De Brésillac speaks of it in the "Journal d'un missionnaire", on page 119, in an article dated 20 July, which gives all of the difficulties which saw opposed, in Palghat, Mr Lefeuvre and the Christians of that town. It is transcribed in AMA 2F7 verso after a letter dated 15 April to Mgr Bonnand, amd before several letters to Mr Lefeuvre, on the subject of the same difficulties, the last of which bears the date of 13 July 1853. Accordingly it may in all likelihood be dated May 1853..

570. loguecalianam : civil marriage.

571. From page 20 to page 26, in AMA 2F7 verso, de Brésillac quotes five letters that he wrote to Mr Lefeuvre, missionary at Palghat, without counting "several other more or less painful letters to which he replied in a very unsatisfactory way and persevering in his obstination" (AMA 2F7 verso, page 25).

572. Apart from the fourth, which is that of 13 July 1853, these letters are undated. They are placed by de Brésillac after a letter to Mgr Bonnand dated 15 April 1853. For this reason we may infer that the typewrittten letter hereafter, dates from the month of May. It was sent on the same day as the letter to the Christians of Palghat. The two following letters will be dated June 1853, and the fifth, July.

573. Literal traslation = "Get the...out of here !"

574. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso.

575. This is Mgr Baccinelli, OCD, bishop of Héraclée, apostolic vicar of Quilon.

576. This letter, not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso, bears the sole indication: "Coimbatore, 18th" We may affirm that it is 18 June 1853 for the following reasons:

577. * 1) the postmark, found on the Original, reads: "Coimbatore, 18 - 6 - 53."

578. * 2) He says in this letter, when speaking of Carumattampatty: "I came back from there yesterday evening ". Now, in his letter to the Directors, dated 29 June 1853 (Sent 0596), he speaks of a journey that he made to Carumattampatty to calm things down. This journey to calm spirits thus took place in June, and not in July or August.

579. * 3) This letter is sent to Salem, where Mgr Bonnand is making his pastoral visit ; he will arrive at Coimbatore on 24 July 1853.

580. * 4) This letter explains the content of the letter of 23 June 1853 (Sent 0593), a short letter and which supposes another one only a short time earlier. We should note that this letter of 23 June 1853 is likewise sent to Salem..

581. Calabam : discord, palaver, revolt.

582. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso.

583. This letter should undoubtedly be dated around 25 June, for it begins with these words : "It is now two years less a few days that your good angel led you to Coimbatore". Now in the "Journal d'un missionnaire" on page 62, de Brésillac writes, under the date of 1 July 1851: "M. Malhaire has arrived from Paris". Thus it was written before 1 July 1853.

584. Furthermore, the correspondence between Mgr de Brésillac and Mr Malhaire is dealt with in two documents in MEP vol. 1011, namely nos. 108 and 99. These were undoubtedly documents which were enclosed with the letters to the directors of the seminary: no. 108 was enclosed with the letter of 29 June 1853 (Sent 0596): "I am sending you herewith a correspondence which has taken place in the last few days between Mr Malhaire and myself", and the no. 99 enclosed with the letter of 29 August 1853 (Sent 0610): "If [...] you take cognizance of the copies I am enclosing herewith, you will see that Mr Malhaire is definitively fixed in his determination. [...]"). This leads us to deduce that the three letters reproduced in no.108 of MEP vol. 1011, all date from the end of June 1853, since the letters seem to have been exchanged quite rapidly and copies of them to have been sent to Paris together with the letter of 29 June 1853.

585. The second letter dated in AMA 2F7 verso 27 July 1853, would thus without doubt be dated 27 June (Sent 0595), and not 27 July, for three reasons:

586. * 1) it gives explanations on the first letter (the typewritten version hereafter), and thus must follow it by a few days;

587. * 2) it is not situated in the context of the letters in no. 99 of MEP vol. 1011, which are of 30 July and of 2 August 1853;

588. * 3) the five letters to Mr Malhaire seem to have been placed in AMA 2F7 verso all together (the writing is exactly the same), and de Brésillac may very well have mixed up the dates since he did not file this letter on the day that it was sent

589. The third letter (Sent 0597) will be dated 29 June 1853, if we suppose that these three letters were enclosed with the letter to the directors written on 29 June 1853.

590. For the five letters to Mr Malhaire, the photo copy was made by the MEP from the copy sent by de Brésillac, and not from the Original that we do not have, as in the case of all the letters to Mgr Bonnand. For this reason, the typewritten version of these letters will be based on the copy of AMA 2F7 verso which is easier to read.

591. The remarks made in the letter of 25 June to Mr Malhaire (Sent 0594), are likewise applicable to the letter hereafter, in particular as regards its date, for de Brésillac dates it 27 July 1853.

592. The remarks made in the letter of 25 June to Mr Malhaire (Sent 0594) likewise apply to the letter hereafter. Moreover, it should be pointed out that in the copy that he sends to the directors of the seminary (AMEP vol. 1011, no. 108, page 7), de Brésillac introduces this third letter to Mr Malhaire with the following remark : "Before transcribing what I answered to that (he refers to the letter from Mr Malhaire of which Mgr de Brésillac gives the content, Editor's note) , I point out that this request of 11 June is that which Mr Malhaire made to me spontaneously of not being a member of the congregation, but of leaving immediately for France, or at the latest in two years' time if the Gentlemen of Paris did not agree to immediately provide a passage. I therefore replied :... ".

593. The only mention this letter bears, at the end is : " Coimbatore, 22nd ". It should undoubtedly be dated 22 July 1853 for the following reasons:

594. * 1) According to the terms of this letter, Mgr Bonnand is on the point of paying a visit to Mgr de Brésillac, at Coimbatore. Now, according to the "Journal d'un missionnaire", p 120, article of 23 July 1853, Mgr Bonnand arrives on 24 July;

595. * 2) this is the time for Mgr Bonnand's pastoral visit to the district of Salem, which is the reason for this detour by Coimbatore;

596. * 3) this letter is not addressed to Pondicherry, but to Avanashi. Now Avanashi is not far from Carumattampatty, coming from Salem, already in the apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore.

597. Soumma : for nothing, without doing anything.

598. Before reading this letter, it would be well to read the remarks preceding the letter of 26 June 1853 to Mr Malhaire (Sent 0594).

599. Before reading this letter, it would be advisable to read the remarks preceding the letter of 25 June 1853 to Mr Malhaire (Sent 0594).

600. I have fought the good fight to the end ; I have run the race to the finish ; I have kept the faith (2 Tm 4, 7).

601. All there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day (2 Tm 4, 8).

602. There are 16 annas in one rupee, and 4 calanas in one anna.

603. This letter is not reported in AMA 2F7 verso.

604. One can speculate on the exact date of this circular letter. In AMA 2F7 verso, de Brésillac dates it 9 August 1853, however situating it before the letter to Mr Malhaire dated 2 August, and before the letter to Mr Tesson of 3 August. So that we may well suppose that this circular had been sent on 3 August, as indicated by Mr Perceval on the first page of the answer he sent to his bishop: "Answer to the circular of My Lord M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse and apostolic vicar of Coimbatore, sent to his missionaries on 3 August 1853" (in AMA 2F11, page 256). However we leave 9 August as the date of this letter, since this is the date given to it by Mgr de Brésillac.

605. .

606. Certain passages of the photo copy in the AMEP are difficult to read. Accordingly the typewritten version hereafter is based on the copy in AMA 2F7 verso, pp 35-40, which is much clearer.

607. The photo copy made in the AMEP, on the Original, is fairly difficult to read. The typewritten copy hereafter will be made according to the copy of AMA 2F7 verso, much easier to read.

608. In AMA 2F7 verso, p 47, de Brésillac writes: "I have received word from the missions of the East... "

609. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso.

610. (Are these not all spirits) whose work is service, sent to help those who will be the heirs of salvation? (He 1, 14)

611. Os ad os = face to face

612. This letter is mentioned as dating from 2 November 1853 in AMA 2F7 verso.

613. De Brésillac himself has written the following words at the end of the copy of this letter, in AMA 2F7 verso, p 52: "Certain words in this copy are perhaps not exactly the same as those of the letter, but the sense is absolutely the same ".

614. To go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last (Jn 15, 16).

615. The suspension points are in the Original text, as are those of the following line.

616. Not by us, Yahweh, not by us, by you alone is glory deserved (Ps 115 (113 B), 1)

617. The real quotation, taken from Psalm 119 (118), 71 is as follows: Bonum mihi quia humiliasti me ut discam justificationes tuas : It was good for me to have to suffer, the better to learn your statutes !

618. The author of this copy is unknown.

619. The author of this copy is Mr Ravel.

620. This state of the "apostolic vicariate of Coimbatore in the year 1852" was sent from Carumattampatty on 30 November 1853, and yet the date of the information is given as 30 December 1853. (The date of the information is undoubtedly 30 December 1853).

621. These tables are in Mr Ravel's handwriting, but are signed by Mr Métral, apostolic pro-vicar, for the Bishop who is absent. Apart from the figures, the general observations, the resources and expenditures are practically identical to those of the previous year.

622. There are a number of small differences between the photo copy of the Original (difficult to read throughout) and the copy made by de Brésillac in AMA 2F7 verso. Insofar as it is possible the typewritten copy hereafter is based on the photo copy in AMEP vol 1000 J, pp 557-561.

623. Here, we should certainly read "insubordination".

624. This letter is not mentioned in AMA 2F7 verso.

625. She deploys her strength from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things for good (Sg 8, 1).

626. ter : float used in processions.

627. To go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last (Jn 15, 16).

628. Vissarané : for a priest, pastoral visit of his district.

629. This rough copy by Mgr de Brésillac, undated and with no precise addressee, except for these three letters "Mgr... " at the beginning, is incomplete. We cannot even affirm truly that it has been sent. The probable date and the addressees may be deduced from the content of this rough copy.

630. By comparing the two texts of AMA 2F11 (see the two references), the crossings out, words added or taken away, etc., it is easy to recognise, of these two rough copies, which one is later than the other. The typewritten version hereafter picks up rough copy no. 2, on pages 463 to 466, and rough copy no. 1 is not typewritten.

631. Although the rough copies bear the date of 12 December, this letter is dated 14 December for the two following reasons :

632. *See note no. 3 ;

633. ° In his letter of 17 January 1855 to Mgr Barnabò, in AMA 2F11, p 461 (Sent 0650), he speaks of his letter of 14 December.

634. Note on this letter after consultation of the Original with Propaganda on 7 May 1992.

635. *It is dated 14 December 1854. Thus it was written two days after preparation of the rough copy.

636. The text is exactly the same as that of the typewritten rough copy, except on the second line of paragraph 4 which reads : "in this humiliating way ; all the more since in the missions of India" [...]

637. The Original of this letter is not to be found in the Archives of Propaganda.

638. In AMA 2F11, the rough copy of this letter (Sent 0647) is dated 12 December.

639. It is difficult to say if this document on pages 447-448 is a copy or a rough copy, for it only contains two small crossings out, it is well presented and includes the full version of the final greetings presented as on an Original. Nevertheless someone had marked as the heading for this typewritten version the words "rough copy", since for this period, we do not have the copies of the letters of Mgr de Brésillac to Mgr Barnabò, but only the rough copies, namely in 2F11, or in 2F1.

640. Apart from that, it is not clear why or how the Archives could possess such an Original; and that is perhaps only because of the two crossings out that it has been begun all over again.

641. Note dated 8 May 1992 :

642. *The typewritten version hereafter reproduces the rough copy of Mgr de Brésillac in AMA 2F11.

643. *On verification, the text of the Original is exactly the same as that which is typewritten hereafter

644. *The signature is as follows: "M.M.J. de M. Brésillac, bishop of Pruse, apostolic vicar of Coimbatore".

645. Note dated 8 May 1992:

646. *The typewritten version hereafter resumes the rough copy of Mgr de Brésillac in AMA 2F11.

647. ° On verification, the text of the Original is exactly the same as that typewritten hereafter.

648. *The signature is as follows: "\+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse, Apostolic Vicar of Coimbatore".

649. *This letter is written from Paris.

650. This rough copy is written on the same page as another dated 14 March 1855 ; which allows us to date it, as likewise does its content: the letter of 27 March, giving the acceptance of his resignation, has still not arrived. Whereas, the mention "Dear friend" at the beginning of the letter is not sufficient to know to whom it was sent. It would not seem to be to Mr Vian to whom Mgr de Brésillac has already written on 6 January and on 17 February, thus after the feast of the Holy Innocents.

651. However this mention of the Holy Innocents, at the beginning of the letter, and this passage at the end : "Would that, like you, I could turn all of these difficulties [...]", may suggest that it could be Mgr Luquet to whom he wrote on 30 March 1855 : " I have received nothing from you since the day of the Holy Innocents". In fact we have a letter written by Mgr Luquet dated 28 December 1854. But, in this case, the beginning of this letter of 30 March, and the last paragraph of that same letter, lead us to suppose that this rough copy of mid-March was not in fact sent off.

652. Keep running steadily in the race we have started (Heb 12, 1)

653. The heading on the letter paper is of the MEP, Rue du Bac, Paris.

654. The copy of AMA 2F11 is not written in Mgr de Brésillac's hand. Only, at the end, we find the mention "Paris, 19 April 1855" in his hand.

655. The photocopied letter held by the MEP is not Mgr de Brésillac's handwriting either; moreover it only reproduces two passages from the foregoing letter, of which the typewritten version is made in accordance with AMA 2F11.

656. Letter dated 27 March 1855 from Propaganda to Mgr de Brésillac, Original, AMA 2F13, n° 24.

657. However, meanwhile, and until things are arranged otherwise, the Very Holy Father has left the mission to be administered by the same pro-vicar delegated by Your Lordship, confirming him in the necessary and appropriate powers.

658. This J. de Brésillac is in fact son of Louis (to whom this letter is addressed) and nephew of Mgr de Brésillac. It is he who sent copies of various of his uncle's letters to Father Guilcher in May 1942.

659. Jacques Henri Dufaÿ, 1798-1878, baron of Launaguet, Master of Petitions in the State Council, father-in-law of Louis de Marion Brésillac, and grandson of a Marion Gaja through his mother. We also find the spelling "du Fay" : see Mgr's letter to his sister-in-law in Sent 0836.

660. The Original of this letter no longer exists. A copy made by some unknown person, exists in the AMEP, in volume 1000 J. The writing is very fine, and very compact, difficult to read. The typewritten version hereafter is made directly from this copy, for the photo copy is almost unusable; it might just serve for certain verifications here and there in the text.

661. It was good for me to have to suffer (Ps 119 (118), 71). The psalm says : Bonum mihi, quia humiliasti me. it is Mgr de Brésillac quo adds "Domine".

662. The rough copy here bears the date of 17th. Someone has written over this 27th. In fact this letter is dated 27 March : see AMA 2F13, no. 24.

663. The Original of this letter is not to be found in the Archives of Propaganda.

664. We do not have the Original of this letter, but a copy referred to in the "Souvenirs Blanchet no. 1" is contained in AMA 2F30.

665. We are useless servants ; what we had to do, we have done.

666. For this letter of 23 June 1855, we have two rough copies. We may think that the one which is typewritten hereafter is not the one used directly to send the letter (see the following letter : "to Mgr Barnabò, rough copy no. 2", Sent 0671). However, since considerable differences exist between these two rough copies, it seemed more interesting to transcribe both tests. It should be noted that only rough copy no. 2 is dated, date which we give likewise to this rough copy no. 1.

667. The Original of this letter is not to be found in the Archives of Propaganda.

668. See what was said as a foreword to rough copy no. 1 (Sent 0670). Although the Original cannot be found, it may however be presumed that it is the above text that was sent to Mgr Barnabò, and not the preceding one. The Original of this letter is not present in the Archives of Propaganda.

669. No man can be relied on (Ps 116 (114-115) 11).

670. For this letter of 16 July 1855, we have two rough copies. We may think that the one typewritten hereafter is not the one used directly to send the letter (see the following letter: "to Mgr Barnabò, rough copy no. 2" Sent 0673). However, since considerable differences exist between these two rough copies, it seemed more interesting to transcribe both texts.

671. Quotation from the letter of Mgr Barnabò to Mgr de Brésillac: Original: AMA 2F13, p 26, letter of 7 July 1855.

672. "Well, [...] such a rapid change compared to the first sentiment, following the resignation offered, requested so many times and accepted, produced a certain astonishment on the part of the Holy Father [...]"

673. in the above-mentioned places there are bishops and administrators.

674. See what was said as an introduction to rough copy no. 1, on the preceding letter (Sent 0672). However we may consider that this is the text which was sent to Mgr Barnabò, and not the previous one.

675. Note dated 8 May 1992.

676. *The typewritten text follows the rough copy of Mgr de Brésillac in AMA 2F1.

677. After verification, the text of the Original is the same as the typewritten one heretofore, following rough copy no. 2, with the 7 changes indicated in brackets, and in italics, in the text.

678. *This letter is in fact written from Versailles, c/o the Reverend Capuchin Fathers.

679. *The final greeting and the signature are as follows:

680. Your very humble and very obedient servant.

681. \+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, Bishop of Pruse.

682. a change compared to the first sentiment.

683. In the above-mentioned places, where there are already bishops and administrators.

684. This is a rough copy, written on a loose sheet of paper, placed by mistake between the pages of the second discourse on the Eucharist (in AMA 2F10, pp 337-362) and numbered 351. This rough copy has nothing to do with the discourse. We do not know who this letter is addressed to, doubtless to an Indian seminarian, immediately prior to his ordination (see the content of the first paragraph).

685. Without doubt it dates from the middle of the year 1855, or a little later, for it was written some months after the acceptance by Rome of his resignation (see the beginning of the second paragraph), on 18 March 1855 by Pius IX.

686. Note dated 8 May 1992

687. The above text resumes the rough copy of Mgr de Brésillac in AMA 2F1. After verification, the text of the Original is the same as the typewritten version heretofore, except at the beginning of the second paragraph, where we read: "of the globe", instead of "on the globe";

688. *The final greeting and the signature are as follows:

689. Your very humble and very obedient servant.

690. \+ M.M.J. de Marion Brésillac, bishop of Pruse.

691. Someone, perhaps Mr Arnal himself, has written on the back of this letter. "November 1855, Garric, Mgr de Brésillac". This little note allows us to situate and date this letter, since Mgr de Brésillac merely specifies beside his signature : "the 20th".

692. Note: as heading of the rough copy of this letter, in AMA 2F5, de Brésillac has written himself: "REPORT TO THE S.C. OF PROPAGANDA"

693. See note no. 3 appendix no. 1.

694. This letter comprised two appendices (same reference as the letter)

695. Appendix no. 1: p 1181 :

696. " copy of a part of the treaty passed by Mr Bouet, naval lieutenant with Guézo, king of Dahomey :

697. * Art. 10: The king undertakes to afford every protection to the French missionaries who will come to establish themselves in his states, to leave them entire liberty of worship and to foster their efforts for the education of his subjects.

698. Issued at Abomey, 1 July 1851"

699. Appendix no. 2: pp 1182-1190 :

700. Extract from a work by Mr Amédée Tardieu, geographer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc, etc. (not reproduced here).

701. In the Original of this letter, two passages are underlined. Only the four words "Society of African Missions" seem to have been by Mgr de Brésillac, for the ink is the same colour as the text. For the sentence underlined, indicating the desire of Propaganda, the ink seems to be of a different colour, and accordingly we may suppose that it was not underlined by Mgr de Brésillac himself.

702. We do not have the Original of this letter ; we do not know who is responsible for the copy existing in the AMEP. Moreover, this letter is not complete; the end is merely a summary, which is perhaps also the work of a copyist.

703. The photo copy that we have here reads "good". Undoubtedly this should be "its".

704. These suspension points are in the Original text.

705. These point of suspension are in the text of the photo copy.

706. God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame what is strong. (1 Co 1, 27).

707. The Original of this letter no longer exists. A copy, made by some unknown copyist, exists in the AMEP, in volume 1000 J. The handwriting is very fine, compact and difficult to read.

708. The typewritten version hereafter is made directly from this copy, for the photo copy is practically unusable; it may just help with certain verifications here and there in the text.

709. There was certainly a polite formula at the end of this letter, but it is not included in the copy contained in AMEP, vol 1000 J, p 1129.

710. The present file is based on the copy in AMA 2C19, and not the Original, which explains the truncated nature of the final formula.

711. Written by hand on the Original of the letter from Mgr de Brésillac, to Propaganda, we find: "29 Febbraio 1856, si è rilasciato a Mgr de Brésillac la lettera ostensibile che bramava." "On 29 February, the letter of introduction that he so eagerly desired was handed over to Mgr de Brésillac."

712. This letter is undated, however the mention of Draguignan, in the body of the letter, allows us to make up for this since, according to the "Journal 1856-1859", on page 15, Mgr de Brésillac spends only one day here and here, in this letter, the verb is in the present : "at Draguignan where I am spending one day only ". Numerous passages in the second part of the letter imply the same.

713. Of course this should read: "Monsieur le vicaire général".

714. Of this letter, as well as of the six following ones to Father Planque, we have only a copy, and we do not know who made it. The letter hereafter is undated, however it is reasonable to date it from the end of May 1856 for two reasons:

715. * 1) Father Planque's letter to which it replies is dated 23 May ;

716. * 2) Mgr de Brésillac arrives at Lyons on 14 June and, in the P.S. of this letter, he says that he will be at Lyons in about two weeks' time.

717. The copy reads "[...] your letter of 23rd of this month ", and Father Planque's letter is written on 23 May: see the copy of this letter in AMA 2B32, no. 729/73.

718. Follow me and leave the dead to bury their dead.. (Mt 8, 22).

719. We should keep running steadily. (He 12, 1).

720. The only date on this letter is: "the 31st". But its context allows us to say that it is dated 31 May 1856, for this Mr Emilien (Vian) is brother of Mr Victorin to whom he writes a long letter on 31 May 1856.

721. This sentence is unfinished in the text.

722. The heading of the letter-paper is : "Maison de l'Assomption Notre-Dame à Nîmes".

723. We do not know who is the author of this copy.

724. In fact, the handwritten copy that we have in the Archives says "you "; but that is clearly an error.

725. The copy in AMA 2C19 does not specify the place of origin, however the Original bears the following mention: "Lyons, c/o the Marist Fathers, 23 June 1856".

726. It is impossible to discover where Father Le Gallen found the Original of this letter.

727. We do not know who is responsible for this copy.

728. On the same day, in a letter to Mr Vian, he writes : "Montée St Barthélemy no. 4" (AMA 2F1, p 269 ; cf. Sent 0706).

729. Of this letter, we have only the second page, on the back of which is the Original of a letter from one of the two Vian brothers to the other, in which he tells him that he is "unable to fill the post that His Lordship wishes to entrust to him"".

730. On the same day, in a letter to Father Planque, he writes : "Montée St Barthélemy 1" (AMA 2F1, pp 182-183 ; cf. Sent 0705).

731. In the letter of 20 July 1856 to Cardinal Barnabò, we read : "Accordingly we have agreed on a number of fundamental articles, copy of which I have the honour of sending you. Kindly examine them, Your Eminence, and tell us if we can base ourselves on them for the moment. We will accept them with any modifications that you see fit to make to them".

732. We do not know who is the author of this copy.

733. This letter is undated. But its content, and especially the first sentence "today the transaction will be completed", since, according to the "Journal 1856-1859", on page 42, "the business was concluded on 29 July 1856", as well as several passages exactly similar to what is written in a letter to Mr Vian dated 30 July 1856, allow us to say that it dates from the end of July 1856.

734. In Father Le Gallen's book, the text bears here the date of 12 April 1856. But the context shows that this letter is written later, for we know that the "take-over" was fixed for 31 October : see Sent 0708 to Father Planque dated 30 July 1856 and Sent 0709 to Mr Vian of 30 July 1856. There is certainly confusion as between August and April.

735. Undoubtedly, here, we should read "acceptation"?

736. We do not know who is responsible for this copy.

737. The year is not specified on the Original, but no doubt is possible on the basis of the places of such preaching. (see "Journal 1856-1859", pp 44-45)

738. This is in all probability Pierre Jacques Joseph, brother of Gaston (Mgr's father) and father of his cousin Louis, for his uncle Jacques de Gaja (father of his cousin Raymond) died in 1851.

739. We do not know who is responsible for this copy.

740. Of course this should read "last Sunday".

741. We do not know who is responsible for this copy.

742. This letter is undated ; it must date from the end of October 1856, for the "Journal 1856-1859", pp 51-52, tells us that on returning from Le Puy, then in passing by Yssingeaux and Monistrol, Mgr de Brésillac arrives at Lyons on 28 October 1856. Moreover, this same "Journal 1856-1859" states on page 53 that Father Planque arrived at Lyons on 7 November.

743. This President was called Mr Terret.

744. The rough copy of this letter is undated. Allusion is made in it to a letter received "yesterday" from Mr Rivaux, director in the major seminary of Grenoble.

745. * Now in the "Journal 1856-1859", there is mention of this letter, at the bottom of page 53, in the week following Sunday 9 November. Which allows us to date this letter at around 10 November 1856.

746. * Moreover, the bishop's reply is dated the 12th (see the letter from Mgr de Brésillac to the bishop of Grenoble of 15 November: Sent 0727).

747. * Finally, in this month of November 1856, the 16th, referred to at the end of the letter, is in fact a Sunday.

748. The present file is based on the copy of AMA 2C19, and not the Original, which explains the truncated nature of the final formula.

749. D.M.F. in reproducing this letter, on pp 177-181, gives the date of 12-18 November 1856 on page 177 and of 18 November 1856 on page 181.

The copy of 2C19 gives the date as 18 November 1856, however this date is not in the same writing as that of the copyist and has been added later.

The Original of Propaganda says "12 November 1856" and makes no mention of 18 November 1856, which is why the date given here is "12 November 1856".

750. This rough copy is undated. See what is said in the note to the letter of 10 November 1856 to the bishop of Grenoble (Sent 0725). Moreover, this rough copy is written on the same sheet as another one to the director of the major seminary of Grenoble, which also mentions: "I am expecting another priest tomorrow or the day after". .Now Mr Reymond arrives on 16 November in Lyons. Thus we can reasonably date this rough copy 15 November 1856.

751. This rough copy is undated. See on this subject the notes preceding the letters to the bishop of Grenoble of 10 and 15 November 1856 (Sent 0725 et 0727). This director is undoubtedly the Mr Rivaux mentioned in the letter of 10th to the bishop of Grenoble. This rough copy was written on the same page as that of the letter to the bishop of Grenoble that we have dated 15 November 1856. It is very probable that it dates from the same day.

752. This rough copy is undated. It is the rough copy of a letter sent to three seminarians in the major seminary of Grenoble whom their bishop refuses permission to go to Lyons to join the African Missions. See the notes of the letters to the bishop of Grenoble of 10 and 15 November 1856 (Sent 0725 et 0727), and the note of the letter to the director of the major seminary of Grenoble of 15 November 1856 (Sent 0728).

753. We should keep running steadily (Heb 12, 1).

754. It is not the number that counts, but the quality.

755. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations ; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Mt 28,19)

756. In order to date this letter, see the letter to Father Planque of 17 January 1857 (Sent 0740) in which Mgr de Brésillac mentions that he has just requested an audience of the Emperor, and that of the end of January 1857 (Sent 0744) in which Mgr de Brésillac reports that he has had the audience "the day before yesterday " and that Mr Reymond has just left to take this note to H.L. the first chaplain.

757. This letter was recorded on the spot by magnetophone. Until now (September 1991), the Archives of the African Missions have no photo copy of it.

758. calabam : palaver, revolt.

759. The present file is based on the copy in AMA 2C19, and not on the Original, which explains the truncated nature of the final formula.

760. Here it should certainly read "possible".

761. The present file is based on the copy in AMA 2C19, and not on the Original, which explains the truncated character of the final formula.

762. We should keep running steadily (Heb 12, 1).

763. This is the husband of Félicie, his young sister.

764. This is Joséphine de Hautpoul, his brother Henri's wife.

765. From one man, learn to know them all (Virgil, Aeneid, II, 65).

766. We should keep running steadily (Heb 12, 1).

767. This rough copy is undated and only bears the mention "Medemoiselles" as addressee, but it is written on a paper having the following heading "Bishop's palace of Quimper and Léon".

768. Now, in his letter to Father Planque, dated 21 July 1857 (Sent 0770), written precisely from Quimper, we read : "I am writing today to Mrs Aloysia and the pupils of the convent of the Ursulines". Thus we may reasonably say that this letter is likewise dated 21 July 1857, that it is addressed to the pupils of the convent of the Ursulines situated beside the house of the African Missions (there is mention of Saint Ursula in the letter), and that it accompanied the speech of which AMA 2F10, pp 265-280 gives us a copy.

769. The handwritten rough copy is marked here, in brackets, with a cross. De Brésillac undoubtedly proposed looking up the reference of this text from Scripture, and undoubtedly he wrote it in his letter.

770. The rough copy stops there. It does not seem that the end, a second page for example, is lost. Rather one has the impression that the rough copy is incomplete.

771. The present file is made according to the copy of AMA 2C19, and not the Original, which is what explains the truncated character of the final formula.

772. According to his diary, on coming back from his journey to Brittany, in 1857, Mgr de Brésillac remains in Lyons from 20 August until 31 October. In the letter to his brother dated 29 October 1857, he writes : "will you say that I owe you an answer to your letter of 12 September ?" So that one may can reasonably consider that the letter hereafter is written before 12 September, and even, according to the post-scriptum, that it dates from the first week.

773. The only indication of the address given on this letter is: "very dear friend ". It is practically certain that it is addressed to Mr Vian, when we see that at the end he asks him to greet his father, brother and sister and it is compared with what Mgr de Brésillac writes at the end of his letter of 14 July 1856 (Sent 0706), or of that of 6 November 1856 (Sent 0724) to his friend Vian.

774. The present file is based on the copy of AMA 2C19, and not the Original, which is what explains the truncated nature of the final formula.

775. The present file is based on the copy of AMA 2C19, and not the Original, which is what explains the truncated nature of the final formula.

776. In this letter, only the signature is in Mgr de Brésillac's hand. However, it is undoubtedly the Original of the letter, a document handed over to the African Missions in June 1966.

777. See note no. 2 of Sent 0803 regarding the spelling of this name.

778. The present file is based on the copy of AMA 2C19, and not the Original, which explains the truncated nature of the final formula.

779. This is Pierre Jacques de Marion Brésillac (1770-1857), one of the brothers of Mgr's father. In 1810 he had married Amélie de Baderon de Saint-Geniès. They had 6 children, including Louis who exchanged a considerable correspondence with Mgr de Brésillac. We have 28 letters written by Mgr and one letter sent by Louis.

780. This rough copy is undated and the addressee is not specified. At the end of the letter, there is mention of Messrs Noché, Girerd and Favre. We know that they were from the diocese of Grenoble. Accordingly the letter is addressed to the bishop of Grenoble.

781. To date this letter, we read in the first paragraph that Mgr de Brésillac has just received a letter from the S.C. which persists in entrusting him with Sierra Leone and which asks him how many they are at Lyons and when he thinks they could leave. Now the letter of 8 January 1858, signed by Cardinal Barnabò says : "when could Y.L. set out for the aforesaid mission, and how many companions do you propose to take with you?"

782. This rough copy is written from Lyons, but Mgr de Brésillac asks for the answer to be sent to Paris. Now, from the "Journal 1656-1859", we know that he left Lyons on 22 January and arrived in Paris on 27th. It may reasonably be considered that this letter was written round about 20 January 1858.

783. Since this rough copy was found on the back of the rough copy of the letter to the bishop of Grenoble, tentatively dated 20 January 1858, we may consider we are not far from the truth in giving it the same date. The addressee seems clear from the content of this rough copy.

784. This vicariate that the Holy See desires to found will be erected on 21 March 1858, the briefs being dated 30 April 1858.

785. This letter is dated 21 January 1856 (date added by hand in pencil at the top of the letter, but in the Original the "6 of 1856" is illegible) and as addressee "very dear cousin" without any other detail. If we read his letter of 30 November 1857 to his cousin Louis (Sent 0792), in which Mgr de Brésillac speaks of doing something for Louis at Paris, and where there is also mention of Mr de Royer, it is easy to understand that the typewritten letter hereafter is of later date "I have not forgotten" [...] "I will try to be useful to you." [...] Apart from this, we know from the "Journal 1856-1859", that it is on 22 January that Mgr Brésillac leaves Lyons for Paris, passing by Thiers and Clermont which he refers to in the letter ; moreover, on 21 January 1856, he was at Rome, where he stayed from the beginning of January to the beginning of April ; finally, he still did not have the house at Lyons in January 1856. Accordingly we can say with certainty that this letter is addressed to Louis and that it dates from 1858 and not 1856.

786. The typewrittten version of the "Fonds Guizard" says "Royer" ; the "o" seems to have been added by hand. The letter of 30 November 1857 speaks of Mr de Reyer. For all the letters, we have adopted the spelling "de Royer".

787. See Sent 0803 for the spelling.

788. This is Melchior de Ranchin, husband of his sister Félicie.

789. The copy of AMA 2F1, pp 365-366 is on headed paper of the African Missions (seal of the flight into Egypt in relief), as if to be sent out or distributed by hand ; it is countersigned by Father Bresson. The document on page 361, with exactly the same text, but with crossings out, is clearly the rough copy.

790. These documents are undated. But, in his letter written from Barcelona on 24 March 1858 (AMA 2F8, p 1009), Father Papetart says that he arrived the day before and that he was obliged to stay in Perpignan for eight days more than foreseen. Accordingly we may consider that this letter of introduction dates from somewhere around mid-March, all the more since, in his letter of 11 March 1858 to his brother Henri, in AMA 2F1, p 207 - Sent 0810, Mgr de Brésillac is seeking for letters of introduction for Mr Papetart.

791. Date left blank in the Original.

792. The typewritten version that we have bears the following mention, written by hand, in the right-hand corner of the sheet : "not authographic except for the 4 lines at the end", corresponding to the signature and the date.

793. The typewritten version that we have gives a total of 46,800 francs. But, if we add up the various sums requested, this gives the sum of 47,800. In 2F5, the rough copy in fact writes 47,800.

794. This date of this letter is not indicated. But the last two lines clarify us on that. Here it says that Mr Papetart has just sent six thousand francs and has left for Madrid. Now in the letter from Mr Papetart of 28 April 1858 (AMA 2F8, p 1026) Mgr de Brésillac is informed that he is going to receive six thousand francs. In this same letter, Mr Papetart adds : "I am leaving tomorrow for Madrid". The following letter will be dated 5 May and posted in Madrid. The last line of this letter to Miss Blanchet : "he has left for Madrid" may suggest that when he wrote this letter, Mgr de Brésillac had still not received a letter from Madrid. This enables us to say that the letter hereafter dates from early May 1858.

795. This specification (date and place) is not written in Mgr de Brésillac's hand.

796. Mention written by hand on the typewritten copy: "This must have been written in the course of the stay in Rome".

797. The place and date are not legible ; the space occupied by these elements is torn. However, the content of the letter enables us to say that it is written from Rome. Moreover, it says : "I have only been here a few days". Now, we know that Mgr de Brésillac arrived there on 2 June ; which is why we have put: "Rome, between 5 and 10 June"; 1858 is in the text.

798. There are a few small differences, very slight, between the photo copy of the Original and the rough copy. The typewritten version hereafter follows the photo copy of the Original.

799. The Original of this letter may be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit at Dakar.

800. There is exact similarity between the Guizard typewritten version and the rough copy of AMA 2F1, except that the latter speaks of "all the difficulties and perils " in the middle of the second paragraph, instead of "all the difficulties and all the perils".

801. The Original of this letter may be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit at Dakar.

802. Apart from an inversion in the last sentence between "sentiments" and "prayers", there is exact similarity between the Guizard typewritten version and the rough copy of AMA 2F1.

803. Ordinarily, Mgr de Brésillac addresses his letters jointly to the Presidents and to the Councils of Propagation of the Faith in Lyons and in Paris. The present letter is addressed to "The President and Members of the Council of Paris". On the same day, he addresses a separate letter to the President and Members of the Council of Lyons. This, involving only very slight differences compared to the one presented here, is not reproduced in this volume.

804. We have the Original of this letter ; it is dated 22 April 1858 by de Brésillac himself. Its content, and above all comparison with the letter of 20 August 1858 likewise to Henri (Sent 0829), lead us to think that it is not from 22 April, but from 22 August 1858. (The possible confusion of reading between April and August may very well mean that it is the reader who is mistaken and that this letter is in fact dated August.)

805. Moreover, this letter is signed Apostolic Vicar. Now Mgr de Brésillac will only receive his bulls, with the title of apostolic vicar of Sierra Leone, on the occasion of his journey to Rome, in June 1858, as he specifies in the "Journal 1856-1859", page 88.

806. The place from which this letter was sent is not specified. Someone has written Monestrol with a ?, but it is more likely Garric, for :

807. 1) letter 0831 states: "I will try to arrange my journey so as to pass via Garric and Lascourtines before Monestrol ";

808. 2) letter 0832 states: "I will be staying here until Monday or Tuesday to go on to Castelnaudary", and in 1858 27 August is a Friday. Besides, there will be a letter of 19 September written from Monestrol after one from Castelnaudary on the 2nd and another from Toulouse on the 12th.

809. The document kept in AMA 2F1, pp 214-216, seems to be the Original of the letter : presentation, complete final salutation, signature, etc. However, it contains six crossings out, which is not in accordance with Mgr de Brésillac' habitds, and in addition, it is only folded in one direction, whereas the other Originals are folded in both directions (lengthwise and crosswise). This enables us to say that this is instead a rough copy, or that perhaps the letter has been re-written, precisely because of the crossings out.

810. This letter bears, written in ink, in the top left-hand corner, but not in Mgr de Brésillac's hand, the following remark : "This new bishop of Carcassonne was not very polite".

811. This should undoubtedly read Mr Reymond, with whom Mgr de Brésillac was in his family, in the month of September, as testified by the "Journal 1856-1859" on page 89.

812. The Original of this letter is to be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit at Dakar.

813. The typewritten version hereafter follows that made according to the archives of Dakar. However, four small differences are apparent, as well as one sentence omitted compared to the rough copy of AMA 2F1.

814. This was the consecration of Mgr Jeancard.

815. The brief regarding the erection of the vicariate of Sierra Leone as well as that of his appointment as apostolic vicar of the new vicariate date from 13 April ; we do not have this list of powers granted on 18 April.

816. This rough copy is undated. However it may, in all probability, be dated 27 October 1858, the same day as the proxy of powers granted to Mr Reymond and to Mr Bresson. It might likewise be considered that such a letter (a sort of "celebret") was issued the same day to Mr Bresson ; but we do not have the rough copy of any such, for it is certainly the same one which was used for both, merely changing the name.

817. The brief of erection of the vicariate of Sierra Leone as well as that of appointment as apostolic vicar of the new vicariate date from 13 April ; we do not have this proxy of powers granted on 18 April.

818. "Mother of those suffering from fevers".

819. This rough copy is undated. However, we know that, at Monestrol, in his brother Henri's home, Mgr de Brésillac met Mr Papetart at the beginning of November 1858, after the departure of the first missionaries for Freetown. Mgr returned to Lyons on 19 November. We may consider that it is following Mr Papetart's oral report that this letter was written, either from Monestrol itself, or from Lyons after his return.

820. This rough copy is undated. It dates from November 1858, for it was at the beginning of November that Mgr de Brésillac had arranged to meet, at Monestrol, with Mr Papetart. (See the letter to Mr Planque of 30 October 1858, in AMA 2F1, pp 392-393 - Sent 0852). But we cannot be more precise than that. If this letter was sent before 19 November, it comes from Monestrol ; if after the 19th, it comes from Lyons ; in fact we are told in the letter to Mr Reymond of 20 November 1858 (AMA 2F1, pp 382-384 - Sent 0858), that Mgr de Brésillac returned to Lyons the day before: "it was only yesterday..."

821. This rough copy is not dated. However we know that it was written after the departure of the first missionaries for Freetown that Mgr de Brésillac met Mr Papetart, at his brother's house, in Monestrol, thus after 4 November. Mgr returned to Lyons on 19 November. This letter is writtten shortly after the meeting, for the two Spanish priests have still not gone back to Spain, which they will do before the end of November ("Journal 1856-1859", p 89), or was written in the course of the meeting itself, accordingly it dates from some time in the middle of November, and was written either at Monestrol itself, or at Lyons following his return.

822. Saint Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, Our Guardian Angels, pray for us, Saint Joseph, pray for us, Saint Augustine, pray for us,

823. Saint Benedict of Philadelphia, pray for us, Blessed Pierre Claver, pray for us, All of you who have been sanctified in the missions, and

824. above all in Africa, pray for us, All the Saints in Paradise, pray for us.

825. In AMA 2F5, p 38, we find another rough copy, likewise written by Mgr de Brésillac, for letters of affiliation in the work of the African Missions. There are considerable differences between the two texts : for this reason we transcribe both of them, separately. Only the one transcribed in Sent 0860 (that of 2F5) is dated (21 November 1858). But the rough copy of 2F1 is on the same sheet of paper as the rough copy of a letter dated 27 November 1858. For this reason we date it likewise November 1858.

826. See note to the preceding letter (Sent 0859), introductory note to the other rough copy of the "letters of Affiliation to the Work of the African Missions", that of AMA 2F1, p 402 verso.

827. It is not specified to whom this letter is addressed, however the contents of the letter, and above all Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473) which states that on 24 November he wrote to Mr Vian, allow us to say that it is Mr Vian.

828. From small notes at the end of AMA 2F1 (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473), we know that this Abbé Bébin was parish priest of Wex, near Baumont sur Vesle, in the Marne, and that Mgr de Brésillac wrote to him on 2 December 1858, undoubtedly after having received Mr Albrand's reply.

829. It is Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473) that allows us to specify the date of this letter.

830. This letter may be dated thanks to Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473).

831. The addressee of this letter is known thanks to Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473), the contents of which do not permit of any doubt.

832. It is thanks to Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473) that we can date this letter and identify the person to whom it is addressed.

833. This rough copy is dated 23 December 1858. But Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473) gives the date of dispatch of this letter as 26 December 1858. Moreover, in his reply of 15 January 1859, the Minister willl speak of "your letter of 26 December" (AMA 11/0.32, no. 138/77). Thus we may consider that the rough copy was drafted on 23rd, and the letter sent off only on 26 December 1858.

834. This note is undated and the person to whom it is addressed is not specified. However, if we consider its content, the three points requested at the end are the same as those requested in the letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (rough copy in AMA 2F1, pp 396-397 - Sent 0871), as well as the PS of the latter letter, we are authorised to consider that this note was included in the letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sent 0871) to be handed over to the Minister of the Navy, which is the reason why we give it the same date.

835. This letter is undated, but from Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473) and from the dates of the journey to Belgium that in the letter of 14 January to Father Planque (Sent 0878) we know was preceded by the visit to Amiens, Arras, Lille, Cherny, etc., we may say that it is dated 17 January 1859.

836. This letter can be dated thanks to Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473). This rough copy only bears the mention "Mr Minister", however the notebook specifies that this is the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Moreover, we know, from the letter of 23-26 December 1858 (AMA 2F1, p 396 - Sent 0871), that it is precisely through the good offices of the Minister for Foreign Affairs that Mgr de Brésillac had made requests of the Minister of the Navy.

837. This rough copy is undated and its addressee is not specified. It should be compared with the letter of 17 January 1859 to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (AMA 2F1, p 407 - Sent 0880); for this reason we give it the same date.

838. We think that it is addressed to Mr Faugères, since in his letter of 14 January 1859 to Father Planque (Sent 0878) Mgr de Brésillac remarks: "and Mr Faugères, the person dealing with these matters..."

839. This sign (1) is found in Mgr de Brésillac's rough copy. It certainly refers to the allusion to the letter received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sent 0880) to which reference is made in the first line of this letter, but this is not clearly spelled out in the rough copy.

840. This rough copy is undated, but its content as well as Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473) allow us to say that the letter is very probably dated 18 January 1859.

841. Written on paper with 35 centime stamp.

842. This rough copy can be dated thanks to Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473). Moreover, it is the time when he has just received the letter of 18 January 1859 from Abbé Reymond.

843. The letter copied on the Archives of Propagation of the Faith in Lyons and the rough copy in AMA 2F5 are exactly alike, apart from certain very slight differences. The copy reproduced in the "Annales" is not an exact replica of the letter sent by Mgr de Brésillac, since the first sentence of each of the two following paragraphs has been modified, above all that of the second. The typewritten version hereafter follows the text of the Archives of Propagation of the Faith in Lyons, no. 10.

844. It is likewise interesting to point out that, while Mgr de Brésillac requests the publication in the Annals of Mr Reymond's letter of 18 January, the letter presented here is in fact a letter adapted by Mgr de Brésillac himself, in which he amalgamates, into a single one, the two letters from Mr Reymond, that of 16-20 December 1858, sent from Dakar, and that of 18 January 1859 sent from Freetown. And it is because it is in a certain sense an "unpublished" document that we reproduce this letter (following that sent to Propagation of the Faith), as Mgr has recomposed it in AMA 2F5, pp 127-134. The references above, on the top right-hand side of this page 1, only apply for the letter sent to Propagation of the Faith.

845. This letter can be dated thanks to Mgr de Brésillac's notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473).

846. See on this subject, in AMA 2F13 no. 6 for the typewritten version and the translation, the letter of Mgr Bessieux giving jurisdiction to Mgr de Brésillac throughout the apostolic vicariate of the Two Guineas and Senegambia.

847. .

848. In his notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473), Mgr de Brésillac describes this letter as being written to Mr Ménis (of whom we know that he is secretary general of the Work of Propagation of the Faith in Lyons). Now this letter begins with these words: "Gentlemen". This is undoubtedly a distraction on the part of Mgr de Brésillac, for the content of this letter shows that it is addressed to one person only and that this is Mr Ménis. See also, on this subject, the letter to Father Planque of the same day (Sent 0911).

849. With God on our side, who can be against us ? (Rm 8, 31)

850. The Original of this letter may be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit.

851. This P.S. cannot have been writen on 9th, since brother Gratien died on 13 June. Very probably it was written on 18 June, like the P.S.s of the other letters, just before the departure of the post.

852. The photo copy of this letter was handed over in 1991 only to the African Missions ; it comes from Mr Jean Noël (who died in 1994) who possesses the Original. The latter is the great-grandson of Félicie, and thus the great-great-nephew of Mgr de Brésillac.

853. The P.S. of this letter is dated 19 June 1859. These are the last two lines, written by Mgr de Br ésillac, at present in our possession.

854. The Original of this letter may be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit in Dakar.

855. The Original of this letter is to be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit at Dakar.

856. We find "of " in the typewritten version of AMA 2F18; this is certainly a mistake.

857. We find "post" in the typewritten version of AMA 2F18; this is certainly a mistake.

858. May Jesus Christ be praised.

859. May Jesus Christ be praised..

860. Do your best to come before the winter (2 Tm 4, 21).

861. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen (2 Tm 4, 22).

862. One thing I ask of Yahweh, one thing I seek: to live in the house of Yahweh [Ps 26 (27), 4].

863. Greet each of our friends by name (3 Jn 15).

864. This is the brother of Gaston de Marion Brésillac (Mgr's father). This Pierre Jacques Joseph is the father of his cousin Louis with whom, it seems, Mgr de Brésillac always maintained very close ties.

865. But, what matter?

866. This is undoubtedly his uncle Jacques Melchior Madeleine de Gaja, his mother's brother, and his godfather. .

867. At least as regards the sense.

868. Father, let it be as you would have it (Mt 26, 40).

869. He is referring to Emilie de Marion Gaja, daughter of Victor Melchior de Marion Gaja, youngest brother of Mgr's mother, married to an English lady who is a Protestant. Mgr has tried to convert this Protestant cousin to Catholicism.

870. Refuge of sinners (cf. the litanies of the Virgin Mary).

871. There must no doubt be separate groups among you (1 Co 11, 19).

872. This is Emilie, daughter of Victor Melchior de Marion Gaja, his mother's youngest brother.

873. This passage is given in the "Souvenirs". The only indication of date that we have for this letter is the following : "towards the beginning of Lent..."; that is why it is dated from the beginning of March.

874. Mayakam : drunkenness, here rather blindness.

875. There is no need to be afraid, little flock. (Lk 12, 32).

876. If it please you, my Lord, send anyone you will ! (Ex 4, 13).

877. On this subject see AMA 2F13 no. 6 for the typewritten version and the translation of the letter of Mgr Bessieux giving jurisdiction to Mgr de Brésillac throughout the Apostolic Vicariate of the Two Guineas and Senegambia.

878. .

879. In his notebook (AMA 2F1, pp 465-473), Mgr de Brésillac describes this letter as being written to Mr Ménis (who we know is the secretary general of the Work of Propagation of the Faith in Lyons). This letter begins with these words: "Gentlemen". This is undoubtedly a distraction on the part of Mgr de Brésillac, for the content of this letter shows that it is addressed to only one person and that this is Mr Ménis. See also, on this subject, the letter to Father Planque of the same day (Sent 0911).

880. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rm 8, 31)

881. The Original of this letter may be found in the Archives of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.

882. This PS cannot have been written on 9 June, since Brother Gratien died on 13 June. Very probably it was written on 18 June, like the PSs of the other letters, just before the departure of the post.

883. The photo copy of this letter was handed over in 1991 only to the African Missions; it came from Mr Jean Noël (who died in 1994) who possessed the Original. The latter is the great-grandson of Félicie, and thus the great-great-nephew of Mgr de Brésillac.

884. The PS of this letter is dated 19 June 1859. These are the last two lines, written by Mgr de Br sillac, in present in our possession.

885. The Original of this letter may be found in the Archives of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit in Dakar.

886. The Original of this letter is to be found in the Archives of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit at Dakar.

887. We find "of " in the typewritten version of AMA 2F18; this is certainly a mistake.

888. We find "post" in the typewritten version of AMA 2F18; this is certainly a mistake.
