Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/757

 PERIODICAL

693

PERIODICAL

influx of Catholic immigrants and a consequent devel- opment of the Catholic Press. The pioneer journal of this era was "The Truth Teller", the first number of which appeared in New York, on 2 April, 1825, with the imprint of W. E. Andrews & Co., which was con- tinued on the first six issues of the paper. William Eusebius Andrews (q. v.) was the English publisher who was so active in England, during Bishop Milner's time, and his connexion with the New York venture is now explainable only as he was then printing a "Truth Teller" in London. In the issue of 19 Octo- ber, 1825, William Denman (q. v.) and George Pardow are given as the proprietors of the New York ' ' Truth Teller", and so continued until 2 January, 1830, when Pardow sold his interest to Denman, and the latter remained its sole proprietor until 31 March, 1855, when he disposed of it to the owners of the "Irish American", who shortly after merged it in that paper.

Denman, in the early days of the "Truth Teller", had the assistance, as contributors, of the Rev. Dr. John Power, rector of St. Peter's Church, the Rev. Thomas Levins, a former Jesuit and a man of ripe learning and ability. Dr. William James MacNeven (q. v.), the Rev. Joseph A. Schneller, the Rev. Felix Varela, andThomasO'Connor, but the paper becoming tainted with trusteeism (see Trustee System), and opposing Bishop Dubois, a rival, the "Weekly Regis- ter and Catholic Diary" was started on 5 October, 1833, by Fathers Schneller and Levins. It lasted three years, and was succeeded, in 1839, by the "Catholic Register ", which, the next year, was combined with the "Freeman's Journal ", then a year old. The editors at first were James W. and John E. White, nephews of Gerald Griffin, the Irish novelist. Eugene Casserly (q. V.) and John T. Devereux succeeded them, and in 1842 Bishop Hughes took the paper to keep it alive, and made his secretary, the Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley (afterwards Archbishop of Baltimore), its edi- tor. In 1S48 the bishop offered to give the paper to Orestes A. Brownson (q. v.), but soon after sold it to James A. McMaster (q. v.), the latter borrowing the money for its purchase from George Hecker, a brother of the Rev. Isaac T. Hecker (q. v.), founder of the Paulists. McMaster continued as its editor and pro- prietor until his death, 29 Dec., 1886. In 1861, be- cause of its violent State's Rights editorials, it was suppressed by the Government, and did not resume pubUcation until 19 April, 1862. Maurice Francis Egan was editor of the paper for two years after McMaster's death, and in 1894 the Rev. Dr. Louis A. Lambert (b. at Allenport, Pennsylvania, 11 Febru- ary, 1835; d. at Newfoundland, New Jersey, 25 Sep- tember, 1910) took the position and so continued until his death.

New York City was, during the first half of the nine- teenth century, the leader in Catholic journalism. The pioneer papers devoted their space mainly to con- troversial articles explanatory of the truths of the Faith, and in defence of the teachings of the Church in answer to attack and calumny. The assaults of the Native American and Know-nothing periods also largely engaged their attention. In this they were assisted by a number of journals not strictly religious, but political and social, edited by Catholics, and for a numerous constituency Irish by birth or descent. Of these the oldest, "The Irish American", founded 12 August, 1849, bv Patrick Lynch (b. at Kilkenny, Ire- land, 1811; d. in Brooklyn, New York, May, 1857); edited from 1857 until 1906 by his step-son Patrick J. Meehan (b. at Limerick, Ireland, 17 July, 1831; d. Jersey City, New Jersey, 20 April, 1906), with the "Catholic Telegraph" of Cincinnati (founded 1831), "Pilot" of Bo.ston (1837), "Freeman's Journal" of New York (1840), and "Catholic" of Pittsburg (1846), alone survive in 1911, of the many Catholic papers in existence in the Lfnited States during the first half of the nineteenth century. In October,

1848, Thomas D'Arcy McGee began in New York a paper called "The Nation" which lasted until June, 1850, its end being ha.stened by McGee's violent con- troversy with Bishop Hughes. Another venture of his, "The American Celt", completed in June, 1857, had a peripatetic existence of four years — in Boston, Buffalo, and New York — when it was purchased by D. & J. Sadlier and made over into a new paper, "The Tablet", the first number of which appeared on 5 June of that year, with Bernard Doran Killian as its editor. His successors in that position, until the paper died in 1893, included Dr. J. V. Huntington, William Den- man, Mrs. M. A. Sadlier, Dr. Henry J. Anderson, O. A. Brownson, Lawrence Kehoe, and D. P. Conyng- hani. Archbishop Hughes started, in 1859, as his personal organ, "The Metropolitan Record", which ceased publication in 1873. During all this time John Mullaly was its editor.

In 1872 "The Catholic Review", a paper combining the ideals of progressive modern journalism under the direction of a man who had had practical newspaper training, was begun by Patrick V. Hiekey (b. in Dub- lin, Ireland, 14 Feb., 1846; d. in Brooklyn, New York, 21 Feb., 1889). For a time it met with success as a high-class weekly, and, to meet the demand for a cheap popular paper, Hiekey printed also, in 1888, "The Cathohc American" and the "Illustrated Cath- olic American". After his death, the Rev. J. Talbot Smith edited "The Review", which cea.sed to exist in 1899. Mr. Herman Ridder foundi-d "Tlie Catholic News" in 1886, and it is notable that the historian Dr. John Gilmary Shea closed his long and sjilciidid career as its editor, 22 Feb., 1892. The "News" attained a very large and widespread circulation as a medium of entertaining and instructive reading matter for the masses under the business management of Henry Ridder and the editorial direction of Michael J. Madigan.

Several attempts have been made to establish a paper in the Dioce.se of Brooklyn, notably the " Cath- olic Examiner", in 1882, and the "Leader", in 1884. Both were shortlived. In June, 1908, the "Tablet" was started. In February, 1909, it was made a dioce- san organ and purchased by a company made up of diocesan priests. Albany had a " Catholic Pioneer "in 1853, followed by several other ventures with brief existences. The "Catholic Sun" of Syracuse, in 1892, succeeded the "Catholic Reflector" of the early sixties and the equally shorthved "Vindicator" and "Senti- nel". The "Sun" is also circulated as the "Catholic Chronicle" in Albany and the "Catholic Light" in Scranton, Penn. The Newark, New Jersey, "Moni- tor" was begun in September, 1906. Buffalo, New York, also had several experiences, beginning with D'Arcy McGee's "American Celt", in 1852, and cul- minating in the "Catholic Union and Times", the "Union" starting in 1872, and being combined later with the "Times", founded in 1877 by the Rev. Louis A. Lambert, at Waterloo. For most of the years of its progress the editor was the Rev. Patrick Cronin (b. in Ireland, 1835; d. at North Tonawanda, New York, 12 Dec, 1905), a forceful and able writer and a recog- nized leader among the Irish-American element in the United States.

The Catholic papers of Philadelphia start with the Hogan schism (see Conwell, Henry), the "Catholic Herald and Weekly Register" being issued 30 Nov., 1822, by E. F. Crozet to support the rebellious priest. To offset its influence and assist Bishop Conwell, the "Catholic Advocate and Irishman's Journal" was started 22 Feb., 1823. In August, 1822, the "Erin", a national paper, was first issued. These were followed in 1833 by the "Catholic Herald", which had a stormy existence under the editorial man- agement of a convert, Henry Major, who was a pro- fessor in the diocesan seminary. Disapi)ointed in hie ambition. Major relapsed to EpiscopaUanism, though