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 WASHINGTON

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WASHINGTON

Holy Trinity, Georgetonii: the original edifice, erected by P'ather Francis Neale, S.J., is still stand- ing, but is now used as a parochial scliool. The register of baptisms and marriages, beginning with 1795, has entries of people "living in the Federal City, even after the name of Washington had been officially adopted. The present Trinity Church dates from 1844. St. Patrick's is the parent church of Washington city proper, the land for it having been acquired in 1794 by Father Anthony Caffry; the first church was a one-and-a-half-story frame house. St. Mary's, or Barry's Chapel as it was generally called, was built by a merchant of that name, in 1800, for the accommodation of the work- men at Greenleaf's Point, near the Na\'j' Yard; this chapel disappeared long ago, but its corner-stone was saved, and is now inserted in the outer wall of the Holy Name Chapel, the Church of St. Dominic. Queen's Chapel, in the north-ea.st section, existed in 1816, and perhaps earlier, but was destroyed during the Civil War. In 180.5 Father William'Matthews became the second pastor of St. Patrick's, and con- tinued in that position for nearly half a century; he was the first native-born American to be raised to the priesthood in the United States. Among his assistants was Father Charles Constantine Pise, chaplain of the United States Senate, 1832-18,33, and among his parishioners were: Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Major L'Enfant, who drew the plan of the city; James Hoban, the architect of the ^^■hite House; Robert Brent, the first mayor of Washington; Dr. Ironside, a distinguished convert ; and Mayor Thomas Carbery, a brother of Mrs. Ann Mattingly, whose wonderful cure in 1824 was held to be miraculous, Father Matthews being one of the witne.s.ses in the case. The original Catholic inhabitants were mainly Marj'land planters, of English descent, and their coloured servants; accessions came from other sources, Irish, German, French, when artisans were required for the con.struction of public buildings, but the absence of large commercial and industrial activities was a drawback to rapid increase in the general population, and foreign immigration, which has contributed so notably to swell the Catholic sta- tistics of northern and western cities, has had but little effect on Washington.

St. Peter's and St. Matthew's were the first divisions of St. Patrick's, the original parish, which embraced the whole federal district, Georgetown excepted. There are now (1912) twenty-four churches, two of which (St. Augustine's and St. Cyprian's) are for the exclusive use of coloured peojile. All the congregations arc English-speaking, except St. Mary-'s, which is German. St. Aloysius' and Holy Trinity are in charge of the Jesuit Fathers, and St. Dominic's in charge of the Fathers of St. Dominic. The Apostolic Delegation for the United States was established in 1893, and the successive delegates. Cardinals Satolli, Martinelli, and Falconio, and Archbishop Bonzano, have resided in Washington. The rehgious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution has been always fully enjoyed; the many repre- sentatives of Catholic countries in the Diplomatic Corps and the Catliolics prominent in Congress and in the departments are factors for social influence and a restraint upon illiberal legislation. All churches, institutions of public charity, school houses, and cemeteries are exempt from taxation upon all their property not u.sed for business pur- poses or to secure an income. Subventions, or appropriations to a hmite<l amount, are granted to some of the Catholic charitable institutions. Catholic funeral services have been held in the Capitol occasionally for foreign ministers and members of either house, and Catholic chaplains have officiated in the halls of Congress: a Catholic priest, Father

Gabriel Richard, of Detroit, was a delegate from Michigan territory to the House of Representatives. The local sentiment towards the Church has been, in general, one of good-will. When, during the Knownothmg craze, a band of bigots secretly took away the memorial slab contributed by Pius IX to the Washington Monument, which was then being built, the better sentiment of the community condemned that act of vandalism: within the shadow of that same completed monument a solemn field Mass was celebrated in 1911, thousands attending it, and amongst them the chief magistrate of the re- public. The grandest civic celebration which the capital has witnessed was that of the Columbus Memorial, 8 June, 1912, when, under the auspices of the Catholic Knights of Columbus, a superb monument was dedicated in honour of the Cathohc discoverer of America.

George Washington cherished the hope that the capital would become the home of a great national seat of learning. Although that hope has not yet been realized, in the sense of a university endowed by the Government and under governmental control and patronage, yet Washington is well supplied with institutions for higher education, offers extraordinary advantages for scientific and literary labour and research, and possesses an unparalleled educational equipment in the great scientific collections and hbraries of the Government. By authority of Congress, all such facilities for research and informa- tion are made accessible to students of institutions of higher learning in the District. This provision applies to the Libr.ary of Congress, the National Museum, the Patent Office, the Bureau of Educa- tion, the Bureau of Ethnology, the Army Medical Museum, the Department of Agriculture, the Fish Commission, the Botanical Gardens, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geological Survey, the Naval Observatory, several hospitals and other departments supplied with special libraries, laboratories, and equipment for research. The Library of Congress contains 1,100,000 volumes; Surgeon-General's Office, 140,(539; National Museum, 16,000; Museum of Hygiene, 10,.500; Bureau of Ethnologj', 5000; Bureau of Education, .30,000; Department of Agricul- ture, 25,000. The Law Library of the LTnited States Capitol contains over 100,000 volumes, and is free to students seven hours daily. W'ashington presents advantages for the study of American jurisprudence which are unequalled elsewhere, and must always remain so. Congress, the Court of Claims, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Court of .\ppeals of the District of Columbia are in scs.sion during several months of each schol.astic year, and, with the executive departments, the Patent, Pension, and General Land Offices, furnish advantages for professional study nowhere else enjoyed. There are six law and three medical schools in the city.

Georgetown University (q. v.), founded in 1789, and the Catholic University of America (q. v.), canonically instituted by Pope Leo XIII in 1887, offer in their various departments nimierous courses in the arts and sciences to men who desire a complete general and liberal education, or who aim at a pro- fessional career. The Catholic I'niversity has ."52 professors, and schools of the sacred sciences, of law, of philosophy, of letters, and sciences. It has affiliated colleges and communities of the Dominican and PVanciscan Orders, of the Sulpician, Pauhst, Marist, and Holy Cross Congregations, and a Pohsh house of studies. Georgetown University, besides the collegiate department, includes schools of law, medicine, and dentistry; attached to the medical school is a hospital, in ch.arge of the Sisters of St. Francis, with a training school for nurses; the law school has (1911-1912) 9.59 students, the largest registration of any law school in the United States.