Page 165 - Transcriptions d'actes notariés - Tome 20 - 1682-1686

tiun the hjshop was quite rmepiive, but failed to agree with T0 the c:
vidual Basilians be referrd first to the Basilian Superior.
gregation'a deaire for autonomy in the field of administration. In the
rninds of the Basiljane,
ihe simpleni arrangement would bo For the bi~hop IO hsve hie om ~eparale
~OUBP and lar us k~ live in ours, undiaturbd by every slranger that he
may invile ta mrals, able to perfurm Our evercista with regularity. with
stable hour~ and daya set aside [or eoniessiono and preaehing.(la)
When the Little Seminary moved from Queen Street into the Biahop'a
Palace it asumed the name of St. Michael's College and the terrn, St.
Mary's Seminary, faded jnto ribscurity.
Once located wjthin khe portele of the Palace, the Congregation
attenipted to lead a normal community life. So huey was the Bishop
wiih other matters that he seldom intrndd within the confines of the
Baeilian enclosure. However, the siudent body was gro wing rapidly,
includitig as jt did both aspirants for the priesthood aiid nan-aspirants,
and by November, 1853, the enrollment had reached the tata1 of forty-
seven, ineluding thiriy boarders."+' With every promise ut a yearly
jncrease of ~he student body, the Palace was aimply too small. More-
over, while Bishop Charbonne1 ignored the noise generatd by the healthy
boys thjs was no eriierjiin of the attitnde of future biehops, and this
unceriainty only added to the insecurity felt by the Fathers. The failure
of the bishop to appoint an assistant until 1855 meant that the Corn-
niunity mingled in "about a thousand things nane of which directly
concerns ns."(lS) The iricreased student body taxed, to the utmost, the
strength of the ~iriests who had to teach theology tu the boys, and philos-
ophy to five, as wel1 as the regular prwcribed subjmts to the boys of
eollegr and hiEh school Icvel. In their dilemma a happy cornpromi*
was reachd in the assigning of high schnol classes to the more mature
aspiranlp to the priesthood.[l0) While this stratagern redueed the
excesses of wcirk in thc classroom, it failed to allay the gradua1 grnwth
of discontent among the eonfrères.
The following year, 1854, saw a fnriher increase in tIie student
body, and despitc the disconiforts uf the Fathers, Father Soulerin could
write "we are admired and our wcirk ia eppreciated, and His Lordship
..
in well satisfied".f17i Towards the end of the vear conditions reaehed an .
. .
.. .
irnpasae; ceriain that a separate house wa3 needed if the Congregation
w39 to enjoy harmony, to maintain its hjgh reptation and to endure, the
auperior was in an unenviable position. On the one hand lhe confrères
were disgruntled, and as Father Sonlerin writem, "1 was attaeked as if 1
was ~he only cause a€ our protrac~ed stay in the Palace where we am
to be something but cen do nothing."(18) On the other hand the edifyjng
41" Ibbi., p. 2.
'14) Ibid., Novcmber 21, 1853, p. 2.
(1" Rev. P. Molony, Letter to Reu. P. Tvu&ill~. Septembw 19, 1853, p. 3.
(18) Rev. J. Soulerin, Letter 10 Rm. P. Tourvieille, November 21, 1853, p. 1. Meôara.
Rooner aud Keleher were eondueting rlaaaes. aupplementing the Easilians.
ilTl Ibid.. Jan- 2, 1854, p. 1.
Ibid., November 0, 1854, p. 3.
- 17 -