FRENCH
275
FRENCH
proving himself a worthy successor to Bishop de Goes-
briand. Among the living there are scores of others
who liave been true pioneers of the Faith, and to
whom is due great credit for having so well organized
a new and loyal membership of the Church in the
United States. Recently one of their number has
been elevated to the See of Manchester, New Hamp-
shire, in the person of the Right Rev. George Albert
Guertin, consecrated 19 March, 1907.
The religious orders of men and women have been worthy co-labourers with the priests in the building-up of parishes. To them have been entrusted the educa- tion of children and the care of the sick and orphans. This mission has been especially well fulfilled in the French American parishes, where the convent of the Bisters and the school of the brothers are the necessary complements of the church itself. One does not go without the other, and as a rule the school is built before the church and is used for a church also. The number of members in the different religious commu- nities of women is given in the accompanying table.
Rhode Island and Massachusetts; the P6res Maristes
in Massachusetts.
The French Americans have 133 parochial schools, m which 54,9,s:! children receive Christian education.
Catholic rARocHi.\L Schools in New England
Female Religious in New England
Total in AH In French
Diocese Communities Communities
Boston 1567 200
Burlington 268 115
Fall River 322 254
Hartford 1115 219
Manchester 435 300
Portland 482 355
Providence 551 222
Springfield 792 320
Totals 5532 1985
These 1985 women are distributed in 30 different or-
ders, bearing the following names: Congregation de
Notre-Dame de Montreal, Filles de Marie (France),
Soeurs de Ste-Croix de Montreal, Soeurs de la Provi-
dence de Montreal, Soeurs de la Presentation de Marie
de St-Hyacinthe, Soeurs de Ste-Anne de Lachine,
Soeurs Crises de Montreal, Soeurs de la Merci, Soem-s
Crises d'Ottawa, Soeurs de I'Assomption, Soeurs du
Bon Pasteur de Quebec, Sceurs Dominicaines, Soeurs
Franciscaines Missionaires de Marie, Sceurs Crises de
St-Hyacinthe, Soeurs de J^sus-Marie de Sillery, Ur-
sulines des Trois Rivieres, Congregation Notre-Dame
(Villa Maria), Sceurs de la Sainte Union des Sacr^s-
Cceurs, Sceurs du Saint-Esprit, Sceurs du Saint-
Rosaire, Filles de la Sagesse, Petites Soeurs des
Pauvres, Soeurs de St-Joseph (Le Puy), Soeurs du
Sacre-Cceur, Soeurs de St-Joseph (Chamb^ry), Soeurs
Servantes du Coeur ImmacuM de Marie, les Fideles
Compagnes de J^sus, Sceurs du Bon Pasteur (.\ngers),
Petites Sceurs Franciscaines de Marie (Malbaie),
Dames de Sion. The most important of these are:
the Sceurs de Ste-Croix, with 18 convents and 149
members; Soeurs Crises, with 17 convents and 268
members; Soeurs de la Presentation de Marie, with 16
convents and 193 members; Sceurs de J^sus-Marie,
with 19 convents and 171 members.
There are a few communities of brothers: Freres de la Charite de St-Vincent de Paul, 27 members; Freres Mari.stes d'Iberville, 47; Freres de St-Gabriel, 7; Freres des Ecoles ChrC'tiennes, 7; Freres du Sacr^- Coeur, 31 — making a total of 119 members. Be- sides these orders entirely devoted to education, the regular clergy has been given charge of a number of parishes which stand to-day among the most numer- ous and flourishing. For instance, the Dominican Order has two parishes, Ste-Anne, at Fall River, Massachusetts, and St-Pierre, at Lewiston, Maine. The Oblates are established at Lowell, Mass., and Plattsburg, N. Y.; the Peres de la Salette, in Connec- ticut and Massachusetts; the Peres du Sacre-Coeur, in
Diocese
Total
Schools
French
Schools
Total
Pupils
Pupils in
French
Schools
Boston
Burlington
Fall River
Hartford
Manchester
Portland
Providence
Springfield
76
21
21
69
36
23
26
55
15
17
14
10
19
13
14
31
48,192
5,951
9,300
30,275
12,800
9,138
16,000
22,780
7,263
4,009
6,171
3,508
8,833
6,073
7,414
11,712
Totals
327
133
154,436
54,983
To these must be added the secondary (high-school
and university academic courses) college established
by the Peres de I'Assomption from France, at Worces-
ter, Massachusetts, in 1904, and 14 small academies,
commercial colleges, and boartling schools in which
there are about 1000 pupils of both se.xes. In con-
nexion with the subject of higher education, it may be
well to remark that about 3500 French American
children attend annually the commercial and second-
ary colleges in different cities of Canada. French
religious orders, both of women and men, also have
charge of 2618 orphans in New England. French nuns
have charge of 1865 sick and aged adults, wayward
women, and working girls.
Besides their religious work, vast and praiseworthy as it is, the French Canadian immigrants have also displayed industry and activity in other walks of life, and in their closer relations with their fellow-citizens they have shown qualities and traits found only in the best of citizens. In other words they have stood well up to the standard in the body politic and in many ways have exercised over their surroundings an in- fluence for the general good of the community such as to fully justify, at least so far as it refers to them, the statement made by Vice-President Fairbanks, that in the American Nation " flows the richest blood that courses in the veins of all the peoples in all quarters of the globe. " In fifty years, they have built up a press that is not surpassed, from the Catholic point of view, by that of any other group of immigrants in the United States. That press is composed to-day of seven dailies — "LTndependant", of Fall River, Mass.; "L'Opinion Publique", of Worcester, Mass.; " L'E- toile", of Lowell, Mass.; "La Tribune", of Woon- socket, R.I.;" L'Avenir National", and " Le Reveil", of Manchester, N. H.; " L'Echo de la Presse", of New Bedford, Mass.; two papers issued every other day — " I^ Messager", of Lewiston, Maine; " LTmpartial", of Nashua, N. H.; one semi-weekly "Le Jean-Bap- tiste", of Pawtucket, R. I.; and the fifteen weeklies — "L'Union", of Woonsocket, R. I., official organ of L'Union St^Jean-Baptiste d'Amerique; "LeCanado- Am6ricain", of Manchester, N. H., official organ of L'A,s.sociation Canado-Americaine; "La Justice", of Biddeford, Maine; " La Justice", of Central Falls, R. I.; "La Justice", of Holyoke, Mass.; "L'Esta- fette", of Marlboro, Mass.; "Le Progres", of Lawrence, Mass.; "Le Courrier", of Lawrence, Ma.ss.; "Le Courrier de Salem", of Salem, Mass.; "L'Echo de I'Ouest", of Minneapolis, Minn.; " Le Courrier Franco-Americain", of Chicago, 111.; " L'ln- d^pendant" (weekly edition), of Fall River, Mass.; "L'lndependant", of Fitchburg, Mass.; "Le Pro- grds", of Woonsocket, R. I., and "Le Citoyen", of
