he and Father Geoghegan blessed the stone, and proceeded with the necessary formalities. A prayer was offered, and in the usual cavity was placed a hermetically-sealed bottle, containing several gold and silver coins, and a parchment scroll, bearing two inscriptions in Latin and English, viz. :— Ecclesicz Sancto Francisco dicatce Lapidem primarium, PATRITIUS B O N A V E N T U R A G E O G H E G A N ,
Presbyter Hibernus, O.S.F, Primus Qui in Australia Fetici Sacrum fecit, Fosuit. Die IV., Octobris, anno Recuperat,c Salutis, MDCCCXLI. Gregorio X V I , Pontifice Maximo. Joanne Beda Pohlding, Episcopo Ecclesia:, Australasia: Vicario Apostolico. Victoria felicissime Regnante. Georgio Gipps, Equile, Vicem Regiam Gerente. Carolo fosepho Latrobe, Provincice P?-a:feclo. Samuele Jackson, Architecto.
PATRICK B O N A V E N T U R A G E O G H E G A N , A n Irish Priest, O . S . F , the first w h o offered the Sacrifice in Australia Felix, Laid the foundation stone of S T . F R A N C I S ' C H U R C H , on the 4th of October 1841. In the Pontificate of His Holiness Gregory X V I . J o i n B E D E P O H L D I N G , B I S H O P , being the Vicar Apostolic of the Church of Australasia. In the happy reign of Q U E E N V I C T O R I A . SIR G E O R G E GIPPS,
Governor of the Province. C H A R L E S JOSEPH
LATROBE,
Superintendent of the Province. S A M U E L JACKSON,
Architect.
The stone was next laid, and after the ceremony the assemblage retired to the temporary church, when Father Geoghegan preached an impressive sermon, taking as his text the 8th, 9th, and ioth verses of 2nd chapter of the Prophecy of Aggeus : " A n d the desired of all nations shall come, and I willfillthis house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. T h e silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts. Great shall be the glory of this last house more than of thefirst,saith the Lord of Hosts, and in this place I will give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." T h e building fund was considerably augmented by the day's ceremony. So far, there was an auspicious beginning, but on the workmen coming next morning, it was discovered that during the night some of the Melbourne thieves, " not having the fear of G o d before their eyes, and instigated by the devil," had displaced the upper stone, opened the bottle, and stolen the specie. It was not often Father Geoghegan was bested, but for once the knaves had got to windward of him. This outrage was never repeated at the inception of any other public building, because a watchman was placed on guard until the stones were effectually secured from pillage; or, as was more than once the case, the practice of burying coins was discontinued. Ere the end of the year the Rev. M r . Ryan was called away. In December the Rev. M r . M'Guinness arrived, and in the early part of 1842, the Rev. Mr. Geoghegan proceeded to Sydney, and was absent for several months. H e was relieved by the Rev. M . Stevens, w h o was detached to Geelong on the return of Mr. Geoghegan. Meanwhile the building of the new church proceeded, its progression measured by the intermittent ratio in which the all-needed money supplies came in. In 1843, t h e Rev. Daniel M'Evey, a young clergyman of exceptional ability, arrived from Dublin, and on the 17th March (St. Patrick's D a y ) High Mass was solemnised for thefirsttime in Port Phillip. Father M'Evey was the celebrant, with the Rev. Messrs. Geoghegan and Stevens as Deacon and sub-Deacon. T h e singing was very effective, as several gentlemen, members of the Philharmonic Club, volunteered their services as an amateur choir, and acquitted themselves creditably. T h e St. Patrick's Society, in keeping up their National Anniversary by a procession, attended the church, and their banners of green and gold unfurled over the crowded congregation, were picturesquely suggestive of a green isle far away, which, though abandoned by
