St. Mary of Angels
was to be its designation, and on the foundation day, the "Aphrasia" steamer was chartered to convey from Melbourne to Geelong, a large Catholic contingent anxious to witness the interesting ceremonial. The band of the Father Matthew Society also went down on board, and about noon the steamer disembarked its living freight amidst torrents of rain, which, however, in no way quenched their enthusiasm. The Revs. Messrs. Geoghegan and Walshe officiated, and the stone was laid with the usual solemnity, Divine Service having been previously offered in a small weather-board shed in the vicinity. In the stone was enclosed the usual bottled scroll, with a Latin inscription thus translated : — The First Stone of the Church of ST. M A R Y O F A N G E L S , Laid on the 19th day of August, 1846, in the Pontificate of His H O L I N E S S G R E G O R Y XVf, Under the jurisdiction of J O H N B E U E , Lord Archbishop of Sydney, R I C H A R D W A L S H E , Parish Priest, in the happy reign of Q U E E N V I C T O R I A , S I R C H A R L E S A U G U S T U S F I T Z R O Y , Governor, His Honor C H A R L E S J O S E P H L A T R O B E ,
Superintendent, S A M U E L J A C K S O N , Architect.
Returning to the temporary chapel, the Rev. Mr. Geoghegan preached from Matthew 24th chapter and 14th verse. A collection was made in aid of the Building Fund, and the unprecedentedly large sum of ,£223 in cash was collected, the major part of which was owing to the liberality of visitors from Melbourne. FATHER THERRY. The Rev. Mr. Geoghegan resolved upon a trip to Britain, and, in September, the Rev. John Joseph Therry was sent from Sydney to act as locum tenens. 'Phis venerable minister became such an historical personage through his connection with the early convicts of N e w South Wales, that a few lines of digression respecting him, will not be deemed unpardonable : — H e was born in Cork in 1791, and, arriving in Sydney in 1820, commenced his missionary labours under a regime which imposed so many disabilities upon the exercise of the R o m a n Catholic religion as to amount practically to a penal code. In consequence of some religious difference with the Church of England chaplain (Rev. Mr. Marsden) Father Therry was not only reprimanded, but suspended by the Governor, so far as withdrawing all public sanction of his clerical status and stopping his salary, which, at a time when the number of free settlers was insignificant, meant almost everything. The brave priest, however, persevered, and was unconquerable ; so, after a kind of living martyrdom of twelve long years, justice was at length done him, and all interdiction removed. There was hardly ever in the world a more painstaking, self-denying, devoted preacher of the Gospel, and his labours on behalf of the wretched convict and emancipist classes in N e w South Wales were such as to become interwoven with the traditions of that colony, where his name is still a household word. A plain and unadorned narrative of his colonial career would reveal sensational situations unequalled in romance, and add further verification to the adage "that truth is stranger thanfiction."Such were his incessant labours, bush hardships, miraculous escapes in journeying, all seasons and weathers, through the wilderness, not to mention his extraordinary efforts to bring sinners to repentance ! Ex uno disce omnes—take the following, which I extract from Bonwick, a Protestant writer, in his interesting work on N e w South Wales, " Old Colonial Days." " Word was brought to Mr. Therry that a convict, sentenced to execution, desired to see him for confession. Many miles had to be traversed in haste, for the time was short, the season was late, the roads were unformed, the floods had come down, and bridgeless rivers had to be crossed. Coming, towards the close of day, to the side of a great raging torrent, which his horse was unable to enter, and on which no boat could live, the distressed priest shouted to a man on the other side for help, in the name of God, and of a dying soul. Getting a cord thrown over by means of a stone, he drew up a rope, tied it round his body, leaped into the stream, and was dragged through the dangerous passage by m e n on the shore. Without stopping for rest or change of clothing, the brave man mounted another horse, and arrived in time to whisper words of'peace and hope in the ear of the convict on the scaffold." During his stay in Melbourne, the missionary labours of this excellent man were incessant, and any one who could have seen him, as I
