SAINT GEORGE'S
351
SAINT HYACINTHE
needy prince was unable to assure a sufficient endow-
ment for the support of his knights, and the pope
gave him permission to transfer to the new order the
property of a commandery of St. John and a Bene-
dictine abbey in the town of Milestadt, to which the
emperor added some parishes in his patronage.
Nevertheless the knights had to rely for support on
their personal possessions, therefore they did not
make a vow of poverty, but simply of obedience and
chastity, and, owing to this lack of resources, the or-
der did not survive its founder. It was succeeded by a
secular Confraternity of St. George founded under the
Emperor Maximilian I with the approbation of Alex-
ander VI in 1494, which likewise disappeared, in the
disturbances of the sixteenth century.
Acta .S.S'., April, III, 100-63; de la Fcente, Hist. eel. de Espana, IV (Madrid, 1874), 109; Biele.vfeld. Gesch. und Ver-
faaauny filler fiitterorden (Weimar, 1841).
Ch. Moeller.
Saint George's, Diocese of (Sancti Georgii), Newfoundland. Beginning at Garnish it takes in the western portion of the south coast and then stretches along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, north- wards, almost as far as the Straits of Belle Isle, lying between 55° 20' and 59° 30' west longitude and be- tween 47° 30' and 51° 20' north lati- tude. Until 1892 the diocese was practically con- fined to the his- toric French shore, so long the bone of contention between politi- cians, and repeat- edly the subject of international conferences. In consequence of the provisions of An- glo-French trea- ties, any attempt to establish permanent settlement on the coast was for along time discountenanced; but the lucrative herring fishery encouraged adventurers to ignore the treaties, and by 1850 a population of about 2000 had pitched their log cabins in its land-locked bays, beyond the reach of civilization and civil authority. Until 1850 there was no resident Catholic priest on the coast. Religious con.solation the people had not. except when the chaplain of the French warship paid a visit, at long intervals. Dr. Mullock of St. John's visited the coast in 1848, and again in 1852. On 7 Sept., 1850, the first resident priest arrived, Rev. Alexandre Bclanger (d. 7 Sept., 1868). Owing to the difficulty of travelling, his missionary activities were confined to St. George's Bay. He visited the Bay of Islands in 1863 and again in 1868. Mgr Sears in his report to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith informs us that the hardships attending the latter visit ended the career of the heroic Frenchman. On 2 November, 1868, the real apostle and social reformer of this unknown wilderness arrived in the person of the Rev. Thomas Sears of the Antigonish diocese. Enthusiastic and practical, he recognized the resources and the possibilities of the West, and pleaded the claims of the Coast so successfully with the Insular Government, that a mail steamer was de- spatched in May, 1872. In 1878 the magistracy and the police were established. In 1870 the terri- tory was erected into a prefecture, and in 1871 Father Sears was nominated prefect Apostolic; in 1881 he received the dignity of domestic prelate. During the seventeen years of his apostolate, churches presby-
MoNsiGNOR Thomas Sear.s
teries, and schools were l)uilt, but the hardships,
then inseparable from missionary adventures on the
coast, shattered his constitution, never very rugged,
and he died 7 Nov., 1885. He was succeeded by
Dr. M. F. Howley. In 1892 the prefecture was
elevated to the rank of vicariate and Dr. Howley
became titular Bishop of Amastrio. At the same
time the extensive district of P^ortune Bay was
placed under his jurisdiction. In 1893 he introduced
a new foundation of Sisters of Mercy for which the
diocese is indebted to the generosity of a wealthy
convert, Mrs. Henrietta Brownell of Bristol, Rhode
Island. He was transferred to St. John's (25 Dec,
1894) and on 20 Oct., 1895, his successor. Dr. McNeil,
was consecrated at Antigonish. A period of great
material progress followed the completion of the
transinsular railway. In 1904 the vicariate was made
a diocese and he became its first bishop. He w^as
trarisferred to the See of Vancouver in Feb., 1910,
and was succeeded by Rt. Rev. M. F. Power, whose
con.secrat ion took place 25 July, 1911. The diocese
has 10 priests; 36 churches and chapels; 2 convents;
51 schools attended by 1659 pupils; a population of
about 11,000. M. G. Sears.
Saint Hippolytus. See Sankt Polten, Diocese
OF.
Saint Hyacinthe, Diocese of (Sancti Hya- ciNTHi), in the Province of Quebec, suflfragan of Mont- real. In answer to a petition from the Fathers of the First Council of Quebec to the Holy See, portions of the Dioceses of Montreal and Quebec were formed into a separate bi.shopric by a papal Bull dated 8 June, 1852. At first the new dioce.se was hmited to the south side of the Rich(!lieu River, and contained the greater jjortion of the Eastern Townshijxs, a tract of land granted in the latter part of the eighteenth century to the American Loyalists, but now a part of the Sherbrooke Diocese. Later three pari.shes on the north side of the Richelieu River were annexed. To-<lay the diocese embraces the counties of Bagot, Iberville, Missisquoi, Richelieu, Rouville, Saint Hyacinthe, and a part of the counties of Brome (2 parishes), Shefford (9 parishes), and Vercheres (3 parishes).
St. Hyacinthe, the titular city, is a typical French Canadian industrial town; it stands on the banks of the Yamaska, thirty-five miles from Mont- real, and has a population of 10,000. Right Rev. J. C. Prince, Coadjutor Bishop of Montreal, was the first Bishop of St. Hyacinthe. Bishop Prince took possession on 3 November, 1852, and from the out- set encountered great difficulties. The old seminary building was turned into a cathedral and residence; unfortunately, it was burned in May, 1854. The bishop built a new residence as well as a chapel- cathedral. Bishop Prince showed untiring activity, founding twenty new parishes, establi.shing several missions, and in 1853 introducing from France the Sisters of the Presentation. He died on 5 May, 1860, at the age of fifty-six.
By papal Decree dated 22 June of the same year, Right Rev. Joseph La Rocque, titular Bishop of Cydo- nia, and Coadjutor of Montreal, the second bishop, was appointed. P>om November, 1856, to July, 1857, he had administered the diocese during the prolonged illness of Bishop Prince, but now, overwhelmed by the responsibility forced on him, and suffering from a series of maladies, he petitioned the Holy See to be reheved of this burden. His request was granted on 17 August, 1865. As titular Bishop of Germanic- opolis and vicar-general, he remained in his dio- cese, at the monasterj' of the Sisters of the Precious Blood (a community which honoured him as its founder), until his death on 18 November, 1887, at the age of seventy-nine.
The vacancy was filled on 20 March, 1866, by the
