worthily held the position of President of the College, became Procurator with the understanding, however, that he should continue to teach Classics.
After an interval of two years during which the Rev. Joseph Ilsley had acted as Pro-Rector, he was definitely appointed President by Pius IX, in 1854, who also conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Theology. Moreover, in the Rescript by which his appointment was made, His Holiness laid down that, in future, the nomination of the President of the College should rest with the Holy See after consultation with the English Bishops, and furthermore declared that henceforward the Apostolic Nuncio for the time being resident in Lisbon should exercise the office of Protector of the College. Thus His Eminence Cardinal Camillus di Pietro, who had always manifested the most friendly dispositions towards the College, became the first Protector under the new Constitution.
On March 31, 1855, it pleased God to call to his reward the Rev. Thomas Hurst who, on the following day, Palm Sunday, was committed to his last resting place in the cemetery adjoining the college garden, near to his old friend and companion throughout life, Dr. Winstanley. Entering the College about the same time, 1778, thenceforward for well-nigh seventy years, they were inseparably associated during the course of their studies, and after their ordination to the priesthood. A bond of indissoluble friendship had united these two men, both of them remarkable for piety, and for their love for the College manifested in their unceasing efforts to promote its prosperity. For upwards of thirty years Father Hurst, either as Classical Professor, Prefect of the Academy during the period of the occupation of Lisbon by the French, or Procurator, had unstintedly given his service to the College, finding time also as we have seen to share with Dr. Winstanley his labours amongst the British troops. On resigning the office of Vice-President into the hands of Father Le Clerc in 1829, he had been appointed Confessarius, an office which he held until the
