PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

exiled priests of France, victims of the Revo- lution, would shortly take up their abode in the colony. \

In I 799 there arrived in the Island two French priests, namely: The Abbe de Ca- lonne, brother of the finance minister of Louis XVI, and Father Pichard, of the dio- cese of Orleans. The advent of these two priests was a great relief to Father Mac— Eachem, who was well-nigh worn out by the continuous labour of attending to so many distant and scattered settlements. To Father de Calonne was given the charge of the missions in and around Charlottetown, while Father Pichard tmdertook the care of those at Rustico, Malpeque and Fortune Bay. All the other missionary districts of the Island were attended to by Father Mac- Eachem. who, in addition to these, fre- quently visited the missions along the gulf shores of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. n

In 1803, Bishop Denant, of Quebec, un- der whose jurisdiction the Catholic people of the Island then were, paid a pastoral visit to this. portion of his large diocese. He visited Charlottetown, Tracadie and St. An- drew’s parishes, where he made such regula- tions as were best calculated to promote the religious welfare of the faithful, after which he visited Rustico and Malpeque. In these various centers he was visited by the faithful of the respective surrounding districts. A short time after this visit, the Fathers de Calonne and Pichard left the Island, the former going to France and the latter to Nova Scotia, so that Father MacEachem was again obliged to attend to the spiritual welfare of all the Catholic people through- out the Island. As the missions had grown considerably in number and importance it can easily be seen that the task undertaken

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by him was of a most onerous nature. How- ever, like a true hero of the Cross, he was not discouraged under these additional bur- dens. Following the instructions of his bishop, he began the construction of a church at St. Andrew’s in 1804, and by dint of labor succeeded in erecting a building which was very creditable to the time of which we are writing. In other parts of the Island his ac- tivity as a missionary was also much in evi- dence. Already in 1801 a small church had been built in Tignish, probably under the direction of the Abbe de Calonne, aftei: whose departure Father MacEachem visited this part of the Island and attended to the people. These first settlers of Tignish had moved from Malpeque, and after much toil and hardship succeeded in making comfort- able homes for themselves in their new sur- roundings.

In the eastern portion of the Island his efforts were assuming tangible form. At Naufrage a church was built in 1803 for the more immediate accommodation of the set- tlers when the missionary could visit them. These colonists, Scottish immigrants, had taken up land in that vicinity as early as 1772, and hitherto had to travel to the old church at Scotch Fort to attend Divine ser- vice. Under the direction of the priest, they set to work in order to have a church nearer their homes. He also undertook and-com- pleted the building of a small church at Rollo Bay for the accommodation of the Acadian families residing there. This work was be- gun in 1804, and the site of the old church is now marked by the older cemetery near the shore of the bay. Another church was built near East Point. This part of the col- ony had been practically settled for some years by Highland immigrants, and it was the earnest desire of Father MacEachem