University of South Carolina Libraries
?Sfe-r-J.: . ??---sr- '?f^1*?"1!!!!!1- - '. ? ' peril of life to the invalid and weak. Af the ila wes spread from house to house, you could helrold, through lone viet' s^f the lurid empire of flames and gloom, the miserable. tenants of the once pearn !ul home isrv-ilig forth in dismay, beading the chattels most uselu.l or precious and seeking es'?pe through the narrow chan? nels which the flames" lett them only in the centre of the streets. Fortunately, the streets of Columbia are Vtery widej and greatly pro? tected by umbrageous trees, t*c.t in regular order, and which, durieg the vernal season, confer upon tba city o:i<: of its most beautiful features. But for this width of its passages, thousands must have been burned to death. These fni.nilie.- moved in long procession, the aged ??fe or grund-sire first-? s;?d, worn and tot? tering man; walking steadily on, with rigid, s?ct features aud fearless eye:-too*m*Sch stricken, too much (stunned*, for ?ny prdiuary .--hows ol suffering, j Perhaps,'tho aged v. ?fe limite upor? ono erm, while the other was support?e by a daughter. 'Aid huddling close like le rr; ii. d partridges, came theyottirV. eacb brarnig-scu: . little bundk-all pressing forward under the lead of lb? sir<>. and h<: ewitleas where to gt>. The ascending ri r<> spo.Mts flamed befor#*th?m on ev^ry band-the shouts <>f the demonic* OMsniled t,hern at cv?iy step-the infernal furies danced . around 'hun a.- they went, piercing their e^irs wn^ (?en id thr< i.^sr.nd imprecations. The liule bandies were matched from the grosp nf their trembling bearers, tom Open, sacked, and what did not tempt the robber WHS hu bu into the contiguous (>:!.: of llamo. -'And group aber group, st.. cuni after stream, of fuci t\res thus pura'a.-d their way thVoUih the pallis ot Huming and i. >w:iu:r horror, only too glad to ding them .. I vi--, on the open ground, whit ber, in*spi.ases, they had sufeceeded in conveying a' fVather bed or uuittreas. Th?: mailt, or open s.juares, th? ??culrcs of the wi?* Streets, like hmpress stied, w?rc thus strew r with piles of be<idirg. On which lay exhaust?, mothers-some xof them* with anxious pbyai cians iu attendance, and girdJed by crouching .children, and iiifants. wild ami almost i'diotii with their tenors, in one ense, us we hav, mentioned, a woman about to beeouie a motbei "Waa thus borne out fjjom. a burning dwelling it wu? scarcely possible to advise in wide} 'direction to fly. The churches were at firs ?ought by many several D' reams of population But these wer.- found I" afford no security Tbith?' the hellish perseverance of tba fiend iBlowcd them, aid the churches of God wei? set ??u 'lame- Again driven forth, number made th?:.- wa\ into the recesses of Sidne Park, und here fancied to hud security, as bu ft>tv houses occupied the neighborhood, am thesV nat sufficiently high t<> lead to appreh*n alon from the t?nmes But the. ingenuity o hat*, und malice was not to lie battled, and An? bali::* thrown trom thc heights into the deepes hollow.- id Hie park, taught the wretched fugi ti ve* to despair of any refuge from enemies < ?uch "unwi sri cd and unremitting rage. Agai . IIIMIMIIB Uli ?????lliqi t^_fE.lill IMBI!. \r. wcret iiey (forc?d to scatter, finding their wny to oilier places of retreat, and finding none of theffl secure. * ? . Axrr. One of- these niournfuLjprocessions"of fugi? tives, was that of ike sisterhood of thifcanvent, the nuns and their pupils. -Beguiled to the last moment ty the specious promises and assur? ances of oncers aud others in Sherman's army, the Mothcr^Superior had clung to her house to the.hist possible moment. It waa not merely a hom?', out in some degree a temple, and, to the pi ofessors of one church at least, a shrine, lt hud been chosen, as we have seen, as the place of refuge for ninny of oilier churches. We have already assigned the reasons which led all parties lo believe that it was particularly safe as a retient. Much treasure had been lodged iii ir. for safekeeping, and thc Convent hud' a consider:!I>le treasTtre of ita owf:. \\ was lib?" rah y ami largely farnislfei, not orfly Sis a do? main, bite as un academy of thc highest stan? dard. lt was complete in al! the agencies and mat arisl for such an academy and for the he couimodatioti of perhaps two hundred pupils. 'Among those agencies for education weie ne less than seventeen pianos. . The harp, the i;ui. t ar, th?globe, lite maps, .le-ks, benches, bedding and' ?ilot?iii.g, v.rf-re all supplied' on a seale o: equal sin pl itude. Thc establishment also pos? sesed Umie fine, pictures, original aud from lh< first musters. The removal of. these \?as lin possible, abd henea, Uie reluctaucefk>f the Mo t ?1er Superior to leave her house wa? sufficiently natural. Assured? besides of safety, she re maiued until further delay would have perille? the safety of her innocent and^ numerous iloek This lady marshalled her procession'wi th gt ea good sense, coolness and decision. They wen instructed to secure the clothes most suitable ti their protection- from the weather, ami to tah with, tii.i-iii".'those valuables vvhicn were port able; raid, accompanied by the kev. IX*! O'Con nell, by iMr. Jacob Cohen-who w?s especial Ij efliaienl in their service-and others, ihe dam sels tiled on, under the lead of theil Supermi throtsgh l?>ng tracts of fire, burling roo ls, nita blingvwu!ls, wading through billows ol i?uint and taking, at fittt, the pathway to S:. I'oti-.r (Catholic) Church, blinding fires left thei utmost aimless in their marcie but they sa. ctfcdediii ranching the desired" point in .-?feij Herc, on strips of bedding*quilts and coverlet: the young ?iris found repose, protected by th vigilance ul a few gentlemen, their pries;. Mi Cohen, and we believe by two officers of th vYunkee arcar, whose names are given as Co thorley and ?>ra Gurlughau. To these gentlemen both Catholic Irish, the Mother >upetjjor ai knowledges her grjat indebtedness. They ha need of all the watch and vigilance of thee persons. It was soon found that the fieojls ha followed them io, their flight, like sleutl hounds, and were making' attempts to fire th edifice on several sides. These attempts, r< peatodly baffled and as often renewed, showe at length so tenacious a purpose for its dq^m " '""-' - _ * , ; ? tion, that it was. thought bert to Heave the building and seek refuge in the church-yard, i and there, in the cold and chill, mid among thc grave-stones with the dead, these terrified liv : inj; ones, denied to rest, remained,trent blink watchers through the rest, of this dreary nicht. XXUT. Weetah* leave l*ere. to borrow freely from a i communication made by the Rev. Lawrence P. [O'Connell to the Catholic* Pacificator. He so ! fully reports the fate of St. Mary's College-that I nothing ueed be added to it. V?c have sim ply I abridged such portions of his statement as might be dispensed with in this connection: j "St. Mary's College, founded *.? 1852 by the : Rev. J. J. O'Connell, pastor of the Catnolics in ? Columbia, was robbed, pillaged and then given ; to the flames. The College was a very fine brick building, and capable of accommodating over One hundred students. It had an excellent library attached, whicli was selected with great care, and with no limited Tiew to expeuse. It also possessed several magnificent paintings executed in Rome, and presented to the institu tion by kind patrons. Resides the*property be longing to St. Mary's College, that of fout priests, who were ?ts professors and lived there I'was also consumed. Each, as is always tb. j case araengst the Catholic clergy, had his indi vidual collection of books, paintings, statuary sacred pictures, ?fcc. Nobody who is not i rigorous student and a lover of literature cat possibly realize the losses sustained by thes gentlemen. Manuscripts of rare value, not? taken front lectures of the most eminent mei in Europe and America, orations, sermons, ?cc j are treasures not often valued by the vulgat j but \to the compiler they are more priceles ?than diamonds. Of those who'lost ail ia St j Murk's, three are brothers, viz: Revs. Jer?mial I J. O'Connell, Lawrence P. O'Connell and ?Iosep! I P. 0 Connell, D. H.; and the other, Rev. Aug?i {lus J. McNeal." ; The Post Chaplain, the author of the repos . froin which we draw?, was the only eler?ymaj in the College when it wat destroyed. He wi made a prisoner, and, though pleading to t allowed to .-?ave the holy oils, <fcc., his pray? ,was rejected with hlaspliemuts and curses, sacrilegious squad drunk tlrwr whiskey fro t he sacred chalice. The-sacred vestments an consecrated vessels used for the celebration the mass-all things, indeed, pertaining to tl ? xereise of sacerdotal functions-were pi ?faned and stolen. Of the College itself, ai ! the property whiC it contained, nothing w ! saved but the ma- ..d nun*, whiett show whe tho fabric t?ood. The . hjrgynlen saved nothi beyond the1 garments wbieh% they had up their persons. ? XXIV. ' '1-r*? The destruction of private libraries and } luable collections of objects of art and vir was very large tn Columbia. It waa hy t argent entreaties of the Rev. Mr. Porter, I professors aud others, that the safety of < South Carolina College library was assur