ROMAN CATHOLIC COLLEGES.

Maryland has been the cradle of the Roman Catholic Church in America, as
well as of the Methodist and the Presbyterian. The centenary of the
consecration of John Carroll, as the first Roman Catholic bishop in the
United States, occurred little more than a year ago. A few months after
Bishop Carroll's consecration, he received from the Superior of the
Order of St. Sulpice an offer to found a seminary in Baltimore for the
education of priests. This offer was accepted and, on July 10, 1791,
four Sulpician priests arrived in Baltimore. They soon bought a house
known as "One Mile Tavern" with four acres of land and there they opened
_St. Mary's Seminary_, on the first Sunday in October, 1791. The
Seminary still occupies the same site, at the corner of Paca and St.
Mary's Streets. The number of the candidates for the priesthood, who
entered the Seminary, was disappointing from its smallness and, in order
to procure clerics, an Academy was opened in the rooms of the Seminary,
on August 20, 1799. This was presided over by Rev. Wm. Du Bourg, and
proved so successful, as to demand a separate building. Accordingly, the
corner-stone of St. Mary's College was laid on April 10, 1800. At Bishop
Carroll's request, no American boys were admitted for a time and only
Spaniards and French were received. In 1803, however, the College was
opened to all day scholars or boarders, without reference to birth or
religion. This step roused some opposition and many communications upon
the subject appeared in the newspapers, which were afterwards collected
in pamphlet form.

The students soon became numerous and the institution grew to such an
extent that, in January, 1805, it was chartered as St. Mary's