'So I understood it,'
was my reply; 'and as a [private] person I felt no inclination to
defend my character, but as a priest I felt it to be my duty; and in
this regard your Holiness has done all that I have desired.' 'But you
intend to remain,' he inquired, 'together in community?' 'Most
assuredly, your Holiness; our intention is to live and work as we
have hitherto done. But there are many [spiritual] privileges
attached to the work of the missions very necessary to their success,
and which we would gladly participate in.' 'Well, well,' he answered,
'organize, begin your work, and then demand them, and I will grant
them to you. The Americans, however, are very much engrossed in
material pursuits.' 'True, Holy Father,' I replied, 'but the faith is
there. We five missionaries are Americans, and were like the others,
but you see the grace of God has withdrawn us from these things and
moved us to consecrate ourselves wholly to God and His Church, and we
hope it will do the same for many of our countrymen. And once our
countrymen are Catholics, we hope they will do great things for God's
Church and His glory, for they have enthusiasm.' 'Yes, yes,' he
rejoined, 'it would be a great consolation to me.' I asked him if he
would grant me a plenary indulgence for my brethren and my friends in
the United States. 'Well,' he said, 'but I must have a rescript.' 'I
have one with me which perhaps will do,' I answered. Looking over it,
he made some alterations and signed it. I knelt down at his feet and
begged him to give me a large blessing before my departure, in order
that I might become a great missionary in the United States--which he
gave me most cordially, and I retired.

"His manner was very affectionate, and in the course of the
conversation he called me _'caro mio'_ and _'figlio mio'_ several
times. We could not desire to leave a more favorable impression than
exists here in regard to us and our part in the recent transaction,
and we have the sympathy of the Pope and the Propaganda. Rome will
withhold nothing from us if we prove worthy of its confidence, and
will hail our success with true joy. I look upon this settlement of
our difficulties as the work of Divine Providence, and my prayer is
that it may make me humble, modest, and renew my desire to consecrate
myself wholly to God's designs."

He writes to the Fathers, March 27: "The seven months passed here in
Rome seem to me an age; and have taxed me to that extent that I