capacitated. The winter of 1872-3 was spent in the South without
notable improvement, and early in the following summer, acting upon
the advice of physicians, he went to Europe. "Look upon me as a dead
man," he said with tears as he bade the community farewell; "God is
trying me severely in soul and body, and I must have the courage to
suffer crucifixion." He also assured us that whatever action should
be taken in adopting the Constitutions, then under consideration, had
his hearty approval beforehand. He was accompanied to Europe by
Father Deshon, from whom he parted with deep emotion at Ragatz, a
health resort in Switzerland.

Father Hecker remained more than two years in Europe, trying every
change of climate and scene, and every other remedy advised by
physicians, and returned to New York in October, 1875, with
unimproved health. He had derived most benefit from a journey up the
Nile in the winter of 1873-4, and a short visit to the Holy Land in
the following spring. While in Europe his mind was busy, and he
managed to meet many of his old friends there, and formed new and
important acquaintances. In February, 1875, he published his
pamphlet, _An Exposition of the Church in View of the Present Needs
of the Age,_ which contains his estimate of the evils of our times,
especially in Europe, and the adequate remedy for them. On his return
to New York he was too weak to bear the routine of the house in
Fifty-ninth Street and lived with his brother George till the fall of
1879, when he removed to the convent, remaining with the community
till his death nine years afterwards.

As to the physical sufferings of those last sixteen years, they were
never such as to impair Father Hecker's mental soundness. He never
had softening of the brain, as the state of his nerves before going
to Europe seemed to indicate; nor had he heart disease, as was for a
time suspected. His mental powers were intact from first to last,
though his organs of speech were sometimes too slow for his thoughts.
His digestion had been impaired by excessive abstinence in early
manhood, dating back to a time before he was a Catholic, and his
nervous system, also, had been injured by that means, as well as by
the pressure of excessive work in later life. Gradual impoverishment
of the blood was the result, and the dropping down of nervous force,
till at last the body struck work altogether. Four or five years
before his death Father Hecker became subject to f