Page 122 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

MISSION IN ENGLAND IOI

they could not stay but went to a hotel near the sta-
tion, called 'Victoria Station,' which had recently been
opened."
"Here they could not stay" may mean that they went
to St. Augustine's in the expectation of securing lodging
for the night. They could have gone there simply to
present themselves and their letter of introduction to
the Pastor of St. Augustine's, Rt. Rev. William Turner.
As Vicar Apostolic in a country where there had been
no recognized Catholic bishop since Penal Days, Rt. Rev.
William Turner was their immediate ecclesiastical su-
perior.
In 1848, England was still on a missionary status.
The last bishop of the old hierarchy had died in 1584.
In 1840, when the number of vicariates in England had
been raised from four to eight, Rt. Rev. William Turner
had been placed over the great metropolis of Manchester
and its environs, a district that contained a population
in excess of that of London.
The pioneer Xaverians atftacted many a startled eye
in London, in Manchester, and on the trains en route.
Brother lgnatius, who always treasured the ridiculous,
remembered one incident in particular. On the morn-
ing of their departure from Manchester for Bury, a
mystified railway porter, who had never seen greatcoats
similar.in design and styling to the ones these foreign-
ers were wearing, could not restrain his curiosity. He
had to ask, "Are you drapers?" Since they were bundled
up from head to toe, he knew they had to have some
special profession. Of course, none of the Brothers
knew whether "draper" was complimentary or not. They
hoped that it was and smiled.
The pioneering Redemptorists had a similar experi-
ence. The tailor in Liege, to whom they had enffulted
themselves, "produced a ridiculous compromise between