Page 164 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert
P. 164
Chapter 24
DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA
suALLy rHE, FouNprR oF THE XavnnreN Bnornrns
had so many irons in the fire that one more only
added to the excitement, but in the early months of
1854 with plans for Germany and America still uncertain
he could attempt no more. In February he notified the
Capuchins in North Wales that he was declining their
invitation to staft a secondary school in Holywell. He
explained that he had no Brothers qualified to teach
Latin and Greek, that it would be too expensive to hire
lay-teachers, and that he was under obligations to send
Brothers to Germany and America.
During the preliminaries incident to establishing the
school for the dea{ and dumb in Germany, everything
had gone serenely. And then had come tfre uncertain
hours. Brother Ryken complained to his friends that
no one to whom he wrote in Germany about the school
would answer. His predicament, he felt, was worse as
regarded America.
Finally, after waiting for a year, he did get word from
Bishop Spalding in March, 1854. His Excellenry wanted
to know on what date the Brothers would arrive in
Louisville.
Brother Ryken was embarrassed. He could not say
definitely on what date the Brothers would sail. He had
hoped to travel at little or no co$t on one of the ships
operated by a Dutch Catholic firm. This hope had
turned out to be the usual mirage that he encountered
in most things involving money. He explained to a
friend: "I wrote to the Compagnie Catholique d'Arma-