Page 199 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

I78 BROTHER RYKEN RESIGNS
munity at Bruges to whom this rosy future was a mirage.
What they driaded was the forced dissolution of the
Congregation. Where their leader saw a glorious future,
they-sensed disaster. Three key men, Brothers Alphonse,
Alexius, and Peter, all good men with no axe to grind
and no desire for power, decided to appeal to Bishop
Malou. They honestly believed that the Congregation
could not survive if Brother Ryken were to remain at
the helm. The Ryken insistence on "standing four-
square for one's rights" frightened them as did the
Founder's eagerness to chance this and attemPt that' All
three were ultra conservatives while Brother Ryken was
never satisfied to leave well enough alone.
Brother Alphonse was forty-six. He had pioneered
at Bury in 1848 and had been recalled to Bruges in 1849
to lead a group to America. For some unrecorded reason
the foundation was never attempted. In 1859 he was
Vicar to the Founder and treasurer of the community.
The financial condition in Bruges wdrried him. The
outstanding debts amounted to 65,236 francs, and of
this 50,500 francs were due the Dujardin Bank: 30,000
on a loan negotiated July 31, 1841, for the purchase of
"Het Walletje." The accumulated interest at 4r/2/o now
reached 20,500 francs.
Brother Alexius and Brother Peter were in their mid-
thirties. The former had pioneered at Bury and at
Manchester, having been brought back to Bruges when
his health gave way. The "cold-sheet" treatment had
done wonders for him, and for some years he had been
actively engaged in teaching at the School of Our Lady
in Nieuwstraat. Brother Peter had been in Louisville
from 1854 to 1858. Since his return he had also been
teaching at the School of Our Lady. The Brothers as-
signed to the School of Our Lady tived there and visited