BURMA
82
BURMA
evangelizing went on vigorously. The first diocesan
synod was held in Burlington, 4 and 5 October, 1S55,
at which nine priests attended. On 17 July, 1890,
Bishop De Goesbriand celebrated the golden jubilee
of his ordination and in 1S92 he asked for a coadju-
tor. The choice fell on the Rev. John Stephen Mi-
dland, then pastor at Bennington, the son of an Irish
mother and a Canadian lather and born at Bur-
lington, 24 November, 1843. He made his studies at
St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, New York, and was
ordained priest, 7 June, 1873. He was consecrated
titular Bishop of Modra and coadjutor of Burlington,
29 June, 1892. Bishop De Goesbriand retired to live
in the Orphan Asylum at Burlington and died 3 No-
vember, 1899, the dean of the American hierarchy.
Bishop Michaud immediately succeeded to the see.
Bishop De Goesbriand was one of the prelates who
attended the Vatican Council in 1S69.
The religious communities now represented in the diocese are the Fathers of Saint Edniond (C. S. E.), the Brothers of St. Gabriel, Sisters of Charity of Providence, Sisters of the Holy Cross and of the Seven Dolours, Sisters of the Holy Ghost, Ladies of St. Joseph, Sisters of St. Joseph, Hospital Sisters of St. Joseph. Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of the Congre- gation ot Notre Dame, of the Presentation, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and of the Assumption. There arc in the diocese 99 priests, SS secular, 1 1 regular; 9.5 churches, TO with resident pastors, and 27 missions with churches; 20 stations; 275 women in religious communities; 15 ecclesiastical students in the diocesan seminary; 3 academies for boys, 9 for girls; 21 parish schools with 6096 pupils; 2 orphanage schools with 260 pupils, 220 orphans in the diocesan asylum; 2 colleges for boys; 2 hospitals; Catholic population estimated 7.5.9.53; children under Catholic care 6175. The hospital at Winooski Park is named after Fanny Allen, daughter of General Ethan Allen of Revolu- tionary fame, and the first woman of New England birth to become a nun. (See Allen, Frances.)
De Goesbriand, Catholic Memoirs of Vermont and New Hampshire (Burlington, Vt.. INSie; Mien u-i> in History of the Vath. Ch. in the New Ennhirul States (Bo.-ton, 1S99), II; Shea, Hist, of Call,, i I, >; I . .S. (New York, 1904); Reuss, Biog. Cycl. of the Cath. Hierarchy of U. S. (Milwaukee, 1898); Catholic Directory, 1907.
Thomas F. Meehan.
Burma. — Before its annexation by the British Burma consisted of the kingdoms of Ava and Pegu. In 1548 St. Francis Xavier petitioned Father Rod- riguez for missionaries to go to Pegu, but nothing is known as to the outcome of his request. In 1699 the Vicar Apostolic of Siam and the Bishop of Melia- pur had a dispute concerning the jurisdiction over Pegu, and Cardinal de Tournon, Legaltts a latere, decided against the vicar Apostolic. The actual work of evangelizing Ava and Pesru did not begin until the pontificate of Innocent XIII, who, in 1722, sent Father Sigismond de Calchi, a Barnabite, and Father Vittoni, of the same order, to Burma. After many trials and tribulations they succeeded in ob- taining permission to preach with full liberty the Gospel of Christ. In 1711 Benedict XIV definitely established the mission, appointing Father Galizia vicar Apostolic, and placing the Barnabites in charge of the work; bul in the wars which distracted those regions during the eighteenth century the last two member ol the order who had remained in the coun- try were killed. The Barnabites having given up the mission, Pius \ 111 sent Monsignor Frederic Can, a member of the Congregation of I 'ions Schools, and titular Bishopol Zama (ls.Iune. 1830). Gregory XVI placed the mission under the Oblates of Pinerolo, Italy, l>> appointing (5 July, 1842) Monsignor Gio- vanni Ceretti, s member of this institute, and titular Bishop of Adrianople, as firs! vicar Apostolic. About this .late (1845) tin- Catholics of the two kingdom numbered 2500. In IMS Monsignor John Balma
succeeded as vicar Apostolic (5 September, 1848)
but the war with the British rendered his labours
ineffectual, and the mission was abandoned about
1852.
The British had in reality begun to assume control of Burma in 1824, but it was not until 20 December, 1852, that the East India Company, after a bloody war, annexed the entire kingdom of Pegu, a territory as large as England. Many years later the kingdom of Ava was also taken by the British, and with the conquest of Rangoon the whole of Burma came into the possession of Great Britain. The Oblates of Pinerolo having withdrawn from the mission, the vicariate was placed, in 1855, under the control of the Vicar Apostolic of Siam. At this date the king- doms of Ava and Pegu contained 11 priests and 5320 Catholics.
Burma is bounded on the east by China and Siam, on the west by Assam and Bengal. Its area is ap- proximately 171,430 square miles, while that of Great Britain and Ireland is 120,947 square miles. Notwithstanding this large extent of territory, Burma has a population of only 8,000,000 inhabitants. For some ten years the mission remained under the ad- ministration of the Vicar Apostolic of Siam; but such a condition could not be indefinitely prolonged with- out compromising its future. A decree of Propa- ganda (27 November, 1S66) accordingly divided Burma into three vicariates, named respectively, with reference to their geographical positions, North- ern, Southern, and Eastern Burma. The boundaries then fixed were abrogated (28 June, 1S70) by another decree of Propaganda, which constituted these three vicariates as they now are.
Northern Burma. — This vicariate, which has been entrusted to the Missions Etrangeres of Paris, is bounded on the north by the Chinese province of Yun-nan, on the east by the River Salwen, on the south by Karenni and Lower Burma, and on the west by Manipur, the Garo Hills, and the independent territories of Tipperah and Assam. In a population of 3,500,000 there are 7248 Catholics, whose spir- itual needs are served by 22 European clergy of the Missions Etrangeres of Paris and 3 native priests, with 47 churches or chapels. The vicariate also possesses 18 schools with 754 children, a seminary with 22 students, 2 boarding-schools with 160 pupils, and 6 orphanages with 315 orphans. This is the most considerable of the Burman vicariates, being equal. in importance to the other two combined. The resi- dence of the vicar Apostolic is at Mandalay. The stations having one chapel and a resident missionary are Pyinmana, Yamethin. Magyidaw. Chanthagon, Myokine, Chaung-u, Nabet, Shwebo, Chanthaywa, Monlila, Bhano, and Maymyo. At Mandalay there are, besides the cathedral, the Tamil church of St. Xavier, a Chinese church, and that of St. John's Asylum. The language commonly used in this vi- cariate is Burmese, but residents ordinarily employ their respective native tongues, which accounts for the ( ihinese church at Mandalay. This city of 1SS.000 inhabitants is a bustling centre of traffic between Lower Burma and the Province of Yun-nan; hence the large Chinese element in the population.
Eastern Burma, — This vicariate is entrusted to the Milan Seminary of Foreign Missions. Its bound- aries, determined by decree of 26 August, 18S9, are: On the north, the Chinese Province of Yun-nan; on the east, the Mekong, the subsequent course of which bounds Cambodia and Arm am ; on the south, Karenni and Shan; on the west, the River Salween and part
oi the course of the Sittang. The vicariate is made
Up of two quite distinct portions connected almost at right angles by a somewhat narrow strip of terri- tory. The first of these portions comprises Toungoo and the regions lying between the Sittang and the Sahvet i) as far as 20 north latitude; from this paral-
