Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Posted on 11/01/2005 1:46:30 PM PST by Pyro7480
Poem penned by U.S. Founding Father discovered in English school
By Simon Caldwell
Catholic News Service
LONDON (CNS) -- A poem written by one of the U.S. Founding Fathers has been discovered in the archives of a Catholic high school in England.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, wrote the poem in Latin in 1754 when he was a student in his final year of high school in Saint-Omer, France.
It was found in the archives of Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe, England, by Maurice Whitehead, a professor at the University of Wales, Swansea, who is doing research at the Jesuit-run high school.
"This is a significant discovery," Jan Graffius, curator of the school's collections, announced Oct 28. "This previously unknown composition is bound to be of immense interest to American scholars."
The poem was composed to be read to an unnamed visiting dignitary to the Jesuit high school in Saint-Omer, and it bears Carroll's signature.
It is being translated by a group of seven 17- and 18-year-old Latin students at Stonyhurst and their classics teacher, Judith Parkinson.
Jonathan Hewat, Stonyhurst spokesman, told Catholic News Service Oct. 31 that the final translation of the poem was expected by Christmas.
He said Carroll had "recreated in poetic form" the martyrdom of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music.
The poem, he said, includes a dialogue between St. Cecilia and Almachius, the Roman prefect who ordered her to repudiate her faith.
Hewat said the poem ends with St. Cecilia proclaiming that she is willing to die for her beliefs.
Carroll was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1737, and was sent to Saint-Omer from 1748 to 1754 because anti-Catholic penal laws in the colonies had made it illegal for children to be educated in Catholic schools. He was accompanied by his cousin, John, who became a Jesuit priest, the first Catholic archbishop of Baltimore and founder of Georgetown University.
The high school in Saint-Omer was established by Jesuit Father Robert Persons in 1592 to educate children of English Catholic families who were forbidden to receive a religious education in their country.
Charles Carroll's grandfather had emigrated to the American colonies in 1688 to escape the renewed persecution of Catholics in England following the ousting of Catholic King James II. The persecution was extended to the British colonies, and the Carroll family faced the loss of their estates when, in 1755, a double land tax was imposed on all Catholics in Maryland.
In London, Charles Carroll lobbied Lord Baltimore, minister for the colonies, for the repeal of the laws, and in 1765 he returned to Maryland convinced that "America must become independent."
He supported armed resistance against Britain and on Aug. 2, 1776, became one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was elected to Congress the same day.
Whitehead also discovered in the Stonyhurst archives a book he believed was defaced by Carroll in 1751.
The student drew pipes and shoes on two muses in the engraving to the frontispiece of a book called "Casamir." He also scrawled his signature on the first page.
Catholic ping!
I used to live in Carroll County, MD
More fun than Caesar, Cicero and Virgil.
"A yonge ladee from fouth Carolina . . ."
That's interesting. I never knew about the double taxes on property of Catholics in Maryland. Nor did I know that they were forbidden to give their children a Catholic education. We have to fight hard to defeat the libs who want to destroy freedom of religion again.
I heard Paca Chased Carroll with a Stone.
VERY interesting.
imagine that..
Apaprently I am a descendent of his.
It will just lead to another clue and then another clue...
National Treasure? Only problem is Carroll wasn't a Mason.
lol :) It's a good movie, though.
Good for them! We need to restore the classics to the US education system.
Wow I'm looking forward to the translation, and hope they show a photo/scan of the original as well.
I attended Charles Carroll Junior High School for two years when I lived in New Carrollton, MD.
"Apparently I am a descendent of his.
10 posted on 11/01/2005 2:11:33 PM PST by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)"
That's funny. Hee hee. You have a refined sense of humor. Wonder how many will get it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.