There is an honored list of Bishops in the
American Church, such as may be found in any new
country but nowhere else, and those upon the list
might not fit in other places and other times, but
they were great men in their special positions. They
were the pioneer Bishops of America, — ^men who
kept at the front in our westward-moving civiliza-



LIFE OF BISHOP MACHEBEUF. 419

tion — who did the work of the pioneer and live4
the life of the pioneer — who went into the wilder-
ness and cleared it up to make it inhabitable for
those who came after them^ — ^who gave religion a
form and foundation, and started it successfully
upon its forward movement. At the head of this list
you will find a Flaget, and beneath will be the name
of a Brute, a Bosati, a Fenwiiek, a Loras, a Cretin,
a Lamy, and others. The list is now, perhaps,
closed, for the necessity has passed for such mis-
sionaries of the old school in the United States, but
it did not close until it had inscribed upon it the
name of Machebeuf.
