The stern and unanimous determination of my countrymen
to stand by me in the impending struggle is one of the greatest
blessings which God has ever given me. It filled me with a
courage which nothing could hereafter shake. But the people
of St. Anne did not think that it was enough to show to the
bishop that nothing could ever shake the resolution they had
taken to live and die free men. They gathered in a public and
immense meeting on the Sabbath after the sham excommunication,
to adopt the following address to the Bishop of Chicago,
a copy of which was sent to every Bishop of the United States
and Canada, and to Pope Pius IX:
