  Stephen Theodore Badin, Kentucky's earliest Catholic bard, was born at Orleans, France, in 1768. Though very poor he received a classical and theological training in Paris and Tours; and in 1792 he emigrated to America. In the following year Badin was ordained by Bishop John Carroll at Baltimore, he being the first Roman Catholic priest ordained in the United States. He was subsequently appointed to do missionary work in Kentucky, which was then in the old Baltimore diocese, and he made his home at Georgetown, Kentucky. During the next few years Badin rode more than one hundred thousand miles on horseback in order to meet all of his appointments. He was then the only Catholic priest in Kentucky, though he did have assistants from time to time. In 1797 Badin was made vicar-general, and the large Catholic emigrations from Maryland to Kentucky about this time greatly increased his labors. His Principles of Catholics (1805) was the first Catholic book published in the West, and it gave him a larger audience than his voice could well reach. Badin later organized missions and built churches in Louisville and Lexington, St. Peter's in Lexington being made possible by the generosity of his Protestant friends, of whom he had many. Badin and Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, of the Bardstown diocese, had a misunderstanding as to the settlement of titles to certain church properties which Badin had acquired before Flaget came to Kentucky, and, rather than to have an acrimonious argument with the Bishop, he quit Kentucky, in 1819, and spent the next nine years in European travel. From 1830 to 1836 he worked among the Pottawatomie Indians in Indiana with marked success. Father Badin died at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1853. He was the author of several Latin poems in hexameters, among them being Carmen Sacrum, a translation of which was
EPICEDIUM In Gloriosam Mortem [From The Kentucky Gazette (February 18, 1812)] Autumnus felix aderat granaria complens Frugibus; umbrosas patulis jam frondibus ulmos Exuerat brumoe proprior, cum Fama per orbem Non rumore vago fatalia nuncia defert: "Sub specie pacis SlyvÆcola perfidus atra "Nocte viros inopino plumbo occidit et hasta; "Dux equitum triplici confossus vulnere, fortis "Occubuit; turmoe hostiles periere fugatoe, "Hostilesque casas merito ultrix flamma voravit." Mensibus Æstivis portenderat ista Cometes Funera; Terra quatit repetitis motibus; Ægre Volvit sanguineas Wabaschus tardior undas Ingeminant Dryades suspiria longa; Hymenoeus Deficit audita clade, et solatia spernit Omnia; triste silet Musarum turba; fidelis Luget Amicities, lugubri tegmine vestit Non pudor aut modus est. Lacrymas at fundere inanes Quid juvat? Heu lacrymis nil Fata moventur acerba! Ergo piÆ Themidis meliora oracula poscunt Unanimes; diram causam Themis aure benigna Excipit, et mox decretum pronunciat oequum: "Davidis effigies nostra appendatur in aula; "Tempora sacra viri quercus civilis adornet, "Ac non immeritam jungat Victoria laurum. "Signa sui Legislator det publica luctus; Historioe chartis referat memorabile Clio. "PrÆlium, et alta locum cyparissus contegat umbra. "Tristis Hymen pretiosa urna cor nobile servet; "Marmoreo reliquos cineres sincera sepulcro "Condat Amicities; prÆsens venturaque laudet "Ætas magnanimum David, virtute potentem "Eloquii, belli et pacis decus immortale." Vita habet angustos fines, et gloria nullos: Qui patrioe reddunt vitam, illi morte nec ipsa Vincuntur; virtutum exempla nepotibus extant. Pro Patria vitam profundere maxima laus est. Stephanus Theodorus Badin, Cathol. Mission. Moerens canebat 15. Dec. 1811. A TRANSLATION BY "WOODFORDENSIS" [From the same] On the glorious death of Joseph Hamilton Daviess, Commander 'Twas late in autumn, and the thrifty swain In spacious barns secur'd the golden grain; November's chilly mornings breath'd full keen; No leafy honors crown'd the sylvan scene. When Fame with those sad tidings quickly flew Throughout our land; (her tale, alas! too true): Pretending peace with hypocritic show, Surpris'd our legions in the dead of night And urg'd with lead and steel the mortal fight; Our valiant warriors strew th' ensanguin'd plain, Ev'n our great Captain of the Horse is slain With triple wound!!! At length the foe retires, With loss; and leaves his town to our avenging fires." When summer gilded our nocturnal sky With astral gems; a comet blazed on high, Portentous of these fates!—the earth, in throes Repeated labors; rueful Wabash flows With slower current, stain'd with mingling blood! The Dryads fill with plaints the echoing wood! Hymen, the slaughter heard, dissolves in grief! Naught can console him, naught can yield relief. In woeful silence sits the muses' train And Friendship mourns her fav'rite hero slain. The funeral crape, vain badge of grief! she wears Upon her head, her arms the emblem bears, Her sorrowing mind no moderation knows, Admits no measure to her boundless woes. Ah, what avails the vain expense of tears? Fate still unmov'd this fruitless anguish bears! Therefore to Themis' shrine, with one accord, They come to crave a more benign award. The direful cause the attentive Goddess hears, And soon this just decree her record bears: "Let Daviess still in semblance grace my halls, Let his bright portraiture adorn my walls; The civic oak his sacred brows entwine, And vict'ry to the wreath his laurel join. Let Legislative acts of mourning show The voted ensigns of the public woe; In the historic page be ever read The fierce encounter, when great Daviess bled, His noble heart let Hymen's care enclose In the rich urn, and friendship's hand compose His other relics in the marble tomb. Then let the ages present and to come Just praises render to his glorious name; Let honor'd Daviess gild the page of fame, A hero, fit a nation's pow'r to wield, In council wise, and mighty in the field." His mortal life a narrow space confines, But glory with unbounded lustre shines. Those virtuous souls, who shed their noble blood A willing off'ring to the public good, Who to their country's welfare freely give The sacrifice of life, forever live As bright examples to the unborn brave, To shew how virtue rescues from the grave. The noblest act the patriot's fame can tell, Is, that he bravely for his country fell. Thus sung the missionary bard, and paid This mournful tribute to the mighty dead. |
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