In residence in the Heavenly Hall are the venerable Vicaire Apostolique of the province, Monseigneur Fenouil, the Provicaire, and four missionary priests, all four of whom are from Alsace.

In the province altogether there are twenty-two French priests and eight ordained Chinese priests--thirty in all; their converts number 15,000.

Monseigneur Fenouil is a landmark of Western China; he first set foot in the province in 1847, and is the oldest foreign resident in the interior of China.

No Chinaman speaks purer Chinese than he; he thinks in Chinese.

Present in the province throughout the Mohammedan insurrection, he was an eye-witness of the horrors of religious warfare.
Few men have had their path in life marked by more thrilling episodes.
He was elected Bishop, in 1880, by the unanimous vote of all the priests in the province, a vote confirmed by Rome; which is, I am told, the mode of election by which Catholic Missionary Bishops in China are always chosen.
The grand old Bishop seemed much amused at my journey.