01'r Catleolic Heritage i11, Texas
96
settlements in Texas. He had spent much of July and August in com- pany with Prince Solms and his friends. This nobleman headed the Mainzer Verein, an organization which planned to bring about ten thousand families within the next three years. The Prince was to finance the passage of the colonists from the Rhineland to Texas. Already one hundred and fifty settlers had arrived and three or four ships were expected to bring many more during the winter. The Vicar was deeply concerned with his heavy responsibility to provide priests for the prospective settlers. He had counted on the services of Oge to care for the German Catholics after the departure of Schneider, but unfortunately, on being informed by the Archbishop of Strassburg that the zealous Oge had failed to obtain a release, Odin regretfully had had to release him shortly after his return to Galveston. Where would the Vicar be able to find German-speaking priests for Texas? Timon had suggested Europe, but Odin wondered how he could get them. "The interest of the Mission of Texas will force me, I believe, to undertake a trip to Europe," concluded Odin. "The present state of the country demands at least a dozen more priests, and the great number of German immigrants that arrive daily increases the dire need of workers. I need to build churches. We lack all the things necessary for worship. Don't you believe," he asked Blanc, "that the trip that I con- template is indispensable for the good of the Mission ?" 69 Consultation of Timon and Odin. Upon his return to Galveston in October Odin was confronted with the urgent need of securing recruits. The loss of Paquin and the departure of Schneider first and now of Oge, left the overworked Vicar more shorthanded than ever. He wished to go to New Orleans to seek aid, but it was impossible to absent himself from the country at this time. He urged Timon to come and he wrote Blanc at the same time to plead with the Visitor to accede to the request for a short visit. "I am in need of consulting him on many points," he declared. Timon, who came to New Orleans in December, answered the call and sailed for Galveston after the Christmas holidays. He had been thinking for some time of coming. It was his intention to survey the prospects of Vincentian activities in the Republic and to visit the Gal- veston and San Antonio houses. There were other matters that he thought it would be well to discuss with the Vicar. The erection of 69 0din, DiarJ, entries for July-August, I 844; Odin to Blanc, December Io, I 844, C.A. T.
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