Excerpt from In the Senate of the United States, March 21, 1848, Submitted, Considered and Agreed To, Mr. Johnson, of Louisiana Made the Following Report: The Committee on Private Land Claims, to Whom Was Referred the Memorial of the Very Rev. Benedict Mad�ore, Vicar General of the Catholics of Florida, and Pastor of the Catholic Church of St. Augustine, in Florida

Taking into consideration the zealous spirit which animates your reverence in the prosecution of this holy work, your profound religion, and the prudence which you observein everything relating to our State and profession; the liberty of carrying with you cer tain religious persons, has been conceded to you, over whom we have made you commissary, by order of his majesty; you will, therefore, select such persons as you may deem proper for that duty, and take them with you, for which purpose another special patent shall be given to you. Desirous of the prosperity and advancement of our religion, and that everything appertaining thereto may proceed from good to better, we have consulted with some religious persons of good conscience and practical experience in the affairs of that country, and particularly with the fathers of the congregated order of st.john of Toledo, on the fourteenth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and nine; and it having appeared to them notonly, but necessary to the service of our Lord, that the convents of Havana, St. Jago de Cuba, and the Bahamas, should be taken under the government, of which commissary, because they are distant from any prelate who may personally watch over them, and provide the proper remedies to such evils as may present themselves, as was the case in the time of father friar Francis Guzman, our antecessor. We esteem it convenient for the particular good of religion as well as for other particular and just reasons that the aforementioned convents should be united to those of Florida; and, from the whole thus united, a good and honored ctrstody, or charge, should be formed, which shall be subject to this office, from whence it shall be governed and provided with prelates, subjects, and everything that may be necessary to the edification, augmentation, and conservation of it, both in a corporal and spiritual sense; this being effected, we will obtain, with more facility, the desirable object of restoring peace and concord between their different governors; among whom, for want of this measure, many differences have arisen, all of which will cease with the introduction and exercise of power to remove religious persons from Florida to Havana, by which the good name and reputation of the differentlconvents will be recovered, the service of God promoted, the people and country edified, and religion advanced. His majesty and his royal council of the Indies, will esteem this to be the best mode of government, and he will cheerfully ratify and confirm it. Confiding in your piety, prudence, and rectitude, that you will, well and faithfully, labor in the service of our Lord.

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