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the Austrian ambassador in Rome conveyed to him through Fransoni their
‘interest’ that he had been so graciously received. For whatever reason the
high Roman diplomats used him as their missive-bearer to one of the
church’s most powerful allies, Pierce himself was unlikely to have under-
estimated the occasion’s potential for himself, and who knows what fine
dreams of future importance it may have induced.
Relatively little else is known of the Austrian interlude in the lives of the
Connellys. Cornelia was recovering from childbirth but Pierce received
many invitations from the Viennese Catholic élite. The few surviving letters
are notes often preserved in his souvenir book and reveal the admiring
affection which he, and Cornelia as his wife, aroused. Partly it was the
conversion story that won hearts. To Pierce, for example, who carefully
preserved the note in his album, the Archduke Maximilian, uncle to the
emperor, wrote:
Dear Sir,
It is with the utmost satisfaction, that I go hold of the occasion given me
by your letter of the 17 July to testify you my particular esteem grounded
upon the non equivocal proofs of truly religious feelings given by you in
the most solemn and edifying way.
May you be sure that I was very glad to make your acquaintance, and
that I will be for ever
your affectionate
Maximilian.
He was received by the Empress Mother at Schonbrunn. And the duchess
of Anhalt-Coethem, ruler with the duke of a small and ancient duchy in the
north, invited him to visit. She and her husband, like the Connellys, were
both converts. Austrians would have been especially interested to meet
American converts because the Leopold Association for missionary work in
Ohio and the Mississippi Valley had been founded by a member of the
Austrian imperial family.
A few days after the baby was born a letter written in Paris on 13 June
arrived from Dr Mercer:
Intelligence from America is more and more disastrous... A general
bankruptcy has taken place . . . Some of our friends I fear are ruined and
all more or less involved. Our Countrymen are returning in crowds. The
packets are crowded to excess . . . The credits of almost all the Americans
are stopped... I hope that you and Mrs Connelly will not forget that
you may both remain too long abroad.
They reached Paris some time in August and had to stay till 7 November
when at last they obtained berths on a packet from Le Havre. While they
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