1834
At the beginning of January the sailing vessel reaches the European continent. After disembarking in Le Havre De Smet travels as quickly as possible to the recently created independent kingdom of Belgium. And there, on January 6, he has a discussion with the local provincial, Father Van Lil. Two days later he can at last visit his parents home in Dendermonde. What a strange feeling to enter the house of his childhood after an absence of almost 14 years! A lot of changes have taken place since he last left home. The armchair of his father is empty. His elder sister Rosalie, to which had fallen the role of mother for the young people, is married with Charles Van Mossevelde, and his brothers Charles and François work as judges (3).
De Smet visits the parents of the Jesuits who remained in St. Louis. Then he contacts many benefactors, such as Pierre de Nef of Turnhout (a wine merchant and textile manufacturer), the archbishop of Mechelen, De Ram (vice-president of the catholic university of Leuven), bishop Van Bommel and Madame de Theux. He visits Namur, Mons, Tournai and Brussels. In Enghien a local priest puts him on the track of a very valuable library of the Augustin monks. He acquires it for the university of St. Louis. He travels to Erps-Kwerps, Aarschot, Scherpenheuvel, Diest, Zandhoven and Antwerp. Everywhere he manages to secure some funding for his mission in the U.S. He goes to Lille, Arras and Amiens. In France he buys a complete laboratory and an important mineral collection. He re-enters Belgium via Kortrijk and pays a second visit to Van Lil. They re-examine the merger plans of the two provinces. The young Belgian province with its 150 Jesuits thinks the proposition to join with Missouri is a bit ambitious. In the meantime De Neve, who sponsors catholic education and even operates a catholic school, convinced 5 recruits to join the missionaries in Missouri. Among the candidates are Pierre Verheyden, of Dendermonde, and Charles Huet, of Kortrijk. During this stay in Belgium a painting of Father De Smet is made. Today this painting of the missionary can be seen in the museum of the city of Dendermonde. Nine months of fundraising results in 60,000 dollars.
After the summer its is time for Father De Smet to return to his home in the new world, but his activity in Europe did not allow him to fully regain his forces. In October he leaves for Antwerp to prepare his crossing. He carries 50 cases with clothing, liturgical hardware, paintings, books, instruments and other scientific equipment. After his 10 month stay De Smet dreads the moment when he will have to leave his beloved relatives once more. Again he thinks it best to leave quietly without informing them.
October 30 he writes a last letter to his brothers and sisters and two days later, on November the first, he leaves Antwerp with his new recruits and his invaluable cargo on the brig Agenoria, destination North America. November 3 they reach Vlissingen where they enter the North Sea and the English Channel. But off the Kentish coast the ship runs into a violent storm and De Smet becomes very seasick. In the end he has to be put ashore not far from Deal. The nauseas are so violent that he suffers serious internal bleedings. His life is in danger! Two doctors take turns to care for him day and night. The captain of the Agenoria waits two days for his recovery, but when the doctors give to understand that his cure will at least take a fortnight, he decides to sail on. All the recruits can do is to leave without their companion and continue under the guidance of Verheyden. Off the coast of Newfoundland the Agenoria loses a whole month because of unfavourable wind conditions. But on December 23 the ship and its precious cargo arrive safe and sound in New York harbour.
As soon as De Smet can be transported, he takes up lodgings in a nearby village in order to reduce the cost of living. On November 11 he is able to walk again and three days later he travels to London where he is the guest of Rev. Jean Nerinckx, brother of Charles Nerinckx. The English doctors advise De Smet to give up his hard and difficult life on the border of civilisation. Peter John is convinced that his life is a failure. He is depressed, but Nerinckx manages to revive his optimism. On November 24 he is ready to leave for Belgium. He arrives in Dendermonde. His Belgian doctors impose him a long convalescence. De Smet feels very insecure because of his weak performance and asks his superior, Johan-Philip Roothaan, to accept his resignation.
1835
At the end of March Roothaan confirms his resignation. De Smet considers becoming a secular priest, but as a trained missionary he lacks the temperament for everyday parochial work. His future seems uncertain and he feels miserable. The bishop of Ghent puts him in charge of the financial affairs of an orphanage. He is also confessor of the Carmelite nuns in Brussels and Dendermonde. The nuns of Dendermonde hope re-establish their convent in the city of Aalst. Their convent was dissolved during the reign of the Austrian emperor Joseph II. De Smet wants to help them and with the assistance of Father De Vos he selects an appropriate building. Finally they are able to purchase a disused convent and as a result the convent of Carmel can be restored in Aalst on August 2, 1836.
De Smet continues to correspond with the missionaries of Missouri. He carries on fundraising for the mission on the frontier and serves as a go between for the Jesuits of Missouri in their effort to communicate with their colleagues of the Belgian province. Verhaegen, who succeeded de Theux as provincial, did not lose the hope to merge the two provinces. De Neve continues to motivate young students to opt for the missionary work in North America. On September 23 De Smet accompanies seven of these boys to the harbour of Antwerp where they will board a ship bound for the United States. De Smet corresponds with the seminaries of Baarle-Hertog and Breda and occasionally he talks to the young pupils who plan to leave for the United States.
1836
De Smet feels a lot better and he longs to return to his Jesuit province in Missouri. He kindly requests Roothaan to be re-admitted to the Jesuit Order. Roothaan grants this permission on an exceptional basis, not in the least because the Jesuits in St. Louis are once more in dire straits. To keep up with the growing demands they urgently need more missionaries. The pope bestowed on these Jesuits the responsibility for all the missionary stations west of the Mississippi and in northern Mexico.
So secretly, without informing his family, De Smet prepares his departure. This time he will try to sail with four missionaries from Le Havre to the United States. One of the recruits is Arnold Damen. On the way De Smet becomes very ill. A strong fever keeps him an extra week in Paris. As soon as the fever drops, the small group leaves for Le Havre. On arrival his fever suddenly flares up and when the time has come to board the ship, De Smet has to make a tough decision. His four young recruits will have to cross the ocean without him. The ship leaves Le Havre. But it is now or never and, in extremis, De Smet makes a last effort to fulfil his dream and join his destiny. He asks the skipper of a small boat to try to catch up with the large sailing vessel. The attempt succeeds and he can climb aboard. His luck holds. His health improves every day of the ocean crossing and the much dreaded sea sickness remains absent
At the end of October, precisely one month after their departure on September 26, the approaches of New York are sighted. Three weeks later Peter John De Smet re-enters the noviciate of Florissant and on November 29 he is once more admitted to the Jesuits Order by the provincial of Missouri, Father Verhaegen.
(3) Both Charles and François married in 1828. Charles worked as a magistrate in Dendermonde. In 1834 he most probably still lived in the "Witte Hert". François, who started his judicial career in Dendermonde, moved to Ghent in 1830 when offered a commission there.