Newspaper Page Text
'VOL. "HF.GRAVEOFAC.REAT MAN. •j «i Phi! pot Currran's Burial-place— He Sleeps Beside i(lTaiedhe's Stream." !EAR EMMET AND O'CONiMELL •ii&torieal Eemmiscencss of the cient Village of G-las nevin. An- Tbe very ancient village of Glasnevi .'ving nt a distance of little more than wo miles i'roru the general postoffice, Dublin, is a place, in itself, of higli in erest. Its name figures at an early pe riod in the Ecclesiastical History of .•Srin. During the earlier half of the last century Glasnevin was the abode or vrysting-place of some of ths greatest vits and thinkers of the age. Its gar tens occupy a space which formerly be longed to the demesne of Tickell, the poet. Here, there is every reason to believe, did Dermody weave not a few )f his brightest fancies. Here, too, probably did Sheridan conceive some of •lis thrilling plots, and Addison revel in ••lis happiest fancies. Delvilb wan the joint creation of two men who in a measure, and in a certain groove leri Dublin society in their day— /is., Doctors Delaney and Helsham. "Prouder," says Scott of Dr. Delaney, 'more caution or more interested than Sheridan, he kept aioof from the horse play of raillery which passed between the latter and the Dean, and which un avoidably lowers in a certain degree the man whose good huraov is contented to submit to it. He made court to the t)ean by verses less humorous but more elegant than those of Sheridan, and he also had his answer in the style he used. The distinction which the Dean made between them is obyious from his ex horting Delaney to impress ori Sheri dan the sense of propriety and self-re spect in which he thought him de ficient. Close to Delville, in fact beneath the shadow of its boundary wall, as has been pointed out in'my recent article, lie the remains of the patriot Emmet. At a short distance westward and sepa rated from the classic grounds of the ''Glasnevin Gardens'' by the historic river Toika, which in this portion of its course seems sadly to mourn an eternal requiem, extends the Pere-ie Cliai.se of Ireland, otherwise Prospect Cemetery—verily a Place of Tombs—a migh:y City of the Dead. Here, it is almost needless to say, are interred hosts of the best arid mo-1 distinguished and beloved of our people of all ranks who have passed away within compara tively recent days. Here rest tbe re mains of Ireland's most illustrious son, O'Connell. in whose honor the beauti ful and lofty round tower, which looks down, as it should, upon all other monuments in the place that has been ereated. Perhaps of the lasnevin Diem ori a lb the subject of my present illus tration, the monument of John Fbilpot Curran, ranks next in point of interest to that of the Liberator. Curran was born in 17-50, at Hewmar .ket, county of Cork, where his father was seneschal of a Manor Court. His mother, whose maiden name was Phil pot, has been described as a very su perior woman and her illustrious son was wont to trace to her such talent as he admitted he possessed. At an early date he evinced great aptitude for learning and it was determined by his parents to send him to the Dublin Uni versity, which, in 1769, he entered as a sizar. In 1773 he proceeded to London to serve his time in the Middle Temple, and two years later was called to the bar. During Ins professional career, as in private life, he was invariably the friend of Ireland's Irieuds: if he had any foes they were the enemies' of his country. It would be impossible here to pre sent even a sketch of the great orator's life. Suffice it to say that Curran was perhaps the most prominent among the many great men who, by their legal at tainments and eloquence, made the Irish Ear so illustrious during a period "when it was "treason to love her' (Ire land) and death to defend." He was emphatically the most brilliant of Erin's orators, and was so considered by" contemporaries who could have pos sessed little sympathy with his political aspirations. "Where Grattan, Curran, Sheridan and those who bound the Bar and Sen ate with their skill," wrote Byron. There were giants of debate in those days, but the race seems to have all but died out with O'Connell. Currau died in 1817, and was buried in the vault of Paddington Church, London. 'Twenty years," as stated by Petrie in 1831, "has nearly lapsed, and no stone marked the grave where Cur ran" was interred." To the managing committee of the cemetery of Glasne vin belongs the merit in this eminent instance of setting an example which may remove or mitigate the humiliat ing truth that Ireland was habitually neglectful of the posthumous reputa tion of her great men. The committee claimed for Ireland the bones of Cur rau, which were transferred from Eng land to the cemetery over which they presided. The tomb is in the form of a sarco phagus of the Doric order. The material is Irish granite of the iinest description, and of most beautiful appearance. When illumined by sunshine the monu ment sparkles, as if studded with in numerable diamonds. The late I. T. Papwortli, A. E. H. A., of Dublin, was the architect who conducted its con struction. The example of erecting a monument to an illustrious Irishman, set by the managing committee of the cemetery, has been well followed, but still much remains to be done. W. F. W AKJEMA.N. Jury Packing-. I wrote in terms of indignation last week of the jury-packing in Dunlin. It was a deliberate outrage on the Catho lic religion, implying as plainly as pos sible that a Catholic was unworthy of trust even when on his oath. The pro tests which have been made by the Irish Episcopacy against the action of the Government show that this is the light in which the "trials" are regarded by the spiritual guides of the Irish peo ple. The Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, in for warding to the editor of the Freeman's Journal £10 for the Defense Fund, ex presses the opinion that the jury has not been fairly empaneled, but, "most unfairly packed," and Archbishop Croke. in sending a contribution to the same fund, in startling language suggests a strike against the payment of taxes "to a Government that uses them not for the public good and in accordance with the declared wishes of the tax-payers, but in direct, and delib erate opposition to them.His Grace is outspoken enough in his denuncia tion of the present system of govern ment in Ireland. "Our money," he says, "go°s to fee and feed a gang of needy and voracious lawyers, to pur chase bludgeons for policemen to be used in smashing the skulks of our peo ple, and generally for the support of foreign garrisons or native slaves who I ate and despise everything Irish and every genuine Irishman. The police man is pampered arid paid the patriot i3 persecuted. Our enforced taxes go to sustain the one we must further freely tax ourselves to defend the other. How long, I ask, is this to be tolera ted?" The Most Eey. Dr. Donnelly, Bishop of Cioglier, has also condemned the jury- ^es packing- in a spirited letter, in which he urges the necessity of stoutly support ing the gallant men who are lighting the battle of the rack-rented tenantry. Archbishop MacEvilly, of Tuam, in Bending his contribution to the fund, is equally emphatic. "In former times," he says, "our people were robbed of the fruits earned by the sweat of their brow. In these days it is sought to rob them of their character by branding tnem wholesale as perjurers of the Catholic faith. Can an\ man with a spark of Catholic feeling within his heart fail to resent this gross affront put upon us all?" In the opinion of the Most He v. Dr. Giilooly, Bishop of Elphin, it were bet ter far that the Government should sus pend or abolish altogether the hypocriti cal pretence of trial by jury than use it as an engine for crushing and removing political opponents. Such abuse of a free and timehonored institution es pecially iu Ireland, and in the present condition of the country, should, His Lordship believes, convince even the most unreasoning opponents of Home Rule of the hopelessness of ever seeing Ireland contented, peaceful, or prosper ous under English-made laws, adminis tered by an English, or English ap pointed, executive. Tbe Most Ill: NO, 21. MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1887. THE SAINT OF CARTHAGE. A Brief Review of St. Augustine's Early Manhood—His Pride of Intellect and Its Oure. HIS MARVELLOUS ACTIVITY AS A Master of Controversy--A Page From the Early History of the Catholic Church, Looking back through past ages, ob serves the Dublin ."Nation,, and con templating the indistinct pictures we possess of great nations, great men and great events, we see a few figures stand out boldly amid the surrounding gloom, and thus impart some degree of life and spirit to epochs of which little else is visible. Such, indeed, would seem to be the effect of a great man destined to mould the ideas of his age, and appear to future generations as its best representative. Men of this stamp are rare, and although the cause of truth has seldom lacked talented up holders and apologists, yet it is mat ter for regret that there are not more whose splendid gifts are devoted to the maintenance and propagation of cor rect principles. For those who would aspire to tills task of guiding the cur rent of human thought into proper channels, a nobler model could scarcely be found than St. Augustine of Hippo. Ilis life from first to iast is typical of the half-pagan, half Christian world of his time. .Fifty years after the close of the great persecution inaugurated by Diocletian and Gale-rius. 1-50 from the time of Tertullian, the violent blows of the Roman Empire had recoiled upon itself, and the Christian Church rose in all the beauty of her majestic organiza tion from the ca/tacombs, where her in fancy had been protected. Her dom inion had extended widely, and the words of Tertullian to the Pagans were then more applicable than ever: We are but of yesterday, and yet we till all that you have—your towns, islands, fortresses, camps, the palace, the sen ate, the law courts the only thing we leafe entirely to you are the temples." Yet the victory of the Church over im perial Rome was not without its alloy of evil. The errors of the Arians, Maniclneans and Donatists now en gaged public attention, and in addition the luxury and corruption of the time seduce not a few of those who had been born in the faith. This was es pecially the case in Africa, where the widespread Donatist schism had re duced the Church to a condition of the greatest distress, and hindered her as well from discharging her ordinary du- as Rev. Dr. Lynch, Coadjutor-Bishop of Kildare and Leiglilin, also expresses his ap proval of the conduct of Mr. Dillon and his friends, and shows that he regards them as real friends of the poor and the oppressed. The list of contributors is swelled by the names of many other prominent men, and there is a consensus of opin ion that the jury-packing system could not have been illustrated in a more barefaced and discreditable manner. The trials in Greenwich street, which have been marked by several lively en counters between Mr. T. M. Healy and Mr. Peter O'Brien, are drawing to a close as I write, and the verdict of the jury will soon be given. This much I can safely say, that whatever it may be, it will have little moral weight owing to the course pursued by the authori ties.—Cor. Liverpool Catholic Times. The Manitoba is expected to grade extensions north from Aberdeen to Bis marck and south to Watertown. 1 from promoting civilization and true progress. In such a time Augus tine was born. Reared in the Pagan schools of Madaura and Carthage, the Christian sentiments instilled by his mother, Monica, were speedily ob literated, and corrupt companions soon led him along the downward path of vice. It is not then to be wondered at that, his morals once undermined, the scant knoAtfledge he possessed of the Christian faith should fade from his mind, and its place be taken by a host of erors and absurdities. For indeed, the Manichajan doctrines which he then adopted, although coming from a sect professing to be guided entirely by the light of reason, were such as only a darkened intellect or a diseased fancy could invent or imagine. We have neither sufficient space nor desire to en ter into a detailed account of what these principles were. But the author of the life under review has given an extract from St. Augustine's work, "De Ut.ilitate Credendi," which is not with out its bearing upon some theories of our own day: "Thou knowest, Hon oratus, that for this reason alone did we fall into the hands of these men— namely, that they professed to free us from all error, and bring us to 'Od by pure reason alone, without that terrible principle of authority. For what else induced me to abandon the faith of my childhood and follow these men for almost nine years, except their asser tion that wre were terrified by supersti tioa into a faith blindly imposed upon our reason, while they urged no one to believe until the truth was fully dis cussed and proved? Who would not be seduceJ by such promises, especially if he were a proud, coutentious young man, thirsting for truth, such as they then fouud me?" What these pre tenders to right reasoning taught him he tells in the Confessions. liI was brought by insensible degrees to believe such fooleries as that when a fig is gathered, it and its mother tree weep milky tears and if eaten by some Manichsean saint, though plucked by another's crime, it sends forth angels nay, even particles of God Himself." How he fought his way out of these er rors the seventh book' of the Confes sions details, and if any one is desirous of realizing the greatness of Augustine's mental powers, **e cannot do better .. fesltlf I L_ I I than study and admire there at once the closeness and the clearness of his logic. But with the expulsion of false ideas and the apprehension of the truth came the recognition of his own moral deformity, and in a couple of years his conversion was complete, the Easter of the year 387 being the date of his bap tism. The fervent prayers of his mother Monica had been heard iu a manner far surpassing her expectations. Soon after 1 lis conversion she died, and August-iue lived at Tagaste, his birth place, for three year.*, engaged, as Po sidius tells us, with his disciples "in fasting, prayer and good, works medi tating day and night the law of the? Lord and Jiving entirely for God." It w-as not, however, the will of God that he should remain in this retirement. The need of the Church was great, and the time had come when Providence, overruling everything for good, turned the moral and intellectual struggles of his early manhood to account for the salvation of his countrymen. His fame as a rhetorician was great, and the works he had already written against the Manichieans, joined to the sanctity of his ne life, exalted him in the minds of tbe people. The discipline of the Church had not attained its pres ent perfection,so that the desire of the inhabitants of many districts to have Augustine as their bishop was not deemed extraordinary. But he avoided all places where Episcopal Sees were vacant until on one occasion he re ceived a pressing invitation from a high official at Hippo, who was very anxious to consult him about the affairs of his soul. Charity did not allow him to re fuse this, especiaily as Hippo had its own bishop and clergy. He went there in his monastic dress without fear but one day as he was in the church, the bishop, Valerius, announced to die people that he found it necessary to or dain an additional priest. All eyes were at once turned on Augustine they in sisted on presenting him to the bishop he protested, entreated and even wept but all to no purpose. Fearing to re sist the will of God, he at last gave his consent." A BELIC OF ANTIQUITY. The Handle of the. Golden Censer of Pha raoh Hophar Received in Boston. One of the most interesting and val uable relics of antiquity, recently ex humed in the Delta of the Niie has just arrived in Bos ion. It is the undoubt edly authentic double armed handle of the golden Censer of Pharaoh Hophar, found by Mr. Flinders Petrie, the archaeological digger of the Egyptian Exploration. Fund, at Tel Defenneh, in the north-eastern corner of the Delta of the-Nile. It is of pure solid gold, shining and rich beyond description, curiously, intricately, and laboriously wrought, each arm decorated with the graceful lotus-leaf design, and is worth, at the smallest calculation, simply as gold bullion, §600. How is it known to be authentic, and the property of the late Pharaoh Hophar, who died ome where about 2,532 years ago? The answer to that question, the Transcript says, is too long to give in detail, but the forty-third chapter of the book of Jeremiah tells how the great pessimist ofJudea. Jeremiah himself, found his way to the ''House of Pharaoh" in this same Defenneh (he called it Tahpanhes) and how some Jewess princesses, the daughters of Zedediah, took refuge in this same fortress, called the house of Pharaoh. The ground that, marks the place, and in which this beautiful gold ornament was found, is called to this day by the Arabs the castle of the Jew's daughter. The Rev. Mr. Wioslow7, who is the Amarican guide, philosopher and friend of the Egyptian Exploration Fund, is held in great esteem by the English patrons ana managers of the enter prise, and has managed to secure not only this elic of Pharaoh Hophar, but many other interesting articles from the ruins of the Palace Castle at Daphnse that might otherwise have gone into the great grave of antiquity, the British Museum, and has them now in charge, though they are not all out of the Custom House.—Boston Re public. Mrs. Society: "I suppose you never hear of your daughter who eloped with that young bricklayer?" Mrs. Oidfam: "Yes, he has got rich, and they are liv ing in Hew York fine style." "That ii a comfort, certainly. Has the foreign nobleman who married your other daughter returned to his castles yet?" '•Oh, no he is just in love with Amer ica, and says he wouldn't think of re turning." "Indeed! Where have they been during the past three or four years?" "Visiting the bricklayer."— Craftsman. There is a conflict of authority be tween the United States.and the state in the Harrows case at Brainerd. United States District Attorney Bax ter is on the ground, and the United States marshal still holds the prisoner. IRISHMEN IN SCOTLAND. A Meeting to Vindicate Ireland's Eight to Liberty Held in the Oity of Glasgow. DR. TANNER'S GREAT SPEECH. The Speaker Ably Defends the Plan of Campaign -An Imperative Demand. The "Glasgow Observer" in the last number received in our mail, contains the following account of a mass meet ing of Irishmen in Glascow, presided over by Father Murphy. Shortly after 8 o'clock, the secretary Mr. Fitzgerald, announced that it wouid be some time before Dr. Tanner would arrive and in the mean time he moved that Father Murphy of Uddiugs ton take the chair. Father Mnrpuy, wno was enthusiasti cally received, said he had to congratu late the natives of the three southern provinces and their friends from the north, who were present that evening. (Applause.) They were with their friends of the north when they had their reunions to congratulate them upon the victories of the past year and to re echo with them "Berry Walls Away." (Applause.) I-I« was glad the men of the north were there that eve ning, it was a sign—a hopeful one—and it spoke of a United Ireland —(applause) an Ireland determined to fight and win a Hational Parliament. (Applause.) That demand was made, not by a frac tion of the country, but made by tbe whole country from Antrim's Clilfs to Kerry Strands. (Applause.) It was a demand made imperative by the sad and desolate scenes of Gweedore. (Hear, hear.) They had. conferred an honor on him by asking him to take up the position of the chairman.. He did so with pleasure although, at the same time, the position was something like an emergency man. (Laughter and. applause.) The concert was then proceeded with, and at an interval was addressed, by Dr. Tanner, who was accorded an en thusiastic reception. lie said that the more he considered Ibe great struggle, through which they were passing at the present, time, and the wonderful way in which the Scotch, the Welsh, and the Cornish people had taken up the cause, the more he believed that the omens were favorable. (Applause.) They had been told by many public men, and no later than Monday night by Ran delph Churchill—(hisses)---thatthe cause of Ilome Rule was dead. Lord Ran dolph Churchill was an extremely able and powerful man in his own particular line. He had not been powerful to create much but he was powerful for destruction. (Laughter and cheers.) In the House of Commons Lord Ran dolph had told them that the Tory party were going to stand alone, that they had hitherto been dependent upon a crutch, and the crutch was the Liberal Unionists. (Hear, hear and laughter.) By his utterance Loru Randolph had done a good deal to kick away that crutch from under the Tory party, and the result would be that the Tory Ad ministration would corne to the ground. (Cheers.) Therefore, instead of saying anything against Lv rd Randolph Churchill, they ought to give him a vote of thanks. (Laughter and cheers.) All the same. Lord Randolph did not admit the claims of Ireland but how power ful had been the impetus which had been given to the national movement by the great men who had aided them outside of their own country. Heed he mention William Ewart Gladstone— (cheers)—who when the unwritten page of his history came to be jotted down would be found to have been consistent from the beginning to the end (Cheers.) Who were those who had be haved so shamefully and so disgrace fully to Mr. Gladstone, and who cla mored for chains and slavery? Chains and slavery were invariably connected, with the Tory administration. (Cheers.) The Tories never get on without them. Their old ship was so rotten that if they did not sling it round with chains it would fall to pieces. (Laughter.) Be fore passing from the Tories he would like to say a few words about the pres ent Chief Secretary, Sir Michael Hicks ''Botch." (Laughter and cheers.) He went over to Ireland to carry out an im possible task—to demonstrate that firm administration was the only means of solving the question—and that Ireland was a perfect paradise. Unfortunately such was not the case. Sir Michael went out at a very bad time, and instead of settling the affairs of Ireland he wa3 making a greater muddle of them than ever. (Laughter.) He tried to put a little pressure on the landlords and a little pressure on the tenants, but in the fulfilment of tbe old proverb he had fallen between two stools. (Laughter.) He thought if be could only exercise a 2RSS- 1 11.50 PER-YEAR. mild and judicious pressure on the ob stinate landlouls, and on his friends in and about Dublin Castle, then both the tenants ami the landlords would be all right, that then he could have created a paradise instead of that horrible pande monium that had always existed iu that confounded country of Ireland.. (Laugh tier.) But he found the pressure was not sufficient, and that the landlords were not to be coerced. Then the plan •of campaign had to be adopted. (Cheers.) Lord Randolph Churchill had told them that the plan of campaigns was not only illogical, but illegal, and that v, as why it commended itself to the Irish party. It might be illogical, and it might be illegal, but it was the only means out of the difliculty. (Cheers.) Were the Irish representatives to stand by and see the people dying before their eves? ("Ho.") He would tell them that sooner than see their poor suffering' friends thrown out and treated like dogs, as they had been in the past, they were prepared—at least he was—to taks up the very strongest measures. (Cheers') He had seen the plan of campaign working, and had assisted at it. (Cheers.) It had not been a desperate remedy in the case of Lord •, Dillon, who gets his rents less _'0 per cent, without having even to pay an agent. (Hear, hear,) He saw so cue of that money collected. (Laughter and cheers.) If it was not desperate in the case of Lord DiJlon, surely nobody would say it was bad in the. case of Lord CJanriearde, who never went near the district from which he drew $:?0,GG0 a year, and who never gave a farthing to local charities. (Hear, hear.) Lord Clauricarde had always, pushed for the last farthing of rent, and he Dr. Tan ner) could tell them, that not only in Loughrea but in other district.: it was a matter of life and death that the re duction of rents should be made. (Cheers.) He declared that on some estates the rents were raised in time of prosperity, and thai: he had in his pos session documents which he wouid show co the House of Commons if nec essary, and which wouid prove how landlords had behaved from period to period—notably in periods of agricul tural prosperity. (Cheers.) Dr. Tanner further stated that, the people them selves were the promoters of the plan of campaign, vvhioh had been declared legal by the Attorney-General for Ire land, who had never yet denied the truth of tee statement made months ago. The au of campaign had suc ceeded, and Sir Michael Hicks-33each had failed. Still evictions went on. The civilized world iuxd been start!sd by 'the savage evictions that had lafely taken, place at Glonbe-igh. But these were not the oniy evictions, for tie believed there were people in. the hail who knew of similar occurrences in the past. The English people were beginning to take the wrongs of Ireland into considera tion, and. surely when that was the case the cure of the disease could not be far off. (Cheers.) Home Rule was winning. What had become of the Liberal Union ists? There was one gentleman who on every possible occasion was ready to say something bitter and nasty against it. (Hisses, He was searching for a land of Goscheu in which to rest. (Laughter.) "Rejected at Liverpool and kicked out of Edinburgh -(renewed laughter)—he had at last found a con stituency suited to his Semi'cie though aristocratic Judging from the signs of the times—from the fact that the Liberal Unionists had not added one to their numbers—they we re losing wherever they got a chance of losing— (laughter)—-and from the fact that some of the biffger members of that party were beginning to see the fallacy of the procedure which they initiated, that party was near an end. He al'uded to Mr. Chamberiain. (Hisses.) Oh, no, he never would say anything against a repentant sinner, for if they' examined Mr. Chamberlain's programme as it at present existed they would find there was considerable progress in that gen tleman's thoughts about the important subject of Iiorne Rule. Mr. Chamber lain came round, then why should Mr. Peter Ryland not come round, and if he came round why should not the "three acres and a cow"—(laughter and cheers.) Taking all things into account every clear-sighted man who devoted himself to the consideration of Irish affairs would see that the Irish people at home and abroad were determined that it would not be their fault if the work which had been so gloriously car ried on in the past did not succeed, and that probably within two years they would be spectators of that serious event which would show to the world the emancipated people at peace with their hereditary foes—a people who were ever generous—a people who the past were one of the most ciyilized na tions on the earth—a people wiio, if only fairly treated at the present time would show an example of toleration and generosity to their foes and their traditional maligners. (Cheers). Tire gorge at Mankato has broken and the Minnesota has fallen two feet.