THE LYING IN STATE--AN IMPRESSIVE SCENE--THE IMPOSING PROCESSION--AT THE
CATHEDRAL--AN ELOQUENT VOICE FROM THE PULPIT--CLERICAL DENUNCIATION OF
THE CRIME--LAID TO REST IN CALVARY CEMETERY.
Four days after the discovery of the body, all that was mortal of the
murdered physician was laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery. To the old
residents that witnessed the procession there came back memories of the
imposing obsequies of Stephen A. Douglas. It was a greater demonstration
of the kind than the city had seen since the remains of the "Little
Grant" were consigned to the tomb. Many a hero whose name is honored for
victories won in hard-fought battles had gone to the city of the dead
with less show of honor and respect. It was not that Dr. Cronin had more
noble attributes than many other men that the people in tens of
thousands turned out to witness the funeral march. It was the
involuntary sympathy that went out to one whose death was so tragic,
and--at that time--shrouded in so deep a mystery. There was, of course,
the crowd that is always to be found at every public demonstration, be
it what it may. But there were thousands upon thousands that had been
drawn to the scene by a desire to testify, in their humble way, their
sorrow and indignation that such a crime had befouled the fair name of
the city, and there was not one face in the vast concourse that lined
the streets through which the procession passed that did not wear a look
of solemnity.
LYING IN STATE.
All through the night of May 25th the casket containing the body of the
victim reposed on the catafalque in the First Cavalry Armory. At each
corner of the catafalque a sentry, in the uniform of the Hibernian
Rifles, stood immovable as a statue. It was a lonely vigil, and it was
not broken until six o'clock of the Sabbath morning. Even at that early
hour, while the church bells were ringing out their summons to those
accustomed to attend the first or daylight mass, a large crowd had
gathered outside of the Armory. Half an hour later a squad of the
Central Police detail, under command of Lieutenant Wilson, arrived at
the building. The officers were drawn up in two lines on either side of
the entrance, the doors were thrown open, and the people in waiting
commenced to enter. And so for hours a living stream poured into the
building, and past the catafalque, with its draping of American flags,
its burning candles and golden crucifix, and its tributes of ferns and
roses, hyacinths and daisies which reposed at the head and feet of the
casket. They came in so rapidly that the attempt to keep a count was
soon abandoned. There were old men and young; girls and white-haired
matrons. Children hardly able to toddle led the aged men, walking with
faltering, uncertain steps. Parents took their little ones, and the
little ones their grandparents. Laborers walked beside bankers,
mechanics ascended the platform elbow to elbow with citizens of national
eminence, and together they looked down on the face of the victim of a
murder that was without parallel in the history of the country. There
were many rough and tough looking men in the throng, but their heads
were bowed and their footsteps light as they passed by the coffin. There
was no need to caution any one to be quiet. The air of solemnity and
quiet hushed the least respectful, and those possessed of the least
feeling. It was a memorable scene.
A GREAT PROCESSION.
Ten o'clock came and the doors were closed on the multitude that still
craved admittance. The honorary pall bearers, their heads bared, marched
out of the officer's room and took their stations beside the catafalque,
in the following order: J. P. South, High Council of Illinois Catholic
Order of Foresters; Leopold Rohrer, Cathedral Court of Illinois Catholic
Order of Foresters; Dr. D. G. Moore, High Court of Independent Order of
Foresters; E. E. Connery, Court Friendship, Independent Order of
Foresters; C. S. Commour, Alcyone Council, Royal Arcanum; John F. Begg,
Hancock Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen; C. D. Shoemaker, Aetna
Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen; J. C. Brayden, Royal League;
John O'Callaghan and P. M. Carmody, Ancient Order of Hibernians. Next
came the active pall bearers, Captain O'Meagher Condon, New York; Luke
Dillon, Philadelphia; O. McGarry, Thomas P. Tinte, Detroit; Frank T.
Scanlan, Dan Sullivan, Charles Barry, and M. J. Kelly. A moment later
the doors were thrown open, the police cleared a passage way through the
multitude, and the casket was borne out and placed in the hearse. The
latter was drawn by four black horses. Ten thousand men were already in
line, Grand Marshal P. J. Cahill gave the signal, and the procession,
eight thousand strong, moved north on Michigan Avenue in the following
order:
Grand Marshall, P. J. Cahill--Chief of Staff, Col. M. C. Hickey.
Platoon of Police, Twenty-five Men, Sergt. Gibbons Commanding.
Reed's Drum Corps.
Hibernian Rifles, 100 Men, Capt. Ford Commanding.
Hearse, with Guard of Honor of Hibernian Rifles, Consisting of Lieuts.
Sullivan, O'Neil, Monohan, Sullivan, Kennedy, Monohan.
Uniform Order Royal Arcanum, 110 Men.
Royal Arcanum, 315 Men.
Ancient Order Hibernians, 1,000 Men, State Delegate P. M. Cormody
Commanding; County Delegate M. Dowling, Aide.
Mourners in Carriages.
Mr. and Mrs. Carroll (Dr. Cronin's Sister), of St. Catherine's, Ont.,
Mr. Cronin of Arkansas, Mr. and Mrs. T. T. Conklin, Mr. and Mrs. J. F.
Scanlan.
Clan-na-Gael Guards, 175 Men, Capt. Buckley Commanding.
Lake Side Cornet Band.
I. O. Foresters, Uniformed Rank, Fifty Men, High Marshal Frank Boden
Commanding.
I. O. Foresters, 1,200 Men, Wm. Kilpatrick Commanding.
Drum Corps.
Royal League, 250 Men.
Catholic Benevolent Legion, 200 Men.
The Illinois Catholic Order Foresters, 2,700 Men, representing the
following Courts:
St. Bernard, St. John, McMullen, St. Nicholas, Sheridan, Conway,
St. Leo, St. Charles, St. Agnes, All Saints, Pius, St. Francis, St.
Patrick, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph,
St. Henry, St. Alphonsus, Blessed Virgin, Holy Name, St. Cornelius, St.
Vincent, St. Benedict, Sacred Heart, Ascension, St. Michael, St.
Aloysius, American, Dearborn, Excelsior, Columbia, Sedgwick, Superior,
Independence, Industry, Jefferson, Amity, Cavour, Paterson, Fidelity,
Unity.
Cornet Band.
Ancient Order United Workmen, representing the following Lodges, J. F.
Walter, Commanding:
Light Guard, Peter Cooper, Troy, Lakeside, Aetna.
Carriages.
Civilians.
[Illustration: THE PROCESSION TO THE CATHEDRAL.]
All along the line of march--Michigan Avenue to Rush Street, to Chicago
Avenue, to State Street, to the cathedral--the streets were packed with
people. It was a solid line of humanity, on pavements, in windows, on
lamp posts, even the tops of the houses were a sea of heads. To the
solemn music of the bands the men marched with slow and measured step.
The muffled drums, the draped flags, the drooping banners, the tens of
thousands of solemn faces, made the sight an impressive one. Every man
in the multitude bared his head as the hearse passed by.
A SOLEMN CATHEDRAL SCENE.
It was nearly noon when the cortege arrived at the cathedral. Save that
reserved for the mourners every foot of space in the sacred edifice was
already occupied, and the thousands that had followed the hearse were
unable to gain admission. High above the mass of humanity tolled the
deep-toned funeral bell as the casket, preceded by a guard of honor of
officers of the Hibernian Rifles, was borne into the church. Gently it
was deposited between six lighted candles upon a catafalque in the
center aisle. Then, with the rendering of Schmidt's Mass in D minor by
the choir, the service was commenced. An atmosphere of grief was
prevalent. The sobbing of women mingled with the impressive notes of the
funeral mass. Strong men, to whom tears had been a half forgotten
memory, wept as the thurible was waved over the casket and the wreaths
of incense smoke ascended toward the dome. Men, brought face to face
with a great crime, stood in the presence of their God, while the
priests around the altar, clothed in mourning vestments, offered
supplication for the soul of the deceased, and prayed for pardon for his
murderers. As celebrant of the requiem mass Father Agnew, in cape and
stole, chanted the versicles and gave the absolutions. At times his
voice trembled perceptibly and his eyes were filled with tears. Rev.
Father Mooney assisted in the celebration as deacon and Father Perry as
sub-deacon. When the venerable Chancellor Muldoon ascended the pulpit,
the "Librera Me Domine" was sung by the choir. The reverend Chancellor
took as his text Ecclesiastics, chapter 9, verse 120: "Man knoweth not
his own end; as the fishes are taken with hook, and as the fishes are
caught with the snare, so men will be taken in the evil time, and it
shall come upon them suddenly."
A VOICE FROM THE PULPIT.
In eloquent language the speaker impressed upon his hearers the
uncertainty of life as illustrated in the case of the murdered man. He
spoke as follows:
"In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
amen."
These words I have just recited to you from the inspired writer, my
beloved friends, tell us by example and analogy that death comes
upon us suddenly--that it shall come, as we are told elsewhere, "as
a thief in the night." As the birds in the air have their being in
the air, and drink it in and live their life mainly in the air, and
as the fishes have their life in the sea, they shall find their
death in that element in which they have their life. And so, too,
we who are here living upon the earth, having our life, as it were,
in the social world round about us--finding our being there--we,
too, frequently find our death there, unawares and suddenly. In
fact, we carry death in and around and about us, even, I may say,
in our very being, for from the moment of our birth until the
moment of our death, death is ever with us, death is ever working
in our members. It is death that is forever bearing us down; it is
death that is ever causing the ailments of humanity, which are a
premonition of what is to come; and, as the sacred writers have
told us, no matter when death comes, it will always come suddenly
to us. We can never be enough prepared for it. We can never take it
unawares, but it will too frequently take us unawares.
The lesson, then, taught us to-day by this text is that we should
be prepared to meet this death whenever and wherever it shall come,
and passing from the text of to-day to him whose memory we serve,
it teaches us the lesson that death often comes as sudden as a
thief in the night. It comes to snatch us away from all social
relations, to take us away from home, to take us away from friends,
family and all that is dear to us; to take us from earth to heaven,
to take us from time to eternity. Death points this out to us, and
his death should teach us a strong and emphatic lesson. If he
(pointing to the bier) were here to-day to talk to you, he would
not ask for a eulogy on his life, but he would ask you to take a
lesson home to yourselves from his life to make you purer, richer
and better. He would say: "By my life so guide your own. If there
is anything else in my death to teach you to value life, to teach
you to value Christ, and Almighty God, and the Holy Church, and the
sacraments--oh, take it home to your own hearts, and make it part
of yourselves. If I have suffered, let my suffering be a lesson to
you; let it come home to your hearts and make you better and
holier." His life and his death, dear friends, teach us to make
ourselves better, teach us to make ourselves holier, and to prepare
ourselves for our last moment.
What a change is here from a couple of weeks ago! To-day friends
near and dear to him bore all that is mortal of him up this aisle
to receive the last rites of the Church; and only two weeks ago
that same person walked this floor and came up these aisles in all
the vigor of his manhood. He came here with all the charity of his
faith and nature to worship at the same altar before which and on
which to-day his obsequies are said. O! this is a strong lesson to
us. Who would think when he led that body of men here to the
sacrament of the altar to make himself purer and better--who would
think that in the short term of two weeks that health and vigor and
manhood would be snatched ruthlessly from him? But such was the
fact, and this death, so sudden and awful, may be ours--if not in
the same manner, in other manners equally sudden, if not as
atrocious.
Therefore the lesson is brought home to us to be always prepared
lest God should strike us, for His angel is always coming from Him
to touch the young and the old, the deformed and the beautiful, and
His touch is enough to call them from this earth to the land above.
And now, my dear friends, have we reason to be sorry to-day? Have
we reason to mourn that our friend has gone from us? No, my
friends; there is no reason for mourning the death of a person who
has lived a religious life. As the epistle tells us, the religious
man, and one pleasing to God the Father, is he who visits the
orphans and widows in their tribulation, and he is one, too, who
preserves himself undefiled from the world. I shall not pronounce
his eulogy, but examine his life in the light of this text, and see
whether or not he was religious; and if his life was a religious
life, and if it was, we must inevitably come to the conclusion that
he was pleasing to Almighty God, and now enjoys the repose promised
by Almighty God to those who serve Him while on earth. Religion
pure and undefiled is to visit the widow and orphan. Did he do
that? What was his avocation and mission in life? It was the
grandest and noblest after the avocation of priest. It was to deal
out charity--a charity of word and charity of example, to minister
to the unfortunate, to heal the ailments of human life. This was
his mission and this his vocation. Did he fulfil his vocation; I
ask you here in the presence of his mortal remains, did he carry
out his vocation? Most assuredly, my friends, he did so And why did
he do so? The very manner in which he met his death will tell you
in more emphatic terms than I can possibly utter. A call comes that
a fellow being is in suffering. Other things are crowded upon
him--other business demands were calling for him. But he hearkened
to the call of humanity. He was told that a fellow-man was sick,
and instantly, without hesitation, with his heart full of charity,
and in his hands the very instruments to bring relief and mercy to
a fellow being, he goes forth with mercy, charity and good will to
his fellow-man and--meets what? An atrocious death! In the
fulfilment of his mission, in the very carrying out of his
avocation, he met his own death. Must we not say, then, that
meeting his death, thus fulfilling his mission and performing his
duty, whatever there may have been against him, if there was sin
upon his soul of any kind whatever, he shall be remembered before
the throne of Almighty God? Yes, he did visit the widows and
orphans; and as the anecdotes and sayings about him pass away,
coming to us as straggling rivulets to swell the stream of his
worth, and to show that him who we mourn had a noble Christian
heart, and that is what we cannot say of many to-day. He had a good
heart, a Christian heart, a Catholic heart, and that heart was full
of love and charity toward his fellow-man. Was he ever a man
opposite or opposed to the good of his fellow-man? Was he not ever
anxious to improve the lot and well-being of his fellow-men? Look
at the associations to which he belonged. Every one of those
associations has its being and life in those things which are for
the betterment of man.
I have often heard him urge those who are poor and of little means
to join those associations, in order to make themselves thrifty and
better, and to build up for themselves a home here, and provide for
their children a means to live decently afterward. Was not this
patriotic? Was not this the best thing a human being can do on
earth, to strive with all his power to better his fellow-man, to
make his home more agreeable, and leave an inheritance to
posterity? Most assuredly it was; and most assuredly we must
conclude that his life was righteous, good and holy. And did he
preserve himself unspotted from the world? He lived a public life,
a life with the people and among the people. He was in every sense
of the word a public man, known of thousands, as the thousands here
to-day testify; and if there was anything wrong or sinful in his
life, long ere this it would have been brought forward in triumph.
But now no single finger of scorn or imputation can be pointed
toward him. After his life has been laid before you we know that he
had a good, Christian, Catholic heart, and that his heart went out
to his fellow-men, and that in all his dealings with his fellow-men
he was never in any sense greatly sinful--that he was not small or
mean toward or in his dealings with his fellow-men.
What better eulogy can we pronounce upon him than this? None. We
have forgotten half our duty to-day if in our presence here whilst
the priest has offered up for him the holy sacrament of the mass,
we have not let our own hearts go out in charity, holiness and love
toward him that is gone.
Now he is powerless; his days are past, and the church has done
what she possibly can for him through her prayers and sacrifices.
It remains for you to do something for him. We believe that there
is a hereafter, and that there is a probation for the small defects
and defilements of sin that may be upon the soul after death.
It remains for us, his friends--for there is a communion of
saints--to offer up our alms, to offer our prayers and the holy
sacrifice of the mass that his soul may quickly and surely find
rest and peace with God eternal. That is your duty, my friends,
to-day. As Catholics and Christians this is imposed upon you, and
if you forget it or neglect it you are not truly his friends.
Any more words of praise will be useless for him. But your prayers,
the prayers of the poor and defenseless that he helped, will go as
a sacred cry to the throne of God and will not be resisted, for God
will hear it and take him to the bosom of his fathers. Let us then
not forget to promise that we will as friends and Christians do
something for him, and in the purity of our faith let us imitate
the purity of his faith, the faith that he drank in with his
mother's milk and that lasted him through life. There never was a
time in the associations or organizations to which he belonged, or
anywhere else, that he denied that faith, that he ever was ashamed
to acknowledge that he was a Catholic and held to the tenets and
belief of the church. He could say: "After my title of Catholic my
title of patriot is prominent, and I am not ashamed to confess it
to the world. I am willing to sacrifice anything in order to defend
my term of Catholicity, and I am willing to do all in my power to
help along the poor men of our country."
Therefore, my friends, pray for him who is gone. Let your prayers
be that his soul may find rest. Remember him in your daily prayers.
Remember him in the places you used to meet him. Remember him when
on your knees before the throne of God. He was snatched from the
earth without the sacraments of the church; he had not even the
soothing words of the priest to bring him more quietly to his end,
to help him on the perilous journey toward another life; but, as I
said, he met his death in the performance of his duty, and that
supplied in part the place of the sacrament.
Pray for him. Breathe his name with love; and as his body moulders
in the earth, he may say to you: "Have pity upon me, you, my
friends. Have pity on me, for I am now helpless and defenseless. I
have no power in my own hands, but your hands are full of alms,
deeds and of blessings and prayers, and let them ascend before the
throne of Almighty God that I may have rest and peace. Treat all
with kindness as my life has been one of kindness--treat them with
charity, as my life has been one of charity. If any one say aught
against me let it pass forgiven. The words of man are nothing, and
pass away as the wind from the mouth. Receive them, then, and mind
them not, and those who have injured me most, in the name of mercy
have pity on them."
Receive, then, O God, his soul. Be merciful to him for his faith
and his hope and his love.
Every head was bowed while the Chancellor gave the benediction. The
strains of the organ as it rendered the dead march in Saul filled the
edifice, the congregation rose to its feet, the casket was borne out,
and the service was at an end.
AT REST IN CALVARY.
While the services were in progress the throng in the street had been
swollen by thousands of new comers, until it extended in an unbroken
mass along State street, from Chicago Avenue to Huron street. The people
waited patiently for the conclusion of the church ceremony. Considerable
difficulty was experienced in reforming the procession in consequence of
the crush, and many old men and women, barely able to walk without
assistance, were pressed against the hearse and carriages, and with
difficulty rescued from under the wheels. One hour was occupied in
reaching the depot of the Milwaukee and St. Paul road--the streets, as
before, being packed with spectators. Three special trains, aggregating
thirty-six cars, were in waiting. On the first of these the casket was
placed, the others following at intervals of a few minutes. At the
stations along the route, as well as on house-tops, street crossings and
vacant lots, crowds of people had congregated to see the funeral train
go by. Five thousand people had gathered at the cemetery. The Hibernian
Rifles formed in double column, and presented arms as the casket, and
its small following of mourners passed within the gates. This was the
most solemn part of the days' proceedings. In the city the uniforms and
regalia of the various organizations, the dirges of the numerous bands,
and the great concourse of people had somewhat dissipated the sad
thoughts and sentiments of those who had been near and dear to the dead
man; but now these accessories no longer exercised their effect. Slowly
the small procession, consisting only of the pallbearers with the
casket, and the few chief mourners, moved toward the vault. There was
not a sound save sobs, not even the mournful strains of a funeral march
were heard to relieve the intensity of the silence. At the door the
rifles had formed an arch with their swords, and the air was laden with
the perfume of floral tributes from far and near. One of these, a
magnificent lyre of roses, bore the inscription in immortelles:
THE PHILADELPHIA
CLAN-NA-GAEL
MOURN THEIR PATRIOT BROTHER.
and on the base in blue violets the single word
MARTYR.
There were no speeches, no requiem songs, no final benediction. Amid
profound darkness the casket and mourners disappeared within the
darkness of the receiving vault, and for a moment all was still. Then
the mourners re-appeared, the gates swung to on their hinges, the key
was turned in the lock, and all that was mortal of the patriot Irishman
was at rest in the house of the dead. A sudden gust of wind shook the
trees, large drops of rain began to fall, and the weeping of the dead
man's sister was drowned by the wail of nature.