The Marquis of Ripon and Mr. Russell, Q. C., are the first Catholics who
have held the posts of First Lord of the Admiralty and of
Attorney-General.
Charles Russell, Esq., Attorney-General for Ireland, is the brother of
the Rev. Mathew Russell, S. J., editor of that excellent and popular
magazine, the _Irish Monthly_, and is married to a sister of Rosa
Mulholland, the gifted Irish poet and novelist.
Right Rev. Thomas A. Becker, Bishop of the diocese of Wilmington, Del.,
has been transferred to the vacant See of Savannah, Ga. Bishop Becker
was consecrated on August 16, 1868, having previously taught in the
College of Mount St. Mary's, at Emmittsburg, Md. He is distinguished for
his skill as a linguist, being a master of more than half the modern
languages of Europe. He is about 50 years of age.
President Cleveland has expressed himself emphatically in favor of the
enforcement of the eight-hour law in the government departments. He is
reported to have said, with reference to the subject, that it ill became
a government to evade the spirit and the letter of its own enactments.
The Right Rev. Stephen V. Ryan, Bishop of Buffalo, has gone on a health
visit to Florida. There is not, probably, in the whole United States, a
more beloved bishop, than this modest, hard working and most
heavenly-minded spiritual father. Despite the heavy cares of an
extensive diocese, Bishop Ryan has found time to make some valuable
contributions to doctrinal and ascetic literature. His great work, "The
Apostolic Succession," which has gone through several editions, is a
standard authority on that important question. Bishop Ryan is a
Pennsylvanian (Canadian by birth), of direct Irish descent; of a family
whose very name is a synonym of piety and patriotism. Before he was made
bishop, he was a prominent member of the Congregation of the
Vincentians, better known in America as the Lazarist Fathers.
The Venerable Rector of the Irish College at Rome, celebrated, on New
Year's Day, his 86th birthday. High Mass was pontificated in the Church
of St. Agatha, attached to the college, by the Archbishop of
Cincinnati, U. S. A., after which Bishop Kirby entertained at dinner
Cardinal Howard, the Archbishop of Cincinnati, the Bishops of Galloway,
Argyll and the Isles, and Davenport, U. S. A., Mgr. Stonor, Abbot Smith,
O. S. B., the Rectors of the Foreign Colleges, the Priors of the
National Institutes, the Very Rev. Father Lockhart, Mgr. O'Bryen, and
several other dignitaries. The Holy Father sent his congratulations and
apostolic benediction, in honor of this anniversary of his old and
highly valued friend.
The veteran leader of the Centre Party in Germany, Dr. Windthorst, has
completed his seventy-fourth year. Like so many aged Ministers and
leaders of political parties, the "little excellency" is as full of
energy and strength as the youngest of his followers. We heartily join
our fellow Catholics in Germany in wishing their distinguished chief
many years of health and strength in which to continue to labor for the
good cause.
The Rev. Dr. Ullathorne, Lord Bishop of Birmingham, England, will enter
his eightieth year on the 7th of May next, and we find it suggested in a
Sydney contemporary that his work as a pioneer Australian priest should
be commemorated on that occasion by a presentation from the Catholics of
Australia. In an address his Eminence Cardinal Moran describes his
Lordship as "the living link of the present with the past."
The Rev. James Keegan, of St. Louis, Mo., is a contributor of graceful
poems and interesting prose sketches to DONAHOE'S MAGAZINE, _The
Current_ and other publications. He is also an enthusiast in the
movement for the study of the Irish language, and is well versed in the
ancient literature of Ireland. At a late meeting of the council of the
Gaelic Union, in Dublin, Mr. John Fleming, editor of the _Gaelic
Journal_, presiding, a letter from Father Keegan was read, in which he
remitted $5, and promised to contribute the same sum monthly, and
challenged all Irish clergymen, lawyers and other professional men, who
take any interest in their native country, to contribute towards the
journal fund initiated by him.