The Very Rev. Dr. McDonald, V. G., died recently at Charlottetown, P. E.
I. By his demise the church in the Maritime Provinces has lost a
scholarly and devoted priest. He was beloved by all classes in the
community. May he rest in peace!
Rev. Vincent Devlin, S. J., died at Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 29th of
January. His brief life has been crowded with a phenomenal aptitude for
scholastic attainments, and he ranked very high in the line of
educational mission which he filled. Father Devlin was born in Belfast,
in 1856. He accompanied his parents to Chicago when very young, his
father, who still resides there, being John Devlin, senior member of the
wholesale grocery firm of John Devlin & Co. His preparatory education
for the priesthood was received at the Jesuit College, Chicago. He went
through his novitiate at Elorissant, Mo., and became a member of the
Jesuit order in 1871, and was ordained four years ago. For a number of
years he was professor of belles lettres at the St. Louis University,
and latter, of languages at St. Xavier's, in Cincinnati, at which latter
place he died almost in the pursuance of his professional duties.
The Rev. Patrick Tracy, of the diocese of Waterford, Ireland, died
recently, aged seventy-three years. He was ordained in 1837, and up to
1848 was connected with the parish of Trinity Without, Waterford, as a
zealous and devoted missionary curate. He took an active and earnest
interest in the 1848 movement, and was intimately associated with the
late General T. F. Meagher, on which occasion, fortunately, his great
influence over the masses saved that city from a sanguinary conflict, as
the rescue of Meagher on the morning of his arrest was fully determined.
In other parishes of the diocese he was distinguished for his zeal and
charities, and had been a hard-working priest for nearly fifty years.
The Rev. Father George W. Matthew, of St. Patrick's Church, Racine,
Wis., died on the night of the 27th of January, of cancer in the throat.
The disease was similar to that which caused the death of Gen. Grant.
The stricken priest was taken to Cleveland, O., three months ago, where
a delicate operation was performed, and a silver tube placed in his
throat. Upon his return to Racine he became very weak, and it was well
known to his friends that he could not possibly recover. He was one of
the most prominent Catholic priests in the State, and one of Racine's
honored and best men, and his death will be learned with sincere regret
and sorrow by all classes of people. He was born in New York City in
1833.
Died, in Rochester, N. Y., on the 22d of January, Rev. Michael M.
Meagher, much lamented by all who knew him. Father M. was born in
Roscrea, County Tipperary, on the 1st of August, 1831; he was ordained
priest at Dunkirk, N. Y., by Bishop Timon on the 7th of September, 1862.
There was no priest more zealous, charitable and devoted to every duty
than the lamented Father Meagher, and that he is now reaping his eternal
reward is the fervent prayer of all who know and appreciate the many
noble qualities of head and heart of this good and holy priest.
The death is announced of the famous Abbe Michaelis, director of the
College of Philosophy at Louvain, previous to the establishment of the
Belgian Kingdom in 1830.
Rev. Joseph F. Gallagher, pastor of the Church of the Holy Name, of
Cleveland, O., and for twenty-one years one of the most prominent
priests of that diocese, died Saturday, Jan. 30, of pneumonia, aged
forty-nine years.
The Rev. John Dunn, D.D., died suddenly at Wilkesbarre, Pa., recently,
of pneumonia, aged thirty-eight years. He was a pulpit orator of unusual
ability. In August, 1877, his name was heralded throughout the country.
The first of August was a very dark day for Scranton. The great strike
of the steel workers was at its height. At 11 A.M., the strikers, to the
number of five hundred, met in an open lot adjoining the silk mills.
Speeches of the most inflammatory character were made, and it was
finally resolved to march to the steel mill, burn it down, and then go
to the Dickson Iron Works and compel the men there to quit work. Mayor
McCune, summoning the whole police force and the militia to the rescue,
awaited the coming of the strikers, who were now turned into a howling
mob. Soon they appeared armed with sticks and stones, and when they
caught sight of the militia they commenced to hurl stones at them. Mayor
McCune mounted a box and read the riot act. This only infuriated the
mob, and the cry went up, "Kill the Mayor!" The greatest excitement
followed, and the mayor was in danger of his life, when Father Dunn,
then pastor of the Cathedral, arrived on the scene. He mounted the box
just vacated by the mayor and cried out: "Men, remember that you are
men!" These words and the sight of the priest came like a thunderbolt
upon the mob, and in an instant its fury was spent. Father Dunn then
told the strikers in words of glowing eloquence that nothing could be
gained by bloodshed and destruction of property. The mob then dispersed
and peace reigned once more. At a meeting of citizens held shortly
afterward, Father Dunn was thanked for the part he took in saving life
and property, and Mayor McCune presented him with a gold-headed cane. In
1879 Father Dunn entered the American College at Rome, where he remained
three years. He visited the Pyramids, and on St. Patrick's day unfurled
the flag of Ireland on one of them. Dr. Dunn also celebrated Mass on the
supposed site of the birthplace of the Saviour in Bethlehem.
Rev. William Walter Power, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Joliet, Ill.,
died of Bright's disease in that city. He was for a short time pastor of
St. Patrick's Church, in Chicago, and was 55 years of age.
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