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Show : : i if m0&;m . j i f j X t . THE LATE rATHER EDWARD Hv-GLTNir. ' t Yilc&ynn's Elk and Work EY FRANK McGUIRE. V AVhatevor may have been the unfortunate unfor-tunate incidents that clouded the cicsins: years of his ecclesiastical ca-i ca-i or. the name of Edward McGlynn, i1!-.-t.r of the.ilocy ,nnd priest of the .nc-ient Catholic Church, will forever li.'ld an honored place in American his'ory. 1 knew I)r IcOlynn: knew him v !!, and I loved him. I loved him for vli.it he was A MAX. Priest and patriot, he rose from the people: he v; of thm: he loved them; thoy wor-fii'l'ped wor-fii'l'ped him. In my capacity as a reporter on the X.-w York newspaper? I was frequently threv.n into the pr-?ence of this .exeat, f- ! man. who has just passed into the imponetrahle beyond. Therefore, I had -iviunity pler.ty to make full meas-t't meas-t't nient of his cliaracter. . :!is was indeed a master mind, train- ! ti t!;p ready prasp and solution of i'vy problem in science, reliprion. phil-. phil-. -s'!-hy, politics or economics. I5ut it vr:s in the pulpit or on the lecture plat-, plat-, f..rm that he was ;.t hit- lest. now ex-h"i:inp' ex-h"i:inp' the pojile to the love and wor-of wor-of Oo.l. pl.'a.lin? tendprly with t'-.i m to walk in the path of riprhteous-j..--s: or hurHns forth thunderous de-?.', de-?.', Halations from the rostrum a.cainst ' ti. evils and abuses and curses that be-: be-: i our system if irovernment. He M.aye.l men's minds: he elevated their t!,"'isrhts: he lifted their souls. I'll. M 'GLYNN AND HENRY j C.EOliGE. I li s last preat oration was delivered at tlie bier of Henry George in the j Vi,;..n Palace, New York. I 1: McGlyitn and the brilliant au- ! i .f of --Propress and Poverty" had j 1- ! friends for years. P.eskies a deep- ; :- Tu-d i.ersonal affec tion there existed !.. tw.-.-n ihem a strong intellectual :':!. path v. There was much in com-; com-; r. in" their lives. 15oth thought, ii. d. fought and labored for the ad-';.ti:-ement of the people. While we ' not apree with their methods en- :. iv, yet we must concede the lofti-?. lofti-?. -. and splendor of their purposes. I; was his belief in Henry Georp-e ! .John Stuart Mills and the theories iii y advanced on the land tax ques-; ques-; !! that directly brought Dr. McGlynn ':'o .iislavor with the constituted authorities au-thorities of his Church. This was his i'.ital error: not that he p earnestly 1.. !i-v( (1 in the doctrines advanced by these eminent thinkers, but the fact that In- persistently and openly advo-e;,ted advo-e;,ted them aft;;- there had been a di-is:m di-is:m in his own parish and the people peo-ple were at riot. He had been warned by Archbishop Corripran to desist. But ).'- refused to obey and went so far as 10 repudiate this "authority. That was the time ho fjt his head. His fiery, ; Celtic natuie revolted. ! Next h. took the stump for Henry (leorpe in his first mayoralty eontest in New York and that was the mistake that killed, him. His bisliop first requested re-quested and then demanded that he j should remain silent on the ground that j 1t was not the mission of a Catholic j priest to enter a. political strife. But I Dr. McGlynn would not yield. He even j assumed a more apgres.sive stand and I w hile he thought he was rigrht in the ! I'remi?es there was a violation of obc- dienoeand disregard of authority, without with-out which, the old Church would have long- since perished. THE ARCHBISHOP AY AS FIRM. It was said si the time that John D. ; Crimmins. Richard Croker, Andrew ! Leary and other chieftains of Tam-I Tam-I many Hall had influenced the Arch-i Arch-i bishop against the priest. P.e this as j it may. Dr. McGlynn was advertised to I address a gathering at Cooper Union, and the Metropolitan of Xew York , wrote him and requested him not to I speak at the meeting, i Dr. McGlynn at once replied, asking i the Archbishop to modify his request. ! The doctor replied that he had been I advertised to speak, that it was too ! late to notify the people who would j asreirJjle to hear him. that his word as a man and as a citizen had been given, and he felt it his duty to keep I his pledge. lie said, however, that if j the Archbishop objected to hi?1 further i 1 jrticip ation in the canvass, he would i hereafter remain silent. Xo answer ! at" received to this letter, and Dr. ! McGlynn addressed the meeting. In the course of a few days the Arch-I Arch-I bi; hop summarily suspended Dr. Mc-! Mc-! Glynn from his priestly function?5, and ! had him ejected from the house in which he had lived for a quarter of a i century. The person who performed ! this cistasteful task was the late Fath-! Fath-! rr Donnelly, who is said to have acted ' with mere zeal than politeness in exe-1 exe-1 ruling the Archbishop's mandate. ! This created great dissensions in St. j Stephen's parish, whose affairs for so i long had bocn conducted by the sus-i sus-i ponded priest. There was even talk of ! violence gainst those who were called upon to take up Dr. McGlynn's work ' in the Church, and in many instances the love for the pastor proved stronger ! than the re?pect for the Archbishop's j authority. DR. M'GLYXX EXCOMMUNICATED. j Dr. McGlynn left New York and re-j re-j mained in seclusion for some time. Xevertheless, the dissensions in St. j Stephen's parish continued and the police po-lice were frequently called upon to protect pro-tect the property. New York was, aflame with excitement, and threats and counter threats were made on every hand. But Archbishop Corrigan j was unyielding. In conjunction with his advisors and many of the priests of ; his episcopal see he submitted a statement state-ment of the case to Pope Leo XIII, declaring: de-claring: that his diocese was in a state of rebellion, and the decision was rendered ren-dered that he should use his own judgment judg-ment in the matter. The result was ! that he excommunicated Dr. McGlynn ' and a number of his followers. He also j removed Dr. P.urtsell from the parish I cf the Epiphany and later gave him 1 the little church at Rondout. N". Y., I and likewise disciplined Father Ducey, j bcth of whom refused to sign the pe-i pe-i tition to Rome and took sides with Dr. McGlynn. . In the course of time Dr. McGlynn wa3 requested to go to Rome, but instead in-stead of yielding he spoke disrespectfully disrespect-fully of the Holy Father. Finally, when the sitorm blew over and he soberly so-berly and dispassionately contemplated the situation and realized his duty and obligation to the Church, he visited Rome and had an audience with Leo XIII. who received him in such a gentle gen-tle and fatherly way that Dr. McGlynn returned to Xew York another man, was reinstated to his priestly station and was given the parish at Xewburg. ! X. Y., where he lived up to the time of : his death. Thus terminated one of the most exciting chapters in the ecclesiastical ecclesi-astical history of the American Church. But whatever faults Dr. McGlynn may have had. we will write thm in the sands while we clothe his virtues' in imperishable memory. DR. M'G LYNX'S AXCDSTRY. The parents of the Rev. Dr. Edward McGlynn, D. D., came to this country from Donegal. Ireland, in 1S24. Their son was born in Xew York City in 1837, and when of sufficient age he was sent l to a public school. When 14 years old l Archbishop Hughes sent him to the College of the Propaganda, Rome, where he remained several years. While " there he astied in establishing the American College in the Holy City, of whic'a in?ititution for a time he was acting vice president. He was ordained ordain-ed when 22 years old, and received the degree of doctor of divinity. He re- " turned a few months later and began - ministerial duty In the city of his birth. On the death of the Rev. Dr. Cum-. Cum-. mlngs he became parish priest of St. Stephen's, and he in time made it the largest and wealthiest Catholic con-' con-' gregation in the city, St. Patrick's Ca-' Ca-' thedral afterward not accepted. The care of the poor and their elevation in ail things- was his fad, end in furtherance further-ance of his efforts he spent his private fortune of S30.000. Father McGlynn was aggressive in his progre?i3ivone.ss. When the local authorities au-thorities of the church instituted a ays-tern ays-tern of public schools, Father McGlynn, alone among the Priests of the United Statesv adhered to an advocacy of the public school system, and he refused to advise his parishioners to withdraw their children from the latter. |