Loyola College - Review Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW = Never before has the Catholic priest been epitomized, and we might say analysed, in this manner, and perhaps never again may we expect the like. The idyllic simplicity of Daddy Dan, the surge and brilliancy of its suc- cessor,—only in Ireland “іп whose eye ever blends the tear with the smile,” may we find the material for such human documents, and only in the Irish priest, a genius like Fr. Sheehan, may we look for the craftsmanship. Such a measure of fame as came at once to the author might have urged another to abandon all pursuits for that of literature. While it is perhaps a source of regret that far from doing such he continued to give us only of his leis- ure time, we are forced to admire all the more this man who prized his pastoral dignity and duties above all earthly esteem. Until his death, in October, 1913, the Canon remained at his post ministering to his flock, forwarding their interests to the last. Rather astounding it is too that one of world-wide interests in everything else could be so insular in the matter of travel. His motto seems to have been: See Ireland First, and apparently there was no second. The beautie s of his native land ever sufficed him. An imposed vacation in Germany in 1904, during which he was not suffered to remain in obscurity and where his name was well known; a brief return to Eng- lish scenes prior to writing Luke Delmege’’; a trip to Lourdes back in the seventies,—this was all the wandering he ever permitted himself. In a well known passage, he writes: ‘People say to me: ‘Never seen Rome or Florence! St. Peter’s! The frescoes of the Sistine! The galleries of Ріссі!--Меуег. Nor do I much care. If I were to go to Italy, I would go to seek the supernatural; be- cause it is the only thing I could really and permanently admire.” I fear that this is one of his maturer reflections; in his younger days he had an extraordin- ary capacity for the beautiful. Still nothing delighted him more than the intellectual companionship and vis- its of his confréres. One cannot forget those clerical dinners and social gather- ings of the clergy he has drawn for us. If not actual, they were such as he had dreamed of. The comparative isolation which his calling imposed on one of his tastes weighed on him heavily at times. Fr. Heuser while visiting the Canon in 1908 received the manuscript of Dr. Gray. Typical of all his manu- script, there was the same careful writ-. ing, marking of periods, division of paragraphs and titles, as though the copy of a well corrected original. Yet it was just as if he had written it on successive days when at rest from his pastoral toil. He wrote as he spoke, with the same measured and calculated finish, and yet with touches of deep emotion which seem to preclude any- thing like deliberation. To a mind stored by careful reading in earlier years, trained to accurate reasoning and sedulously pr in the art of ex- pression, all composition had become easy. He knew how to group his thoughts to advantage and to teach a useful lesson. The Pastor of Doneraile now lies in his last sleep beside the entrance to his village church. Though fifteen years have sped, his spirit still lingers in the village; the praise of his memory is everywhere. The memorial windows in the church, the marble figure outside on the green fronting the street, testify the affectionate reverence of an entire popu- lation and of admirers across the At- lantic and the Pacific. One of the truest men of genius who have illus- trated the Irish name, says his epitaph, “апа one of the truest saints that ever sanctified the Irish soil.”’ STEPHEN J. McGuiNzss, '29. 47+ жыйбайбы лақтан O

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LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW parish priest, Dr. McCarthy, who in 1874 became Diocesan Bishop. The lifelong solicitude manifested by his guardian, a trait so general among Irish clergy, he hast n ed for us in many places, the [же е Fr. Tim Hurley їп “Іше Delmege, for instance. Quitting the National School of his town at fourteen, the boy spent three years at St. Colman’s, Fermoy, emerging with a reputation for exceptional schol- arship. Then followed four years’ residence at Maynooth preparing for the priesthood. He was ordained at Queens- town, April, 1874, and in accordance with a request from abroad was im- mediately sent on the English mission. The young priest returned to Ireland in 1877. Two years’ absence had done amazing things with him. He was home to an бош the Island of Saints, but would sooner have remained abroad. He was given a curacy in his native town for the nonce; in 1881, he was called to the Cathedral at Queenstown, a situation more congenial to one of his capabilities. In 1888, weak health necessitated a change to quieter scenes, and he returned to Mallow as senior Curate. The sentiments he ascribes to Daddy Dan were quite probably his own; the change to rural surroundings with its greater leisure for study and contemplation was very welcome. In 1895 came his appointment to Doneraile with the acquisition of all the dignity and independence that be- longs to a parish priest. The keen com- petition attending a more prosperous vacancy would have elicited prior claims; but Doneraile was not such. Daddy Dan’s reminiscences give us an account of things: “Тһе Bishop sent for me and said: ‘Fr. Dan, you are a bit of a literateur, I understand; Kil- ronan is vacant. You'll have plenty of time for poetizing and dreaming there. What do you say to it?’—and then in- timately to the reader—'' You wonder at my ecstacies. Listen. I was a dreamer; and the dream of my life when I was . shut up in towns where the atmosphere was redolent of drink, and you heard nothing but scandal, and saw nothing but sin,—the dream of my life was a home by the sea, with its purity and freedom, its infinite expanse telling me of God. .. But Daddy Dan was to learn that twenty or thirty years of ai eg seascape in a sleepy Irish village can wear out the strongest idealism. The sea became a symbol of his withered dreams; remorseless. He drifted into a humdrum life that was saved from sordidness only by the sacred duties of his office. Doneraile, an inland parish, is no topographic counterpart of the Kilronan of Daddy Dan. The author has in mind Kilkee, a little watering place on the west coast, where he spent an occasional holiday with fellow-clerics. The main analogy, however, is that the promotion gave him that leisure and independence so convivial to his literary tastes. “Geoffrey Austin, his first book, was published the same year. Its reflections on national education were very un- favourably received. Like Pére Didon, he upheld the Germans for emulation in these matters. His German enthusiasms dated from the days of Carlyle's aposto- late. Although ignored for some time this book bore the seeds of victory. One of its features, its skilful depiction of clerical characters, led to negotions with a foreign journal, resulting in the masterpiece that made him famous. Fr. Heuser recalls the thrill he felt on re- ceiving the manuscript which within a year of its completion as a serial had run into ten editions with a fame that was world-wide. After a short interim, its successor Luke Delmege began asimilar course, published in book form, in 1902. “You have given us the sum-total of Pastoral theology,” they told him; and at the time his Dr. Gray, eventually to make up the trilogy he had planned, was unwritten. These books marked an absolutely new departure in literature. 167

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ee р. S LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW The Seniors Through J unior Eyes Britt, Gerald— Virtue is its own reward. This distinguished personage may well be known by the title “personality plus, ' for if we nee в define ‘‘personality’’ as the power of attracting others, Gerry certainly possesses it to a remarkable degree. The ‘plus’ may be taken to mean almost anything that becomes a scholar and a gentleman. By the tacit consent of all, he has been unanimously declared spiritual director of the class. Under his solicitous directorship the annual retreat for the Seniors was held and was voted a complete success. Among Gerry’s more prominent proclivities are the following: giving up smoking for Lent and day by day making himself more popular. Activities: Sodality, 25-19; Councillor, '2.5-'26; 2nd. Asst., '26-'27; 1st. Asst., 27-28; Prefect, 18-729; Debating Soc., 28-29; Scientific Soc., 29; С.О.Т.С., 25-29. Britton, Edward— What sweet compulsion doth in music lie. There are many things to Ed's credit, but in his own саа few сап equal the fact that he originally hailed from the thriving hamlet of Holyoke, Mass. He is the most energetic of our scientists. He is wise beyond his years, and though his profi- ciency in games is, in the main, limited to pastimes strictly indoor in nature, this has not prevented his elevation to the pinnacle that can be occupied only by the man who can see a joke at all times and take it. Medicine claims him next year, and we are confident that fortune will smile upon this cheerful and competent student. Activities: Sodality, 26-29; Scientific Soc., 28-29; Historical Soc., 29; C.O.T.C., '26-'29; Class Baseball, 27-728. Connor, William Dennis— ' Perseverance keeps honour bright.” It is doubtful what the College would have done without ‘‘Willie’’ and what Willie would have done without the College. He has accepted whatever duties and activities were open to the more ambitious, and like Oliver Twist has asked for more. By way of other titles to distinction it must be mentioned that he has been the fidus Achates of generations of lonesome new boys, and that he is the only Fourth Degree K. of C. in the College. Ambitious, energetic and conscientious, he possesses that greatest of all conversational qualities: he is a good lis tener. It is impossible that his many good qualities should fail to win him recognition in the field of his choice. Activities: Sodality, 15-79; Treasurer, 27-29; St. John Berchmans’ Soc. Exec., '28-'29; C.O.T.C., 25-29; Reserve Officer, 729; К.П.2., '25-29; Scientific Soc., 27-29; Debating Soc., 26-29; Historical Soc., 28-729. 4%