The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-03-28

t"At eHSusSASIt4 ho hOulu puy pGI Geut
interest," deposits came in q torrent more
than. ample to meet every then pressing
requirement, and give assurance 10 one Of
his sAnguine temperament that such q
Pactolian stream could nGvGr run dry.
From this point was the beginning Of tile
Inevitable end, The great financial blum.
, der OF payingG per centinterest for money
and investing It In ways which returned
no per cent, nor even the principal, was q
III beginning for career Of
SUCH srupRNDOus MIsNASAogMRST.
Meanwhile the Bishop bought superb
site and erected q truly magnificent Ca.
tledral upon II, with plain but COmmo.
dlous Episcopal residence In Its rear, Whit
|, the cost was nobody now knows, for
Father Edward simply paid all the bills as
they were presented, kept no accounts,
and doesn't remember much about that,
or indeed about anything else. But II
could not have been less than half mil.
lion that was thus expended here. No
needy, struggling congregation appealed
In vain to tic Bishop for aid. Father El.
wards money.bag was always open. Up
on Mount Adams, where the people were
not able to build n church for themselves,
the Bishop ordered handsome one for
them, and Father Edward paid It's cost.
The orphan asylums and the institutions
otthe Sisters Of Charity, and u Convent up
In Brown county, all came in for liberal
shares Of the Bishops munllcence through
the Father Edward channel. The Bishop
was In the position Of chemist engrossed
IN some important experiment, who calls
upon his assistant to I'LL certain vessels
with water, and dreams not Of interrupt.
Ing his processes 10 inquire whence the
water comes.
Father Edward was all the time doing
things
THAT LOOKED LIKE BUSINESS.
He was receiving much money, paying in.
terest on 1t IN very practical. seeming
way, supplying money in any needed
amount for any charitable or religious
purpose that met with the Bishon's ap.
prova buying real estate, here aud there,
in and about the city, often at apparently
good bargains, and investing money in
manufacturing and mercantile concerns.
But, as 1t now turns out, much OF the
money he received as deposits went i'm.
lnediately to pay interest, and when re.
CURED, principal OF previous deposits; the
loans and gifts made with the Bishops
approval brought back no returns: tho |
real estate no purchased he chung to when
offered five times its value for it,-as, for
instance, the old United States Bank pro.
perty,-5and retained possession Of until
1t has deprecated below its original cost
to him; the business investments were
made, not to reap profit from already sue.
cesstul enterprises but to save struggling
firms and individuals from failure. In the
whole Of his alleged business career he
did nothing unworthy Of a well-meaning,
good hearted man, and scarcely anything
worthy Of wise one.
So matters went on until Bishop Purcell
was made Archbishop in 1850. The only
change that elevation made in the life OF
this undetermined, earnest, and self.sacri-
ticing man was to enlarge the field OF his
benevolenCe aud increase the,weight OF his
responsibilities. The plain simplicity OF
his life was in no degree affected Instead
OF assuming the pomp and circumstance
popularity supposed to surround tho high
dignitaries ofthe Church, he still, as he
always had, lived the transformations and
economical life Of
A PARISH PRIEST.
When valuable presents were made to
him, he caused them to be disposed OF for
the benefit Of the orphan asylums. For
years he refused 10 receive his cathedral.
lcum or dues from the churches in his
province, lest their payment might press
hardly upon some struggling parishes, and
when ut length this revenue was forced
upon him, he stipulated that the sums
paid should be far less than he was by
precedent and custom entitled to, and,
when they were received, he always gave
them to charitable institutions. Nlany
very valuable pieces of property Stand re.
corded in his name, but not one square
inch OF ground was actually his. All were
simply held in tIust by him In his official
capacity for the Church. Even those
which he has recently conveyed by deed,
in order that they might be assigned for
the securing of the claims against him,
were only ConstruCtivGly his, and their
assignment is, in point of fact, merely n
legal form to save them from the clutch OF
some eager creditors, who would other
wise have taken advantage OF his nominal
ownership to force them to sale. by this
means it is believed they Gun be protected
until the money is raised to pay tho debts |
this worlds goods as his brother Much |
as he received and much as he paid out,
NONE STUCK TO HIS FINGERS.
He got the same salary Us the other priests
attached to the cathedral and tho 0pisuo-
pal residence, $500 year. He had
room in the episcopal residence little, II |
any, better than the average thirll.story
back room OF sccond-ratc New York
boarding house. He pulled through the
lnstituttonsthat were threatening collapse,
for the people, frightened by the failures
all about them, rushed to him to deposit |
their money He never troubled himself
to keep any book, so that he could have
nothing approximating mn accurateidea Of
what he owed or what was owing TO him. |
Going upon the wildly fallacious theory
that everybody meant honestly, he scar
cely more thought OF expecting security |
from those to whom he lent money than
he did OF giving security 10 those who
made deposits with him. When deposit
tor brought him money he snatched up
the handiest scrap Of paper on his desk
and noted down the date, amount, and
namO, and that scrap was held as the de-
positors certificate, Whom such a scrap
was presented for payment heunluesLio1. |
ingly paid, aud when It was offered as the
evidence Of claim for interest, II the
party producing itd did not wantthe money
hp just dotted down, wherever there wGs
clean spot on tho paper, the amount OF
interest due. When Inor6 money WIS do.
posted, hc marked 1t down as so much
"paid in" and whenmoney was drawn he
spFihbled the entry as so much paid out"
upon tho sAma scrap Of paper. In course
Of time these entries would come to cover
the paper with 5ig.zag, priss.proas, 4p'Rnl,
down, tangled lines Of words and figures
in
ALMOST ISEXTRIcADLE CONFUSION.
His handwriting was very irregular in It's
degrees Of illegibility, but at either It's best