Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1879-03-13

His Past career and Present Flnan-
ciaI Embarrassment.

Father Monteyerde has handed us a let
ter written by the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly,
of New York, to the Sun of that city, from
which we make the following extract i'll de-
Tense Of that aged prelate:
OF the venerable man who, in 1893, was
sent to Cincinnati as its Bishop, were he to
| die tomorrow as he was about to enter his
| eightieth year, it would also be said, that
at his latest hour the whole Of his per-
sonal property did not amount to one nun
dred dollars worth. i doubt il, after a
priestly career of fifty-six years, the few
books which his scholarly tastes have
forced him to keep, could fetch that value;
for it is to my certain knowledge that beau
tiful books sent to him as a testimony of
grateful respect, are at once given to his
religious communities, where, he thinks,
they can do more good than in his modest
library.
But / wished to explain how the vener-
able prelate's embarrassments originated
without airy moral fault of bis own, or of
the devoted brother priest who shared with
him the labors, the privations and the
anxious cares of his long episcopal admin
istration.
In 1888 there was but one single Catholic
church in Cincinnati, the diocese then EN-
bracing the entire State of Ohio. At the
present moment Ohio has three distinct
dioceses, possessing together upwards Of
500 churches, with some 336 priests and a
magnificent array of institutions OF learn
ing and charity.
But in 1893, when Bishop Purcell took
charge Of his vast and needy diocese, the
Catholics who fondly clustered around
him for religious guidance, did what their
fathers before them had done in the old
country they not only contributed gener-
ously to every good work undertaken for
religion, but very many of them would
have their Bishop invest their savings in
the institutions he was founding.
1t was considered a safe investment, for
no Catholic institution, SO far as my
Knowledge goes, has ever failed to paw its
creditors. And in 1888 there were but few
savings banks. Besides, as to our own
people, they have but a limited faith in
such banks, and a still more limited faith
in trust companies, or professional men,
all of whom betray the confidence reposed
in them, without affording to their victims
any certain means of redress.
1t has happened, then, with the Arch
bishop Of Cincinnati, as it did with the
venerable DR.. Power, of New York, and
with Archbishop Hughes himself-he was
made to suffer by the ~imprudent specula-
tons Of others, and by the misfortune of
the times.
In Cincinnati, within'a year or two, the
venerable Archbishop lost heavily by the
failure of firms with whom he had depos-
tied his church funds-funds from which,
until that moment, he had paid regularly
and scrupulously the interest due ON all
investments in church property.
Now men of he world are perfectly
aware of the sad embarrassment created in
the most prosperous business by the sud
den loss of $100, 900 or $500, 600. When a
business man finds, all Of a sudden, that
the ready money on which he certainly
counted for meeting all immediate de-
mands utterly fails him, he will scarcely
avoid ruin, if he cannot make up the de-
~fciency, though his property at the bottom
may be worth a million.
SO did it happen with Archbishop II
cell, and that, too, in the middle OF that
long and severe financial crisis of which
the country has not yet seen the end.
There has been no incorporation OF the
moneys invested; none has been charged
on the Archbishop or his Vicar-General.
Nor have ! heard that either has been ac-
cused of mismanagement. Arrangements,
satisfactory to all those interested, have
been made, the whole body OF the clergy,
ana All tut lnhueutidi Huth VI tIc iaitf,
uniting to secure the creditors from the
possibility Of loss. Therefore, there is
only need of patience. and, with time. all
just claims are sure to be satisfied to the
full.
AS to the admirable prelate, on whom
| these embarrassments have fallen with so
| p"ainfdl a weight at the end of almost half
a century Of untiring labor, unselish de-
yotion to every duty, and abundant sue
cess in all his undertakings for the good
Of souls, there is need of saying but one
word: He is worshipped both by clergy
and people; he is respected and loved by
Protestants themselves. He has been the
faithful priest, the self-sacriiiciug bishop,
the courageous patriot in the hour OF need,
the accomplished scholar, and the perfect
gentleman.
The people of the West are proud Of him.
He has never failed them. Nor will they
fail to sustain him now.