National Republican., 1883-07-06
Archbishop Purcell Of the Catholic Church.
Dies at st. Martins, Ohio.
Brief Sketch Of His Life and Eminent
Services in the Church.
Extended Review Of the Long and Distinguished
Career Of the Late Bishop Pinkney.
HiH Remains Wnl Arrive Here To-day
Arrangements For tho Funeral.
BISHOP PINKNEY.

CeiNe WnaV sweet perfume a biameless soul
exhales." The quaint old moralst held that
earth is the loser Of actual though impalpablo
sweetness by the transferral of human soul
to heaven, just as the blighting of a flower
takes away certain quantity from tho
worlds general store of fragrance. In the
death Of such man as Bishop Pinkney the
meaning of the old divine becomes obvious.
1t is not vague OF meaningless
fancy which catches on tho bost and
subtlest attributes ofnature wherewith to de.
scribe tho unfolding, tho action, or the in.
huenco of the human spirit. Thus Haw.
thorne, in that exquisite proem to "Mosses
froman Old Manse" says some men are like
the tiger lily which sucks only repulsive as.
pect and noisome odor from the grimy ooze
out OF which u springs, while from the same
black slime the water lily draws out the most
perfect loveiiness of form and color and the
most exquisite and delicate of perfumes. A fit
image, this last, to typify Bishop Pinkney.
Out Of the discordant and sinful elements OF
humanity his life drew only sweetness kind.
ness, and purity until it blossomed into that
fairest flower of all Gods gardens sancti-
fed human soul.
He came of gentle blood and of noble
lineage. Achiliad of inherited culture, dig
nifty, and refinement had placed its ineffacea
Bile impress upon countonance and mind alike.
his by Legitimate inheritance. His family
was one of the best and ablest in state
where gentle blood was oftener found and
moro truly appreciated than elsewhere in the
United States. Ere they erected their altar
fires in this country they had been famous
for many centuries in Europe They
brought their culture, their reine-
ment, their abilities to their new
world. Bishop Pinkneys uncle, not inaptly
called the great William Pinkney, was per.
haps the ablest American in our history. His
cousin was the truest and noblest lyric
poet born this side of the Atlantic. Other
members of the family maintained its
honor and its prestige as ably and
as naturally, If not so prominently, rs this
famous pair. NoblesSe oblige was a part of their
nature, from which none swerved or turned
away.
Bishop Plnkney was born in Annapolis in
the year 1910. AS a boy he was noted for
brilliancy and acuteness of intellect, and
frmness and sweetness of disposition. He
entered the venerable st. Johns college, of
the University of Maryland, at tho age of
twelve and graduated with the honors of his
class when sixteen. At an age when most
boys arc beginning to think of college
he had hidden farewell to his alma mater
loaded with all her honors. Shortly
aiterward he commenced reading law
with John Ncvitte Steele, of Dorchester
county, famous lawyer of those days. Law
seemed to be the natural profession Of the
Piukneys. In it they had won such triumphs
that no ono thought of a Pjnkney adopting
another profession unless, as in rare instances,
1t should be the army OF navy. Before com
pleting his legal studies however, his atten-
tion was called to another and nobler occu-
patton, and he resigned forensic for theolog-
lcal life. He gave up the wig and gown of
the judge for the surplice and stole OF the
bishop. lie could not avoid the honors thrust
upon him. In religion, as it would have been
IN law or anything else, it was his fate "a
lead
The boy is father of the man. What the
child desires the adult also Graves. Character
is born with the babe. In Bishop Pinkney's
life this truth was vivdly exemplified. From
child up he manifested purity, tenderness,
hrmness, and the power of command. He
would have made an able soldier had not the
Master called him to a higher warfare 1t is
said that in his youthful days he had ex-
pressed wish for military life. 1t
Is not very unfrequently that clergy
men have experienced this martial ardor.
The struggle between the army and the
church was fercely waged in the breast of
Frederick William Robertson ere the teuder
conscience decided in favor of the church
Loyola was u soldier ere he became priest
And William Pinlney, in experiencing mas-
tial ardor in his youthful days, only obeyed
the law which has governed so many clergy
men o. warm feelings and brilliant intellect
the law which prescribes conflict between the
things of spirit and the things of sense
The world was happier because of his final
choice, as in tho case of Robertson. In each
instance did the army lose great COM
mander; in each instance did religion gain, q
great preacher. Great not alone in the
gift of eloquence of speech, but in the broad
intellect, the catholic spirit, the tender con-
science, the deep and Jealous charity for all
mankind, which distinguished both these
men. Both had in a very large
degree that clearness of mental vision,
that practical sagacity of Judgment,
which Is as valuable in clergyman us in
man Of business. Both were distinguished
for their executive ability. Both were poets
and scholars, both men of the purest deli
cacy and the most refined taste. Indeed
parallel as close as it is interesting can be
drawn between the two men, even to the
wondrous personal magnetism that charac-
terized each, While their characters and
their endowments are thus so similar, and
their work productive of the like beneicent
results, their fortunes and their fate
were widely varied. Pinkney was
supremely fortunate in his marriage, his
friends and his health. Robertson was
welded to woman whom men would pro-
nounce dovil did not belief in common
humanity dismiss her with the judgment of
insanity. He suffered incurabe agOnies from
disease. And he died in the very flower of
his youth ere the world had time to perceive
the marvellous beauty of his character aud
the wonderful power of his brain.
Upon resolving to consecrate himself TO his
sacred calling, Pinkney went TO Princeton,
and thence TO New York, in which latter city
his theological studios wero completed. In |
1886 he was ordained deacon by the late |
Bishop Stone, and shortly afterward became |
rector of ST. Andrews parish, Somerset
county, Md. Two years later no was called |
back TO his native western shore, to
ST. Mlchaels parish, Prince Georges |
county. Here he had married Miss |
Elizabeth Lowndos, daughter of BENJAMIN |
of Blenboim, near Badensburg, |
The Lowndes were another of those old his. |
toric families of Maryland, who havo stood |
by the traditions OF their order, and in so |
doing served their country and their neigh.
bors so we'll In his quiet tasteful homo at |
the young rector felt that happi-
ness and duty for onoo ran in parallel lines,
and he determined TO spend his days in Gods |
service in this beautiful country.
Duty, however, decided otherwise. In 1866
ho was called TO the AscensCsl church, in
Washington. Ho was unwilling TO come, but
the parish insisted and the bishop Of Tho
diocese finally used his influence on thl side
Of the church. The aged rector of the Ascen-
sion, previous TO pnknoy's establishment
there, had been hopelessly i'll for some years
For various reasons the church had not Hour
shed. 1t languished. Many Of its men,
bers had gone elsewhere, But Mr.
clear, incisive, practical
Abilities, no less than his magnetism as a man
IND his eloquenGe as an orator. soon produced