New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-10-10
CARDINAL MCLOShEY.

CARDINAL hCLOShEf.
The death of the first American Cardinal
ends a career not less remarkable for the
extent of its achievements than for the means
| by which they were accomplished. There have
| been many Princes of the Church possessed by
spirits so virie and commanding that their
masterful progress sugges ted only the Tree
exercise of those faculties which win success III
| lay enterprises, and who seemed to be
politicians, commanders, organizers, hrst ana
most, and churchmen in the second place. But
Cardinal McClOskey was above all priest and
vet he was so eminent an adm illustrator that
his abilities in that direction would have dis
tinguished and enriched him i'll any secular
occupation. With this striking executive
power went also charity so comprehensive,
self-extinction so genuine, purity OF character
so marked, as to heghten the contrast between
what seemed his personal tendencies and the
actual results of his ecclesiastical labors. And
those labors were colossal. In half a century
of strenuous work this physically delicate man
bore most important part in the organization
and development of the Roman Catholic
Church in the United States. When he came
on the scene it WAS feeble, struggling, slow
growing institution. He left it mature, robust,
late, in ceremonial, the splendid functions OF
the mother Church in the OLD World.
When he entered the priesthood there were
only nine bishops In the country. To-day there
are fifty-nine, with eleven archbishOps. Of
whom one thimsefl had been elevated to the
dignity of the Card naate And this expansion
is but the symbol of the more practical progress
which finds expression in thousands of educa-
tiOnal establishments and churches, planted
over the Union everywhere. To all this lnsty
growth the late Cardinal contributed OF his
Judgment, knowledge, energy an life. III the
browning honor of his career fUund hm already
near exhaustion il was because he had literally
worn himself out in the service of the Church.
But the Church knew and appreciated him, and
indeed his life is pregnant example OF the
wisdom whercwith Rome guides her vast
spiritual empire. TO recognize and to promote
young priest whose learning and sound
Judgment were Sd much ObScured by his
humility and modesty; TO elevate hun so
RAPIDLY that he wore the mltre tel, years after
his ordination to select him with such un-
erring tact tor the succession to Archbishop
Hughes; and finally, when the determination
was reached to create an American Cardinalate,
to invest him with the berctta-shOwei a Xxi
and knowledge of what was tit of itself sufficient
To demonstrate the survival of the governing
capacity which in earlier ages male the Vatican
the centre of civilization and the POntif's
council the Parliament OF Europe.
1t is by her traditional Judgment and subtley
that the Church of Rome has outridden 80
many storms. Its by her marvellous precedence
in the selection of agents that she has accom-
"A, l,t1,,, LEI,
And seldom has this power been more signally
manifested than in the chOice which made
simple, retiring meek John McCOsKey the
head of the Church in America. For he WAS
born to popularize Roman Catholicism in Il
country by constitution and instinct hostile To
the Vatican. 1t needed personality 40
attractive. character 80 disarming in It's ten
derness and self-aDneSItiOn, disposition az
once 80 affectiOnate and persistent, TO break the
barriers of prejudice. No man made more
| friends than the Cardinal, or kept them more
firmly. His erudtion was great, but it wa
| thrown into the shade by his gcniality. He
possessed to a marvellous extent that mysteri
Gus gift of attraction which in cOlloquiaI SYM
boism is called magnetlsm perhaps the ex-
ternal indication of a spirit so benefcen,
kindly and good that even the obstruction of the
flesh cannot disguise its manifestations. The
influence of such man under such conditions
as were accorded him could not be other than
wholesome. In lay life, when we encounter one
| of these admirable souls, even in the toll and
| tumuit of action, not dssociated from the
sordid influences which necessarily affect all so
| cial and business competition, we appreciate
and recognize the elevating impulses thus dis
seminated. When such character, however,
is permitted to develop unrestrainedly i'll the
pure ard stimulating atmosphere of the relig-
ious life, the results offer perhaps the best that
humanity attain or expect. Beside the ex-
allied strain of such career all sectaran en-
nifty sinks away ashamed. The material ends
| involved may not meet the approval of all, and
the very spiendor of the successes reached may
AFFORD ground for apprehension. But though
he was faithful and Jealous in the service of the
! Church. it is as a man that the Cardinal will be
incurred and the least spiritually minded may
frankly acknowledge that a life so lived hOnors
and ennobles the faith to which it is conse-
Grated.
FALSE pRETENTES STILL