National Republican., 1886-10-23
ALEARNED BIsmOp. .
a Born German who Accomplished
the Feat of Composing and Deliver
fnn mn irish gDpech

a Born German who Accomplished
the Feat of Composing and Deliver
ing nm irish Speech.
Bishop Thomas decker, formerly OF Will
mlngton, Del, now OF Savannah, Ca, was
in town recently on his way to his new
southern diocese There are perhaps many
men In the church as learned as Bishop
Becker, but he is the only one Of them who
has accomplished the feat OF Learnt ng the
lrish language from books so as to be
able to compose and deliver an Irish speech.
The bi snop is a born German, was raised
among Germans, and never heard an Ir sh
word I'LL he went to Rome to complete his
studies for the priesthood. While in the
Eternal City he became interested In Old
Celtic love, and set his mind to mastering
the language. With the scarcity OF Irsh
books and the lack OF teachers IL may be
imagined that his task was n difficult one,
and indeedl almost unprecedented. For a
time he was the butt for numerous jokes
from his fellow. students, who considered
RI@ G SSe SSe,DnSa ol the genus gsnSIs. eTaps rank
ever, and his wonderful aptitude for Ian
guages was shown by the result
just before his ordination the birthday
Of Pope Plus TX occurred, aud, according
to custom, there was presentation Of al
dresses in different languages to celebrate
the event. As the propaganda has students
from nearly all the countries In the world
there was no lack Of variety In the addresses
Only one European country lacked repre-
senta'ion, and that was Ireland. Since IL
was known that the pope especially loved
the Emerald Isle and its people the cardinal
managers resolved to have an Irish address
u they had to send to Ireland for student.
They were saved this trouble by the prompt
offer Of Deacon Becker to fiji the vacancy.
The cardinal, knowing the young man to
be German, were at first incrodulous
about bis ability to take the role, and he
had to declaim in Irish before them fre-
quently before he was accepted When the
eventful day came every body was on the
qui vlve for Becker's Irish speech, and many
were the predictions Of break down on
his part. Several Irish church dlgntaries
nal cullen, OF Dublin, an authority on Celtic
literature. 1t happened that Becker was
the first one selected to approach
tho pope with an address, and what
made matters more embarrassing to
the young man was the fact that
Cardinal Cullen was Just at the pope's right
and directly In front OF the speaker. At
first he stumbled a little, but soon, warming
to his theme, he launched Oft into graphic
Irish picture of the growth Of the church
under his hollness's pontlncate. The speech
lasted halfhour, aud was delivered, after
the first five minutes, with all the huency
and gestlculatory Accomplishments of son
Of the Emerald Isle. The moment he
finished, Cardinal Cullen grasped his hand
warmly and praised the effort, and, when
all the speeches had been delivered and the
pope had retired, every one present gath
cred around the young German-Irishmau
He was the hero Of the hour, and during
the rest Of his stay in Rome was looked
upon as prodigy Of linguistic ability.
After ordination he came to Richmond, Va,
becoming assistant at the cathedral, and
there became the idol of the people on ac-
count OF his ability to speak Irish and Ger
man. His great effort at Rome was soon
rewarded by his appointment to the see of
Wilmington, Del. 1t is frequently asserted
that he Is the only man In America who has
learned colloquial Irish from books.