The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-13
AN AMERICAN CARDINAL.
How the Head of the Church in the
United States Liv5s and Works.


United States Liv b and Works.
From the PtHade'phia Inquirer
! BALTIMORE, July l0-Cardinal Gibbons
viii be the central figure in the celebration
of the establishment of the Cath lie hier-
archy. He is one of the best known men III
! Baltimore, a d those who have the pleasure
of knowing him personally viii not be sur
| prised to hear that he is not only bel owed
! by the members Of his own faith, but that
| he also jIys the respect aud esteem of the
whole people. His elevation to the cardi-
nalate has not changed him in the least
! His rooms in the Arcnepiscopal residence,
/ on Charles street, are hUed uD with
! almost ainful simplicity, and display to a
| great degree the unoste ltation which is
/ chsrdc .eristic of the mau. The distinguished
! prelate enjoys the distinction of being
| the youngest of the cardinals. Heretofore
! 1t was almost proverb al that to bee )me a
cardilal one must first bee me very old.
| But the present pontiff has shown his desire
! of having young men assist the venerable
| pri ces of the church in its TEMPORAL gov
ernment Cardinal Gi bonS is not a young
man IN the strict sense Of the word-fOr he
has already passed his fftieth birth
day-but he is young in comparison with
his venerable colleagues in the college Of
| cardinals.
Cardinal Gibbons isTan American from
| the soles of his feet to the crown of his
head. He was born in the city of Baltimore
on July 3D. 1884, within a stones throw
! tie palace where he now reigus as the he d
Of the American church. He was orda ned
IA priest on June 80 1861. He displayed
such marked ability that in 1868 he was
! appointed vIcaE apostolic of North Caro-
lima. Four years later he was installed as
bishop Of Richmond. In 1877 he was made
cOadjutor archbishop of Baltimore, as
! sumiug, on the death of Arch ,ishop Ba7ley
the full archbishopric. On Ju ie % of last
yea, the red hat was conferred on him
with imposing ceremonies in the city Of his
Dir h.
In personal appearance the cardinal is
slender and delicate His features are
clear cut aid his kindly manners make
| friends wherever he goes. His ability as a
writer ranks very high, and no one who
has read the Faith of Our Fathers" can
help being charmed with his style. As 4
speaker he is always clea" in argument and
simple in style. The Faith of Our Fathers"
is made up principally Of sermons delivered
! while on a missionary tour in n nth Caro-
| Ii la. The book it is said, has met with a
larger circulation than any similar Catholic
| " TX ever published. Since Its publication
more than 100000 copies have been sold.
Cardinal GIBBONS career has been filled
wi many humorous and pathetic Incl
de IS. VIII he was an humble priest in
the small country parish Of Elkridge, near
| Baltimore, one of his characteristic actio IS
gave him cunsde able fame Snail box
br Ike out in the village and all the people
who were able deserted the town just as
rats desert a sink ship. One poor old
| negro, who was al the point Of death, was
de erted by his friends and family, who
left HIM 81 her food uor medicine. Father
! Gibbons heard of the case and Fastening t.
a, d III l.
until the last. This " as not all, however,
for no one could be procured to carry the
| corpse to the grave. Father Glib ms was
| not long i'll making up his mind-he deter
| niuel to act as undertaken as we'll as minis
| ter. So having tanned coffin he placed
the body il it, aud having in some way or
| other dragged it to to tie grave performed
the last rites of the church and buried 1t.
There is another incident in the life of the
cardinal which he rarely touches on and
| for he accuracy of wn.Ch | do not intend
to De held responsible. The story has fire.
| quently been told il Baltimore and never
denied, and is old en- ugh to be true, If it
| isn't. While tie prelat9 was bishop of
| Richmond he was defendant in q suit relat-
ing to some church property. When he
was called to the sta3d the plaintiffs
| lawyer, distinguished legal luminary who
still shines among the legal lights of Rlcl-
| monG, dete miued to trip him up in some
way or other.
After number of vain endeavors to in
volve the witness in contradictions, he
struck on a pan which he tn ought would
annoy the bishop He the efore cues
ito ed Bishop Gibbons right to the tiJe If
the Bishop of Richm nj. The defe ldant',
la yer, as a matter of of course, objected
to this as irrelevent, but the bishop, with
queer nile said that If allowed a half an
hour to obtain tine necessary papers he
would comply with the request. Tuis was
graciousy allowed. The bishop left the
courtroom and in twenty minutes returned
with a document which he proceeded
TO read with great sulemnity-all
the more solemn as the paper was
entirely in Latin. The plaintiffs
lawyer pretended to take notes ind lstri1us-
ly, Dowlng his n '4d once in while as if in
acquiescenco, ald seeming perfectly con
vincei at the e ID. w zen the reading vas
finished he ANNOUNCED that the papal bulls
just read were entirely satisfactory, at the
same time apOhglzing for his expressed
doubts. The next day 1t leaked out that the
bishop, unable to tnd'the papal bulls at his
residence. mad brought to coIrt and read Il
! Latin essay on Pope Leo the Great, writ en-
by one of his ecclesiastical stutents, and
| forwarded by the president of the c)llegs
as specl uen of the young mans skill i'll
Latin co up ,siioL.
Cardinal Gibbons is a very liberal prelate,
| without aging or doing anythi e to detract
| from tue established doctrine of the Roman
church. Speaking of the cardinal it would
| not be out Of place 10 say a word concerning
! his distinctive insignia, the red hat. | no.
| cent ", at the council of Lyons, in 1245,
co ferr on the cardinals the distinction
of the now famous red hat. T special
mea ling of the hat is that the pope places
! it the head, the seas of the BRAN, to
warn the cardinal that he must give learned
and loyal coGAsei to the government of tle
| churcA, while its color Signi 4es that the
! carer must be prepared to shed the last
! drop of blood rather than hetray his rust
| The hat Is now one of ceremony only and
serve, but twice-once hen the cardinal
receives II ii consist0ry and next when it
rests on his catafaque at his obseQuies
/ 1t is then suspended from the ceiling OF
the chapel or aisle Of the church in which
be is buried. The form Of tie hat is round,
| with a low crown and wide stiff brim
! from the insi ie Of which hanS fit en- silk
! tasSels. The cardinals heal is COMPARE
/ lively good at the D ese II TIM aud 1t is
/ understood tnat lie conte nplateS wri ing
! another book on the doctrines of the
church. 1t is certain that any fu ure
! work from his pen will repeat the success of
: the Faith of Our Father -
( NEW YORK EVENING PAPER says that Del
/ monico famous restaurant on Fifth aveuue