The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-09-09
MINNEAPOI1s PAUL. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER g. 1898

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and he was very popular with professors
and students alike; but when his time
came for taking holy orders, he decided
that he was unfit for the work of an Irish
country priest. He was too fond of
books and study to devote himself with
sufficient ardor to the, many outdoor
cares and responsibilities associated with
parochial ministrations on bleak hill
side, and among people who probably
would never be able to appreciate him.
He accordingly applied for and was
granted admission into the Jesuit college
of Amiens, and few years subsequently
was transferred to college of the same
society in Paris, where he read profound
course of theology, and was in due time
elevated to the priesthood. His intimate
and extensive knowledge Of languages
and Eropean literature qualified him for
professional chair in the last named COL
lege-a post which he held, however,
only for short period.
He had up to this epoch in his life
been convinced that the career of reli-
gious was suited to his temperament.
He now discovered to his dismay that be
had no real vocation tor the priesthood.
He felt bitterly, l am told, at separating
himself from his Jesuit colleagues-a
step he took once he had resolved on try
ing his fortune in the literary world.
He proceeded to London where his first
struggles for existence were hard and
arduous' enough. He would have re-
ceived financial aid from home if he had
asked for it, but he was too proud to do
SO. At length, toward the close of the
twenties, he secured an introduction to
DR.. Maginn, fellow Corkman, who, after
having seen and examined some of Ma
hony's literary wares, offered him posi-
tion on the staff of Frazer's Magazine.
1t was in this magazine that his "Rel-
iques of Father Prout" We're first pub
lished, and won for the pseudo Oliver
Yorke prominent place among the lead
Ein2 litterateurs OF England. The contri-
butors to Frazer numbered among them
the leading writer's of the time, and used
to assemble once month in London
restaurant, where they crossed legs un-
der table, rich with choice viands and
crusted wines, around which wit and
repartee flashed in brilliancy as clear as
crystal, and quite as efervescont as the
Veuve Cicquot champagne which they
quaffed on such occasions. These were
what Prout used TO call the "nights and
suppers of the gods" Maginn called
them "Noctes Ambrosiana. Here the
young Irishman clinked glasses with an
other famous Corkman, Sergeant Muir
ply, with that dlspeptic and dogmatic
ogre Carlyle, with Thackeray the humor-
list, and Maclise, the rollicking artist who
illustrated the Prout Reliques, and who
also hailed from the banks of the pleas
ant Lee All these writer's were the
learned luminaries of Frazer in those
days. The predominance of the Cork
onians in the editorial sanctum of the
magazine once drew from Carlyle the ad-
mission: 'We should transfer our desks
and printing press over to the classic
purlieus of the coal quay, my friends; for
it is Cork and not London that illumines
the pages of our monthly"
Some years after the retirement OF
Maginn from Frazer's, Francis Mahony,
tired Of London, returned to Paris, and
and spent almost the remainder of his
career in the capacity of correspondent
of the London Globe. Politically Prout
was rank Tory; but he managed to pull
on very socially with these compatriots
of his, two of whom professed very radi-
cal ideas on the Irish question. On a
certain occasion, however, when an Eng
llshman formed one of the company,
Prout's Irish spirit could not restrain it.
self. It happened thus. The Auglo-
Saxon happening to remark that Ireland
needed the superior intelligence of Eng
lishmen to control her destinies properly,
Prout glared at him through his specta-
cles, and retorted: "Allt same. sir, our
forefathers were saints and scholars
when yours were savages!
In England Prout affected mild re-
gard for Professionalism which was not
sincere. In Paris his Catholicity secretly
gained complete mastery over him once
more. I was assured on good authority
that he used to be often seen going at
night to Notre Dame cathedral, and
knee]ing in prayer before side chapel
dedicated to the Madonna. These inner
manifestations of piety had at last their
logical result. He abandoned the pen
and the world forever, and retired to q
monastery, where he passed several years
in penitintial sorrow and suffering for
any scandal he might have caused by his
detection from the Church. Here he
died in the early portion Of 1866. In
May of that year his remains we're trans
ported to Cork, Ireland, where they were
buried in the churchyard Of st. Anne,
Shandon, under the shawow Of the
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