The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-09-16
A LESSON IN POLITENESs.
Mrs. Clarence Mackay Rebuked by a
Catholic Priest.

CSThollc Priest.
The parishon;rs of the Church % ST
John the Evangelist, Twenty-first
street, near Fifth avenue, Brooklyn, OF
which the Rev. Thomas S. Duhfgg is
pastor, built d new parochial scEool
last year that cost 100000. 10 provide
funds for furnishing it Father Duhlgg
announced that tablets would be erect
cd at each class room, giving the names
of those who contributed toward their
equipment. The women OF the parish
Immediately set out collecting funds tor
the purpose. One of thtse volunteers
collectors was Miss &. A. Mcnamara.
SEEING that Mrs. Clarence H. MaCkay
was interested in school matters and
had been elected a member of the
school board at Roslyn, L. l., Miss Nc
Namara wrote to Mrs Mackay, asking
for a contribution to the school furnish
ings. Mrs. Mackay is not q Catholic,
but Miss Mcnamara thought she was.
Apparently Mrs. Mackay was offended
by the appeal. Father Duhigg, who
knew nothing of the request, received
letter on purple tinted paper adj
dressed Miss L. A. Mcnamara OF
Father Duhigg, st. Johns Parochial
School" and not having Miss McNam
ara S address he opened it. He found
this written from Saratoga
ITO Miss p. A. Mcnamara:
"Madam-Yours of the 18th has been
forwarded me here. In reply, l wish
to tell you that 1 absolutely disapproye
of parochial schools of the Romanist
faith. and consider them a grave men
ace to our country. Needless to say
that l am not a Romanist and will not
help you. Yours truly,
tx KATHERINE NJ ACk 4 W
August II.
The method Of raising funds for st.
Johns school is one that is resorted to
by people Of all denominations. Men
and women i'll public life regularly re-
ceive such appeals as. the one that was
sent TO Mrs. Mackay, but she is the
first person we have ever heard OF to in
suit the religion of the one seeking
contributions in q good cause. If q
Catholic made such reply to Profess
ant as Mrs. Mackay's we would unhes-
itatingly condemn the action. If Mrs.
Mackay did not want to contribute all
she need have done was to have writ
ten to that effect. The circumstances
did not demand that she be offensive.
We &sa glad to see, therefore, that
Father Duhigg administered a we'll
merite rebuke to the writer of the in
sulting note by sending her the follow
lnS letter:
Brooklyn n. Y, Aug. Is, 1905.
Mrs Katherine Mackay:
'iMadam-Rather astonished, I as
sure you, by note received from you
Il is morning. / was not aware of the
fact that any one in this parish had
written to you in relation to our new
school, and regret that you were dis
turbed over the matter. The informa-
tion you volunteer, viz; that you alb
solutely disapprove Of parochial schools
of the Romanist faith, and that you
consider them a great menace to our
country, simply reveals q condition OF
mind. The opinion is characteristic.
In the schools you dislike so much we
teach our children the ordinary cour-
tesies Of life. An as example, we would
tell them use of the word 'Romanist
betrays bad form, and that nice, in
telligent good people would not be
guilty of such q blunder. Faithfully
yours, THOMAS S. DUHIGG,
Rector of st. Johns"
1t happens that Father Duhigg was
educated in schools of the "Romanist
faith" and no doubt Mrs. Mackays
disapproVal of them is now stronger
than ever. Some newspapers-it is
worthy to note that they are ones I'M
friendly to the Catholic church-insist
that Father Duhigg did not have suffi
cient reason to be so severe with Mrs.
Mackay. We believe, however, that the
Brooklyn Eagle expresses the general
sentiment when it says:
IF Mrs. MaClzay were q man the
proper comparison for her encounter
with Father Duhigg would be the ira
ditional interview between the darkey
and the mule, after which the darkey
was not so handsome, but wiser. But
if Mrs. Mackay were q man she would
not have made the mistake which
brought upon her the singing rebuke
of the priest. She has recently entered
politics by her election as 4 school
trustee at Roslyn. Most men by the
time they enter politics understand
that discretion is the b;tter part OF
yalor. That is one OF the lessons of
experience and one OF the disabilities
OF newness in any position is Il liability
to just such freshness as Mrs. Mackay
exhibited, both in writing her lettsr at
all and in the terms in which she
couched it. However, one is never q
novice but once, in politics OF any other
field OF endeaVor. Usually, and en-
phatically in this case. the punish
Inents of a novitiate are quite severe
enough without having them increased
by lectures from the editorial chair or
the pulpit
One lesson of the incident is that
Father Duhigg is good person for
those who insult the Catholic church
to steer clear of.-Catholic News