The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-10-09

not improbable that one of them may
be elected provincial.
RELIGION OF GENERAL SHIELDS.
Our esteemed correspondent at St
Cloud, referring to the lecture on Cen
James Shields, recently delivered by
Father ]. ]. Malloy at Shieldsville
Mimi, thinks that many of the en-
thusiasts at the meeting were not
aware that Gen. Shields was not OF
their faith. To show that he was not
our correspondent encloses clipping
from the National Tribune of Wash
ington, D. c.. which says:
Far from Gen. Shields having been
a Roman Catholic, he was d strong
Protestant and an active and prom.
inent Free Mason, and much oil his
startling success in getting positions
was attributed to Masonic influence"
Notwithstanding the assertion of the
National Tribune, the Irish STANDARD
is positive that Gen. Shields was not
"a strong Protestant, and an active
and prominent Free Mason" but that
on the contrary, he was born in the
Catholic church and was loyal men,
Der of it till he died. In the sketch
OF Gen. Shields, contributed to the
Chicago Record Herald in November,
1905, by Count William j. Onahan,
that distinguished Catholic laymon ana
writer says:
His progenitors had fought at the
Boyne and .Aughrim for the Stuart
king and several had followed Sarstield
after the surrender of Limerick to
serve under the banners OF King Louis
on the continent" That is evidence
that his ancestors were Catholics and
not Protestants, for had they been
Professionals. they would have fought
with King William at the Boyne and
would not have gone to France with
5sLi S1lClO dIleI lHC SURRENDER OIL lLiIu
erick. Though born at Dungannon,
County of Tyrone, he was not Pres
byterian. but belonged to the faith If
his ancestors. Did he, on coming to
America, change his religion and be-
come "a strong Protestant" as al
legged by the National Tribune? On
this point Count Onahan says:
General Shields was warm and
earnest in his Irish sympathies, and
he showed this on many public occas-
ions. He was a devoted, practical
Catholic. 1t was during his sojourn
in Minnesota that the overture WAS
the papal army. This was at the
time when the Revolutionary move
and integrity of the papal states dur
ing the reign OF Plus TX He declined
erture from the generals own lips at
a late period Of his life"
1t is not likely that If Shields had
been "a strong Protestant and an
active and prominent Free Mason" he
would have been offered the command
OF the papal army to check Garibaldi
when he organized an invasion of the
states of the Church to complete the
unif1cation of Italy. II what the Ma
tional Tribune says of him be true he
would have sympathized with Carl
baldi instead Of with the Pope. We
challenge the National Tribune which
has been aspersing .the character Of
Gen. Shields. to show from any anthem
tic source that he was anything but
a faithful Catholic all his life. The
fact that he died while visiting a con-
vent in Ottumwa, Iowa. may not fort,.y
our position. but strong Protestants
and Free Masons" are not in the habit
of visiting Catholic institutions.
hCiC oAS PAOOdOIS OIu WILLIAMSBURG pl-
oneers still living who can shed light on
the question of Gen. Shields religion.
The columns of this paper are open to
them. The old settlers around Fari-
bault and Shieldsville where he re-
sided for some years, ought to know
whether General Shields was Catholic
or Protestant. They. certainly ought
to know more about the matter than
the editor Of the National Tribune who
is evidently prejudiced against the
dead Irishman. judging from his para
graph in reply to the San Francisco
Monitor and other Catholic papers "or
little information
If the Tribune has any authentic In
formation of it's own to back up its
assertion, we ask it to produce 1t at
once or acknowledge its SANDER of
General Shields. Its ipse dixit will
not suffice. 1rishmen of the Catholic