Year: 1879

Lending to tho Lord.


Archbishop Purcell's many good qualities
have secured for him lenient verdict and
general sympathy in the painful troubles
that have overtaken him. There has been
conviction that no greed of gain has
brought upon the venerable prelate and his
Church the terrible scandal Of misappro-
priation of funds mainly held in trust for
the poor of the diocese; but that the
astounding bankruptcy, reaching into mill
ions, and set off by assets that will not, it
is said, exceed ten cents on the dollar, is
the result OF utter financial incapacity, sup
plemented probably by impositions easily
practised upon q simple and confding man.
1t would of course be false delicacy to pre-
tend that no censure attaches to the Arch
bishop, because no man has q right to
accept o sacred trust, such as the care and
husbanding of the savings of the poor,
unless self-confdent that he possesses the
prudence and financial skill necessary to
its efficient discharge. Yet even this feature
of the painful case has been gently dwelt
upon in the desire to tighten as much as
possible the heavy load of affliction that has
fallen on the stricken priest


In view of these facts, the tone of an arti-
Gle in the Catholic organ of the diocese of
Columbus, which appeared in yesterdays
HERALD, must be regarded as uptimely and
unfortunate. The paper, which will by
many be credited with speaking for the
Archbishop, however incorrect such sup
position may be; takes the ground that "the
money has not been misapplied, though
worldlings and money changers will say
that it was not managed with success, +" and
maintains that sit was never known that
any bishop or his agent has ever caused
misery or want by mismanagement of
money affairs" Indeed, the Catholic organ
goes SO far as to threaten with arraignment
Sin the great reckoning hereafter" all those
who are ''overanxious to obtain immedi-
ately what has been lent to the Lord" The
misapplication of the funds intrusted to the
Archbishop is proved by the fact that they
are not forthcoming when the poor people
who deposited them with him for safe keep
ing and thrifty investment demand them,
and the misery and want caused by their
disappearance may be read in the faces of the
crowds that daily throng the archiepiscopal
residence. We are told in the Proverbs
that che that hath pity upon the poor
lendeth to the Lord" but the new reading
of the Catholic organ is TINT he who taketh
away from the poor lendeth to the Lord.
The poor of Ohio who intrusted their sav-
ings to the Archbishop, because they be-
lieved that they were safer with him than
with savings bank, probably did not
know that the Lord was a borrower in the
diocese. They boarded their money out of
their scant earnings to protect themselves
against sickness or want Of employment
and to save their families from starvation.
Had they been. called upon TO contribute
money to the cause of the Church they
would, no doubt, have responded, but
would have given within their narrow
means, and thus have satisfied their duty
in accordance with the Saviour's teachings.


It will not aid tho Archbishop or the
Church to adopt tone of virtuous indig-
nation against clamorous creditors or to
find excuses Of Chadband quality for the
grave error into which the Archbishop has
fallen. The misfortune is one that affects
tho character Of the whole Catholic Church,
and we believe it would be we'll for all
Catholics in the United States to do their
best to pay the Archbishop's honest in
debtedncss and to wipe out the scandal.
No prejudices, illiberality or parsimonious-
ness ought to interfere with this great
work. If 1t is to be done at all IL should
be done vigorously, promptly and .fYec-
lively, without any false deIicacy and with
out my attempt to conceal the fact that the
money is contributed by Catholics to save
tho Church from what oil honest men must
regard as a reproach and disgrace.