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ARCHBISHOP MAC HALE: 
 
 HIS LIFE AND TIMES; 
 A LECTURE 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 TURNER HALL, Milwaukee Ave, CHICAGO, ILL, 
 
 ON THE J 
 
 NIGHT 0^ '^^.BRUARY 15, 1870, 
 
 BY 
 
 Martin A. O'Brennan, \^]^> D-, 
 
 132 Dearborn Street, Chicago^ III., II. S. 
 
 COUNSELLOR AT LAW AND AUTHOR OF SEVERAL WORKS 
 
 ON IRELAND AND CATHOLICITY; FORMERLY, 
 
 EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF THE 
 
 CONNA UGIIT PATRIOT, IRELAND. 
 
 P»RIOE, - - 25 Cents. 
 
 CHICAGO : 
 
 OTTAWAY it BARLOW, STEAM PRINTERS, 148 LAKE STREET. 
 
 1870. 
 
THE PUBLISHER'S REMARKS. 
 
 Though the learned lecturer, as himself at the close 
 of his lecture observed, presented only a brief review 
 of the subject, yet he has placed on record a brilliant 
 and undying testimon}^ of the virtues, worth, works 
 and merits of Ireland's recognized greatest, most zeal- 
 ous and learned Prelate, appropriately called by the 
 gieat O'Connell " The Lion of the Fold of Judah." 
 
 Archbishop MacHale is now in lii.^ eightieth year, 
 and at present at Eome, attending the Qilcumenical 
 Council. No Prelate living has attracted so much 
 public consideration as his Grace, and his fame is com- 
 mensurate with the globe. Faithful in the discharge of 
 his sacred duties as an exalted dio;nitary of the Catho- 
 lic Church, he has yet always, proved himself the in- 
 trepid asserter of his country's temj)oral rights and 
 the bold vindicator of her wrongs. Of all laymen, 
 the eloquent Author of this pamphlet has the most 
 intimate knowledge of Arclibishop MacHale. 
 
 The lecturer opened with the lines of Denham, in 
 his « Couper's HilL'- 
 
THE LECTURE. 
 
 (), could I How like llice, iind make tliy stream 
 
 M}' great example, as it is my theme ! 
 Tliougli deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ; 
 Strong without rage ; without overflowing, full. — Line 189. 
 
 It is universally admitted that no nation possesses so 
 pre-eminently, as does Ireland, those fine feelings of 
 the heart, which, if wisely and perseveringly directed, 
 would have so raised Irishmen above the ordinary 
 standard of mankind that they wuuld now be the arbi- 
 ters of the world. To confirm this statement, Sir 
 Walter Kaleigh and other distinguished authors could 
 be adduced. The enterprising spirit and ardent zeal 
 exhibited by the Celtic race in many eventful periods 
 of Europe's history, and especially of their own, when 
 national glory or individual honor had been invaded, 
 supply proofs the clearest to establish the truth of 
 my assertion. Their zeal to establish fame in a liter 
 ary stand point finds abundant evidence in our own 
 annals as well as those of all Europe, whilst in a mili- 
 tary point of view, our own archives, the records of 
 America, of the globe attest their distinguished merit 
 for deeds of chivalry at home and abroad. 
 
 But we shall not take a larger space of time or span 
 of dobe than their native land, and the reign of Queen 
 
Elizabeth, which was one of carnnge and a continuous 
 river of Catholic blood in Erin. Their Catholic Prelates 
 and Priests were hunted down like wolves, and the 
 price — five pounds — placed on the heads of the Peo- 
 ple's Pastors, as on the heads of the wild beasts — the 
 favorite system being — the extirpation of the Lord's 
 annointed. Goaded into resistence at last, up sprang 
 the glorious Rory O'Moore of Leix, even at great 
 odds, and with but few and undisciplined clansmen, 
 and defended the land-marks of the hoary faith of 
 Rome and St. Patrick, as well as the outposts of national 
 independence throughout the land from his own family 
 domain to that of the MacGuire of Fermanagh. Hav- 
 ing fallen in his careering fame, then up sprang the 
 O'Neills — Philip, Shane and Hugh — and the Red Hugh 
 O'Donnell. These were the terror of the hereditary 
 foe, and the sentinels on the watch-towers of creed and 
 country ; and had not English treachery, but not Saxon 
 valor in the battle field, prevailed, the heartless brig- 
 ands would have quailed and been forever crushed 
 b( fore their valorous arms. 
 
 The O'Sullevan Beare's peerless courage at the head 
 of his 170 men, at Dunboy — has no parallel in his. 
 tory — if we except Leonidas, with his Spartans at the 
 Pass of Thermopyle. Characters of that epoch preg. 
 nant with events — crowd on the memory — numerous 
 as winking stars when twilight is fading into morn. 
 But not Irishmen, but an one Irishman, is now my 
 
theme, and if that illustrious Irishman, by reason of 
 his sacred position, had not been kept back, he would 
 be the very embodiment of every qualification and 
 art, which have, at all times, and in all climes, signal- 
 ized the genuine Celt. Except in the character of an 
 actual military man, he is the tout-en-semhlc — the faith- 
 representative of his race. [Immense cheering for 
 " John, Archbishop of Tiiam."] 
 
 THE HISTORIC TELESCOPE. 
 
 Now using history as a moral telescope, let us take 
 a retrospect glance through the long hall of arts, sci- 
 ence, language, philosophy, religion, politics and states- 
 manship in Ireland, and when we have narrowly 
 inspected the busts of the most illustrious characters 
 on the niches, I am disposed to think that you will 
 agree with me, that for versatility of genius, massivity 
 of intellect, capaciousness of mind, capacity of thought, 
 vivacity of expression, power of argumentation, pro- 
 fundity and variety of learning, depth of discernment, 
 j gentleness of manner, and intrepidity of action, there 
 is not in that lustrous hall a bust superior to the living 
 bust of him who is the subject of my lecture — his 
 Grace, John of Tuam. [Tremendous applause followed 
 as the sentence had closed, and the applause was re- 
 peated, marking the aftection of the exiled sons of 
 Ireland for their patriot Prelate.} 
 
 As to the s'inctity of personages, who were and who 
 are, I shall not make a comparison. That is not a part 
 
! 
 
 i 
 
 i of my subject. To touch upon it would be arrogance^ 
 : fis God alone is the judge of men's sanctity. I confine 
 myself to things sensible, such as can be sujected to 
 ; the senses for judgment. 
 
 i Of all nations on earth, as has already been ob- 
 i served, Ireland, considering its-extent, has beyond cavil 
 I the brightest and largest catalo^^ue of distinguished 
 I men as legislators, bards, poets, artists, linguists, gen- 
 eral scholars, statesmen and warriors. The memory of 
 I such men, placed on niches along the vast hall of our 
 I country, as well pre-christian as christian, are vividly 
 
 I before our mind's eye, by the aid of the historic teles- 
 
 i 
 
 i cope. 
 
 ! " Just men, by whom iiripartial laws were given, 
 
 And Saints, who taught aiul led the way to Heaven." 
 
 To only a few of these great men shall we advert. 
 Dubhtagh, the poet-laureate of the reigning monarch, 
 when St. Patrick landed as Apostle of Ireland, was a 
 great man, but then his greatness was only as a poet. 
 St. Benin, or Beuignus, successor of St. Patrick, as Pri- 
 mate of Armagh, has left to posterity only the fra- 
 grance of his sanctity and his "Book of Rights" — that is, 
 " Leabliar na g-ceart." True, in the fifth and sixth 
 centuries, saints and learned men were placed on the 
 ! horizon of our island, many and shining as twinkling 
 stars on the blue etherial vault of heaven on a frosty 
 night, when the bespangled ether, painted by the pla-s- 
 tic hand and brush of the Supreme Artist, and' dissolv- 
 ing, as it were, into one color, presents to the contem- 
 
plative mind a rich feast for thought. There were 
 Ciaian, Ailbe, Ibar, Deighhm, Fiagh, Brendan, Fursey, 
 Enna, ^-of the Isles;" Columcille, Mel, Mochay, Olcan, 
 Ceenan, Loman, Coleman, and a host of other saints 
 and scholars. The like could be predicated of the 
 seventh, eighth and ninth centuries; and amongst them 
 Columbanus. But of them all, except Columcille and 
 Columbanu?, it may be said that they confined their 
 labors, for the most part, to religious and literary pur- 
 suits. The two latter were, to a great extent, the pro- 
 totypes of " John of Tuam," for they contended 
 against kings and princes for the rights of the people, 
 and the independence of the Church of the temporal 
 powers ; and with even Popes did Columban battle for 
 Irish independence in secular and disciplinary matters. 
 Cormac MacCullinan, Bishop and King of Cashel, 
 has left us " The Psalter of Cashel," and a Glossary of 
 difficult Irish words, but there his labors, as regard 
 literature, rest. St. Malachy O'Morghar, Archbishop 
 of Armagh, restored order in the Irish Church in the 
 beginning of the twelfth century, and a great work that 
 was, but his labors in literature were few, and confined 
 to his own calling. The great Laurence O'Toole of the 
 time of the English invasion in Ireland displayed much 
 power of mind as a Prelate, and exhibited the sterling 
 qualities of a patriot, but his legacy of literary works 
 is not a large one. 
 
 Fearing to draw too largely on the exchequer of 
 your patience I shall not make further allusion to the 
 
8 
 
 characters of remote days. I shall come at once to 
 the subject which has brought us together — " The 
 Most Reverend John MacHale, Archbishop ofTuam."% 
 general view of his grace. 
 Of all Irishmen living he is the only one in whom 
 is centred the affectionate regard and the high admi- 
 ration of his countrymen at home, or dispersed 
 throughout the globe. His Grace is their polar star, 
 their guide, their hope, their idol. All this his Grace 
 knows, and yet, he is as humble as the humblest 
 amongst them. He is the verily Pastor of the Irish peo- 
 ple, whom in the time of trial, he has taken under his 
 wing, as the hen does her chickens on the approach of 
 a storm. 
 
 In misery's darkest cavern known, 
 
 His ready help was ever nigh, 
 Of every friendless name the friend, 
 
 Of the cold world's victim, Avho came to die." 
 
 His Grace of Tuam has a shrine built up to him in 
 the hearts of the most moderate as well as the ultra- 
 nationalist, who goes for the liberation of his " dear 
 island Jiome" from the sway of the alien. The power 
 he has over the minds, and the place he occupies in the 
 hearts of the millions of Irishmen throughout the 
 world confer on him a dignity and a supremacy rarely 
 if ever, possessed by any man in ancient or modern 
 times. The Liberator, O'Connell, and the great Apostle 
 of Temperance, Father Mathew, are the only two men, 
 who, in any manner, rivaled his Grace of Tuam in the 
 general respect and esteem of his countrymen. But 
 
9 
 
 yet, transcendant as were the talents and superhuman 
 and successful as were the struggles of the immortal 
 O'Connell, there were still, certain points, on which 
 some of Ireland's most sincere sons differed from the 
 Emancipator ; and, likewise, for calumnious and enven- 
 omed shafts he" was a mark. Though glorious and 
 extremely impressive as were the triumphs, achieved by 
 Father Mathew, yet, however, they were, alas ! trans- 
 ient in their effects ; nor did the grand precepts he 
 enunciated take the form of universal and permanent 
 practice. Millions, for the time, flocked to take shelter 
 under his white banner of love, but, it is to be deplored 
 that most of the millions, though not returning to in- 
 temperance, fell away from the pledge of total absti- 
 nence. But his Grace of Tuam has lived to behold 
 some of the objects, for which he has contended, 
 effected ; nor has he outlived his popularity. And, 
 now, in the winter of his labors in the vineyard of the 
 Lord and of Fatherland, he can feel that in the 
 general respect and love of those, whose fathers were 
 only children, when he first undertook his divine 
 mission, there is an earnest of the everlasting reward 
 in store for hiui ! The most remarkable phase in his 
 life is that even those, who differed from him on almost 
 every question of religion and politics, have agreed in 
 doing him honor as an accomplished scholar, a learned 
 linguist, a powerful controversialist, a profound theo" 
 logian, an undeviating politician, a zealous Prelate, a 
 
10 
 
 devoted Irishman and a true gentleman. And as the 
 poet Thomson sings : 
 
 " Who'er amidst the sons 
 Of reason, valor, liberty and virtue 
 Displays distinguish'd merit, is a noble 
 
 Of Nature's own creating." 
 
 HIS GRACE IS THE CONNECTING LINK. 
 
 f three generations each of which has vied in paying 
 him a distinct tribute of affection and regard. His un- 
 faltering fidelity to his deeply-rooted religious and 
 national principles has been the great secret of all his 
 power, influence and triumphs. What Hierophilos was 
 in 1820, as Professor in Maynoth — what the Bishop of 
 Maronia was in 1825, the same now is John, Archbishop 
 of Tuam in 1870, when " his lamp of life is flickering." 
 The snow of age is on his sacred head, but 
 
 " The power of thought — the magic of the mind," 
 
 such as in youth, are now in the patriot Prelate. His 
 body is old, though vigorous, but his mind is young, 
 thus resembling the eagle of his native mountains. 
 " Tempora mutantur sed nonmutatiir in ilUs.^^ Times have 
 changed, but "John of Tuam" has not changed in rela- 
 tion to the noble course he carved out for himself, when 
 he was about to enter upon the busy stage of life 
 From the path of truth, justice, honor and duty he has 
 not been deflected through the hope of pension, [place, 
 power or reward. On the contrary, his inflexibility of 
 purpose has served as a beacon to Irish patriots during 
 half a century — an inflexibility that has shed on our 
 chequered career a light, which has pointed to the path 
 
11 
 
 of faith, and been a flaming torch to every lover of 
 Fatherland. The effulgence of the flambeau has been 
 looked to by the Protestant patriots O'Brien, Mitchel, 
 Davis, Martin, as well as by the Catholic Meagher 
 Duffy, Lucas, Doheny, O'Neill and O'Mahony. In 
 their esteem, John of Tuam has bpen the ideal of pat- 
 riotism. To him may be well applied the lines of 
 Shakspeare : 
 
 "O, good old man, how well in tliee appears 
 The constant service of the antique world, 
 When service sweat for duty, not for meed ! 
 Thou art not for tlie fashion of tliese times. 
 When none will sweat, but for promotion." 
 
 There are in Ireland certain personages of his Grace's 
 Order, who are " for the fashion of these times," and 
 who "sweat only for promotion," but, I must not draw 
 comparisons. 
 
 "Whither am I strayed, I need not raise 
 
 Trophies to thee for other men's dispraise, 
 
 Nor is thy fame on lesser ruins built, 
 
 Nor needs thy juster title the foul guilt 
 
 Of foreign rule, which to secure its power, 
 
 Must have our brothers, sons and kindred cower." 
 
 EEVIEW OF THE CHIEF INCIDENTS OF DIS LIFE. 
 
 Though Irishmen generally are acquainted with the 
 history of our loved Prelate, yet it will no donbt be of 
 interest to present a general review of the leading 
 events of his life for the purpose of furnishing some- 
 thing like a record, however imperfect, of the life of 
 such a man. Be it observed in limine that the Arch- 
 bishop of Tuam mixed in politics only when the 
 faithful discharge of his spiritual functions, as an Irish 
 Prelate, demanded his interference. The ccmdition of 
 
12 
 
 Ireland is very peculiar, as it differs in one particular 
 respect from other countries. The landlords are, as a 
 rule, aliens in blood and religion, and most of them 
 absentees. The Catholic population have, therefore, 
 been treated as serfs; and their devoted Bishops and 
 Clergy were the only aristocracy to which they could 
 look up for protection and sympathy in their trials and 
 sufferings. Generally speaking, whatever affected 
 their temporal interests afi'ected their spiritual welfare^ 
 The Protestant landlords harassed them by the exac- 
 tion of exhorbitant rents, and threats of evictions for 
 the purpose of coercing them, if possible, to trample 
 on their conscience by voting for obnoxious Members 
 and compelling them to send their children to Protes- 
 tant schools, where there was danger to faith and mor- 
 als. In the next place, his Grace of Tuam saw as 
 clearly as the truth of a mathematical theorem that 
 as long as Ireland would be legislated for in a foreign 
 city, such as London, so long would the country be 
 sinking into pauperism and degradation, and its Catho- 
 lic people would be flying from it to other countries, 
 where it was certain many of them, as experience has 
 taught, would fall away from the faith of Rome and St. 
 Patrick, and their souls, dearly purchased at the price 
 of the blood of the Redeemer, would be lost to Heav- 
 en. Archbishop MacHale's sagacity and penetrating 
 genius having fathomed the peril, he felt it to be an im- 
 portant part of his duties, as an Irish Bishop, to do 
 
13 
 
 everything in his power to arrest the progress of the 
 "tide of emigration, and lielp other men to throw up an 
 embankment against the torrent of British tyranny, 
 which, whilst it had been operating ruinously to the 
 Irish nation, was also insidiously effecting immense in 
 jury to the hoary faith of our ancestors. Hence 
 Archbishop MacHale became, to some extent, a politi- 
 cian, but, as, you plainly see, only as far as the neces- 
 sary defense of Catholicity required of him. 
 
 HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 
 
 In 1791, as far as I can remember, his grace was 
 born at '='Tubbernaveen, convenient to the classic hill 
 of Nephin, in view of Lough Conn, not far from "■ the 
 graves of the French," who were massacred by the 
 English in '98, and about fifteen miles from Killalla, 
 where the French landed, and The Tree of Liberty 
 was planted. To that sacred spot I went with other 
 Irishmen, who registered a vow against foreign domina- 
 tion 
 
 From what I have said can be seen that the child- 
 hood of His Grace of Tuam was passed in the most 
 bloody and troublous times of our sad history — times 
 when Ireland's wrongs, persecutions and oppression 
 culminated. 
 
 " Wrongs unredressed, or insults unavenged." 
 
 *Written correctly "Tubberna b-Fiaun," pronounced "Tubber naveen," 
 that is, "the well or spring of tlie Flans or Fenians,'' of pre-christian Ire- 
 land. The name Fian or Fenian is as old as Erin. Every Milesian is by 
 origin and blood a Fenian. Hence, if at any time, (as never), a cen- 
 sure be hurled by the Holy Father against Fenians, all Irishmen would 
 fall under it. 
 
14 
 
 Young though was John MacHale, in the terrible 
 days of '98, yet, unquestionably, his after-career was 
 mainly moulded and influenced by the impressions 
 made on his tender mind by the sights he saw and the 
 tales of woe he heard. No time can efface from the 
 tablet of a faithful memory early impressions. They 
 live as long as life" remains. 
 
 HIS EARLY EDUCATION. 
 
 Having received such elementary education as the 
 locality afforded, the young John was sent to a Latin 
 school at Castlebar, the capital of the county of Mayo. 
 There he learned the languages of ancient Greece and 
 Rome. The ease and quickness with which he un- 
 knotted the intricate passages in the old authors sur- 
 prised his teacher and school-fellows. 
 
 JOHN AT MAYNOOTH. 
 
 In or about the year A. D. 1811, he entered May- 
 nooth College as a student, where his blooming and 
 great talents placed him, after a short time, in the van 
 of his fellow-students. Here, also, his assiduity in his 
 studies, his'unpretending piety, and his display of rare 
 abilities endeared him to his Professors. So marked 
 were his zeal and proficiency during his collegiate 
 course, that at an age, comparatively early, he was ap, 
 pointed a Lecturer, and shortly afterwards, a Professor 
 of Dogmatic Theology. In this position, he soon bril- 
 liantly distinguished'himself by tongue and pen. 
 
HIS GRACE AS A WRITER — THE BIBLE SOCIETIES, "HIEROPHILOS." 
 
 At that peri'od, the questions of Bible Societies, the 
 Protestant establishment and Catholic Emancipation 
 agitated the minds of the people. In the Conservative 
 journals of Dublin there appeared from time to time 
 powerful and eloquent letters over the signature of 
 *' Bibliophilos," and in defense of the Bible Societies, 
 which, as well as I can recollect, were the productions 
 of a learned and an eloquent lawyer, counsellor North. 
 These .lucubrations demanded an answer from some 
 Catholic pen, but the gauntlet, thus thrown down, no 
 one would venture to take up, until a timid, cloistered 
 Priest, unaccustomed to public controversy, and of no 
 forensic experience in unravelling points, as was " Bib- 
 liophilos," entered the list under the iiom de plume of 
 " Hierophilos." And, who was the beardless champion 
 of Catholicity — " Hierophilos." I know you anticipate 
 the answer — Rev. John MacHale. [Tremendous 
 applause.] 
 
 It is now just forty-three years since accident placed 
 in my hands a pamphlet, containing the letters of the 
 religious antagonists, who, never for once, descended to 
 low language in their discussion. " Bibliophilos" com. 
 plimented in the highest terms " Hierophilos," whom 
 he assumed to be an exalted and matured dignitary of 
 the Catholic Church, little knowing that it was the 
 young cloistered Professor of Maynooth. '• Hierophi- 
 los," on the other hand, would not "allow himself to be 
 
16 
 
 outdone in politeness, but paid a marked tribute to the 
 accomplishments and learning of " Bibliophilos." The 
 substance of one of Dr. Mac Hale's eulogiums of the 
 abilities of his opponent recurs to ray mind. A writer 
 in a London journal — I think, the Weehly Register — 
 made some severe remarks on *' Bibliophilos," when 
 " Hierophilos," taking the part of his antagonist, re- 
 plied in almost the following words, (I cannot be sure 
 after so long a lapse of time): "As well might the low- 
 ly workman cast an artist's glance over the sublimity 
 of St. Paul's, (London), and attempt to rival its mag- 
 nificence, as the editor of the Weeklf/ Register vie with 
 " Bibliophiloh." How generous, and how sublime was 
 the compliment of the young Priest to his bigoted 
 rival. But as great and chivalrous military Generals 
 have ever been highminded to their opposing foes, so 
 were the two matchless religious disputants. Each, it 
 would seem, argumented for what each considered the 
 truth. 
 
 The letters of "Hierophilos" were distinguished for 
 a thorough knowledge of the subject, a vigor of lan- 
 guage, an irresistibility of argument and an attraction 
 of style in their treatment. Hence, they created a 
 legitimate sensation, and immediately threw him into 
 the foremost rank of Catholic controversialist writers. 
 Such was Dr. Mac Hale's first entry on the arena of 
 bustling life. 
 
17 
 
 HIS CONSECRATION AS BISHOP OF MARONIA. 
 
 In May, 1825, or'26, he was created "Bishop ofMar- 
 onia," in partihus. and appointed cum jure successionis 
 —Coadjutor to Dr. Waldron, Bishop of Killala, his native 
 diocese. He was at that time, resident in Maynooth 
 College as Professor, a position he had filled for about 
 eleven years previous to, and a few years after, his ele- 
 vation to the mitre, which he graced, rather than it 
 him. It is " the man who confers the dignity on the 
 position, not the position on the man," and no man has 
 ever yet bestowed greater lustre on the mitre than his 
 Grace of endless fame — John, Archbishop of Tuam. 
 [Indescribable applause, oft repeated.] 
 
 " EVIDENCES AND DOCTRINES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH." 
 
 While still at Maynooth, in 1827, he composed and 
 gave to the world, " The Evidences and Doctrines of 
 the Catholic Church." The composition was 
 
 " Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull; 
 Strong without rage ; without o'erflowing, full." 
 
 This inimitable volume attained, on its very appear- 
 ance, to such celebrity, not only in Ireland and Great 
 Britain, but on the continent of Europe, that it was 
 translated into the French, German and other langua- 
 ges. 
 
 NEW SERIES OF THE LETTERS OF " HIEROPHILOS" 
 
 Over the signature of "John, Bishop of Maronia," he 
 reproduced a series of the letters which were first pub- 
 lished under his nom de plume, " Hierophilos." Bishop 
 
18 
 
 MacHale, on quitting Maynooth, resided in Ballina, a 
 few miles from Tubber-na-veen, where as Coadjutor to 
 the good and learned Bishop Waldi-on, he conciliated 
 for himself the affections and veneration of the clergy 
 and people. He was their idol, and was called " The 
 Star of the West," but time has proved him to be "The 
 Star of all Ireland" — West and East, North and South- 
 
 HIS ELEVATION TO THE SEE OF TUAM. 
 
 In obedience to the election of him as successor to 
 the Most Rev. Oliver Kelly of Tuam, and the confirm- 
 ation of that election by Rome, the devoted people of 
 Killalla are to lose their beloved Bishop. The news of 
 this deservedly acquired elevation to the metropolitan 
 See of Connaught made local petty tyrants tremble, 
 while a few vacillating aristocratic Catholics shrugged 
 up their shoulders, and intolerant bigots grew pale- 
 An immense procession from Ballina accompanied him 
 to Castlebar: and several miles outside Tuam, he was 
 received by an enthusiastic and gorgeous cortege, from 
 whom cheer after cheer of a " Cead mile failte," pro- 
 ceeding, made the welkin ring, and a magnificent ban_ 
 quet was given in his honor on the night of his arrival 
 in the city sacred to the memory of St. Jarlath, its first 
 Bishop. The installation of his Grace as Archbishop 
 of Tuam took place in the beautiful Cathedral, in No- 
 vember, 1834. Hence, may be seen that his Grace has 
 been wearing the mitre for a period of forty-five years , 
 respectively as successor of St. Muredach, first Bishop 
 
19^ 
 
 of Killalla ; and of St. Jarlath, first Prelate of Tuam. 
 It was in A. D. 1152, Tuam was erected into an 
 Archdiocese at the Council of Kells, County of Meath. 
 
 HIS GRACE AS A PULPIT ORATOR. 
 
 As a pulpit orator, Archbishop MacHale has reached 
 the highest pinnacle, and to this day, his faculty of 
 memory is proverbial. Whatever he writes, he can re- 
 peat by heart without the slighest deviation. In this 
 respect, I know of no equal for him but Shiel. 
 
 HIS SERMONS AT ROME. 
 
 His Grace's magnificent sermons, preached at Rome, 
 about 1832, established his fame in that city, and 
 gained for him the respect and admiration of his Holi- 
 ness, Gregory XVI, who, in token of his esteem, be- 
 stowed on him several valuable presents ; aud amongst 
 them richly embroidered vestments, suitable to the dig- 
 nity of a learned Bishop. Those sermons were transla- 
 ted into Italian, by the Abbot of Lucca, at present 
 Apostolic Nuncio, at Vienna. 
 
 HIS grace's sermons in A VOLUME. HIS SERMONS AT BALLY- 
 MOTE. 
 
 His Grace's many sermons will, no doubt, be all 
 printed in one volume, and of them not the least interest- 
 ing will be his sermon at Ballymote, County Sligo, in 
 1864. Whilst drawing attention to the great difficul- 
 ties the Very Rev. Dr. Tighe had to encounter in his 
 efforts to build a Catholic Church, his Grace took occa- 
 
20 
 
 sion to denounce the nefarious system of extermina- 
 tion, and the wicked pohcy of the British Senate, 
 which, so far from condemning, sanctioned it with the 
 view of " thinning the turbulent Celts." 
 
 That powerful discourse acted as a thunder storm on 
 the nerves of the minionsof foreign rule, whilst a certain 
 personage at Dublin felt the weight of the sarcasm. "It 
 has been the wise dispensations of Providence that the 
 Irish Catholics would be exterminated, in order that 
 they would spread the faith in distant countries ! ! !" 
 Never can I forget the burning language of that ser- 
 mon, which was published in the Connaught Patriot, 
 verbatim^ as it was spoken. His Grace's discourses in 
 the Irish language plough up the hearts of his flock 
 from their very depths, and penetrate the inmost 
 recesses of the mind and the shrine of the soul. 
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION AND THE PROTESTANT ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 During the Melbourne administration the letters of 
 his Grace on the subject of National Education and the 
 Protestant Establishment in Ireland were numerous, 
 powerful and cogent, and from affixing his name to 
 them as "John, Archbishop of Tuam," he never shrank, 
 though by such action he left himself open to prose- 
 cution. His Grace could not be induced to compro- 
 mise truth. 
 
 HIS GRACE BEFORE THE BRITISH SENATE. 
 
 For instance when a few years ago he was being ex- 
 
2Ji 
 
 amined before the British Parliament, in reply to an 
 intolerant bigoted Member he said, " They call me the 
 Archbishop of Tuam and 1 hww^ that lam the Archbishop 
 of Tuam.'' To say so he was, then, penal as the eccle- 
 siastical Title Act was not repealed. In the early part 
 of 1835, when Lord Huddington was the Tory Lord 
 Lieutenant, his Grace signed his name to his letters, 
 "John, Archbishop of Tuam." His Excellency called 
 for a prosecution but the Archbishop was defiant, and 
 there was no prosecution. So much for consistency. 
 
 In 1847 he had collected and published in one vol- 
 ume all his letters up to that date, and on last year a 
 further series of the same letters, with additional ones, 
 issued from the press. 
 
 HIS GRACE AS A POLITICAL ORATOR. 
 
 Numerous, thrilling and truly eloquent are the 
 speeches he delivered on the hustings, public meetings 
 and public banquets in a distinct volume, as grand 
 utterances, which will serve as a political text book. 
 Those speeches have reference to the wrongs, grievan- 
 ces and oppressions, which "our loved island home" 
 has experienced under the English usurpation. I 
 have said " usurpation" because according to St. Thom- 
 as Aquinas, when a person or nation has assumed 
 power to rule without the consent — not to say against 
 the will, of the people, the exercise of authority is not 
 power f but the absence of it, and such has been the condi- 
 
22 
 
 tion of England iu relation to Ireland. For we not only 
 did not consent to be governed by aliens, but we have 
 persistently demurred; and our ancestors, in many a 
 hard fought battle, protested against the sway of Eng- 
 land in our native land ; and signed that emphatic pro- 
 test by their best blood. And in the last few years we 
 have suffered exilement — forced and voluntary — in 
 carceration and death rather than tacitly submit to its 
 continuance. 
 
 HIS GRACE AT KINVARA, COUNTY OF GALWAY, AT THE FUNERAL OF 
 BISHOP FRENCH. 
 
 An important fact in his Grace's life is his conduct at 
 the funeral of The Most Rev. Dr. French, Bishop of 
 Kilmacduogh and . Kilfenora, immediately after the 
 passing of the Irish Ecclesiastical Title Act, by a provi- 
 sion in which Catholic Prelates and Priests were prohib- 
 ited under a heavy penalty, from appearing outside the 
 precincts of their churches in their sacred robes^ 
 "John of Tuam," disregarding such an enactment 
 which was derogatory to his high office, robed himself 
 in his full pontifiicals. When the Archbishop, thus at- 
 tired, was about to enter the gate of the cemetery, of 
 which the Protestant Rector had the control, the latter 
 with characteristic temerity, informed his Grace that it 
 was illegal for him to appear in public in his " Papist 
 habiliments," adding that he would not allow him to 
 enter. The intrepid "John of Tuam," crozier in hand, 
 ordered the insolent Parson to stand aside, and, thus 
 
28 
 
 fully vested he entered and performed the solemn rites 
 of the Catholic Church over the gi*ave of Bishop 
 French^ who was at first, Protestant Warden at Gal- 
 way, but he became a convert to the old faith of 
 Rome, whereas his ancestors in penal days had fallen 
 away. Thousands of instances of Archbishop Mac 
 Hale's heroic confession to the faith, made by him in 
 face of imminent danger, could I adduce. But 
 
 " Virtue outbuilds the pr3'^aniids, 
 
 Her monuments shall last when Egypt's fall." 
 
 V 
 
 " Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful." 
 
 On many a trying occasion has his Grace shown him- 
 self "The Lion of the Fold of Judah." 
 
 HIS WORKS IN THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 Besides his erudite compositions in the English lan- 
 guage, Irish literature is largely indebted to him. His 
 love and admiration of the rich, euphonius and com- 
 prehensive tongue of his forefathers are next to his 
 love of God and Catholicity. He has, always, mani- 
 fested the greatest regard for every person, who could 
 either read, or write it, and substantially marked his 
 respect for any scholar, who in any manner, co-opera- 
 ted in preserving it from decay. In all parts of his 
 diocese the catechism and other pious works printed 
 in old Celtic characters, have been taught, and his 
 Grace has made it a practice to preach in the rural 
 parishes in Irish, and with the use of such a vehicle, of 
 which he commands so powerful a mastery, he carries 
 
24 
 
 with him his crowded congregations to take a view of 
 the ineffable joys of heaven, or in thought, leads them 
 to the depths of hell, and gives them a foretaste of the 
 pains of purgatory. Who, that has heard and seen 
 him (even though ignorant of the Irish tongue), in his 
 unparallelled flights of Irish trope and metaphor, as 
 his words coerced tears for sin, or made the eye glad- 
 den up at the vivid representation of virtue and its 
 certain reward, without being struck with wonder- 
 ment. Though his words are sometimes old they are 
 ever new in consequence of the manner of his treat- 
 of the subject. 
 
 MOORE's melodies, IRISH POEMS, &C. 
 
 To his national zeal and giant labors do we owe the 
 publication of some valuable works in Irish. Of 
 Moore's " Irish Melodies" he has translated and pub- 
 lished in the Celtic dialect more than sixty ; and in the 
 exact metre of the original. The lecturer here recited 
 in Irish " The Minstrel Boy," which drew down the 
 whole house in showers of applause. He has given to 
 us six books of Homer's Iliad in Greek, with an Irish 
 translation on opposite pages in the same hexameter or 
 measure as the original with notes appended. This 
 large octavo volume is of itself enough to eternise the 
 name of " John MacHale. Stahat mater^' Dies Irw in 
 Irish are touching and beautiful as are his other 
 Irish hymns. Some of them in Irish the lecturer re- 
 peated. Finally the Pentateuch, translated from the 
 
2"5 
 
 Hebrew into Irij^h' and English with copious notes and 
 comments subjoined, forming^ the first volume of an 
 Irish Catholic Bible, has appeared. And we pray that 
 his Grace's life (now in his eightieth year), may be 
 spared to see accomplished the greatest of all his 
 works as an inestimable legacy to the Gael of Ireland 
 and of the world, for we, too, like the dispersed He- 
 brews, expect, one day, to return and make our own 
 dear language the medium of transacting trade, com- 
 merce and the professions. [Loud applause.] 
 
 The works, enumerated, if he had never published 
 any others, entitle him to the warmest acknowledg- 
 ments of all literary students in general, and to the 
 gratitude of his countrymen in particular, whose lan- 
 guage he has with, such success, labored to adorn, en- 
 rich and perpetuate. 
 
 HIS GRACE AS A POLITICIAN. 
 
 Living, as the Archbishop has lived, in the midst of 
 tyrant landlords, and having had to encounter " prowl- 
 ing" bigots, who have infested his diocese, his name has 
 of necessity, more frequently than all the Irish Bish- 
 ops together, appeared in the arena of politics. That 
 was unavoidable, as every person, acquainted with the 
 province of Connaught, clearly understands. 
 
 His Grace's opinions, therefore on the chief questions 
 of the day, as far as they have reference to Ireland, are 
 so well known that it would be trifling with your 
 understanding were I to occupy your time with a 
 rehearsal of them. 
 
 EIS GRACE OPENS MAYO. 
 
 Many interesting acts of the Archbishop's career pre- 
 
26 
 
 sent themselves, one of which I shall now relate as it floats 
 on my memory. There is in Mayo a branch of the Browns, 
 which had remained Catholic until the early part of 
 the seventeenth century, when for the sake of reward 
 they apostatised from the faith of their fathers. In 
 '87 and after years a fiendish friend of the apostate 
 tribe, hung, and killed without judge or jury, Priests 
 and laymen as they became obnoxious to him. He 
 was a Privy Councillor of the Dublin Castle. Of him, 
 O'Kelly, the poet says : 
 
 " To hang, kill and quarter his fort is, 
 
 Religion he treats a jest, 
 So sanguine a tool of the Court is 
 
 The horrid and bloody old bear of the west " 
 
 The words, quoted, I read when only eight years of 
 age, and shall never forget them. I saw in my child- 
 hood when lived the savage, described by the poet, and 
 young as I was, amazement possesed me that such a 
 filthy, bloated, fatted brate was allowed to live. The 
 atrocities and barbarities " of the old bear" must have 
 made an indelible impression on the mind of the 
 young MacHale as he lived at the very time that the 
 impious wretch had been perpetrating his hideous 
 enormities And, that John of Tuam remembered them 
 he showed by watching for the opportunity to inflict 
 on his son " Seagham na Sagart,"* a signal moral chas- 
 tisement. The Browns of Westporthouse and those 
 of Claremount — the residence of the "Old Savage"— the 
 Right Hon. Dennis Brown, — had, as they thought, a 
 patent to elect whom they pleased as representatives 
 from the county of Mayo to the British Parliament. 
 In or about 1836, Mayo was on the eve of an election, 
 
 * John of the priests, or " The priest-hunter." 
 
97 
 
 John of Taam, thinking that his opportunity was at 
 hand, buckling on the armor of the Lord (for the mo- 
 ment was one when outraged religion was to be vindi- 
 cated) sounded the tocsin, summoned the Pastors and 
 flocks to council and to action. Having maturely con- 
 sulted and promptly acted, he rejected the hereditary 
 tyrants, elected liberal meml)ers, and thus rescued clas- 
 sic Catholic Mayo from the grinding bondage of ages. 
 At a public dinner at the time of the canvassing, his 
 Grace, rising to the altitude of the struggle, and the 
 sublimity of his subject said : " I shall take with me 
 the hereditary foe to the top of "Croagh Patrick" (as it 
 was near and in view of the Marquis of Sligo's at 
 Westport — cousin of "the Priest-hunter" — John Brown) 
 and from their eminence, hurl them into their orig- 
 inal obscurity, as St. Patrick hurled the serpents into 
 t"Logna n-duin." He kept his word — he drove into 
 obscurity the son of " old Dennis," who but a few years 
 before could hang a priest without judge or jury. 
 What a wonderful change did one undaunted, deter 
 rained man of God effect against a gang of legal rob. 
 bers — a body of bigot conspirators who considered the 
 murder of one of God's annointed a meritorious act. 
 John MacHale redeemed Mayo, which is now nobly 
 represented by Ireland's most upright, talented and 
 accomplished lay son George Henry Moore of Moore 
 Hall, who ambitioned not a seat in the London Senate, 
 
 fPronoiinced Log ua nuin — " the deep pit of the evil spirits," a part 
 of the Atlantic in Clew bay, which is very deep, and into which tradition 
 sa^'s St. Patrick hurled all the serpents in Ireland, and from the top of the 
 Reek ; but history proves that no serpents were ever in Ireland — that 
 they could not live in it. It was the spiritual serpents that he overcame. 
 
28 
 
 but it was forced on him by faithful advisers for the pur- 
 pose of affording him an opportuity of defending him- 
 self against poisoned darts that might be aimed at him 
 in that House, and which he could not outside Parlia- 
 ment repel and turn against his as.sailants. Again the 
 voice of Ireland can be more effectually heard from 
 Parliament through the agency of the general press, 
 than in any other wa}^ except perhaps that it could be 
 more potentiall}^ ard with greater benefit heard by the 
 roar of canon, and the clash of arms. 
 
 Mr. Moore, M. P., because of his inflexible integrity, 
 his unstained character, his fidelity to the faith and 
 nationality and his rare and varied erudition has been 
 the cherished favorite of the Archbishop of Tuam. 
 Their sympathy, respecting certain paramount princi- 
 ples, has formed between them an adamantine bond, — 
 an indestructible cement. 
 
 HIS GRACE AS A HISTORIAN AND SCHOLAR. 
 
 As a proficient in universal history his Grace has no 
 superior. He is quite at home when treating of the 
 history of any country of all ages. The arcana of the 
 abstruse sciences he so mastered in his younger days 
 that he talks about them with as much ease as though 
 they had been only play toys. His Grace is indeed 
 
 " A poet, naturalist and historian, 
 
 " Who left scarcely any style of writing untouched, 
 
 And touched nothing that he did not adorn." 
 
 When other names will have faded away as the dew 
 before the morning's sun, his honored name will last, 
 imperishable in the annals of his own country and 
 amongst the records of the globe ; and although these 
 annals and those records should moulder away and 
 crumble into dust, still the name of John of Tuam 
 
29 
 
 shall live in the hearts of Irishmen until earth is no 
 more. 
 
 Qiup te tarn hvta lulerunt 
 Sa'cula, qui tanti talem genuere parentes ; 
 In frcta dum Huvii currunt, dum montibiis umhnc, 
 Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet, ^^ 
 
 Semper honos, noinenue tuum, lau dcsque Mianobunt. 
 
 HIS GRACE ON HIS MISSION THROUGH HIS DIOCESE. 
 
 The labors and dangers, incident to the discharge of 
 his arduous duties throughout his extensive diocese, 
 comprising as it does, most of, and some of the most 
 inaccessible parts, of the counties of Galway and Mayo, 
 and a small part of Roscommon, afford ample theme 
 for several lectures, and, though opportunity were al- 
 lowed me to give in detail the narrative, seven suns 
 would have risen in the east, and gone down in the 
 west before I would have finished my labors An 
 angel only could present to view or unveil the labors 
 of love of that glorious Prelate, or describe the anx- 
 ieties he must have experienced, and the dangers he 
 has encountered in his more than human efforts to 
 minister to his flock, as well in the remote islands, 
 mountains and almost inaccessible fastnesses as in the 
 open country, especially in the dreadful years of '46-7, 
 '49 and '63 and 64. when famine, pestilence and exter- 
 mination had been devouring his people, when thous- 
 ands of the victims crowded around him for shelter, 
 bread and spiritual consolation. Protestant landlords 
 evicted the Catholic tenants, because they would not 
 send their children to Protestant schools, in which there 
 was certain danger to their faith and morals—where 
 they would be sure to be robbed of the precious de- 
 posit, transmitted to them through a sea of blood. To 
 guard these "little ones" — Christ's lambs — against con- 
 tamination — his Grace has had always to be on " the 
 watch-tower of Israel." Though others slept, he was 
 the sleepless sentinel. The ravening wolves prowled 
 about the fences, and his Grace in person, or through his 
 
30 
 
 devoted Priests, had to keep watch to gruard the fold 
 and drive away the furious beasts. To obviate the 
 pretext for the introduction of the so-called " national 
 education" — an insidious machinery for proselytism, 
 his Grace dotted his diocese with pious and learned 
 Monks of the Third Order of St. Francis and the 
 Christian Brothers, whilst in every town where it was 
 practicable, he established Nunneries in which the fe- 
 male children of the rich and poor could obtain an ed- 
 ucation, suited to their lespective sphere in life. I 
 speak of what I saw. 
 
 THE NUNS AND MONKS OF CLIFDEN. 
 
 Even in the town of Clifden — the extreme point of Con- 
 namara — are excellent schools for female children under 
 the supervision of the active, zealous and pious Eev. 
 Mother Amelia White, whose name is familiar even in 
 this republic by reason of her appeals for pecuniary aid 
 to enable her to shield her dear flock of innocents from 
 the wiles and deceits of the "wicked agents of prose- 
 Ij^tism whose "Head-quarters are at Exeter Hall, Lon- 
 don, England." The good Mother Amelia introduced 
 me to her dear fifty orphan females — most of whom 
 she had rescued from the jaws of the wolf Herself 
 and her tender charge have been the object of his 
 Grace's paternal solicitude. 
 
 HIS VISITATION OF THE WESTERN ISLES. 
 
 In the most inclement part of winter he has beeu 
 known to travel over twenty miles before day-light — 
 and through the wildest district of country in order to 
 meet the small boat, intended to carry him into one of 
 the West Isles of Arran, thirty miles from land — and 
 on a tempestuous sea, to discharge his episcopal func- 
 tions. And when he was importuned not to venture 
 on so boisterous an ocean — as the attempt was to all 
 appearance, inevitable death — his Grace's beautiful 
 answer would be " I promised these dear peo])le — a 
 portion of my flock — to meet them here at this hour, 
 
31 
 
 and accompany them in their frail bark to visit their 
 brother islanders, break amongst, and minister to, them 
 the Bread of Life, and impart to them the consola- 
 tions of our holy religion. I must keep my word. I 
 mnst not disappoint them. Go I must." And go he 
 did. Scarcely would he have embarked and left the 
 shore, when the winds become more furious, and the 
 sea more rebellious. From the land the nervous 
 spectators, in suspense, beheld the small craft tossed 
 aloft on a mountain billow — and, then, sinking between 
 the frantic waves, disappeared from their sight. Like 
 ^neas as represented by Virgil in the storm, so was 
 it with his Grace. 
 
 " Tollimur in ca'lum curvato gurfi;ite et iitlem 
 Subducta ad Manes imos dcscendimus unda." 
 
 Again, however, the skiff appears to view — as it had 
 been heaved aloft on the back of swelling and limit- 
 less rollers. All on shore are aghast, but '' John of 
 Tuam," is at his ease. Because he heard his Divine 
 Master whisper to his mind " Nolite timere, ego sum." 
 " Fear not ; it is L" Again, and again did the wild 
 winds and maddening, and boiling surges buffet the 
 unsteady bark — whirl it as though a cork, — but, never- 
 theless, " the Shepherd of the Fold," attended to the 
 Avhisper " Ego sum ; nolite timere." " I am He. Fear 
 not. I, who calmed the waves, and stilled the storm 
 when Peter was in danger, am nigh. You shall make 
 land in safety." And so did his Grace arrive safely. 
 For as the winds fell and the raging waters of the 
 ocean were calmed, the boat put into harbor, and the 
 Shepherd received such a welcome, as Irish Catholics 
 alone know how to extend to their anointed Pastors. 
 Perils, such as mentioned, had the Archbishop often to 
 encounter in visiting the isles of Boffin, Achil and the 
 historic Clare-Island in Clew Bay — the fortress of 
 Granu Uaile or Grace O'Malley — the Queen of the 
 Western Isles — in the days of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
32 
 FATHER LAVELLE- 
 
 During the last eleven years Father Lavelle — well 
 known by fame as the Patriot Priest of Partry, but 
 who is now the worthy Pastor of the united parishes 
 of Cong and the Neale — through the merited appreci- 
 ation of his Grace, has nobly co-operated with the 
 Archbishop in crushing proselytism and exposing land- 
 lord tyranny. Father Lavelle wields a ready and a 
 powerful pen and has an extraordinary gift of lan- 
 guage both as a speaker on politics and as a finished 
 pulpit orator. The government and the laws of England 
 have for him no terror when the cause of creed and 
 country is at issue. His learned letters, eloquent ser- 
 mons, and speeches have made for him a name that 
 will never die, and after the Archbishop his name is 
 cherished by all genuine Irishmen. To him in a rural 
 parish may be appositely applied the line of the poet 
 Young, 
 
 " And pyramids are pyramids in vales." 
 
 Father Lavelle as a Priest and George Henry Moore 
 as a statesman, have shown themselves fearless and de- 
 voted aides-de-camp of his Grace. " John of Tuam", has 
 set the bright example to his countrymen of indexible 
 fealty to the old faith, and a firm and holy resolve to 
 work in the good old cause until not a foot of Irish 
 soil shall belong to the Saxon. 
 
 Wl)cn all of genius that must perish, dies, 
 His great works will John MacIIale eternise. 
 
 Let us hope that his precious life though now in its 
 winter, may be prolonged until his fond desire as re- 
 gards Ireland be realized, of seeing it 
 
 " Great, glorious and free. 
 
 First tlower of the earth, first gem of the sea." 
 
 [The most deafening ap})lause followed as the lec- 
 ture concluded.] 
 
ex 
 
 H7o5 
 
EFC^V^