nity. The world became indeed desolate but surely Heaven opened wide its gates to admit a rare and beautiful soul.

THE FUNERAL OBSEQUIES

The solemn funeral rites were an eloquent tribute to the rectitude of William J. Onahan's life. The sublimity of the Catholic ritual, than which nothing human is more impressive, was made manifest in the assemblage of prelates and clergy vested in accordance with church laws and usages for such a solemn occasion.

The Requiem Mass was solemnized at St. Patrick's Church of which the deceased had been one of the earliest and most distinguished parishioners. The Mass was celebrated by the pastor, the Reverend William J. McNamee, assisted by the Reverend Frederic Siedenburg, S. J., Dean of Loyola School of Sociology and First Vice-President of the ILLINOIS CATHOLIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY, as deacon, and the Very Reverend F. A. Purcell, D. D., rector of Quigley Preparatory Seminary, sub-deacon. The sermon was preached by the Very Reverend John A. Cavanaugh, C. S. C., president of Notre Dame University. The Most Reverend George W. Mundelein, D. D., was present and gave the last absolution.

PERSONAL TRIBUTE TO THE LATE WILLIAM J. ONAHAN, LL. D., by the ReverEND JOHN CAVANAUGH, C. S. C., D. D.,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NOtre

DAME, NOTRE DAME, INDIANA.

Born at Leighlin Bridge, County Carlow, Ireland, in the year 1836, William Onahan had the good fortune of inheriting the noblest and most heroic blood of Europe. His ancestry embraced the men and women who, during centuries of sublime devotion and endurance, held faith against the wiles of statecraft, the brutal power of infamous government and the most alluring seductions of the world. Brought up on the hero tales and ballads of a noble but oppressed people, the very fibre of his soul, in his earliest years, was refined and

strengthened by the sights and sounds of every day life. Nourished on the ancient and beautiful literature of Ireland, the gentlest, strongest, loftiest instincts of his nature grew from year to year, when, as a young man, he turned his back on the ancient and mellow civilization of Ireland for the rudeness and crudeness of life in America at that period. He embodied, in his striking physique, in his agile and adaptable mind, in his gift of graceful and dynamic expression, in his loyalty to the old land, the old creed, the old memories, the old traditions, the very genius of the Irish people.

Shortly after his advent to this friendly haven into which had sailed so many hundreds of thousands of his own people in quest of peace and opportunity, Mr. Onahan arrived in Chicago. From that moment he became the leader of his people. Gifted with a handsome figure, with noble features, with engaging manners, with rare instincts for leadership, young Onahan at once assumed a prominent place among men of Irish blood in Chicago. Sixty years ago the Irishman was little understood in this country. The vulgar comedian on the stage, and the more vulgar newspaper paragrapher, had joined forces with the ribald bigot to misrepresent the Irish character. God knows, we were not without our faults, but they were gentle faults, capable of discipline and willing to be disciplined, and they were associated with marvelous virtues and excellencies which America needed and which America would love when she came to know them. On the other hand, the American people were unknown in many ways to the Irish immigrant. With quick intuition he would soon come to understand. But in the meantime it was necessary for someone to interpret the Irish immigrant to the American and the American himself to the Irish immigrant. This was a golden opportunity for the right man. The venerable Patrick Donahoe did it in Boston; the great Archbishop Hughes did it in New York; the ever-to-be-lamented Boyle O'Reilly did it through his poems and his newspaper work over the whole country. It was William J. Onahan who did it most conspicuously and brilliantly for Chicago and the

Middle West. For years it was he who must appear on any public occasion to represent our people. For years it was he who must have membership and activity in historical societies to keep us in countenance. For years it was he who must guide and advise the inexperienced and unskilled in political policies. For years it was he who must stand out as the leading Catholic layman of the West.

Is it any wonder, then, that naturally and unconsciously he came to assume before the whole American people a position of prominence. His place among the laity of America was comparable to the place held by his illustrious friend, Archbishop Ireland, among the hierarchy. These two devoted friends were not the only great leaders we have had, but each was mighty and zealous, most venerable and most honored. It was this perhaps more than anything else in the life of Mr. Onahan which made him peculiarly beloved and trusted throughout the length and breath of America. It was no mere rhetorical flash in the pan which dubbed him universally, "The Premier Layman of America".

A service so distinct and peculiar as to call for special remembrance he also performed. Perhaps I may best express it without offense by saying that he added public respectability to the Irish colony in the Middle West. Like that fine spirit, Colonel Mulligan, he was anxious that the Irish-Amer ican name should be honored, the Irish-American spirit respected, Irish-American dignity and taste always vindicated and sustained, and hence whatever was tawdry or low-toned, or unrepresentative, he fought and vanquished and banished from our community life. To the end of his days this fine enthusiasm burned bright and hot. His zeal for the Church and his patriotic passion for the people from whom he sprang made him intolerant of anything that was low-class or inferior.

This is not the place to evaluate his services in the political life of this city. Another will do this in his own way and with better understanding. But at least it may be

said that Mr. Onahan bore his share in the responsibilities and solicitudes of national and local citizenship. Lifted up to a high and venerable place in the confidence and affections of the people of Chicago, he served them with conspicuous brilliance and scrupulous integrity. No finer example of the Catholic man in politics has been seen in our country. Mr. Onahan had vision also. "Where there is no vision," says the prophet, "the people perish." And, indeed, people were perishing-our Irish-American people were perishing spiritually, physically and economically in the overcrowded tenements of the city and in dark, dirty spots where life and health and wholesomeness could not come to them. At the same time in the great virgin prairies and opulent valleys in the West and Northwest lay vast domains, vacant and smiling to the sun. There were great figures in the hierarchy who saw an opportunity to serve both the nation and the Irish-American immigrant. But the layman who, above all others, saw and appreciated the opportunity and the duty was William J. Onahan. There are vast communities in the Northwest whose forefathers were saved to the Church and placed on the crest of opportunity by the foresight and enthusiastic energy of bishops like Ireland and Spalding and such a layman as Mr. Onahan.

It would require a volume to enumerate the large parts this striking figure has played in the public life of the nation, but it is impossible to close even this fragmentary sketch without mention of the great Catholic Congresses of Chicago and Baltimore which were organized chiefly by Mr. Onahan and whose success are in such large measure due to his wisdom and initiative. Always the dreamer of great dreams, always the doer of great deeds, always the leader with prophetic gift and unfailing judgment and sure instinct; always the loyal and self sacrificing servant of his Faith and his Fatherland and America, this chivalrous knight who, in spite of his modernity and practicality made one think sometimes that he had just stepped out of some ancient century away back in the ages of Faith, moved with

grace and dignity down the highways and byways of life, receiving and giving blessings, enjoying honor, prosperity and acclaim from all good men. Universities deemed it an honor to themselves to confer degrees upon him. Notre Dame pinned upon his bosom her choicest distinction when she made him the Laetare Medalist of 1890. The Holy Father himself, from those ancient watchtowers upon which he sits in solitude to look out over the whole wide world, deigned to single him out for what was then a most signal honor, by making him a Count of the Sword and Cape.

And so, he went his gentle, beneficent way through life and so, in God's good time, in a spirit of faith and fortitude, he fell asleep in God. His body lies in the midst of those whom he knew and loved best in life, and his spirit is with the saints. May his memory be his benediction!

At the conclusion of the ceremonies the Most Reverend Archbishop George William Mundelein pronounced the last absolution and all that was mortal of the distinguished dead was tenderly borne to Calvary cemetery for interment, followed by the esteem and prayers of a multitude of friends who could not but wish that they each when their hour shall come might be credited with a similarly righteous and useful life and that they might be assured of a death that held such promise of peace hereafter.