CHAPTER X.
FUNERAL ORATION ON FATHER DE SMET.
By Bishop Ryan.
Onias, that truly good and gentle man, so modest in his countenance, so regular and moderate in his ways, so agreeable in his speech and who had practiced all kinds o f virtues from his youth up. Macc. II.
(1) SUCH were the eminent qualities of that Onias, high priest of Judea, whom the Jews so bitterly bewailed and whose loss was regretted by even Antiochus himself, mindful of the amenity of character of the great priest and of the upright life which he had led. These words, my brethren, are admirably suited to the apostolic man whose mortal remains are here exposed to your view before the holy altars. He was, as you all know, of a lovable and simple nature, and he served God in faithfulness from his infancy. It is right that we should be met together to pay to his memory the homage of our veneration. Wherever the narre of the zealous missionary is known, not only throughout the United States but in Europe as well, wherever the renown of his great and noble labors has spread, the news of the mournful event which has brought us together and occasioned our grief, will be received with profound sorrow, and all men who have corne in contact with this godly man, regardless of the creed to which they may belong, cannot but admire and exalt the virtues and merits of this worthy priest of the Lord. Yes truly, in the tent of the poor Indian as in the heart of our populous cities, people will speak with love and respect for a long time to corne of
1 From French version.