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LATE Mr. C. GILLESPIE.
REQUIEM MASS.
AN ELOQUENT APPRECIATION.
High Mass for the repose of the soul of the
late aMr. Charles Gillespie, who died on Monday,
was celebrated in SS. Peter end Paul's Catho
dral at D o'clock this morning. There was a
good attendance of relatives and friends of the
doceased. His Lordship Bishop Gallagher pre
sided. Father Murphy was celebrant, Father
Slattery deacon, Father AIcKenna sub-deacon,
and Father Joseph Dwyer, of Temora, was
Master of Ceremony. Other priests present in
the sanctuary were Fathers Casinir, Gabriel,
Charles, Carson, and Father Cahill, Adm. There
was a strong choir present, and Mr. W. J. Cas
pore presided at the organ.
Hiso Lordship delivered an eloquent apprecia
tion .of the late Mr. Gillespio's life, in the
course of which he said:--It is a source of
mournful pleasure to me to assist at the Mass
which has just been offered for the repose of
the soul of the late Mr. Charles Gillespie be
fore his mortal remains are consigned to their
last resting place. Apart from being my life
long friend, it is fitting that he who is, by
ordination and in years also, the oldest priest
of the Goulburn Diocese should offer the final
prayer of Christian faith for the last of the
old Catholic pioneers. They were giants in their
day-those grand old colonists who blazed the'
track for us. They had great difficulties to sur
mount; but they faced them bravely. Their
faith was earnest, their hearts were strong, their
courage never failed. United in bonds of closest
union with my own venerable predecessor and
his few but valiant fellow-workers, they laid
thie foundations of our holy faith in this now
flourishing Diocese of Goulburn, broad and deep
and strong. They sowed in tears, to use the
beautiful expression "of the inspired volume,
that we might reap in joy. They have be
queathed to us a noble example, as well as a
rich inheritance. Ours to build up the beauti
ful edifice of Christian education, of charity, of
religion and faith and hope and love on the
foundations which they have laid. They have
gone down one after another intothehousepre
pared for all the living. To-day we bid adieu
to the last survivor of them all. He' came to
Goulburn, I believe, over seventy years ago,
and had just entered upon the 86th year-of his
age. The ample fortune which he accumulated
is sufficient proof how successful he was as a
nman of bsiness. The voice of his follow-citizens
tertifies how faithful he was in the discharge
of all civic and social duties. He threw him
self with hearty co-operation into every move
ment for the uplifting of the people--for the
material or social or intellectual advancement
of the town and district. He saw the beginning
of every Catholic Church, of every school, of
every charitable institution not merely in the
parish of Goulburn, but throughout the whole
diocese. In the long list of generous contribu
tors who assisted in their erection and in their
nmaintenance none was more generous than he.
No deserving cause ever appealed to him in
vain. HIo had a heart to pity and a hand open
as the day to melting charity. The little
orphan children, who will always remember him
in their prayers, know this well. They were
nerer in want for boots while Mr. Gillespie
was owner of a factory. It is now only by
contrast they can fully realiso what a generous
-a kind-hearted-- benefactor he had, during
long years, been to them. But it was in the
daily practice of his religion that hislife afford
,;! the best example for imitation. Tried by
many sorrows, he never murmured, hut re
dsgfned himself in simple faith and hope to
God's holy will. Steadfast to principle in all
the relations of life, lie prized his holy faith,
and through it, the hope of a blessed immortal
ity above earthly consideration. There was
scarcely a morning in which, the opportunity
being given, he did not assist at the holy sacri
fice of the Mass; hai~lly ever a Sunday passed
that did not sre himn kneel at the altar in
humble child-like faith to receive our Lord in
Italy Communion. No office, no labour, no mat
ter how difficult, hiow painful even, it might be,
where God's honour was concerned in which re
liance might not be placed on him. A genuine
Catholic, an upright citizen, a faithful friend,
as husband and father a model for all, a goner
ons benefactor to the poor, the suffering, the
orphan, lie ever carried through his long and
strenuous career the white hewer of a blameless
life. And now surrounded by children's chi!
dren to the third and fourth generation, who
nursed him during his long and trying illness
with filial love, he goes down in a ripe old ago
to an honoured grave amid the prayerful regrets
of all who knew him. May his soul rest in peace,
and may the souls of all the faithful departed
rest in everlasting peace.
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