DEATH OF A NOTED ENGLISH CONVERT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 28, 13 July 1899, Page 24

DEATH OF A NOTED ENGLISH CONVERT.

«. THE LATE FATHER RIVINGTON. The Catholic Church in England has suffered a great loss by the death of the Very Rev. Luke Rivington, D.D., M.A., which took place at his residence, London, on Tuesday night, May 30. Dr. Rivington waa only ill for a few days, the cause of kis death being- an attack of pneumonia in both lungs. Dr. Rivinerton was conscious to the last, and as Father Chew had finished the prayer* for the dying he kissed the crucifix and breathed his pure soul i»to the hands of his Creator. Dr Rivington was sixty-one years of •g-e. Father Rivington's death is a loss (says the Catholic Times) which will be greatly felt by the Catholics throughout this country, especially at the present time, when the questions which circle round the priestly power are so deeply agitating the British public His was an individuality which from the earliest period of his life made itself much felt, an intellectual strength which placed him amongst the leaders of religious thought, and a sterling honesty of character which revolted against any but plain straightforward dealing. Through his connection with the famous publishing house he, so to speak, inherited literary traditions, and when at Oxford University he got into the current of academic thought, his mind naturally drifted into a recognition of all that the Catholic Church had done in the past for England, and indeed FOR THE CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD, by the noble ideals which it put forward in the domain of learning, art, and political and social science. Fro.v this the transition to the religious aspect of these questions was easy. The master-minds who had found Anglicanism insufficient aid had entered the fold of: the Mother and Mistress of aJI the Churches were still active. From the Birmingham Oratory Newman was giving forth now and again those luminous expositions of Catholic doctrine which bronght peace to so many souls by attracting them to the centre of peace — the Catholio Church. Manning, with that restless activity for which he was always conspicuous, was writing and working at Westminster, and proving to his old Anglican co-religionists the vigour of the Catholic Church as a social force. Under these circumstances the subject of the Church of England's ancient connection with Rome came prominently before him, and he was soon immersed in historical studies wherein the primacy of the Roman See was under consideration. His trend was towards the old Catholic idea of the priesthood, and he became known amongst the Ritualists both as an eminent scholar and a man of zeal. He went to India as a missioner, and whilst there had a controversy with the late Archbishop Meurin as to the Sovereign Pontiff's authority, and it is said that the clearness and ability with which the Catholic arguments were mnrshalled by the Archbishop had an entirely convincing effect on Father Rivington. Returning home, he was much in request as one of the Cowlry Fathers, and was offered the charge of a memorial church at Cannes which had been erected by the Queen in honour of the Duke of Albany. This offer he refused, saying that he was going on — going on to Rome. Not only did he go as far aa the Eternal City in bo ly but he also went to Rome in spirit, for he gave in his adhesion to the Catholic Church. The event created a considerable sensation. and there iB no doubt many were influenced by his submission to the Holy See. Since then his life has been one of incessant and fruitful work. He devoted himself principally to writing dealing with Anglican difficulties, and the many articles which he contributed to our own columns have given evidence of the lucidity with which he treated those themes that he had made in a special sense his own.