FATHER VAUGHAN, S.J. A STRIKING PERSONALITY

New Zealand Tablet, 18 October 1906, Page 13

FATHER VAUGHAN, S.J.

A STRIKING PERSONALITY

A writer in the London ' Daily Mail ' gives the following pen-picture of Father Vaughan, S.J., whose denunciations of the 'doings of the ' smart set * have attracted general attention :— Father Vaughan, the tireless worker in the East End, the glad resource of all the hungry and suffering, the siok and needy, and, above all, of the children, is a stranger -beyond the dull, narrow streets where he has worked. At one time he used to spend two nights a week at his residence in Lucas street, Commercial road. The residence was one room on the ground floor, furnished with two deal ch-airs, a deal table, a camp bedstead, and a frying pan. There you might find Father Vaughan frying liver and bacon— a portion of his own dinner — for some old creature who had come to appeal to his benevolence. Ihere aie two sides, at' least, to Father Vaughan. He will pass from a fashionable congregation in Farm street, from a passionate attack on what- he conceives to be certain aspects of modern life in the West End, to the squalor and abject poverty of the East. There, perched on a table in some convenient square, with the children gathered round him, he will start a service, first catechising the children^ ami then passing to an easy, simple address to the rough people gathered round. Father Vaughan and Henry VIII. The sheer, inevitable directness of his speaking gives Father Vaughan his great power. His words are carefully chosen ; he begins slowly, impressively, and perfectly naturally. Some of his points are made almost in asides ; some come with a direct sledgehammer force ; but whatever the manner, they all strike home. As a speaker, Father Vaughan is of the school of Mr. Balfour, masterful in tact and - skill . and with it there come spaces of intense earnestness that thrill and sway a whole vast audience. Then Father Vaughan has a keen wit— and also a genial humor— a quite extraordinary combination. There is a story told of him when he was a guest of the Master of Trinity, Cambridge. He was standing under the famous picture of Henry VIII., by Holbein, when someone asked with' half jest, half jeer : ' What would you, Father, as a Jesuit, do, if his Majesty were to step forth out of that canvas ? ' 'I ,should request the ladies to leave the room,'- he answered promptly. Some years ago he brought a libel action against a paper, whiob. charged him with being • steeped in sedition.' His conduct of the case was one 1 of his most brilliant successes. As someone, remarked, he was a good witness, a good counsel for the defence, and for the plaintiff,, and a good judge directing the jury. Asked at the time by 'a rabid antiJesuit;. '.Do you" believe in the principle that the end justifies the means ?.'— it was the time 1 , of the K-ing's illness — 'I hope so,' he. replied; 'otherwise ' Treves must be hanged for plunging his knife into the King's body.' • - Father Vaughan understands how to catch and " hold the attention of his audience. In Manchester, before

he came to London, he preached at the Church of the Holy Name,. The title of one of one of his course of sermons that attracted huge audiences was : 'Is life .worth living in hell?'/le also addressed .a huge,audi.ence in a well-known music-hall, and met a critic witlr the reply that ' with sucli a good cause "as he had to advocate any platform would bear him. up.' Another Father Vaugfhan is the skilful organiser and • administrator. Two. Manchester bazaars organized .by him 'made eleven thousand pounds, with which he built. , clubs' far working men. ' '. But ;, Father Vaughan. is chiefly the preacher.' He ■ was once preaching in Rome on behalf of the charities of Pope, Leo the Thirteenth. He was called up ,an<L congratulated by his Holiness, and when one of the- " - Cardinals declared that Father Bernard preached like an Italian, the Pope asserted that .'he was an Italian/ 'He was born on Vesuvius, and we only sent him to England to cool.' It was a line metaphor of his-fiery eloquence. But perhaps the most characteristic story is his answer when asked if he had been nervous in preaching at Cannes when King Edward, as Prince of Wales, and some fifteen other royal personages were present. ' No, 1 he said, 'for you must know how I have been accustomed to preach in the presence of our Lord.' Father Vaughan is one of eight brothers, six of whom devoted themselves to God in the-priesthood of the Catholic Church. One of the six; the Rev. John S. Vaughan, made this remarkable dedication of' his book, ' Life After Death ' :— To my Seven Brothers, viz. :— To Herbert Vaughan, Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster.s ter. 4 To Roger Vaughan (lale), Archbishop of Sydney, N.S.W. . . To Kenelm Vaughan, Founder of the Arch-Confratern-ity, of Expiation. .. ... To Jerome Vaughan, Founder ' of St. Benedict's Monastery, N.B. To 001. Francis Vaughan, Commander of the Royal Monmouthshire Militia. ' - - To Bernard Vaughan, S.J., Superior of the Jesuit Mission, Manchester. To Reginald Vaughan, Esq., of Glen Trothy, Abergavenny.