Notre Dame Scholastic, Vol. 31, No. 15
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VOL. XXXL NOTRE DAME, INDIANA, JANUARY 15, 189S. No. 15. THE VERY REV. W. CORBY, C S. C Born, October 2, 1833. Died, Decenaber 28,^ J897. •^ 246 NOTRE DAME SCHOLASTIC, opportunity of confessing his sins, urging them to do The Very Rev. "WilUam E. Corby, O. S. C. their duty, and reminding them of the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers and the noble object for which they fought. The. brigade was standing at UST as the old year went tottering "order arms!" As he closed his address, every man, past the last plats of day-light and Catholic and non-Catholic, fell on his knees and with darkness, the days of Father Corby, . head toward the brigade, Father Corby pronounced the round with the fulness and goodness words of the absolution. The scene was more than impressive—it was awe-in of a true life, were numbered. By his spiring. Nearby stood a brilliant throng of officers who death the last square of earth beside had gathered to witness this very unusual occurrence, ihe grave of Father Sorin has been broken and while there was profound silence in the ranks cf and heaped into a small mound marked by a the second corps, yet over to the left, out by the peach plain cross; the last one of those that watched orchard and Little Round Top, where Weed and Vincer.t and Hazlitt were dying, the roar of the battle rose ah.d over and fostered the growth of the University swelled and re-echoed through the woods, making music when its troubles were greatest, has been called more sublime than ever sounded through cathedral aisle. to the feet of his God, and Notre Dame begins The act seemed to be in harmony with the surroundings. a new year with sadness and with hope. I do not think that there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. For some it was their For the most part the death was sudden and last; they knelt there in their grave clothes. In less than unexpected. On the eighteenth of December, half an hour many of them were numbered Avith the Father Corby had returned from, a short trip dead of July 2. Who can doubt that their prayers were to Chicago and Cincinnati. On Wednesdayf good? What was wanting in the eloquence of the,priest to move them to repentance was supplied in the incidejits December twenty-third, he became ill,- and'on of. the fight. That heart would, indeed, be incorrigible the following Tuesday, at one o'clock inMKe.. which the scream of a Whitworth bolt, added to Father afternoon, he gave his last blessing to the Corby's touching appeal, would not move to contrition. friends and relatives gathered at his bedside In 1865, after his return from the war, Father and passed away. So ended the life of one of Corby was made Vice-President of the Univer Notre Dame's greatest men. sity. He seemed well fitted and capable to do Father Corby was born in Detroit, Michigan, the many duties that fell to.his lot, and durirg on the second day of, October, 1833, making the following year he was made the third him somewhat over sixty-four, years of age President of Notre Dame. In this position he at the time of his death. In .1853, after having gave the greatest help to the University. Dur received a thorough common school education, ing his presidency of six years a law depart he came to Notre Dame to carry on his studies, ment was established, and strides of progress and in the next year hevdecided to follow, a were made that brought the University much religious life, and entered the Congregation of nearer.to its present state of prosperity. In the Holy Cross. After finishing hisstudies, he 18;;2, Father Corby was transferred to Water- Was made Prefect of Discipline; and in i860, town, Wis.; where he held the presidency of the year of his ordination, he was placed at Sacred Heart College, an institution just begun the head of the Manual Labor department of. and requiring a strong, mind at the head of its the University. affairs, When he left this college, in 1877, to At 'the beginning of the War of the Rebel return to the head of Notre Dame, it was in a lion, Father Sorin, thoroughly American, and flourishing condition, and bore well the fruits intefasely patriotic, sent -to, the .front seven of. Father Corby's labors. ; priests as chaplains. Father Corby became In 1879, the greatest affliction befell Notre CliJlplain of the 88th Regiment, Nevy York Dame.- On April twenty-third, the college Vols., and chaplain of the famous fighting building, with air its contents, was destroyed; Irish Brigade, which position he held through and that which had required the labor of the war, , years in building had become ashes and ruins On th» field of Gettysburg he made himself in a day.. Now had come the hour of trial; famous for one incident,—^giving general abso butt Father Corby,,with his skill and ability in lution under fire. The description of the event the management of great, affairs, was equal to is:given by General Mulholland: ' the,occasion, and by the opening of the next The brigade stood in column of regiments closed Jn scholastic year the present main building of mass.-. Father Corby.stood on a large rock iri:front of the the University was ready for the reception brigade. Addressing the men, he explained what he was of studerits^so much has Notre Dame pro .about to do, saying that each one could receive the gressed and grown under hih administration. ^benefit of the absolution by making a sjncere act of "contrition fand -^ fii-mly- resolving tff embrace -the:-first -He remained -Presiderit until 1881, after which \."- •-.-•--^•^ ,-.«., .•••vy...- • •<• 'V- NOTRE DAME SCHOLASTIC. 247 time he held the office of Provincial of the of an immortal soul. There is no real sting* Congregation of the Holy Cross in the United in death for a Christian. It is a passage to-a States. Besides he also held the offices of higher life. The breaking of the fetters that-' Commander of Notre Dame Post, G. A. R., bind us to earth means freedom to the soul and Chaplain of the Indiana Commandery of for evermore. Over the door of his rude cell a" the Loyal Legion. Spanish monk wrote these words: "Whatis'it ' - As a leader Father Corby's strength of will that we mean when we speak of death? It is and foresight everywhere brought success; and to be freed from the body of sin and the yoke ' at the same time, as we of the present genera of our passions. Therefore, to live is a'bitter tion of students know him, no one had a more death, and to die is a sweet life." I shall die, pleasant smile and kindly word for everyone. but "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in In every position he made friends; and if I my flesh I shall see my God." speak for the ^udents of today, none could The mystery of death is the solution of regret more-deeply his sudden death. the mystery of life. The portico explains the temple. But in our folly we grope about iri the porch, and never look, beyond the great doors that discover the vista of the' interior.. Sermon. Death is the key to all the riddles and enigmas of life; it reveals man to himself and God to BY THE REV. D. E. HUDSON, C. S. C. man. No earthly life has completeness. The highest education, the broadest culture are " Do you tiot know that a prince and a great man is fallen this like the trees in early springtime. There is day in Israel ? Not as cowards are wput to die hath Abuer died. life and growth and promise, but no sign of Thy hands were not bound nor thy feet laden with fetters; but as men fall before" the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall." And maturity. So with our faculties: they neither all the people repeating it wept over him. II. Kings, iii. ripen nor bear fruit on earth. The longest life i^GAIN we stand in the awful presence of lacks perfection. But if the human soul is a Ly Death—Death the conqueror, Death the spirit there is nothing of which it may not be / ' destroyer—a conqueror that is never said to be capable; and this world offers no vanquished, a destroyer that no power can field for the fullest exercise of its powers. withstand. The whole earth is covered with It is only when we die that we begin to live the trophies of his conquest. The graves of his the true life. victims cluster on every hilltop and in every "Death takes us by surprise. valley, and are hidden even in the depths of And stays our hurrj'ing feet. The great design unfinished lies. ocean. He seizes the beggar on the highway Our h'ves are incomplete. and drags the king from his throne; he strikes • "But in the dark unknown down the strong man in the perfection of his Perfect their circles seem. might, and lays an icy finger on the infant in E'en as the bridge's arch of stone the cradle, taking away the life that has just Is rounded in the stream." been given. It was given to Father Corby to understand There is no security and there is no escape the true philosophy of life, which lies in doing - from death.