Death of a Remarkable Irishman

[dawna]

DEATH OF A REMARKABLE IRISHMAN.
THE LATE MAUNSELL WHITE, OF NEW ORLEANS.


With sincere regret we record the death of Mr. Maunsell White, of Deer Park Plantation, New Orleans, in the eightieth year of his age, and in the sixtieth year of his exile from Ireland and sojourn in Louisiana. No more worthy man ever won honor for the Irish name in foreign lands. Mr. White owned one of the largest plantations in Louisiana, and was one of the wealthiest men in that State. But his was not a heart capable of being hardened or chilled by riches. Wealth with him meant the opportunity of doing good. His charities were munificent; his name was never mentioned without reverence and praise, and was scarcely ever heard unless in connection with some act of princely benevolence. Some of our readers may remember that Mr. Smith O'Brien, in his lecture on America, made allusion to Mr. White, whose guess he had been for a brief time. Mr. White, we believe, was a native of Limerick, and, if we mistake not, a relative of Mrs. O'Brien. He was a Protestant, but the Catholic faith was endeared to him at least as the faith of millions of his fellow countrymen.-

On one occasion the Catholic Church of St. Patrick, raised and frequented by the Irish in New Orleans, was sacrilegiously entered and rifled; and the sacred vessels were carried off by the robbers, and even an impiety terrible to reflect upon perpetrated. The consternation and anger, horror and grief amongst the Irish may be imagined. Mr. White was scarcely less incensed than the most fervent Catholic. He called upon the pastor, took him to one of the most eminent jewellers in the city, and on the spot ordered every sacred vessel used in our churches to be supplied of the richest and costliest patterns at his own sole expense! Similar anecdotes of his intense Irish feeling and boundless generosity are frequent in the Crescent City. To the poor his hand was ever extended, and he has left behind him many lasting provisions for their aid. In these pages, some time since, we chronicled an act of his, which might well fill Irishmen with pride, He voluntarily freed every slave on his plantation-one of the largest in the State-making provisions for the support of all who were aged or infirm! We feel that the name and deeds of such a man, such an Irishman, should not be allowed to pass into oblivion. He will be remembered with honor in the country of his adoption; not the less let his memory be loved and revered in Ireland, the land he fondly cherished to his latest hour.-Dublin Morning News. (Irish American; February 13, 1864; pg. 1, col. 6.)

"As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have it's fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular."
~Oscar Wilde~

[ewc]

Wonderful article, dawna. Mr White- what a magnificent man.