The Boston Pilot
Scanlan, Patrick F.
76 THE COMMONWEAL May 21, 1930 THE BOSTON PILOT By PATRICK F. SCANLAN THE biography of a great man is usually interesting. We daresay, however, there is no biography more lively...
...Types of the interesting data, however, may be found by consulting the files even at random...
...His Grace, Archbishop Williams, however, came to the rescue and pulled the paper out of its predicament...
...With Patrick Donohoe they made a combination the like of which no other publication has treasured...
...Controversial subjects have been largely tabooed...
...In the early days such eminent writers as Thomas D'Arcy McGee, B. F. Emery, Father Roddan, Father O'Flaherty, George Pepper, Dr...
...Fortunately, the goodwill built up in the seven previous years tided over the difficulties...
...Space does not permit a review of the historical treasures to be found in the pages of the Pilot...
...During the Civil War the Pilot was a staunch supporter of the government, rendered aid in recruiting, and did yeoman's service in softening the old misrepresentations against the Church in New England...
...Progress became the watchword and in 1868 the paper, with its publishing house and its bank, under the title of the great Patrick Donohoe, who became associated with it in 1838, moved into its own building at 19 Franklin Street...
...They were John Boyle O'Reilly, James Jeffrey Roche and Katherine R. Conway...
...In December of 1843 the Jesuit was changed to the Irish and Catholic Sentinel...
...John Boyle O'Reilly...
...There was no central news service, little advertising and the circulation could stand improvement...
...In 1858 the paper was greatly enlarged becoming "the largest Catholic paper in the United States, dimensions 1,669 square inches...
...The present heading was then adopted and the familiar motto: "Be Just and fear not, let all the ends thou aimest at be thy God's, thy country's and truth's...
...In 1908 the modern and new era opened for the Pilot...
...For during its years—be they many or few—are depicted not only the stories of individuals and events but the trials and triumphs of the dearest possession of man—his faith...
...they took things as they found them and achieved their victories...
...they did not waste time or tears over what might be or what should be...
...Such an organization as the Klan has not, to the writer's knowledge, ever drawn even one mention in its columns...
...As for its news columns, stories from Rome are generally featured, national and local news, especially involving individuals, are not given as large prominence as in some other diocesan papers, unless they are bound up with the constructive and official events in the great see of Boston...
...This brief sketch might be closed with the observation that in few places is the Catholic Church as virile and vigorous, and her people more intelligent and better living, than in the archdiocese of Boston...
...He turned over its first receipts to the establishment of Saint Vincent's Orphan Asylum, the first Catholic charitable institution in the diocese, and still in existence though greatly enlarged...
...On October 1, 1831, Bishop Fenwick changed the name of the paper to the United States Catholic Intelligencer...
...In 1833 the former name was resumed...
...A year later it became the Literary and Catholic Sentinel...
...The establishment of the excellent N.C.W.C...
...These were crucial days...
...Bartlett and Walter J. Walsh graced its pages...
...They did not follow the path of least resistance...
...In Boston one can invariably find united opposition to the forces which dishonor religion, disgrace our country and degrade its citizens...
...It is a photograph of twentyfour hours in length of the mysterious river of this time that is sweeping past us forever...
...Donohoe, announced he had paid back every cent lost and he repurchased the Pilot which he conducted until his death in 1891...
...The great Archbishop could not see the paper perish...
...Donohoe's bank went under, thereby compelling him to withdraw as publisher...
...Aside from the editorial interest, the financial struggles of a paper twenty-five, fifty or 100 years old are bound to afford interest...
...Insurance companies failed and Mr...
...Boston then was a stronghold of Puritanism...
...John Boyle O'Reilly, one of the famous editors of the Pilot which is now celebrating the centenary of its foundation, once said: Very often we read the biography of a man, who was born, lived, worked and died, and we put the book on our shelves out of respect for his memory...
...Another fire the following year destroyed the temporary plant of the paper...
...But the newspaper is the biography of something greater than a man— it is the biography of a day...
...It can safely be said that there is not another Catholic paper in the country run along exactly the same lines as the Pilot...
...The paper has the unique distinction of being the mouthpiece of His Eminence whose style, forcefulness and leadership are greatly admired even by those who do not always agree with what he says...
...But what it lacked in paper weight it made up in the weight of its discussions and dissertations...
...Cardinal O'Connell, newly created archbishop, made it the official organ of the diocese...
...The Bishop took a truly active part in promoting the publication...
...Of deep and abiding faith they did not hesitate to take a stand, and usually an aggressive one, against the enemies of the Church and society...
...In few places, moreover, is there such a solid Christian sentiment against pernicious movements which slur the mind, defile the body and sear the soul...
...A close following of the paper for years reveals to the reader that the Pilot of today has a special devotion and loyalty to the mission cause, to Christian education and to the solution of social problems...
...It was one of the finest buildings in Boston in its day...
...Today the personality of the Cardinal-Archbishop of Boston is stamped on the Pilot...
...The life of the Pilot is no exception to the rule...
...While such disagreement is, of course, not on the fundamentals of the Christian faith or the principles taught by Christ's Church yet they have a varied sense of appreciation of what goes to make up an interesting, forceful and readable paper, one which accomplishes big things for the cause it espouses...
...Politics is given no space...
...Those who in this day consider Catholics to be too friendly to the proponents of strong drink will be interested to know that the Pilot faithfully reported every speech delivered and every reception attended by the famous apostle of temperance, while in this country...
...Anna H. Dorsey and Mrs...
...On April 22, 1876, this interesting note appeared: "The Pilot is now the property of the most reverend Archbishop of Boston, and Mr...
...A paper usually has an individuality all its own...
...Later the proceeds from the publication were used to repay the depositors who lost heavily in the failure of Donohoe's bank...
...The fire of 1872 destroyed the entire business section of Boston including the magnificent plant and equipment of its Catholic paper...
...Later in the same year the greatest disaster in the history of Boston took place...
...One issue states Father Mathew was wildly greeted in Boston when "fifteen to twenty thousand people were present at the demonstration to him on the Common...
...News Service has not destroyed or even injured, the individuality and effectiveness of the first-class Catholic publications...
...The Bishop was able to face tremendous obstacles, perhaps, because his life and actions were established on the slogan found on page one of the first edition of his publication: "If God is for us, who is against us ?" The Jesuit was a weekly composed of eight small three-column pages and sold for $3.00 a year...
...the Catholic population, most of whom were poor in resources, totaled a few thousands...
...Scholarship, however, is not neglected...
...In 1872 the founding of the Boston Globe was greeted editoriMay 21, 1930 THE COMMONWEAL 77 ally...
...The splendid publicity it has given to the social reform program of David Goldstein and his colleagues ranks high as a national service...
...Then the paper was composed of eight seven-column pages...
...The paper has made it a practice for years to disregard the emanations of political mountebanks and sowers of strife...
...Today it enters 50,000 homes and frequently prints as much as twenty pages...
...The Pilot antedates every Boston paper but the Traveler...
...The propagation, promotion and perpetuation of religion are well furthered under these heads...
...Their place in Catholic journalism and American literature is secure...
...No doubt a large share of the credit for these community assets is due to the work of the publication which has just rounded out a century of brilliant usefulness...
...In March of the same year an appeal was made to the Catholic and Irish people to rally to the defense of their faith and race by substantially supporting the paper...
...And the life story of a Catholic paper besides being absorbingly interesting is usually stimulatingly thrilling...
...Its editorial policy is well summed up in this quotation: To instruct in matters religious and moral, to combat the influence of the unprincipled press, to protect civil and religious liberty, to lend patriotic service to the nation in any way, to perpetuate national ideals and institutions, thereby strengthening the national fabric by a stronger and more virile citizenship...
...Also there is described the story of religion's champions and its enemies...
...The Catholic Miscellany, and the Truth Teller, both of which have long since passed away, were the only two Catholic publications in the United States preceding the Pilot...
...In 1836 there was the first public indication that the publishers, Devereaux and Donohoe, were having their troubles...
...The Pilot of those days chronicled the speeches of Daniel O'Connell, the acts of the councils of Baltimore and published in serial form the important works of the three English cardinals, Wiseman, Newman and Manning, sermons and addresses of Archbishop Hughes and of Father Faber, novels and stories by Mrs...
...The Cardinal, a true apostle of the Catholic press, ably directed the building up and the paper's present prosperous condition may be attributed to his efforts...
...Recently in addressing the students of a seminary the writer recommended the volumes of Cardinal O'Connell's sermons to be used in cultivating style, for the choice of simple but direct language, for popular but logical reasoning...
...As a matter of fact Catholics, especially priests and editors, disagree far more frequently than they are given credit for...
...It is a coincidence that this prelate who so adequately recognized the intellectual and spiritual value of the written word should also have been the founder of Holy Cross College...
...Sixteen years after, in 1891, Mr...
...Andrew Jackson was President at the time and Boston had a population of but 25,000...
...A pronounced tendency to lay decided stress on events of a truly spiritual nature, as the progressive force for building individual character and promoting civic welfare, can be noted...
...Its soul and spirit can be seen in the subjects it takes up, in the manner in which the presentation is made, in the victories it achieves and the friends it wins for the cause...
...In 1923 His Eminence purchased the modern plant of the Boston Record, and it is from this establishment that the paper is now printed...
...In 1849 a number of editions gave wide prominence to the arrival of Father Mathew in this country...
...The Pilot editorially follows the direction of its leader...
...This individuality in the Catholic press is an excellent sign, for if all papers were alike then there would not be much excitement in either reading or maintaining them...
...Editors have different ways of handling events, of subjects to be taken up, of the presentation of news and views, of the selection of features, and methods of upholding, extending and defending the Faith, and of arousing and keeping readers interested...
...Bishop Fenwick was a man not only of erudite scholarship but of great courage and vision...
...From 1870 to the beginning of the present century three of the truly great figures in modern literature guided the paper...
...This brief sketch of a notable publication would be incomplete without making passing mention of a few of the outstanding characters—characters before whom every Catholic newspaperman bows down in silent admiration—associated with it...
...In December of 1835 the name was changed to the Boston Pilot...
...M. A. Sadlier...
...To find three such sublime characters and notable writers on the staff of a paper at one time was remarkable...
...We daresay, however, there is no biography more lively than that of a newspaper...
...In September, 1829, Right Reverend Benedict Fenwick, S.J., second Bishop of Boston, established the paper called the Jesuit, later known as the Pilot...
...The column signed "A Looker On" on the editorial page is an outstanding production from a literary as well as a Catholic point of view...
...On August 16, 1834, in the most charitable spirit, the wanton destruction by fanatics of the Ursuline convent in Charleston is recorded...
...With love for their faith, with prolific industry, a high sense of correct values, and with a scholarly and intelligent mode of presentation they made the Pilot so welcome that its wrapper was torn off with rare expectation...
Vol. 12 • May 1930 • No. 3
