In his
examination before the coroner, he said he found him in a dying state,
but quite in his senses. He would not delay hearing his confession till
he reached the Workhouse, but heard it in the car. Finn was then removed
to the House, and laid on a bed in his clothes, where he received the
sacrament of Extreme Unction. "I feared," said the Rev. Mr. Barry, "the
delay of stripping him." And the rev. gentleman was right, for he had
scarcely concluded his ministrations when Finn expired.
Every Catholic will understand how severely the physical and mental
energies of priests are taxed during times of fever, cholera, small pox,
and the like; but all such epidemics combined could scarcely cause them
such ceaseless work and sleepless anxiety as the Famine did, more
especially in its chief centres. To those who are not Catholics, I may
say that every priest feels bound, under the most solemn obligations, to
administer the last sacraments to every individual committed to his
care, who has come to the use of reason. What, then, must their lives
have been during the Famine? Not only had they to attend the dying, but
they were expected, and they felt it to be their duty, to be present at
Relief Committees, to wait on officials, write letters, and do
everything they thought could in any manner aid them in saving the lives
of the people.
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