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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 9 TRIBUTES TO MR. FARRELL One of the last letters Mr. Farrell wrote was in answer to a lawyer who had written about “beginning to go down into the shadows and valleys where I at times feel more lonely than words can express.” To this Mr. Farrell re plied: “When we face the West, there is no room for discouragement. The Master Painter has put as much real beauty in the crimsons of the sunset as in the pinks of the dawn.” By Rt. Rev. Benjamin J. Keiley, Bishop of Savannah. (From The Morning Star, New Orleans.) The Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia has met its first and what will be its greatest loss. James J. Farrell, of the Publicity Department, died suddenly on Wednesday morning, December 1 5th, at his home in Augusta. At a time when bigotry and intolerance were doing incalculable harm in Georgia, when the legislature had passed the Convent Inspection bill, and when fur ther attacks on our religion were being considered by the ignorant and fanatical bigots of this state, James Farrell conceived the idea which resulted in the for mation of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia. We all saw the need; he thought of the remedy. There were not 20,000 Catholics in the entire state, whose population was nearly three million. There was nothing to guide him, as such an organization was entirely new. Mr. Farrell met publicity with publicity. He first selected one congressional district, calling on all persons who desired correct information about the Catholic Church to apply to the Lay men’s Association. Then, with the aid of a press clipping bureau, he secured every at tack made on the Church by the papers in the district and replied to them in a quiet, courteous way. If the paper published his reply, he sent thanks; if they did not he wrote to the people of the county telling them of the unfairness of the editor who attacked and would not print the defense. He followed this method in every congressional district in Geor gia until there were only two papers which continued these attacks, one of them being a so-called religious (!) newspaper. The Laymen’s Association work will, of course, go on, for I am firmly persuaded that it is God’s work. But his splendid capacity, his untiring zeal, his boundless good nature, his marvelous versatility, the directness of words, his accurate information and never- ceasing gentleness of expression; these I can not hope to find realized in one man. Brooklyn Resolutions. At the first meeting of the Committee for the Dis semination of Catholic Truth and the Distribution of Catholic Literature, the following resolution was moved by Joseph P. McMahon, seconded by James B. McGarvey, and passed unanimously: Whereas this Committee, at its inception, learned with extreme regret that J. J. Farrell, of the National Catholic VC^elfare Council, De partment of Publicity and Literature, whom we expected to be in our midst this evening and tell us of the beautiful and practical work perfected by the Catholic Laymen’s Associa tion of Georgia, was suddenly called to his eternal reward after a very brief illhess. “Be it hereby resolved, That one of our first actions tonight is to record our deep sorrow over the loss the Catholic Church has sus tained in Mr. Farrell’s early death, and to con vey to his bereaved family, through his sister, Miss Mary Farrell, 96 Sterling Place, Brook lyn, and to the National Catholic Welfare Council our sincere sympathy and condo lence.” Meeting held January 4th, 1921, at Interna tional Catholic Truth Society Building,. 407 Bergen Street, Brooklyn. JAMES B. McGARVEY, President. 305 Broadway, N. Y. C. JOSEPH P. McMAHON, Secretary, * 266 West 28th St., N. Y. C. The Michigan State Council, Knights of Columbus, through its state deputy, Ernest A. O’Brien; the Sa cred Heart Benevolent Society, of Augusta, through its secretary, Mrs. R. C. Brittingham; the local coun cils of the Knights of Columbus in Georgia, and many other organizations also have expressed their sym pathy to the family of Mr. Farrell and to the Catholic Laymen’s Association because of Mr. Farrell’s un timely death. There are more than 900 students enrolled in the Paris Catholic Institute, one of the centers of higher Catholic education in France. Two hundred of the students are young women. There are nearly 300 law students, 150 studying philosophy, 100 science, 60 political economy, and 40 theology and canon law. The late Bishop Beaven, of Springfield, Mass., con secrated 28 years ago, built, besides hospitals and other charitable organizations, 65 parochial schools and 80 churches during his Episcopate. Bishop Beaven established every parish except two now ex isting in the city of Springfield. The Golden Book of the Clergy of France contains the names of 3,276 priests who died on the field dur ing the war, and 8,000 more who were decorated with the War Cross.