THE LATE DEAN FINLAY.
(To THE EDITOR Or TEl " SPECTATOR."1 Sia,—The news of the death of the late Dean of Leighlin, the Very Rev. John Finlay, who is officially reported to have been murdered by armed Sinn Feiners on the night of June 10th at his residence in County Cavan, has been received with deep regret by the many who had known and loved him during his long ministry in the Church of Ireland.
As curate of Clonenagh from 1887 to 1873, rector of Lorum from 1873 to 1890, and subsequently rector of Carlow for 22 years, chaplain to the Lord-Lieutenant and a member of the Church Representative Body, he had won the respect and affection of those from whose religious convictions he differed and with whom he came into contact in his daily life, as well as of all who were associated with him in his work, for he was not only an earnest Churchman, but a man of broad and tolerant views, a
true Christian, of whom it might well be said that his heart was as wide as the Church of Christ. To these high qualities were added a youthfulness and buoyancy of spirit and a sense of humour which made him a delightful friend and neighbour and a welcome guest wherever he went. It would be difficult indeed to believe that a man of so simple and kindly a nature and of so much charm of manner to all alike, could ever have made an enemy, or to find any excuse for the crime which must remain for ever a blot on the fair fame of Ireland. The most profound sympathy is felt for the faithful and devoted com- panion of his life, who returned in the early morning to find not only her husband murdered, but the home, from, which his cowardly assassins had driven her a few hours before, burnt to the ground.—I am, Sir, he., X.
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