and entered the Catholic Church, of which he remained till death a most
  faithful, devoted, and zealous son.  He was ordained priest in 1848, was
  made Rector of the Catholic University of Dublin in 1854, and in 1879
  was raised to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII.  Cardinal Newman’s
  writings are beyond the grasp of young minds, yet they will profit by
  and enjoy the perusal of his two great novels, “Loss and Gain” and
  “Callista.”  The former is the story of a convert; the latter a tale of
  the third century, in which the beautiful heroine and martyr, Callista,
  is presented with a master’s art.  Newman is the greatest master of
  English prose.  In this field he holds the same rank that Shakespeare
  does in English poetry.  To his style, Augustine Birrell, a noted English
  essayist, pays the following graceful and eloquent tribute:  “The charm
  of Dr. Newman’s style baffles description.  As well might one seek to
  analyze the fragrance of a flower, or to expound in words the jumping of
  one’s heart when a beloved friend unexpectedly enters the room.”  This
  great Prince of the Church died the death of the saints in the year
  1890.

O’REILLY, JOHN BOYLE, patriot, author, poet and journalist, was
  born on the banks of the famous river Boyne, in County Meath, Ireland,
  in the year 1844.  In 1860 he went over to England as agent of the Fenian
  Brotherhood, an organization whose purpose was the freedom of Ireland
  from English rule.  In 1863 he joined the English army in order to sow
  the seeds of revolution among the soldiers.  In 1866 he was arrested,
  tried for treason, and sentenced to death.  This was afterwards commuted
  to twenty years’ penal servitude.  In 1867 he was transported to
  Australia to serve out his sentence, whence he escaped in 1869, and made
  his way to Philadelphia.  He became editor of the Boston Pilot in 1874. 
  He is the author of “Songs from the Southern Seas,” “Songs, Legends and
  Ballads,” and of other works.  He died in 1890.  All through life the
  voice and pen of Boyle O’Reilly were at the service of his Church, his
  native land, and his adopted country.  Kindness was the keynote of his
  character.  In 1896 Boston erected in his honor a magnificent memorial
  monument.

RILEY, JAMES WHITCOMB, called the “Hoosier Poet,” was born in
  Indiana in the year 1852.  In many of his poems there is a strong sense
  of humor.  What he writes comes from the heart and goes to the heart.  He
  has written much in dialect.  His home is in Indianapolis.

RUSKIN, JOHN, one of the most famous of English authors, was born
  in London in 1819, and educated at Oxford.  He spent several years in
  Italy in the study of art.  He wrote many volumes of essays and lectures,
  chiefly on matters connected with art and art criticism.  In his writings
  we find many beautiful pen-pictures of statues and fine buildings and
  such things.  His “Modern Painters,” a treatise on art and nature,
  established his reputation as the greatest art critic of England.  He
  died in 1900.