Bishop McGill for permission to take up arms in defense of the South. This permission was denied by the bishop, who enjoined Father O'Keefe under his sacerdotal vows not to bear arms, but stipulated that if Norfolk was attacked he could exercise the natural right of self-defense in defending his home city.
Thereupon Father O'Keefe went to Richmond and offered to lead a night attack with 500 picked men on the Federal camp at Point Lookout, below Norfolk. President Davis consented, but stipulated that a Confederate colonel must accompany the expedition. The officer arrived in Norfolk, but became intoxicated, and when he became sober again heavy reinforcements had arrived at the camp, and, much to Father O'Keefe's disappointment, the expedition had to be abandoned.
Father O'Keefe urged President Davis to set the slaves free and to allow them to take up arms in defense of the South. The latter is said to have declared, after the war, that if Father O'Keefe's advice had been heeded the result of the conflict would have been different.
HIS ONE SORROW.
Those who knew Father O'Keefe intimately were aware that one sorrow had overshadowed the latter years of his life. It was his removal from the pastorate of St. Mary's Church at Norfolk. The then ordinary of the diocese, it is said, did not approve of the elaborate improvements Father O'Keefe had in hand, but he showed his appreciation of the high personal esteem in which he held the latter by offering him the pastorship of the most important church in Richmond.
Father O'Keefe, however, left the Diocese of Virginia forever and returned to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where he was warmly welcomed by Cardinal Gibbons and assigned to important work. Father O'Keefe was devoutly attached to the people of Norfolk of all denominations, and they warmly reciprocated his feelings. He was frequently urged to visit that city again and to be tendered a public reception, but he declined, and passed the remaining days of his life without ever again seeing the city he so dearly loved.
