The Placer herald., 1860-03-24

A bloodless revolution was accomplished
nation was born unto christianity and
placed in the high road to future greatness.
This, | believe to be the only instance in the
worlds history, of nation being converted
to christianity without persecution and blood
she'd.
St. Patrick, after life of unexampled
piety and goodness, died, it is said, on the
18th day of March, A. D., 45S, at the age of
ninety-seven years-or rather, according to
the language Of the Church, was, on that
day, born into heaven. In the language of
late writer, "lle sank peacefully, the bright
luminary of heaven in the distant west.
blending his glory with the light of the Cos
pei sun. No pomp heralded his coming
no mailed armies guarded his dying bed.
The hera'ds of heaven bore him to tho pres
ence of his Creator"
The fruits of his teachings became imme
diatev apparent. Ireland arose like giant
She shook off the slumbers of ignorance,
and conscious of her strength, which had ior
centuries lain dormant, and unknown, strobe
forward TO the van in the ranks of nations.
She became the seat of learning--the asylum
Of the oppressed. The arts and sciences
flourished- colleges and churches were built,
and high degree of civilization assumed the
throne of ignorance and superstition. When
the northern barbarians of Europe-as in
the language of an American state, man
when "the blue eyed nations Of the north,
in succession or united, poured forth their
countless hosts upon Rome" when "the war
club Of the Goth and the battle axe of the
] I 1 l a.. Il, 4 Il,
now victorious Roman, and Atta with his
Huns, answered back the battle shout to
both," when the mistress of the world re.
signed her claims to supremacy, and mum
berless of her citizens were compelled to fly
to other lands for protection, the noble sons
Of Erins Isle extended to them an open
hand, and brothers welcome. To these
nameless exiles IreIand's colleges were
thrown freely open-food and rament were
promptly furnished to the needy, and all the
rights of hospitality were observed, with a
readiness and generosity, that it were diff
cult to equal, and impossible to excel
When the vandalism of the north had made
wildernesses of the fair southern cities, when
tyranny and persecution had apparently swept
from many portions Of Europe every vestige
Of Christianity, Ireland it was, that sent mis-
sionaries to all parts of the continent, 20 re
construct upon the ruins of the past, and to
establish upon a solid and lasting foundation,
those prnci pies which men dared not then
avow.
When we reflect that the continent Of
Europe sent to Ireland the great Regenerator
whose second birth we this Gay celebrate,
who sowed thee seeds of christianity, learn
ing and prosperity, and that his abors not
only redeemed her from her thraldom, but
raised up apostles for the conversion of
Europe we may well exclaim-"Cast thy
bread upon the waters, and thou shalt nnd it
after many days"
Witness Ireland in later times. Although
croaning under the yoke of foreign OPP
pressor, and crus! ed beneath the strong
hand and leaden sceptre Of tyranny-the
semblance, even, of liberty withheld from
her, and her noble sons in state of almost
hapess bondage, yet the violent throbbings
of the national heart, proclaim her not yet
dead. Though downtrodden, crushed and
bleeding at every pore-though stripped of
the means of aggression or defense, yet,
how often has she shaken off her slumbers,
and with giant strength, essayed to rend her
bonds asunder. How often have her hardy
and valiant sons poured forth their life blood
upon the ensanguined field Of battle, in their
stern and desperate efforts to regain their
nationality. In what bitterness of heart,
and sternness of purpose, may they upon the
eve of venture of this character, have ex-
claimed
'.Oh where's the slave so lowly,
Condemned to chains unholy,
Who, could he burst,
| His bonds at first,
Would pine beneath them slowly?
What soul whose wrongs degrade it,
Would wait TIL time decayed it,
When thus its wing
At once may spring
To the throne of him who made it?
Farewell, Erin, farewell all,
Who live to weep our fall
But though for time disabled the spirit
of liberty still survives and the fires of free
dom burn in every Irish heart, with all Of
their former intensity. Think ye, that
true Irishman exists, who believes not that
the day of his country's liberation will not
yet arrive? The great, the noble Emmet,
whose life was sacrificed at libertv's shrine,
expressed, in his dying words, the belief that
Ireland would yet be free. He said-"l have
but one request to ask upon my departure
from this world and that is, the charity of
its silence. Let no man write my epitaph
for as no man who knows my motives, dare
now vindcate them, let not prejudice, nor
ignorance, asperse them. Let them, and me,
repose in obscurity and peace, until other
times, and other men, can do justice to my
character When my country takes her
place among the nations of the earth, then,
and not till then, let my epitaph be written"