Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-07-16
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHTS OF
AMERICA
Meeting of the Supreme COuneil-Im-
pOrtant Business.

Knights of America met In annual session
at Cincinnati, on Tuesday, the 18th. The
Savannah Branch was represented by Mr..
| N. c. Collier and Mr.. W. P. Kehoe, but we
regret to learn that the former, shortly after
his arrival in the city, was taken sick, and
at 1ast accounts was quite indisposed,
| though able to attend the sessions of the
| Council. AS of interest to the mem
bership here we condense the following
from the first days proceedings, as given
In the Cincinnati papers:
After the singing by the choir of the
"Veni Creator" Bishop Elder assembled
the pulpit and delivered an address, as fol-
lows:
i'In the epistle of st. Peter, of last Sun
| day, we read as follows: BE We of one
mind etc My dearly beloved friends and
| Catholic Knights of America, before COM
mencing my sermon must state that Bish-
| Op Toebbe can not attend, as ne is sick. /,
| too, cannot stay with you, as ] have been
summoned to the deathbed OF priest. am
| glad to welcome such q society as this one,
because it is in the spirit OF the church and
| gathered here In the name Of God. The
world is sadly in want of good works, of
which you have the happiness of possessing
| the abilities to do as Catholic association.
| l am glad to welcome you all.
"Some time ago was compelled to put
some restrictions upon some societies, but
| what occurred was not the fault of the So
cieties, but of individual members, and that
| not through the fault of theirs. AS far as
| know, every one recognized their true posi-
tion and are now again in good standing.
| The first glory of a Catholic is to obey the
pastors, who act in the name of God.
81 thank the association of Cincinnati
| for bestowing an honorary membership on
me. This association is formed OF practi-
| cal Catholics, who make their communion at
| least once year at Easter. Your object
next is a mutual life insurance of each
other. With regard to your private bust
ness relations, have not made 1t an object
to express my opinion of 1t, and it would be
presumptuous in me to give you any bust
ness advice.
SIT is a fundamental rule of the associa-
tion that every member of It must be prac-
tical Catholic, and consequently cannot be-
long to societies that are leagued against
and condemned by the church. No body of
men can associate themselves by oath to
punish or put to death any one infringing
its regulations, and in its very nature un
lawful. In regard to the rule of secrecy In
a society it is not wrong.
"Their private business need not be d.
vulged. There are also sometimes other
things In societies which must prevent
Catholics from joining them. l caution all
Catholics not to enter into societies that are
condemned by the church and are opposed
to its interests. You have the advantage
over other societies in being able 10 do
works in the spirit of the Catholic Church"
After denouncing the secret societies and
their objects and advising the Knights to
90 on in their good work, the Rev .Coadjutor
concluded by saying:
Each one Of you, after your delibera
1, .gNI -
faith, modesty, piety and charity, and may
you be guided by the Spirit Of God during
your deliberations.
High Mass was then concluded, and five
"Our Fathers" and five "Hail Marys'' pray
ed for the recovery of President Garfield.
At IL o'clock the convention was called
to order by Supreme President w. B. Dali
ton, of Philadelphia. Mayor Means was on
hand early, and occupied a seat on the
stage.
Mr.. Dalton said: Gentlemen and dele
gates TO the Convention of the G. K. of A..
l have the honor to introduce to you Hon.
VIM. Means, Mayor of Cincinnati"
His speech was greeted with loud APP
plause.
Mayor Means then spoke as follows:
Catholic Knights, you should congratu-
late yourselves this hot day that you are
welcomed by an official rather than an
orator, to insure brevity. An official who
would inflict a speech at such a time ought
to be imprisoned. / will, therefore, cut my
remarks very short.
The name of your order carries US back
eight centuries to the time when Peter the
Hermit, with his fiery eloQuence, inspired
the first Crusade-when two centuries OF
war, with an enormous sacrifice of blood
and treasure, engaged the whole of feudal
Europe In the attempt to secure free pill
grimage to the Holy Sepulchre and to wrest
the Holy Land from the hands of the inf
del Saracens. Two hundred long years of
religious warfare did not, however, destroy
the unbelievers nor0 es' ablish the true
church, but the struggle accomplished
much for civilization, and gave to the
world a band of Christian soldiers, the
vague story of whose deeds invests that
period with halo of romance which makes
| dull and tame the most gorgeous inven-
| tions of fiction and comparison.
This was the glorious age of chivalry,
and this band of warriors constituted the
first order of Catholic Knights.
Coming down with the march of time the
Crusaders passed into history, and knight
hood, instead of being only military dis
tinction, was conferred on civilians for va
rious distinguished services to the commu-
nifty or the crown. Thus In the sixteenth
century it was granted to the first Civil
Knight in England, Sir William Walworth,
Lord Mayor of London, but since then 1t
has been bestowed almost alone on civil
ians, and the original idea has been ignored
and lost as the result of a changed and far
improved civilization.
You, Catholic Knights of to day, without
armor, sword, helmet or shield, or any Of
the trappings of the mailed warriors of the
age of chivalry, have succeeded to all that
ought to be retained. You have kept the
faith for which the many pilgrimsges were
made, and the charitable nature of your
order proves that you have inherited the
very essence Of the chivalrous sentiments Of
the period.
You Civil Knights who have banded to-
gether to help the helpless. to shield the
weak aud unprotected, to lift up out of the
dust aud to comfort the mourners and dis.
tressed of your order, are striving to accom-
plish the noblest work given to man, and
you are thus gaining place in an order of
Knighthood where the rewards are not
those of temporal rulers, but where the
degrees are conferred Dv the Almighty
Himself and are eternal.
Catholic Knights of America, as the Chief
Executive Officer of this city, the pleasure
is mine to bid you cordial welcome to her
generous Inequalities. / bid you hearty
welcome to the metropolis of the proud
State of Ohio, the Queen City of the West.
Generous herself, she gladly receives those
who emulate her virtues. / also welcome
you as part Oh an OrUeT Oh WQlcD we are all
members, whose domain spans the CONT
nent, is the refuge for the oppressed of all
nations, and whose motto is Liberty and
Union. 1t is the order of American citi-
zens.
Mr.. Dalton thanked the Mayor for ad.
dressing and welcoming the delegates.
Prayer was then offered and the roll
called.
The following was offered and unani-
mously adopted:
"RsSolged, By the Catholic Knights of
America In council assembled, that we de-
test and abhor the recent attempt to assas-
sinate James A. Garfield, President OF the
United States, for in his person we recog-
nize worthy citizen, and as President the
agent of all the States and people, and we
sincerely hope that the cruel act may be
truthfully ascribed to insanity rather than
to vicious or political motives.
"SecondlY, That we rejoice exceedingly
in the promise of his recovery, and sympa-
thize with him In his suffering, and his
family In their intense anxiety.
Thirdly, That a copy Of these resolu-
lions be made part Of our records and also
telegraphed to the President and furnished
the city press of Cincinnati for publica-
tiOn."
A letter was received from the ex. Presi-
dent, w. G. Smith, regretting his inability
to be present at this years session of the
Council. A motion was made to have the
letter filed without reading, which was lost.
A call for the report of the Committee on
Expulsion of Members elected a very
spirited discussion. The debate turned
- he nAV