Morning journal and courier., 1881-03-18
St. Patrick.

Some Legends and Stories about the
 Irish Saint.
 The following extract from recent lecture by Captain Goldman is of interest:
 St. Patrick seems to have been bone of contention between the ancient tribes of Ire- land and Scotland. They stole him continu ally from each other. At last he was ran somed from his latest captors with an iron kettle. But no sooner was the kettle in their possession than 1t refused to boil. the water freezing in it over the hottest fire. So fine kettle was exchanged for the saint again. and when It came back to the original owners it behaved like any other kettle. Affrighted bv this miracle all parties were inclined to leave the holy evangelist to pursue his work with out molestation for the future
 But as he was accomplishing so much good, the Devil became jealous of him One dav he followed him down the Clyde as he was about to start for Ireland and threw a bic stone after him, which fortunately did not reach him. There it lies yet-Dumbarton Rock. It fell in a nice place, and is a very picturesque object beside having been a use full one, as all know who have read the his tory of Scotland
 This story is as true as many other miracu- lous inventions that are built up from slen- der foundation of fact. It is as true as the legend that St. Patrick drove all the toads and snakes away from Ireland Let us now look more seriously at the history of this great Christian apostle as we glean it from the most reliable sources He was born either in Wales or Scotland, probably the latter, about the close of the fourth century. One author states positively that he was born on the 9th of April, A. D. 373 If this is true, our Irish friends have been all along mistaken in celebrating the anniversary of March 17 as his birthday. His baptismaI name was Saceath, signifying ''valiant in war; and he justified the name given him by his sponsors, for he was indeed valiant soldier of the Cross. He did not go volunta rily to Ireland at first for he was carried there as prisoner by some predatory Celts a new name, "Ceathar Tigh," meaning -four families"
 Now what do we make of that? Was St. Patrick Mormon? I think he may have been, for, like all Mormons whom I ever knew with so many families, he soon tired of them, and he availed himself of the first opportunity to run away and paddle across to his native land In the meantime. however, he acquired a knowledge of the Irish language which afterward was of the greatest service to him in his missionary en- terprise. He now devoted himself to prep aration for his grand idea, the conversion Of Ireland He did not go to high school college or theological sem mary, such as Dumbarton may then have afforded, and come out full -fedged parson In two or three years, but he went over to the continent and studied there for th1rty-tive years, first under the tuition of the excellent Bishop of Tours, St. Martin, and then under others until he himself was or dained bishop by Pope Celestine, who gave him the name of 'Patricius' to indicate his honorable descent and to serve as 8 recom- mendatlon Of his character among the people for whose conversion he was to labor Kie- ran, Ailbe Declan, Ibar and Palladius had all undertaken the mission before him and had failed. Thus St. Patrick was not the first missionary to Ireland as has been generally supposed, but far greater credit is due to him for his success when all his predecessors had been unsuccessful
 He landed at Wicklow, A. D. Al, went to Dublin and thence to Ulster, where his first convert was barn which he converted into church that afterward became the Abbey of Saul. He was not only the apostle of Ireland, but of the Isle of Man and of Britain, for he found time for work away from his chosen home aiding in bringing over the Manx and Britons to the faith, and finally, after twenty years he had the satisfaction of seeing the great work of his life accomplished. Ireland became Chris tian nation. But well he knew that her peo- pie would relapse into barbarian without ed ucation, the safeguard of Christianity then as 1t IS now and ever will be. Therefore he established. schools and academies for it's preservation. After long contemplation of the good he had accomplished he died at the great age of one hundred and twenty years, on the 17th day of March, A. D. 493. Thus we see that the Irish do not celebrate the birth of St. Patrick on that day They con- memorate his death, but in doing so they eel ebrate the new birth of their nation.
 We are disposed to laugh over the story of Irishmen and Scotchmen quarreling for the possession of St. Patrick. But it is instruct i've to find that the real history is corrobora- ted by that extravagant myth He was actu- ally stolen from one country and carried to the other, and he made frequent visits to each across the Channel. The freezing of the water in the kettle symbolizes the cold ness of religious zeal when he who kindled its flames was absent, and the intellectual hurling of Dumbarton rock against him con- veys the truth that all the weapons of evil could not stay him in his course