The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-03-18
Observations on ireland.
Saint Patrick's Day.

rWe E"q"irtr.
Every son Of the Emerald Isle is, so
soon as he puts his foot on foreign
soil, honorcd or stigmatizcd-iti is diff
cult to learn which is mcant-with the
name Paddy. "a Paddy from Cork is
the designation of genuine, full
bloodcd lrishman, in whose veins no
Scotch or English blood flows. Paddy
is often, if not always, for the sake Of
hrevity rather than cuphony, shortened
into Pat This is done apparently by
dropping the last syllable and changing
into I. This is only apparently the
the fact. In reality Pat is an abbrevia-
ton Of Patricius, the Latin name Of the
tntclar saint Of Ireland, and certainly
one of the most remarkable men the
world ever produced. There, arc no
doubt, some persons, perhaps many,
who arc incrcdulous as to the cxistcnc +,
of st. Patrick. They arc disposed to
regard him as a fabulous being, which
never had ali cNistancc save in the NOR
bid imasinations Of a grossly ignorant
and dcgradcdly supcrstitious people.
Such is not the case. st. Patrick is no
myth. 1t is true that many Of the ac-
counts which tradition gives of him
are Incredible; notwithstanding this,
the existence Of st. Patrick can be
proven beyond a historic pcratlvcnturc,
and his life and labors arc Intimately
and inscparably connected with the
civil and ecclesiastical history Of Ire
land
1t is not easy, with uncrring certainty,
to learn the place Of ST. Patricks nativ-
ity. Several countries claim to have
given him birth. No doubt this had, in
some degree, tendency to make the
| impression on the minds Of some that
such being never had an existence.
Those who come to this conclusion
from this fact should remember that the
birthplace Of quite number Of illus
t-;ous men, Of both ancient and modern
times, is not known. The probability is
that st. Patrick was born in Gaul. now
France, in the year 372 Tho Papal
| church claims that lie was devoted
Catholic, while the Protcstants Of Ire
land, at least some Of them. as conf
itcHH; aSS4pf tlift 4as rJiueJestet,t
of the dycd-n-thc-wool prcsr. onro
type. The truth probably lies midwa,
between these extremes. suppose s.,
Patrick was neither Il staunch Catholic
nor rigid Presbyterian. About tho
time Of st. Patrick the Church was in :
very peculiar state. 1t was mixed uI
with much that was pagan in its origin
| ito not, however, propose to settle, o,
even undertake to settle the grave but
surely not very important question
whether st. Patrick was n Catholic o,
Il Presbyterian, further than simply give
my opinion that he was neither as they
now arc.
The history Of st. Patrick's entrance
into Ireland is certainly interesting
if not cdifying. The name of one o.
the early Kings Of Ireland was Mall
the rrogenitor.of the O'Nialls, At that
time, near the close Of the fourth cen.
tury, the Romans greatly troubled tn,
inhabitants OF the British Isles. Nal
collected large army composed oil
Irish, picts and Scots, and marched
against the Romans in Britain. The eel.
ehratcd Roman wall, parts Of which ar.
still standing, was forced and the Roman.
were overcome and put to tribute
This made Mall illustrious, not only i,
his own country and in the eyes of his
subjects, but also in the Gallic Provin.
ccs. In Gaul there were some Saxor
tribes. These oppressed by the Roman.
applied to Mall for succor, which was
granted. Mall led the expedition ir
person. Landing on what is now tho
coast of France, he devastated tho
Roman settlements, and then returned
to his nativ" Isle loaded with spois and
treasures. From Gaul, Mall brought
with him to Ireland two hundred cap.
tivcs. These captivcs were sold into
bondage for period of seven years, ir
accordance with the prevailing custom
Of the times. This .ehstom was cvi.
IDENTIFY of Hebrew origin. Among these
prisoners was one who afterwards re.
cc.vcd the name Of st. Patrick, by
which name he is known all over the
world. Two Of st. Patrick's sisters
Lupida and Devcrca, were also brought
with him as slaves.
The fact that Patrick was. under these
circumstances, brought to Ireland nc
doubt led some to conclude that he wa,
a Roman. The weight of testimony
however, seems to be that his mothe,
was native Of Wales and his fathes
n Gaul. Really it is not Of much con.
sequence where he was from or Of whom
he was born.