The Irish standard., 1886-05-01
Z PROGRESS OF THE ORDER, z

s.
read at the last meeting of Division
No. 1, A.. .. II. by Jas. Il. Corrigan,
ESQ.,:
In the fall Of the year lS49 in the city
of New York, few Irishmen organ
lied the first branch of the Ancient Or
der of Hibernians in the United States
of America. In the beginning, great
opposition was encountered by the or
ganization for various reasons. It was
generally believed to he secret organ
ization many persons who were not
excluded by the underlying principles
of the order. viz: Charity, mlsrepre-
sented it's motives and laws to priests
and bishops Of the Church; many we'll
meaning but hot-headed men in the
order mistook the local discipline of a
parish or diocese for a universal con-
demnation of the Order by the Church
aud because of their short-sightedness
precipitated unnecessary collisions and
afterwards raised unseemly objections
to the henefcient interference and
wholesome discipline of the Church.
But these local conflicts were as the
feeble haze which obscure the sun of
the morning which, at noontide brushes
the clouds aside and warns the world
to life. Years before It's organization
in this country the Ancient Order Of
Hibernians had been the only lay body
which effectively sustained the Cath
olic Church throughout Great Britain,
when that church and it's adherents
were the objects of bitter and bigoted
persecution, hence when transplanted
to the hospitable shores of America,
great care was taken that the constitu-
tion of the order should ordain that in
all things spiritual, its members should
bow to the DEGREES Of the chief shep-
herd of the Church. The spirit of true
Christian charity was made the founda-
tion stone as being the cardinal virtue
of the universal Catholic faith. This
is strongly and beautifully set fourth
in the preamble to the constitution as
follows "The members OF this order
do declare that the intent and purpose
of the Order is to promote friendship,
unity and true christian charity among
it's members, by raising and supporting
a stock OF fund of money for maintain
ing the aged, sick and infirm members,
for the legitimate expenses of the Order
and for no other purpose whatever.
These laws, though human, spring
from love divine: love laid the scheme,
love guides the whole design; vile is
the man who will evade these laws, or
taste the fruits without sufficient cause.
s1st. Friendship, in assisting each
other to the best Of our power.
"2d. Unity, in uniting together for
mutual support in sickness and dis
tress.
s3d. A true Christian charity by do
ing to each other and all the world as
we would they should do to us.''
That an organization founded on
such benevolent principles should make
the first qualification for membership
to be the practical Catholicity Of the
applicant is not a matter of wonder
ment, for among the MANY Christian
teachings of the Church none are more
persistently taught and lnculcated than
Friendship, Unity and Charity. The
founders Of the Order believed that this
qualification would insure the intro
duction of men into the Order to whom
the ideas Of united action of practical
charity were not visionary schemes.
The second qualification for member
ship ordained by the constitution of the
Order was that the applicant should be
an Irishman either by birth or descent.
TO the world at large this may seem to
be too exclusive in its tendency it
may be urged that it the organization
is to be devoted to charity in the main,
why not make the whole of mankind
eligible to membership if the practice
Of material charity were the only oE-
ject to be attained by the order, the
above objection would be valid. but my
friends, there was something else of
great Importance which could only be
compassed by such an organization as
the A. O. II. 1t is a we'll known fact
among those conversant with Irish his
tory that not the least of the injuries
inflicted upon Irishmen by an unjust,
intolerant and foreign government was
a Earring and discordant spirit among
the natives of Ireland. AS is abun-
dainty shown in all countries at the
present day the Irish are an energetic
and vigorous people by nature; as a
necessary consequence therefore, the
unnatural repression of their talents
and aspirations for ages and their con-
finement, almost imprisonment in that
little island, resulted in the extra ener
gy and vigor of the race being vented
in contentious for mastery of more
or less serious nature between prov
inces, counties, towns, parishes and
individuals; it is also an undoubted
fact that these contentious were fos-
tered and nourished at critical times by
the yelled emissaries Of the English