The morning news., 1892-03-17

different, but Wnat does man care for q
dav or two more or lessl And when one re-
aacts the birthday of st. Patrick is quite
as distinct and assured as is the date of
Christmas. The virtue OF the celebration
lies not in its exaetness, but in the inten-
ton. or, as Thomas Hardy would say, in
The aim, not the achievement.
Happy-hearted Samuel Lover adjusted
things 60 his liking when be wrote:
On the eighth day Of March it was, some people
say,
That Saint Pathrick at midnight he first saw
While others declare twas the ninth he was
born.
And twas all mistake between midnight and
For mistakes will occur in a hurry and shock.
And some blamed the baby and some blamed
the clock
Till with their cross-questions, sure no one
could know
If the child was too fast-or the clock was too
slow.
Now the first faction fight in ould ireland, they
say,
Was all on account of st. Pathrick's birthday;
Some fought for the eighth-for the ninth more
And who wouldn't see right. sure they black
ened his eye
At last both the factions so positive grew
That each kept birthday. so Pat then had
Till Father Mulcahy. who showed them their
sins,
Said NO one could have two birthdays but a
twins"
Says he; Boys. don't be hghtiL' for eight or
for nine,
Don't always be dividin'-but sometimes COM
bne:
Combine eight with nine. and seventeen is the
mark;
So let that be his birthday "-"Amen," says
the clerk.
IF he wasn't a twins. sure our history will
show
That at least he's worth any two saints that we
know"
Then they all got blind dhrunk-which COM
plated their bliss
And we keep up the practice from that day to
this.
HIS BIRTHPLACE ALSO IN DOUBT.
The same hypothetical element surrounds
the birthplace of st. Patrick. While Irish
men feel sure that he belongs to them the
canny Scotch claim that he was born in the
land of thistles and oatcake, and others
assert that he may have been an Irishman,
but he was certainly born in France
The saint himself was man of as many
parts as he was credited with nationalities,
That he was great in noble purpose and oi
largest simplicity is best shown by the little
that is recorded of his life. That he was
literary is evinced by three of his compost
tons which are preserved. They are written
in pure and fervid style of Gaedhilic
piety. The first is called "St. Patricks
Hymn The second is an epistle to Coroti-
Gus, a Roman general, censuring him for
having sold Irish children into slavery and
the third is called "St. Patrick's Confess
slou.n The latter is scarcely so much an
article of faith, though 1t emphasizes his
deep belief in the trinity, as it is of per-
sopal nature. In it the saint says he was
born in Strath Clyde of North Britain, but
that when a mere boy he paid visit to
relatives, Britons, in Gaul, as France was
then called.
THE ORTHODOX STORY.
This rather contradicts the orthodox mar
rative of st. Patrick's life, which is that he
was born A. d. 373 at Xii Patrick, near
GLASGOW; that he lived 120 years, and died
A. b. 493. AT that time Xii Patrick was
part of a Roman province belonging to
Britain, and was not annexed to Scotland
until long afterward.
If, however. as many say, the saint was
the son of French official employed in the
Roman service. he would have the Celtic
character of a French Briton, combined
with Roman culture and civilization, and
would therefore be peculiarly akin to the
Irish and would be invested with great lit
erary and political energy.
But that was long time ago, and the
Jealous litigation of the antiquarians is be-
e-+-AAAE W. pcAA NROh C0O 0uoJ lElSu p6ODI6.
They have gotten to just accepting st. Pat
rick and being glad to have him, no matter
where he chose to be born.
Because, you see, they might have had
st. Beneen; but that, as Mr.. Kipling has
somewhere remarked, is another story.
1t Is story which runs away back to the
fourth century, when Ireland was not a
single nation, but nation of nations. The
hoghan-Achts, dwellers in Southern Erin,
had for their naErAp aaint Ranaan or
Beoignus, who worked all the greatest mir
acles defeated the Druids, and likewise
outshone all the lesser saints 10 the calen-
dar.
TARA's REVERENCE FOR THE SAINT.
But at Tara. the chief town of the Hy
Neill, the ruling tribe of Northern Ireland,
Ct Patrick was pre- e-eminent.
There was a warning between the two
Tribes, but in the end the north triumphed,
and St. Patrick was accepted as a patron
SAINT all over the country. Had the south
triumphed, and King Comack of Cashel de-
ieated Flann Siona, and the Ard Riship
been established in the line Of the Eoghan-
Aohts, instead of the Hy Neill, the present
alnt would have been st. Beneen.
Think of that
Where would the seventeenth of Old Ire
and have been thena
Ut. Patrick was not merely tue apostle OF
We lrlsh-he was their Cadmus and Lv-
eurgus as well. In person he was above the
COMMON hight, but attenuated from fasting
shd abstinence. He wore a tunic, or long
karment of coarse serge, covering the whole
SOay to the heels. He wore the tousure,
ut no head covering save cuculla, or
sSRall ~ hood belonging TO his serge garment.
tne hood was pointed and hung down upon
MS shoulders. His inner garment was of
isaf cloth, and he wore only sandals upon
us bare feet.
4hls was the way he looked when he
t.snded at Wicklow in 432, stern figure, in
.ae prime Of manhood. being in his 45th
Year.
HE CURSED THE RIVER DEA.
ms deep sense of justice and unhinching
lllnlstration of the law was evinced inn
,Iiealately upon his landing. The first peo>
sle ne met we're some fishermen, whom be
tsAed Tor some fish to temporarily stay the
ssanger OF his companions after their long
,toyage. Being churlishly refused, he cursed
,a e river Dea, no that no flsh have ever been
"Sen from il since.
20 runs the story. The truth Is that fire.
saehtly Irish historic literature, whose locus
,..lle uine is prior 20 the reign OF Tighemach,
,Tsue more Trustworthy than the stories
h. hamlet and Lancelot. the beings created
aa artistic spirit OF later times. History
\ the Irish amusement. being chanted
,Nshutiful bardic tales at feasts, and'spnn
Nv suitable songs, so il Ia small wonder that
as1efs have reached down 20 us filed with
u, lsae and poetic romance, rather than
- a. a. y.