The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-10-29

yI1dge rs on the sathodicI
I'm
ths I'M, lst ofs sthe * iumbu,s, Club
! pt Chicago at ttlhe Auditor rum On the|
I sveninR " Oct u, J Judge William Louis
] Kelly, of st. Paul, responded to the
toast, The Catholic Pioneers Of the
New World. The company was q dis
4 tinguished one, there being present
I Archbishop Feehan, the venerable me-
4 tropolitan OF Chicago, Bishop John Z.
6palding, of Peoria, Brother Maurelian,
E Maurice Francis Egan, Judge Moran
and large number of priests and lay
Men Of distinction. William Ludwig,
then famous Irish baritone, sang the
sssss,,sa; Spangled Banner" "Columbia the
Gem of the Ocean and other patriotic
effusions in the course OF the evening.
Space does not permit us to give more
than half Of the eloquent address OF
Judge Kelly.
In introducing the speaker Mr.. VIM.
A.Amberg, President of the Columbus
Club, said: GAS Father Hennepin, one
of the Catholic Pioneers, was the first
white man to hear the roaring OF the wa
tiers at St. Anthony, it was fitting that
citizen of the great state of Minnesota
should respond to the toast-"The Cath
Ole Pioneers OF the New World On
rising, Judge Kelly was enthusiastically
received. After thanking the Colum-
bus Club for the honor conferred on him
be said:
}ynen last night swept out from the
lights of our beautiful ST. Paul-en-
throned like queen on that mighty
river which Father Marquette SO appro~
priately named "The River Of the I'M
maculate Conception" for it springs from
the head of Minnesota as pure and fresh
as it just from the wine presses OF God
] could but think Of the marvellous
changes since Father Hennepin first saw
ald blessed the land. To myself this is
rare honor-rare in the occasion--rare
N the distinguished company am pre-
yileged to address-rare in the fac that
we meet in this peerless Western City
n CITY which dreams Of no rival, and has
none.
To properly speak to the subject OF
this toast requires the soaring magma
tion of the poet-the power to grasp
lights and shadows, distances and colors
of the painter-the calm, patient re-
search Of the historisn-the keen and
fareeeing perception of the prophet. L
am neither. But such as am and such
powers as have, I will endeavor to pre-
sent some facts and reasone why all
should honor, and we Catholics should
love, the memory of .'The Catholic Pho
neers of the New World" This senti-
ment carries the mind backward over
four hundred years. It lifts to view two
mighty Continents. The very word
aPioneer" is suggestive. It means liter
ally foot-soldier. I remember hearing,
when I was boy, gentle lady say that
on being presented to Father De Smet,
the great Jesuit missionary of our time
among the Rocky Mountain Indians, she
instinctively looked at his feet. 1 asked
why? because I was wondering how
many thousands of miles those feet had
trod for God and humankind" The
Pioneer is one who clears the way for
the advancing army. That is what our
Catholic Pioneer did As Columbus
the Christ-bearer- filled with unques-
tioning faith, turned his prows from the
beaten ocean tracks, aud without chart
sailed fearlessly into the West, SO they
who followed him into the New World
plungeds into trackless wilds with the
ohild's simplicity and the martyrs cour-
sre. Whatever the motive OF the lay
man, theprieats motive was Of the subli-
NEST ordsf. When Cortez, preparatory
to invading Mexico, burned his ships, he
did al act Of courage and Of prudence
the courage to risk his own life and the
prudence which made mutiny among his
followers impossible. But these men OF
whom I speak left no burning ships be-
hind them. They had none. They had
burned their ships years before, when at
I Gods altar they dedicated their lives to
their fellowmen. And this is what the
Catholic priest has done from the begin
ming and does every day for all men. o!
Soggarth Aroon Il love to call you by
the endearing title Of the Irish tonguel
b will men never learn the sublimity OF
your office, and the glory Of your charac-
tar? The Catholic settlement OF Amer
ica in it's underlying motive was reli-
Rious. In Maryland the Church sought
an asylum. In the north under the
French flag and in the south under the
Spanish it struggled primarily to extend
I the kingdom Of Christ. And history has
q preserved chiefly the names Of those who
J. carried the cross. They were first IN
III nnint Of time and they never abandoned