The Irish standard., 1895-12-07
Father, clsary Discusses Tho Rsiisious
zsa, Of The Or . ,s
GIVING UP THEIR LIVES FOR HEN
Thay Havs BEEN thu Pioneers OF
Civil: ration In
EN- rloa.

capacity. SO much has been said and
written about the Jesuits that great inter-
est has been awakened In the public mind
concerning this remarkable society and the
influence they have exerted upon the
world for over 800 years, Following is a
brief outline OF Father Cleary's second dis
course on the subject:
whatever men may think or say about
the tenets or teachings of the Jesllts,
their relentless enemies have at last sue
ceeded in Installing into the public mind
a strong suspicion that these men, whose
doctrines will stand the test Of the closest
scrutiny, are cunning and designing men.
The last resort of baffled envy is to cas-!
reflections on the motives of honest men.
The discounted caluminator invariably
seeks to assign sinister motives to the man
who has exposed his: cowardice and Inch
dacity to the world. Even well-mean-
ing men, who cannot but admire lofty
heroisln and sublime devotion to sense
of duty, are prone to ascribe unworthy
they do not and cannot understand. n.
1.-THE motives of the Savior Of the worl0
were misconstrued in mis- time, SO we neeo
not wonder if his devoted followers have
been misrepresented and misunderstood
Ever since he gave his command TO hi
church to go and teach all nations it is
the glory and the crown of that church tha
it has been most loyal to his divine pre-
cept To carry the light of the gospel t.
the nations that sat in the darkness AMI
the shaved of death, has been the all
absorbing ambition Of the church Of Jesu
Christ. The same burning zeal that in
famed the heart of St. Paul to suffer ever.
peril of danger in order to- win sonls t.
the knowledge of the living. God, ha
kindled and kindles to this day, a glow
divine fervor in the hearts of the mis-
sionaries of the Catholic church. x
can insipid and selfish synicism can Sc.
nothing to admire in the self-abnegatiol
Of Father Damien. who spent his hero"
life among the afflicted lepers Of Nolaki
and died martyr to his heroic zeal fol
the salvation of imomrtal souls. His ghast
" death, amid the horrors of leper col.
ony, has been but an inspiration to his he
roic brother, Father Pamphile. He is now
on his journey across the Pacific to spend
his days in charnel house Of death, thai
he may prepare for the kingdom Of heave-
the lepers' souls, purchased by the sacri,
flee Of Calvary
The world that does not understand
the meaning of religion, the profound
mystery of the cross, and the value OF AT
Immortal soul, may admire the heroism
but it does not, and cannot understand
The lofty motive that inspires such here"
ism and such devotion to the spiritual wei
fare of man. The missionary zeal Of the
Catholic church has sometimes been i'm
itated, but never equaled.
""The unrivaled deeds of the fathers of
the Society of Jesuits in Drawing and dar-
ing all things to win men to the love and
the knowledge of the living God have not
been understood by their enemies, and
cannot be appreciated by those who are
in ignorance OF their faith. Hence thei1
actions have been often regarded as either
the outgrowth of fanaticis1n, that aWak-
ems only pity in the hearts of cOnceited
men, or we're the result Of cunning.y
planned scheme to outwit the world in
winning over to the dark designs OF
Rome the confding children Of men.
The history of the world offers nothing to
surpass the incompatible zeal OF the Jesuit
missionaries in North America, especially
during what may be termed the dark
age of our history, from 1880 to 1880.
"The Puritans of New England having
fallen to their knees were then falling
on the aborigines.' burning witches and
banishing their dissenting brethren into
the. trackless wilderness. The heroic
Jesuits from Catholic France with pure
hearts aglow with divine fervor for the
salvation of souls were industrionsly
scheming to civilize fierce savage tribes,
and save them for usefulness on earth
and happiness in heaven. Our great
American historians, George Bancroft,
and Francis Parkman, both Protestant
in religion, have written in most charm
ing style of the heroisn of the Jesuits
among the Algonquin, the Huron, the
Mohawk and the Irouuois tribes. Both Of
these distinguished gentlemen do ample
justice as narrators OF facts to the Jes-
uit apostles Of civilization on this con-
tinent
" cit is only when they begin to discuss
motives as philosophers of history, that
these eminent American writer's reveal
their utter inability to rise to the sub
lime height of Christian philosophy that
inspired the dauntless Jesuit to scheme
for the salvation of the red man Of the
forest They do not believe with Cham
plain and the Jesuits, that the salvation
of one immortal soul is worth more than
the conquest OF an empire Hence, al
though they can admire the Jesuits val
or in facing reath, disease, exile and
isolation from country and friends. that
he may aid in rescuing a benighted race
from ignorance and sin, they sadly I'M
derestimate the prize he sought to win.
While they evidently believe in the hon
esty and sincerity Of the intentions Of
the Jesuits they seem to fancy that they
discover in the leaders and superiors Of
the Jesuit society, a far reaching scheme
to bring glory to France and wealth and
power to the Jesuits by the conquest to
Christian civilization of the North Amer.
lean Indian We are calmly informed by
men who pretend to have studied the
motives of men, and to have had access
to the historical data, that the Jesuit's
superstition faith in the duty of blind
obedience to his religious superiors led
him to perform his deeds of unrivalled
heroism.
t'Such short sighted critics of the mo-
tives of God fearing men fail to see that
the command OF a superior could never
have nerved superstitious men to brave
death, and sufferings worse than death,
generation after generation. Supersti-t