The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-03-21

season that the mother church so far re-
Faxes her inflexibility AS to permit what
may seem in certain sense gayety; but,
while it is time of joy, it should also
be a time of serious and thoughtful re-
fiection. 1t is time to ask yourselves
are you doing as much as you should
do to be considered a worthy follower of
that immortal saint. Do not say-''My
lot is hard I am circumscribed in my
limits" Remember the cross-bearers of
today are the crown bearers OF tomor~
row, and If you make the most of your
opportunities, God iii his mercy, if it is
best for you, will enlarge your field of
operations When I say ''best for your
do not mean for you tempora! welfare.
because the good does not always pros
per and the wicked suffer, but I use it
in a more important sense, the spiritual.
Now, let us take brief survey of the
field and see if we are doing our duty
here. Are you q member of the society
that gives this entertainment tonight,
and can you become member II so.
you should do SO at once, because it is
charitable AND benevolent organization
and the only one here, and is doing much
good in this community. And if you are
member, you should strive to induce
pose Of being member of society. but
to aid the man by adding to his moral and
intellectual attainments.
Some one has said "by rubbing against
men we become educated and 1t goes
without saying IN unity is strength, and
we may add concord and happiness. Be
sides the social side Of man
IS to be considered. You be-
Oh Il
Of your members be so obliviols Of his
gratitude he owes to the community and
your society by being guilty Of any in
discretions you can then go to him remind
him Of his obligations with perfect pro-
prety and. perhaps, redeem him and
cause him to be respected citizen, when
otherwise he would sink lower and lower
until he would finally reach the lowest
depths OF degradation and ultimately be
lost.
We must always remember that the re-.
sponsibility Of your society, church and
nationality rests upon your own should
ers In other words. you stand upon
your own behavior and the community in
which you live will judge you accord
inly.
If you follow the teachings Of that So
ciety by being just honest and indus
tr.ol1s and by practic:ng the virtue OF So
briefly. benevolance and charity; then,
indeed. will your nlisfortunes lessen, your
burdens tighten and your spirits assume
that tranquility which is only given to the
favored by the divine dispenser of heav-
emily graces.
AS this is AN irish day, I will be par
doned if my remarks refer almost exclus-
lively to Irish affairs and individuals.
There is no nation so deserving OF con-
s:deration, because for centuries they
have been the objects of pity and COM
miseration. need not rec:te to you the
wrongs of that unhappy land; but let
me say word of its exiled sons and
their descendants. deprived Of every adj
vantage that wealth or education could
bestow, ignorant and ill.terate they found
their way to this and almost every other
country on the earth.
Let US examine their conduct on arri-
val. Are they the lawless class the Brit
ish government would have US believe?
When refer to England and it is not
for the purpose of coDdemning her people,
because the Mnd that can claim srca