The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-03-17
ST. PATRICK's DAY.

ST. PATRICk'- DAY.
or all ths saints. the only one who has
succeeded in establishing bis standard IN
the United States Is St Patrick E'eo
he had not been canonizsd. there "oui"
be good reasons for remembering hihi' Oe
cause he Is the hero o. as many wonoeti1i
adventures as any man In the whole an
nails of the marvellous The story OF h's
driving all venomous reptiles out OF ire
land, the sis; of the holy stan' anu 'he
other chief features OF his life are wen
known. 81. Patrick makes no claim 70
credit for them himself. however. ana ii
the stories are not entirely legendary thes
are probably only parablss-a form OF IN
structlon very general among the cary
Christian fathers. There was no ffotes'-
ant church then. the only Chfislai'
church known to the people of st rat
riek's time wss the one 10 which he belong
ed. so tina, perhaps one may refer 10 'he
rse and career OF distinguished missioh-
airy without being suspected Of d secre'
design 10 bring the United States under
the thumb Of the pope.
Paradoxlcal as II may seem, the fur'he'
of we get from the days Of ST. Patrick the
more we learn OF his day and his WORKS
The discovery of ancient documents is
less the cause of this than the advanced
learning which has supplied deficiencies IN
contemporaneous chronicles. FOR instance
Rede. the British historian or early days
has nothing 10 say OF 81. Patrick; but then
Josephus. whose opportunities Tor KNOW
ing what was transplring In his own ma
ton. has nothing to say about CHRISTIAN
ity Probably in neither instance had the
chief figure attracted much attention a,
the time. and IL was only when the enect
OF the teaching became manifest that
writer's recognized their importance.
Something is due. perhaps. to racial or
doctrinal differences.
II Is now established that st. Patrick
was a real character. The chief evidence
is the authorization by antiquarian scaol-
ars OF his Confession and his epistie to
Coroticus, whose authorship was long In
dispute He tells enough about himself TO
let us know that he was born not earlier
than sT2 A. d; that his baptisnal name
was Succat, and that his birthplace was
probably what Is now known as kilpat-
rick. near Dumbarton, Scotland. He de-
Eoribes II as Bannaviem Taherniae. but that
name has long passed out Of knowledge. AT
the age of IS he was taken captive. and
-. tn Niirhss king Of llafQ-
radia. a well defined territory extending
from Newry In County Down, TO the hill
OF SIemish the most conspicuous noun
tain OF Central Antrim. There. near the
village of Broughshane. he was a cow
herd but after seven years OF bondage he
escaped TO Gaul. where he remained many
years, and was there ordained. He deter
mined TO return to Ireland. and turn the
barbarous Celts to Christianity, hut when
he landed at the mouth of the Nartry,
which now supplies Dublin with water,
he was stoned and driven of. lie sailed
for the Island OF Inspatrick. and thence
pursued his missionary work. 1t is relat-
ed that King Milchu. hearlng of his Won
ufFlUi WushS ttiNf AtA7 NNhAfhAiAFs
gathered hts goods together. set them on
fire, and persisted in the flames.
His great victory was his meeting with
King Iaoghairc. OF Ireland. a; the famous
Tara. where the king. surrounded by his
Druias. saw the new comer's PaschaI fire
burning on Easter eve. There was a sharp
conflict. but eventually the king became
converted.
st Patrick died. and was buried At Sab
hall. where he established his first church.
What year IS not known. hut he is said
to have been los years old. There is TO this
day at Donaghpatrick a church which
stands on the site Of one built by 81. Pat
rick. and which in all tho changes and
rebuiidings Of iSeo years covers the same
area. and has never been anything but a
church.
The driving out % reptiles is attributed
hv some early writers to Joseph Of Arm
a'hca. hut nobody disputes with The Irish
saint the incident AZ the holy staff. St
ratr.cS saw at remote spo, a young
man ana two very old women. one OF
these the young man said was his daurh.
ter ana the other his Erana-daurhter
Ills explanation was that Jesus Chris;
had passed that wav. and for some kind.
~ act granted perpetual ne TO three
generations. but had 1rantcd only 10 the
first himself-the bonn Of pcrre-ual
health sni you;a. There Is such mani.
fest purpose in this story that II ue,.ts No,