The Irish standard., 1898-12-03
A LECTURE DY THE RECTOR OF THE
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY.
AGAINST The POLICY OF IMPERIALISM.
"IDEALS OF AMERICAN CITIzENsHIr''
IS HIS TIMELY THEME.
PREGNANT WITH PATRIOTIC SENTIMENTS:
NEW MOVEMENT IS FOREIGN TO Oul,
SCHEME OF GOVERNMENT,

At the recent dedication of the Nc
Cadden Memorial Building, In Brooklyn,
N. Y, in the rear of the SIS. Peter and
| Paul's Church. of which the venerable
| Sylvester Malone is pastor, the follow
ing address against imperialism was
delivered by Rev. DR.. Conaly, the rec
tor of the Washington Catholic Univer-
sity, under the title of ideals of Ameri-
| can Citizenship:"
1T is important for men TO discuss the
! question of citizenship, especially when
the exercise of it gives existence and
| development to political power. Our
citizenship is the source Of our political
| greatness-it is our strength and our
| pride; it is also our menace. Ideals
are always to be cherished. We should
never loose sight of the true purposes
of our national life. We may fail far
from realizing them, but it is essential
to true progress that our youth be lifted
up to a sense of duty to life.
"The ideals of American citizenship
are to he found not so much in tho
character of the men who have made
epochs in our national history as in
that which stands as the embodiment Of
the idea Of the American political life,
and which is found essentially in the
principle on which our nation is based.
Formed from all the peoples Of the
world, we have become an organic peo-
pie. fixed to the soil and politically in
dependent, and, therefore, sovereign
people, with sovereign interests.
Nations, like individuals, have their
mission in life. Great nations have
stood for ideas. With the Hebrews 1t
was faith; with the Romans 1t was con-
quest and government; with Greece It
was art and literature. .rhe whole
world has felt the movement Of those
national ideas. The American national
idea is personal liberty; the liberty Of
the individual man, because lie is u man.
"The first cannon boom of the Amcri-
can revolution proclaimed to the world
tnat new nationality had been cstab-
lished; not on wealth, or class, or
trade or senate statutes, but on man.
hood. Manhood was the source of our
citizenship, as manhood was the reason
for liberty-it preceded citizenship.
This was the embodiment in political
life Of that high Christian Thought Of
human liberty which came to the world
in it's fullest development when Christ,
in His own person, manifested the
equality of men, and taught to the world
mans inalienable right to life and lib
erty. Pope Leo KILL calls liberty
Gods greatest gift to man. To cxcr-
else that gift in political life for the
betterment of society, to have that gift
safeguarded by law. in civil and reig-
ious life. to use 1t for the Improvement
Of social conditions, is one of the bless
ings of American citizenship.
'To develop and perfect that idea is
the mission of the American people-se-
curing to the republic authority and to
the individual freedom. showing to the
world people sovereign without ty-
ranny, respecting law and maintaining
vested them, and thus procaiming to
the world the rights of God. Society
is not the result Of n compact freely
entered into and freely broken. 1t is
a natural state, a necessary state, ami
the effect of divine will. The rights
of the individual in society form the
very basis for all our political rights.
The homes Of the individual citizen
make the state, the union of states
makes the nation. The individual cit
izen is our strength, for upon him Is
the nation built-the state protects him
in the enjoyment of life and liberty.
Hence here, as John Boyle O'Rcilly cx-
presses 1t in his tribute to the Pilgrims,
Because kingdom, not Of kings, but OF
men, 1t was an expression of trust in
men, and said to the world that the Deo-
pie were capable of self government; it
proclaimed the right of rulership by the
people and the duty of obedience. This
is the ideal of Amcricanisln. Edward
Everett has said that this distinctive
Amercanism of character and purpose
reposes large responsibilities, which in
certain manner fall upon every citi-
zen and demand generous devotion'"
DR.. Conaty reviewed the early history
of the American colonies and the
United States, and said the country was
not truly free until the civil war, which
gave the last development to the ma
tional idea in the emancipation Of the
slaves. DR.. Conaty then passed to a
discussion Of some of the dangers that
threaten our national life, and said:
Zone comes from the attempt to divest
ourselves from the religious idea and
especially In the attempt to seculacize
all public instruction, and thus divest
education of It's most essential feature.
We are not pagan, but q Christian
| neon1e and Christianitv ia the ideal nf