The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-12

pressed II TO his throbblng, laltnlul
heart. but had his head struck off for this
proof of his fidelity.
Thus in a brief and hurried sketch
| have l endeavored to illustrate what
mean when / say that the Catholic indi-
| vidual, or the Catholic nation that
breaks with the Catholic church is un-
worthy of trust and confidence
But brighter day has already dawned,
and the love of truth and virtue, strong
| In mems hearts, is daily asserting its
! rights to guide and direct the march OF
| intellect; and as It does so, 1t points
| to the Catholic church as the foun-
| tain head of truth, the mainstay
of public honesty and public integ-
| rity. the touchstone by which historic
truth is tested, the one constant and un-
changing factor in human affairs, the
| guardian and protector Of the family
| and OF domestic virtue, and without
whose protection and guardianship do
nestle virtue canont well exist.
| Today, in Germany, lately famous for
| its persecution and expulsion of the re-
| igious orders, the strongest individual
| political party is the Catholic party
founded by Windhorst in the dark days
of ~, and the strangest Of all Is that
the presiding officer of each of the leg.
| islative chambers in the German capital
is a member of that once despsed Cdtho
lie party. Here is an example of hetolo
| fidelity unsurpassed in this history OF
! human conflict; n triumph greater than
| any achieved by any leader of conquering
hosts. Had France remained Catholic
! the secrets of the army and navy had
| never been given to a stranger-England
| is knocking at the door of the vatican
| asking to be admitted back to the moth
! er's care from which lust and greed of
other times had torn her.
WANTS TO SELL BACK.
Italy now desires to sell back to the
holy father the territory which with rob-
/ Der hands she wrestled from him not long
ago. Spain will rise again from her hui
initiation as soon as she calls true Span
| iards and Catholics to the direction of
affairs. Norway, Sweden and Denmark
show such marvellous results of the ad-
vance towards Catholicity that it is not
| too much to expect that ten years hence
/ one-half Of these people will have re-
! turned to Catholicity. But perhaps the
most consoling feature to us in the pres
ent hour is the fact that the most numer-
Gus religious body in the United States
today is our own-the Catholic church.
| We are even as numerous as the two re-
/ ligiOus bodies nearest to us in point of
numbers.
This is a triumph in the natural order
of things. more precious than mracles
because 1t shows that we have corre-
/ sponded with the graces we have re.
! ceived. Our fathers must have suffered
| sOrely in the days gone by, even in this
our own land of freedom; but the day
of religious persecution has passed away
! forever-thc Catholic church, the mother
! of true freedom, the true parent of civil
and religious liberty, the divinely ap-
pointed guardian of every personal vir-
tue, is spreading like a healthy vine
across the face of the land. and silently
and peacefully those who desire COM
| plete response to the best ycarning of
! their souls take shelter beneath her
! branches. She is the church that made
the catacombs a paradise, she filled tho
deserts of Egypt with pious anchorites,
, she filled the forests of Germany with
the music of her hymns, and dotted the
river banks of Europe with cathedral
spires She saved Europe from devasta-
tion by the Saracens, she preserved from
vandal hands all that we possess of the
literature of the past. And in our own
fair land her missionaries have visited
every cape and headland on the coast.
have explored every lake and river, have
| crossed her mountains and have pene-
| trated her virgin forests, leaving behind
them testimonies OF their intrepidity so
that by the names of the principal places
you can at once determine the name of
the missionary and the date of his COM
ing from st. Augustine to San Francisco,
and from the mouth of the St. Lawrence
to the Falls of st. Anthony
THE FIRST MISSIONARY.
And the glad thought that surely fills
every mind here tonight and causes
each Knightly heart to thrill with juy-
full emotion, is that the first missionary of
them all was Columbus.
! " nf 10 hp oh ,,
which taught him to lisp the name of
God in love, of self-sacrfce IN the inter-
est of others, of fortitude and heroism
In the face OF danger OF uncomplainng
| forgiveness to those who did him wrong.
As we bear his honored name to deslG-
nate our society, so should We emulate
his virtues to prove that We are not un-
worthy to bear his name. Through his
| hlial devotion to the church Columbus
acquired whatever halocd to make him
the hero We now recognize him to have
been; the suggestion will show us the
path along which uiIr way 10 greatness
lies. Columbus prison cell speaks to US
of the worlds ingratitude, and the folly
1t is to work for mere worldly reno wn.
1t also shows us that II W. would be
worthy knights we must ne ready to
brave the terrors of the prison as he did ;
aye to mount the gibbet as our fathers
did, rather than yield one int OF what
Is right, or OF what conscience tells us
| we must preserve His chains-the iron
links that bound his hands and feet
speak to us not so much of the tortures
and penalties our enemies would subject
us to- as the golden links of paternal af-
fection by which true knights of Col
umbus should be bound together all the
world over.
p. A, O'BOYLE'S TALK.
Attorney p. A. OBoyle, Of Pittston,
was called upon to respond to the toast
THE Commonwealth of Pennsylva-
| MA"
He said that Pennsylvania has playd
| n mart A 1ibo,t,v