The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-08-18
ADVICE TO FRANCE.
Archbishop Ireland at the Dominican
College at Arceuil.


College at Arceuil.
Though clad in a frock coat and with
nothing on his person to mark the pre-
late if we except his Episcopal ring and
a glimpse of violet silk, Archbishop Ire
lands figure was quite in keeping with
the scene of which he formed part.
I White-robed sons of St Dominic were
around him. The youth of the college
were before him, awaiting their prizes
and also a speech which he was about
to deliver in their honor There was
another American prelate present, Mgr.
Keane. There were men of note there
blonging to the outside world and there
was a good sprinkling of Paris clergy.
This ceremony of distribution OF prizes
at the Arceuil College is a!Wavs an
important one, the late Pere Didon haV-
ing thrown into it from the first some
thing of his life and energy. Archbish-
op lreland'S presence on the present oc-
casion added eclat and Importance. His
speech was a masterpiece as to manner
and matter.
Addressing the youths before him, he
told them in vivid language of the duty
they owed to their country.
1.-The bare fact" he said, 'Of a
Frenchman's preferTing his own per-
sonal views to the general good of his
country is to me an enigma. Discuss
among yourselves as much as you like,
as free citizens have a right to do, only
be ready when occasion demands to
sacrifice differences of opinion and to
rally together in your country's cause.
Speaking to you in the name of hu-
manity-for l have not the right to
speak to you in the name of France
| must tell you that | wish to see your
country remain strong and vigorous.
My desire is that wherever the French
tongue may be heard that tongue may
remind us not only of the most heroic
acts that have been performed, but also
of what is most beautiful E.nd religious
in the world Thus l feel impelled to say
to Frenchmen:
"Unute in love of your country,
for other nations are watching you, and
those nations rub their hands together
when they see you quarreling among
yourselves, and they say: Let the
French alone and they WillEwear them
selves out by their own internal di
visions. So, young soldiers of France
whom l now address. begin life by the
wide open path and always say to
yourselves: My country's welfare is
before everything else. l take France
as 1 find her and her well-being shall
be my one rule of life
The Rev. Pere FeuilIette, Pere Didon's
successor as director of the Arceuil
College, warmly thanked Archbishop
Ireland. Il thank you" he said, the
representatives of that EDiscoDate
across the seas where people love lib
erty not only for themselves, but for
others as well. 1 thank that American
EpiScopate for proving to the world
that the Church does not encase her
self in political formula; that she is
not afraid of freedom; that her dog.
mas are not in contradiction with the
constitutions of great countries or with.
the liberties of peoples: that she pos
sesSeS divine fleXibiliy. allowing her
to adapt herself to all civilizations; that
she makes her way through all socie-
ties, young or old, barbarouS or civil
lized, without attacking the form of
any and asking for herself only right of
way. You. Monseigneur. Pere Feuil-
lette continued, addressing Archbishop
Ireland, have been chosen among all
others by the President of the United
States for the accomplishment of a
great mission, viz, that of connecting
the friendship of two great nations by
the remembrance of glories and of trials,
shared in common. Speaking in the
name of ALL let me eeassure You of our
gratitude as patriots and as CathO-
lies
Such words and others like them.
spoken by one of the most prominent
members of a great religious order in
France and addressed to him who on
the occasion represented the Catholic
Church of America, were doubly elo-
quent.