The Irish standard., 1900-10-06

IN the presence or anyth1ng; and 1nSO-
far as there is truth in his words, the
source of the evil is to be sought for
chiefly in our uninterrupted success
and in our fabulous wealth. We are
tempted to consider the authority Of
gold as higher than the authority of
God, and mans circumstances as
more important than the man himself.
"Are not the foundations of the home
growing weaker and has not our popu-
lar education failed to accomplish
much that we had most earnestly
hoped for and expected?
The idea of general education,'
says Ruskin, which is to fit every
body to be emperor of Russia, and
provoke a boy, whatever he be, to
want to be something else, and wher
ever he was born to think it dis
grace to die is the most entirely and
directly diabolic of all the countless
stupidities into which the British ma
tion has of late been betrayed by it's
avarice and irreligion.' In this mat
ter, at least, there seems to be some
thing like an alliance between the Brit
ish nation and the American people.
"But true thoughts are thoughts that
inspire hope and courage, and what
ever leads us to think meanly of our
selves or of our country is to be put
away as evil. Good men, like good
books, are those that fill us with con-
fdence in the triumph of truth and
justice and love, and so help us to con-
quer in the battle against doubt and
sensuality and greed. Great souls are
brave souls, and the wise understand
that it is better to find fault with
ones self than with ones country or
ones age. There is no Joy but in
strength of body, strength
of mind, strength of heart Weakness
is the true opposite of virtue, which, il
1t be not strength, loses its name and
essence. If we would influence and
improve men, if we would ourselves
grow better, we should cherish bra re
thoughts, speak brave words, do
brave deeds. If we are lovers and do
ers of good, we must make ourselves
also amiable; or else we shall easily
teach men to distrust or even to hate
the best things. The unlovableness Of
the pious does more harm to religion
than the mocking of infidels.
"For myself, the more learn to
know the past, the more confident 1
become that God is still leading His
children to higher and holier things.
1t is His world and not the devils
He is with us, and why should w
grow despondent or afraid? env!
none but the young, but those who ar
in full vigor of early manhood sha
salute the century that is now abou
to open the gates of a wider and fairer
future for mankind. Wordsworth
standing on the threshold of the nine
teenth century, when all mems minds
were aglow with thoughts and hopes
of liberty and fraternity, exclaimed:
":Bliss was it in that dawn to be
alive, But to be young was very
heaven
"Nor was he wrongly inspired. for
though our century has not accom-
plished all the poet dreamed, yet whe1
it's history is summed, it shall stant
forth as the one in which the Chris
tian peoples made the greatest and
most real progress in knowledge, in
freedom and in power. Had we moth.
ing to set to it's account but the growth
and consolidation of the American re-
public and the revivication and spread
of the Catholic religion throughout the
English speaking world, it were
enough. And when I am tempted to
envy the young, and to cry out tina
youth be given me again, it is not that
may be bathed afresh, as in my ear
ly days, in the golden light of new
born worlds, when all the hills were
clothed in mystic hues and all the val
leys filled with overs, when the earth
itself seemed ready to break forth into
universal shout of joy, into an all
bewitching smile Of beauty-not for
this, not for the free heart and mini
at ease that create a paradise, would
be young again, but that nigh
bend the full force Of pristine vigo,
to the upbuilding Of my own being
that might reduce my whole endow
ment to faculty, and having made
myself a man, might devote myself tt
the service of the Catholic religion ant
the American republic in the new cen
tury which approaches, bearing omens
Of mightier conflicts and nobler tri
umphs than men have ever known"
A staff correspondent of the Chi
cago Record who was with Roosevelt
at Victor, Col, says thar the Rough
Rider swore like cowboy ard wanted
to fight the mob. "Col Curtis Guild,
Jr.," he says, "tried to force Teddy
into the car door, but the latter re-
fused to bulge. He lost his temper
and swore in good set oaths that he
would not hide: His teeth showed as
with a snarl. He wanted to fight,