The Irish standard., 1900-10-06
He Lavisl es Praise on the Great
American Republic.
mlsdlvINds AS TO ITS, STABILITY
Country Has Been Successful to
q Marvellous Degree.

At the banquet given at Peoria on
the recent occasion Of Bishop O'Re:l-
ly's conservation as auxiliary bishop
the Right Rev. John Lancaster Spald-
ing responded to the toast "Church
and Country" Having spoken on the
Church he proceeded as follows:
"In many ways our country is dear
to men of many minds. Like a most
richly endowed soul, it has gifts for
all who are not unworthy. The mil
lions who have been found in the triple
chains of servitude, poverty and ig-
norance, feel, as they put their feet
on our shores and breathe our air,
that the night has passed and the
dawn has come. Here opportunity
beckons, here occasion waits, here
hope invites, here the general condi
tion of things urges us to make our
selves men,
Where else shall we find, 1 will not
say. so much tolerance, for tolerance
implies evil, implies necessity, implies
Indifference, but so much goodwill, so
much loving kindness, so great readi
ness to 20 to the help of the weak and
suffering? Where else is so mucf
light thrown upon the whole life o
the people? And however offensive
and even harmful the glare which the
public press flashes upon evil deeds
may be, yet is light not only the bes
policeman, but the chief purifier and
quickener, the most fatal foe Of filth
and disease, whether of body or of
soul.
"Where else are all men SO given to
the ways and arts of peace, so little
crazed by the bray of trumpets and
the glitter of steel, so little blinded by
the fame of warlike glory, fed by the
gases of the putrescent bodies of the
slain?
1--WE have no dynasty to defend with
our blood, no empire to be held to-
gether by great standing armies, no
religious quarrels which we think it
possible to settle by wager Of battle;
vet is there no danger that we shall
become effeminate, for it requires n
higher and truer courage to live for
ones country in a right spirit than to
die for it on the field Of carnage.
Where else is there people so eager
to learn, so confident in the power Of
education to transform individual and
social life, so quick to test whatever
new thing may give promise of help?
''Where else is property SO safe, we'll
being so widely diffused, woman so
educated and honored? Reasons
enough, indeed, these are for loving
our country; but they who love may
not be free from watchful and anx-
ious care, and the more priceless the
treasure, the more vigilant should be
Its guardians. History is full Of the
stories of fallen republics. Those Of
Athens and Rome and Venice -four
ished and then fell to ruin. Shall our
own have the same fate, or shall IT.,
obedient to the heart prayer and ill.,
most desire of all noble souls, endure,
while its mountains stand and it's riv-
ers flow?
"Only truth can make and keep In
dividuals free, and righteousness alone
can serve as an everlasting founda-
ton of national liberty. In vain our
numbers multiply, in vain our wealth
accumulates, in vain our lines of COM
merce weave themselves into a net
work that enmeshes the globe, If we
ourselves decay, if we lose firm grasp
of the spiritual verities which consti-
tute the worth and honor of human
life. There are doubtless signs of de-
generacy on many sides,. nor is there
in this cause for surprise.
1--WE have been successful to a mar
yellous degree, and the tendency Of
success is to nourish conceit and to
undermine good sense. We have be-
come the richest of the nations, and
It is the tendency Of wealth to corrupt
and harden the heart. A great Eng
lish writer says of Americans: This
is their specially; this, their one gift
to their race-to show men how not
to worship. how never to be ashamed