The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-01-04

up laughing; the prince and princess
joined in the laughter; they also
laughed not precisely because of the
music of laughter but for reasons of
their own.
1t may be heard once year, that
st. Patrick did Il great work; that he
converted to Christianity a nation Of
barbarians. st. Patrick did nothing
Of the kind; he converted nation;
a nation of barbarians he did not con-
vert. The Brehon laws of pre- Chris
tan Erin would put to shame the
eighteenth Christian century legisla-
ton of the worlds civilizer and Erin's
oppressor. Because of knowledge ac-
quired while a slave in Ireland, St.
Patrick we'll knew how much in the
natural order would depend ON the at
titude the bards might assume
towards Christianity. His plan evil
IDENTIFY was to capture the bards with
the history of Christ the Goldman,
appearing in human form on earth
teaching a sublime doctrine and con-
firming his teaching by miricles. st.
Patrick knew that the talent of Erin
assembled triennially at Tara. He de-
termined to confront the united talent
OF the island. His plan was COM
pletely successful. At the close of st.
Patrick's interview with royalty and
talent, Dubtach, the chief bard-poet,
priest, scholar and harpist, declared
himself Christian; others did the
same; the national king gave st. Pat
rick permission to preach Christianity
throughout the length and breadth of
the island; in less than five years
nearly all inhabitants became perma-
nently Christian. The Brehon laws
were revised; Christian charity was
infused into every statute; the Sen
chus Mor-Brehon law and Christian
charity-bccame the national law of
Erin and so it remained till all Justice
and law were swept out of the island
THE bards might keep their harps
and Sing the songs Of Erin's heroic
youth as in the days of old; but the
great saint taught them to tune their
harps to lofticr strains than those of
the banquet-hall and the battle
march. He sought to drive out from
their songs the evil spirit of indy
ing hate and rancorous revenge; to
Impress the poets mind with some
thing OF the divine spirit of Christian
charity and to soften the fierce melody
of their war-songs with cadences Of
pity for Il foreign foe.'
prince of the countrys tuneful choir,
Thou vert her golden tongue,
Sing thou the new strain I believe
Give thou to God her song"
1t is not, perhaps, without some
reason. that we are somewhat Skcpti-
cal to-day, when we hear it stated
HAT Ireland WAS once an island of c,ll-
lure and sanctity. an island Of sclol-
AIS and saints. But on inquiry, our
s!epticism must yield to facts. DR..
johnson, an honest Englshman,
ip"aking of ireland has said "thc ages
OF Irish history that most deserve the
attention of the historian are those.
or snul they were. when Ireland wus
he school of the west and the quiet
lAhtAtion of S;lnct;ty and lrarning.' =
For five hundred years after the
time of st. Patrick Erin was the
island of scholars ana saints. The
most famous of Erin'S nativc-bOr1l
saints was ST. Columbia. st. Column
lnH WAS chiefly Il missionary saint.
Though he founded in his native
| island the schools of Derry, DurrOw
ana kclS. his name is inscpambly
connected with the Irish-Scotch school
# Iona. st. COLUMBIA was Il cousin of
the national king: he was Il bard and
Il friend of the bartls. The bards had
offended the king because of their
| nvarice and insocncc The king had
determined to suppress the order In
he sixth Christian century Il con-
vrntion was called to consider among
other questions the question of sup
pressing the bardic order. The bar(ls
were accused of avarice and inso-
lcncr. The charges were duly proven.
The bards were called upon to give
reasons why their order should not be
abolished. Then ST. Columbia, who
had come all the way from his
adopted iSlnnd-hOmc, arose and de-
Tended the bards. "1Ic did not deny
he existence of grave abuses; let
them be corrected. In the future let
he guilty be severely punished. But
why destroy the order itself? Who
would then preserve the record of
their nation. celebrate the great
deeds of its kings and warriors or
Chant Il drgc for the noble dead. His
rloqucnce carried the assembly. The
lhardic) order was preserved from de-
Struction.''
SHAY our sweet poets and our sacred
bnrds,
Who keep the continuity of time,
by fame perpetual of renowned
lpplSt