The Irish standard., 1902-07-26

i'll our ears. Paris in his Youthful
days was given over to impety and
| depravity, education was neglected,
religion dethroned and the people ma
terialistic and unbelieving. Even the
middle class, usually the salvation in
every crisis, was debauched and to the
handful OF just men still left the out
look was hopeless one
OF little group of students at the
Sorbonne was Frederick Ozanam,
young, enthusiastic and picus. In his
soul burned the desire to save France.
To reform the degenerate clergy, to
put God once more upon his throne,
to make the schools again ethical ana
moral. For OZanam was a dreamer,
and the speaker said that dreamers
were the only practical men of the
world. When Il man announces him.
sef as practical, it is we'll to fly from
him. The practical men of the world
only taDulate what dreamers dream.
OZanam was posr and struggling
young lawyer, but he saw visions in
his quiet hours Of another France, oace
more peaceful and purified full of
happy homes and owning allegiance to
Il government that was just. Ozanam
was a scholar as well as dreamer, and
soon the articles he wrote fer a Ger
tain journal began to attract attention.
His speciality was the provencal and
Romance languages, and the position
or professor of those languages Decom-
ing vacant at the Sarbonne, it was
Offered to OZanam. But would it be
safe to have man whose ideals were
religious. who began each day with
prayer and praise. suddenly thrust i'll
to such prominence in Il university II t
only thoroughly scculariZed but where
matcrialism reigned supreme? So the
young man was told up II what cun;li-
tion he was to leave religion out of his
teaching; his answer was that if, af-
ter his first speech, the university was
not satisfied, he would resign, and to
insure the keeping of his word, he
wrote out his resignation and placed
it in the hands of the authorities. He
further said that as he was to teach
literature and literature was life, and
life was only rightly lived and its
high ideals taught when into it was
infused the light of divinity. he could
not promise to leave religion out of
his teaching. The conditions were ac-
cepted and he made his opening speech
and when he finished his resignation
was sent to him torn into bits.
And SO in that seething mass of
corruption and wickcdness, the mes
sage of Ozanam, daily delivered in his
classroom was like the lump of leaven
which leavened the whole. Savants
and students sat at his feet. He gave
up many of his dreams of reforming
the world and the church, and saw
that even one life rightly lived, doing
what came to his hand of mercy and
kindness, is sometimes a lever great
enough to reform /: people. Gather
ing little group of students about
him, he formed an association of char
ity workers which today is the Cath
olic Society of st. Vincent dc Paul,
with its members in every parish OF
every country from India to England,
and from Paris to San Francisco. 1t
was, too. said AIr. Adams, the charity
which feeds first and investigates af-
terwards; not organized charity, which
the speaker does not admire and which
is engaged i'll paying fat salaries to
district investigators and which cam
not assist the unworthy poor. The
unworthy poor were helped by Fred
crick OZanam, all he wanted to know
was that here was a heart filled with
despair, what the causes were mat
tered not, he put out helping hand
to the hopeless. the miserable. and to
this day his spirit animatrs the mcm-
bcrs of the society he founded. He
would stand on some bridge of Paris
at night, another of the group ON some
other and when there came the 4lesDcr-
ate girls and men. who thought they
could not stand their miserable lives
another day, he would take them by
the hand. ana asking them no qucs-
tions would fill their hearts with hope
and courage for another trial.
Such was Frederick Ozanam, and
such is any man who has in his heart
the great love for humanity which an
mated him, and though we do not
know just when he died. we know
that he lived and what he did and
that is more than we know o. many
m"n whose dates of birth are i'm
pressed on our memories.