The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-04-23
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS ENDOWMENT.

The Sir Knight of the Catholic order of the
knights of Columbus who first suggested plan to
enlarge the scope of American history from the
Catholic viewpoint, must have received some spr-
itual inspiration. 1t is likely that Sir knight was
Bishop Garrigan of Sioux City Ia. closely iden-
titled with the Catholic university at Washington
at its beginning No matter who made the sug-
gestion, the thought has lain dormant in the minds
of American Catholics for years, and all that
needed was an organization like the knights of
Columbus to make the thought concrete. The more
thinks of it, the greater is the wonder that
rich Catholic should allow such grand work to es
cape him. 1t was not necessary to wait for the
Catholic university to be established. There
other universities and colleges which shed uster
upon the Catholic faith in this country half cen
fury ago. But probably fifty years ago there were
few Catholics able and willing to draw check for
$4,000 as did the Knights of Columbus to endow
chair of American history in a Catholic institu-
ton of learning. To the Knights of Columbus.
therefore, belongs the honor of starting work that
will have nearly much influence upon non-C Cath
Ollie thought the missionary work of the Paulists
and the literary work of the Jesuits
To quote the language of Bishop Garrigan in
Donahoes Magazine, this endowment is the volun-
tary Offering of 100000 men, who realize that an APP
peal is being made to the monuments and records
of the past by skeptc and scientist and that these
men hope by original research and criticism, as
keys IN their hands to be able to reveal the ctions
of religion and the falsity of past history The
knights of Columbus wish to establish fortress
of historical knowledge from which would come the
arguments that would silence our enemies, correct
prevailing historical errors and defend the position
OF the Catholic people. As intelligent men, they ap
preciate the value of historical study in our day:
they observe that the intellectual world is turning
back history and that history is being rewritten and
presented in more critical form to the world to-
day than it ever was before.
The followers of the great discoverer have spe-
cial field of history to guard in the records of this
continent since the landing of Columbus in 1902 |
This discovery in itself is one of the most provden
tia acts of God, and the developments that have fol-
lowed the opening of this new world to religion and
civilization are the most stupendous in the history
of the world There are 500 years of Catholic his
tory scattered over this continent every century of
which is fertile in fruits of Catholic discovery Of
Catholic colonization Of Catholic teaching and of
Catholic effort in every line of human activity.
This field has been occupied and cleaned by Prot
estant historians who have tried to Gull the fruits
OF our planting, and who offer these fruits to us
without their natural foliage or flavor, without the
aroma of Christianity, without the sweet fragrance
OF the heroic deeds, of the pure simple lives of the
rst explorers, of the first mssioners and pioneers
IF our great republic