The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-18

neriahed Rabyion and Nincveh are no r,ore Trov and Carthage exist only in tl,a areams of poets Majestic and de- f,ant of decay as the pyramids appear on inc plains of Egypt. should the world last so long their time will also come; and as the drop wears the stone, so shall those marvellous monuments of hu- man power crumbie into their native dust and the puzzled traveler seek in vain for the spot from whence they lowered to the skies. Kings with their kingdoms flourish for a while and melt into obiiv- ion. The glories of Greece. the splen- dors of Persia, the might and majesty of Egypt, the imperial magnif1cence of Rome-what vestige of their greatness now remains upon the earth. The Cae- sars and Alexanders of antiquity only arnuse the imagination of boyhood or point a moral to the gravity of age.
 "what are the victories of Caesar or an Alexander" he said, compared to his? Theirs was purchased at the price of the blood of the vanduished and were maintained at the point of the sword and what remains today of the great deeds nature of all earthly things to fade and pass away. Mans life on earth is com pared In sacred Scripture to breath, a shadow-a flower to every type of evan essence. to every efblem of decay.
 But victorious over time" he said, land imperishable as the immortal soul of man, live the works and shine the memories of the saints of God, yielding to the laws of nature which influence all earthly things. their bodies commingle with the dust-they are seen and heard no more. Like the shadcw-the breath, the flower. they fade and pass away. pIft hotr ~ka txVfn vyhfCh CoA hoa breathed an enduring vitality live after them, and of all the saints in the calen- dar of the church. whose works bear a more enduring vitality than that of St Patrick. History records his death places 1t on the 17th of March, in the year 493 in the 10th year of his age. And yet his is not dead.
 '"The memory of him shall not pass away; his name shall be in request from generation to generation. Nations shall declare his wisdom and the church shall show forth his praise.
 For 150o years have the people of that little island revered the memory of Saint Patrick and adhered with unshaken fidel- ity to the heritage which he gave them
 They have fought and died for that faith through ages of persecution unparalleled in the history of unjust legislation. and she clings to that faith to-day with all the tenacity of olden times, and its his tory Is unspeakab interwoven with the history of her life. and like her own green fields, blooms with equal freshness in the rains and storms of persecution ae fin the pleasant sunshine of prosperity and peace. The glory of Irelands past is her Cahtolicity. and the glory of hey future will be her Catholicity. The worl holds out no allurements that can tempt her to foreswear that faith.
 Tt were indeed vain, senseless ceie- bration were we to gather here today to venerate the Apostle of Ireland and not draw some practical lessons to apply to each individual amongst us. While 1t is not only legitimate but most natural to cherish love for our mother country long suffering and hard pressed by ini- quitous laws-it is to the great credit ot the sons of Erin and their sons that they have become strong patriotic citizens of whatsoever country in their exile CT choice they have found a home and an honest means of livelihood. History on It's every page gives testimony to the pat riotism of Irishmen in every walk of life Thousands of bloody battledelds all over the world attest the same.
 We Irishmen, or sons of Irish fathers and mothers, owe America a debt oI gratitude for extending to us and oul toreIathers the hearty welcome she has ever shown the 'exiles of Erin.'
 Here in this glorious land of the free
 we enjoy what was denied us at home
 the inatainable right of framing our owr
 laws, of worshipping God as St. Patricl taught our forefathers of peacefully per suing whatever avocation in life W, choose. 'Tis a debt of true citizenship
 our sobriety, our purity of life and thlI no true Irlshman can better show thar by being a good Cathollc-for a gooC Catholic cannot hut be a good citizen
 While on the other hand, you may wei l suspect a Catholic who has given up tht practices of his religion, or grown verJ careless and negligent therein. If he b.
 a young man, nine cases out of ten, ht is leading an incorporate, immoral lifC which he is loath to abandon. If he b'
 more advanced in years, there is some
 dishonesty in the past, or present fol
 which he Is unwilling to make restitution
 Let us prove ourselves good Catholics therefore good Irishmen, therefore good Americans. Let us be true to our reli
 zion, let us be true to our families and to ourselves, let us be true to the glori ous republic that opens its arms to re ceive us and gives us the rights of citi
 zenship."
 A number of members of the Ancient
 Order of Hibernians had an informal din ner at a down town cafe last night.