The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-03-25

place of lineage, there is dispute as to
both, he was one OF Gods men. AS
such his place in history is. colossal.
AS apostle to great people-a nation
builder-an evangel-For he was all
of these. And acting through his
spiritual children he has carried the
Catholic faith to the corners of the
earth.
The Roman Empire, topping to its
fall, left in the choas that followed
no rallying points for civilization save
where the cross of Christ was finally
planted. ST. Patrick found in Ireland
the one spot on the known globe where
the Roman Eagles had never been car
ried; and when he planted there the
cross of the cructied he found !; docile,
gentle and receptive people. In teach
ing to them the faith of Christ and Of
Peter-the faith Catholic, he did his
work so we'll that With this people it
has stood the test of fifteen hundred
years. Nay, more the test of the most
unrelenting and cruel persecution. of
famine. of exile. of death. Ireland ac-
cepted Christ's cross from the hands
of Patrick, and has borne it ever since,
although it led up the rugged, blood
stained hill Of her own Calvary.
Not only have Saint Patrick's people
kept the faith, but as direct result
of persecution suffered by them in
maintaining it they have under God
been instrumental in spreading it
throughout the earth. England's drum
beat. it is said is heard around the
globe. Following that drumbeat as it
follows the sun. the cross-crowned
Catholic chapel and grand cathedral
have gone up in every land, largely
the work of En@land's Irish eNiles.
God works mysteriously. This Saint,
easily first as an cvangcl TO the ma
tons, was the slave boy of Milclo. of
the herds of Rallymena. His chosen
people, whose heritage for the CEN
turtles has been poverty. persecution.
exile. are to this day most efficient in
strumentS in the diffusion and the
preservation and defense of st. Pat
rick's faith. Sons of the Gael. what
ever your rank in this great army may
be, wherever We strand, be true. True
to the high ideals which st. Patrick's
faith demands. True to it's gentle
country-it's knightly courage-it's
honest citizenship-it's purity of
speech and body-it's love Of God and
love Of the neighbor-it's obedience to
the law. divine and human. And when
Gods summons come you may then
we'll say, with st. Paul: II have fought
the good fight l have kept the faith
So much for the canonized Saint.
Now, speak of one who was not of
the household of the faith, but who
lived for the people and died for them,
and who holds place in the peoples
heart, which the purest seldom win
and an ordinary sinner never expects
Robert Emmett.
In 1169 the Norman conquerors of
England landed at Wexford under the
Earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strong
bow; and in the name of Henry Ill,
King Of England, sought the conquest
of Ireland. They and their successors
have been at it ever since-for while
they have held the land-pedis pos
sessioni-they have never conquered
the people-and they never will. This
exclamation by Thos. Francis Mea-
CHER, an Irish rebel of 1913. and the
incompatible leader Of the Irish
Brigade" in our civil war, epitomizes
the Whole subject:
''In this island the English never,
never shall have rest. The work begun
by the Norman never shall be COM
pleted."
Time will not permit, nor your pm
thence warrant even the shortest story
of this 7OO-years' struggle. There is
something connected with the owner
ship Of the soil which has character
lied every struggle for national exist
ence. The Irish people before the
Anglo-Norman invasion held the land
in common, by tribal tenure. With the
invaders came the feudal system, with
it's lordlings and landlords it's confisca-
lions, it's evictions, it's death to man.
hood and to body To this, after Hen
~ VIII. were the added horrors of re-
ligious persecution. Since then Ire
lands history has been a series Of
tragedies. There have been tragedies
Of rebellions and instructions in num-
ber,-
Flashing up into fames-drenched out
in blood.
Tragedies Of reprisals. The court
martial-the dock-the gibbet and the
black convict ship.
Tragedies Of penal laws and coercion
acts. The one to make the Catholic
faith mark of ostracism and spolia-
ton; the other, love for Ireland meant
the Jail.
Tragedies of wholesale confscation
of the land, wholesale expulsion of the
true owners and settling thereon the
tod nj, !, Sc