The San Francisco call., 1909-03-07

NEW YORK. March e.-The shame
ful treatment accorded the remains of
the late Cardinal Leeot OF Bordeaux by
the French government affords the
Count de Nun, the well known Cath
ollie leader in France. an opportunity
TO draw vivid contrast, in the
Gaulois, btween the separation of
church and state in France and in
7 America.
During his life the great cardinal
had won such universal esteem that
vast crowds filed the streets through
which the funeral cortege passed, and
thousands thronged the windows and
roOftops. The government. however.
I forbade army officers 10 attend
( in uniform, and even required the
mounted soldiers, who were guarding
/ the line of march. TO turn their backs
on the hearse as it passed.
The count then describes the scene
attending the laying of the corner
stone Of Archbishop Ireland's new cath
edral in St. Paul MINI. in which the
( governor of the state, the mayor of the
city and other state and city officials
participated, and quotes these words
from President Roosevelt's telegram
Of congratulation: In this happy coun-
IL 0A OuIS ICl- Slon anu 4lbEAlA a. v
natural allies
To America separation means free
dom of the church and friendly co..
operation in whatever tends to uplift
mankind. In France it means enslave-
ment Of the church and wanton official
insult for whatever the people regard
as most sacred in religion.
The near approach of St Patrick's
day causes many a loving heart TO turn
yearningly toward the ne'er forgotten
little Emerald isle" Tt will be with
JOY unfeigned that the following words
OF President Michael J. Ryan of the
United Irish league in this country,
VIII be read at this season of sad
memories of untold sufferings in the
past:
More than half of ireland has
passed into the absolute ownership of
those who till it. and this half is
owned by 225.o00 former tenant farm
ers, 145, 900 of whom have become own
ers within the past four years.
More than 5000 evicted tenants have
been given restocked farms within the
last five years.
During the last decade $4,000 Ia
borers' cottages have been erected.
comfortable and sanitary, with its plat
OF ground. and rented at the nominal
rate Of a shilling a week.
There was won last year that which
O'Connen sought and our people have
clamored for for generations-a ma
tional university.
During the last two years the arms
bill has been repealed, so that II is
the legal right of any Irishman now TO
own a gun and become skilled in its
use should he so desire.
q fS in =
and cities were given the right by law
TO compensation for good viii and bet
terments as q condition precedent to
ejection-a privilege not enjoyed any
where else in the world.
Beginning with this new year there
goes into effect in Ireland the old age
pension bill, and il is estimated that at
least 10000 men and women there will
be relieved OF the horrors and the
shame of the possibility of the poor
house"
The title for the new university was
settled by the letters of patent recently
issued. constituting it the National
University of ireland" name which
gives great satisfaction to all parties.
A recent writer reminds US that few
pause 70 reflect that the triple leaf of
bard and chief" was probably venerated
in ireland during centuries previous to
the coming OF ST. Patrick Yet it is
morally certain, he continues. that such
was the case. and. moreover. that it
was for this very reason that the great
apostle used the shamrock TO illustrate
his forever memorable sermon-his first
appeal to the people of Ireland II,
as seems likely. the saint was influ-
enced in his choice Of the shamrock as
an emblem OF the trinity by the fact
that the trefoil was already held sa-
cred by the Irish. it is but one more
example Of the tact and good sense for
which he was so justly celebrated.
According TO the ancient bards, the
trefoil was an object of worship with
the Tuatha-d -Danaans. one of the ear
liest races to colonize Ireland. 1t was.
moreover. the emblem of the vernal
equinox with the Druids who were all
powerful at the epoch of st. Patrick's
arrival there. 1t is all the more easy
to believe that the trefoiI was ven
Grated in pre-Christian Ireland when
we reflect upon the antiquity Of the
Irish race. and its oriental origin; for
the shamrock or its equivalent was
helds sacred in the east from the ear
liest times. Nor is il surprising that
this should be so, when we bear in
mind that the signification given to
the trefoil, even in pre-Christian times,
was invariably that of three contained
in one. and that the mystery of the,
Adorable Trinity was worshiped in the
garden of Eden. 1t is certain that the
trefoil was regarded as emblematic OF
the Holy Trinity long before the ad-
vent Of paganism gave any other mean
ing TO il. And il is possible that, in
the veneration Of the pre-Christian
Irish for the trefoil, something was re-
tanned of that lost faith in the one
true God inherited from their remote
ancestors. Indeed. il seems scarcely
too much TO say that the unanimity
with which the Christian signification
Of the trefoil was accepted by the
pagan Irish points not so much to the
birth Of a nonbelief as TO the revival of
an old one. that had not been dead,
but was sleeping, till at the voice of
Patrick il awoke. to sleep never more.
It was honored as the Irish national
emblem for over 1000 years before the
English adopted the rose, or the Scotch
the thistle
1t is an interesting fact that medi-'
eVal artists frequently represented the
Angel Gabriel as presenting a trefoH
TO the Blessed Virgin. It is well know.
that Fra Angelica was fond of intro
ducing the trefoil into his pictures of