The Irish standard., 1909-07-10

Dy the very generous words OF well
come in which l have been presented
to you tonight by your esteemed
president. In one thing which he
has said. he has touched me in a
tender part; he has pronounced the
brilliant and cherished name of one
of my dearest friends Of whom II
of death.
In the course Of my life it has been
my rare privilege to have known we'll
three men Of genius. The first was
the Reverend Abram Ryan. poet
priest Of the South whose master
hand swept along the grandest chords
of the human heart. 1t was privi-
lege, as a young man, to publish his
poems in a little book that has gone
forth like ray of white light INTO
nearly every Catholic household in the
United States.
The second man of genius that it
was my privilege to know was the
brilliant Spanish orator and states
man. Emilio CASTELAR,. who during
my time in Madrid bore the same re-
lation to- the literature Of Spain that
Victor Hugo in his best days bore to
the literature OF France.
first knew Cardinal Gibbons when
he was Vicar Apostolic of North Car
olina-not vet a full bishop. I have
studied the life of that great man;
and If anybody were to ask me to
say In a word what has been the tone
of that character, what has been the
great basis of his power. should say
that beneath the great Catholic preate
can citizen; he has touched the hearts
of the American people, he has taught
you, his children, that there is double
I duty-to God and country. And he
has always linked one precept with
the other" ... ...
The address was a learned exposi-
tion of the real authorship of the
American -o;oustitution. After trac-
81 ing the historical evolution Of fedora
tion from it's earliest beginning down
to the formation of the United
5 States Of America. Mr.. Taylor showed
: that the first attempt at a. federal
/ agreement in our country was hope
] less failure. because it was based on
the dead constitution of states that
| rf
2 recton. He then declared that three
b plans presented by Randolph OF Vir-
! ginia, Pinckney of South Carolina
, and Alexander Hamilton in the Fed :
l. cal and though radical departure
from any political system yet invent
S ed, each showed clearly from it's
|, structure that 1t was derived from a
: common source. In his search for
! the authorship of our constitution, MIR.
! Taylor came upon the document which
f he pronounces the greatest political
j, document in the history of mankind
and which contains all that is en-
. bodied in our Federal constitution
: This document is the product Of one
4 is Peletah Webster, born at Lebanon
. Connecticut, in 1926. Under the title
= "A Dissertation on the Political Union
and Constitution of the Thirteen Unit
ed States of North America" he pre-
sented for consideration Of the dele
: gates to the constitutional convention
e the system of federation which has re-
Z manned the government of the United
Y States from the beginning. This
|, treatise has been printed by congress
z for general distribution.
Y In concluding Mr.. Taylor said: Nov
y as Southerner, devoted to his section
proud Of it. this struggle that ! ar
making, I am not ashamed to say. fol
this old New England Yankee. cos
me mental struggle of no small &C.
count. Down to the time that ] founC
this great document, and comprehend
dit, had always thought that thu
author--aln1ost the exclusive pride o.
:. the authorship Of the Federal constitu
tion-belonged to my people. But as {
8 student-a lifelong student Of thu
constitution. when it was plain to m!
mind that the pride of authorship be
longed to son Of New England. I sait
:. to myself-Historical truth can not b.
o sectional; and no man. can claim t.
:, be an American citizen, with patrio
q tic heart in him, who would try t
withhold any need of. praise which II
: due to any citizen in. any part Of tn
!, Union although the result may dinin
ish the prestige Of his own section o
the people. The South must be con
= tent with the feeling that In the persol
=. Of John Marshall she has given to tn
, nation the. great Interpreter and ex
pounder Of It's constitution"