The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-03-18
The Address Last Evening by Presi-
dent Taft at the Banquet of
the Irish Fellowship
Club
SAINT is NOT A MYTH
Beautiful Island with Her Back To
ward England and Face Toward
the Vest Was
Theme.

CHICAGO, March 1S.-President
Tafts address at the banquet of the
Irish Fellowship club last evening was
as follows:
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen OF
the Irish Fellowship club: 1t is two
years since tasted the fine flavor of
your hospitality in that luncheon
where my stay is only too short for
MY pleasure. When your honorable
committee visited me, therefore. 1
yielded to the temptation and agreed
to again become your guest when you
should meet to celebrate the day that
awakens heart throbs in every true
son of Ireland.
st. Patrick's day in the Morning
l never quite understood the signif-
canoe of the last three words of that
phrase, unless they meant that the
brightness of the morning did not
wear away until long in the night OF
tat day in the spirit of those who are
loyal to the anniversary. On such an
occasion as this ones mind naturally
turns to the history Of that beautiful
island-'with her back toward Eng.
land. her face to the west'-and the
part that ST. Patrick played in her
civilization and development"
Critical German scholars have at
| tempted to make the life of st. Fat
rick a myth. But there were docu-
ments which have been found in the
cathedral at Armagh which the most
accurate scholars believe, and have
demonstrated, to be the work of st.
Patrick, the man, the evangelist. the
bishop. One of these he called his
confession-the story o. his mission
the other is a letter written to the
Christians of Strathcyde, complaining
to them of the outrage committed by
their ruler. Corotius, who governed
the Christian settlement at Dunbar
ton, Scotland and who had visited
Ireland and had assaulted and cruely
treated number of neophyteS, just
being taken into the christian church
and partaking of the communion un-
der the direction of ST. Patrick. These
two writings reveal ST. Patrick as
the man. They are written in inele-
giant Latin and in them he frequent
ly calls himself an ignorant, ill-edu-
Gated sinner. With all his modesty,
however, he shows himse.4 forceful.
enthusiastic, fervently religious,
spiritually minded, determined TO
carry out his purpose. Certainly all
evidence tended to show that he was a
great man, great leader. Loly man,
one to whom all Irishmen may well
look with reverence and gratitude as
their patron saint.
From 1920 until 1897, 1S0000.0oO
foreigners have assembled in the
United States, and of these 3S00,000
were from Ireland. These immigrants,
many of them ignorar4 uneducated,
but sturdy laborers, gave to their
children the benefits of public educa-
tion and equality of opportunity which
has been so characteristic OF lie IN
the United States since the beginning
of its history, and today 1T Is not TOO
much to say that Irish citizens OF this
country and their immediate de
scendants, occupy distinctly higher
places in society and in the commu-
nifty than they did a generation ago
The amalgamation between Irishmen
and Americans has gone ON and the
Irish are rapidly being absorbed, and
rapidly contributing their share TO-
the new distinct type of American.
"In al. our wars Irishmen have
been at the front They are natur-
ally warlike people, their patriotic
love for their adopted country made
them soldiers in the army of the
United States.
Il well remember visiting the
Emerald Isle, now a quarter century
ago. What struck me most on our
progress through Ireland was light
ming fash Of repartee from every son
and daughter of the soil whom we
addressed. The history of ireland is
such that until very recent years, her
great sons were cut off either as
martyrs of rebellion, like Robert EN-
NETT or Wolf Tone, or were driven
to manifest their brilliant intellectual
powers and great traits of character
in other lands than that of their
birth
Never in the history of the world
has there been making of citizen
ship such as commingling and mix
ture of races as we have had in
tlis country to make a typical Ameri,