The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-03-18

| names OF Jesus dnG OF MARY mus,
my dear friends, during one mans life
time and mainly through his preaching
the whole face of the country was
changed. History assures us that this
victory of truth over error cost the lIfe
of but one mana faithful 81 rvanJ of
| Patrick who inundated himself to
save his master. His sacrifice was not
! in vain and no more blood was shed
in the conquest of paganism. 1t is the
consideration Of this fact and the rapid
spread of Christianity in the island
! which convinces us that Ireland re-
ceived the faith as no other nation has
received 1t.
| Possessing the truth the Irish people
knew its value and cherished it. Ire
land kept the faith. This my dear
| brethren, is short sentence but to the
student of history it speaks volumes.
| 1t is a short sentence, but it is written
with tears and blood.
For several centuries after her re-
ception of the faith, Ireland enjoyed
peace and prosperity. It is worthy of
note that her greatest progress was ,E
! intellectual matters. Her schools be-
came the centre OF European civiliza-
ton. From them went forth teachers
who founded universities and libraries
| that honor them to the present day.
France sent her saints and England
her princes to study under Irish mas
| tiers. So great indeed was the fame
of these schools that they won for the
country the proud title of Island of
Saints and Scholars.
We shall never fully appreciate
I what the world owes to the Irish
monasteries. The art of printing had
pnf haor, P0oIyC r-ara
priceless treasures. In every Irish
monastery there were numbers of
monks whose whole labor consisted in
TRANSFERRING the ancient manuscripts
and thereby multiplying copies of the
Greek and Latin classics. But import
ant as this work was, it held sec
ondary, place. First attention was
given to the word of God. Every
student whether lay or clerical was
obliged to copy, during his course, all
of the New and most of the Old Tesla
ment. This good work was interrupt
ed by the incursions of the Danes who
carried fire and sword through the
island, razing churches and monas-
teries to the ground. After the vic
tory at Cleutarf the country recovered
rapidly. from the AFFECTIONS. The mon
astic institutions rose .Phoenix-like
from their ashes. Once more religion
reigned supreme. But only for a while.
Prosperity was preparation for bitter
trials. Soon more savage foe than
Dane or Norseman appeared upon the
shores of Ireland. 1t was at first an
invasion for the sake of conquest, but
under Henry VIII and Elizabeth it be
came a religious war. They had al
ready gained a firm footing in the
s@Ia ~ ~ I'll - h.
religion upon the people. The days of
Nero were renewed and with like re-
suit. Such persecution only fans the
fame of loyalty. Vanquished, enslayed,
starved, tempted; the people chung to
Jesus and to Mary only the more close
ly for all attempts to sever them.
A person must be either stultified
by ignorance or blinded by bigotry if
he can discover In the conduct of these
| first apostles of Professionalism in Ire
land any claim to the title of defender
of the open Bible and of liberty of con-
/ science. Their first work was to de-
stroy not only copies of the Bible but
the very institutions by which the
Bible had been preserved for ages. If
each man was allowed to interpret the
| Bible for himself why not allow the
Irish Catholics to interpret it as mean
ing allegiance to the Catholic church
and Christ's vicar on earth. But, no!
Such liberty would leave no room for
Protestant church founded on rob-
berry and fraud. Liberty of conscience
meant: you are free to think as the
king or queen of England, the self-con-
stituted head of the church by law es-
tabhshed: he who dares to think other
wise is a hereto and traitor and will
be punished by exile or by death.
At last England laid aside the hope
that Ireland would be driven by the
sword to accept the pretended reforma-
ton. But she continued nevertheless
to heap affections on the Irish Catho-
| lies She ceased not to pursue them
with her hatred that thus she might at
least impress the stigma of reproach
upon their faith and degrade the re-
ligion which she had failed to destroy.
The fire and sword had failed to make
Ireland forsake the faith with devilish
| ingenuity her oppressors endeavored
to degrade the people that they might
render them unfit for the religion
which they protested. The pastor was
torn from his flock. He was classed
with the wild beasts of the forest and
price put upon his head. If a Catho-
lie taught the letters of the alphabet
to his child he committed crime and
was liable to suffer exile or death. by
this means the English government
wished to force the people to either
condemn their children to ignorance
or send them to schools which were
forsooth non-sectarian but where in
reality their faith would be under
mined. And when their scheme had
borne some fruit the same English
people had the brazen effrontery to as
sert that their wishes were to educate
and uplift the superstitious Catholics.
Even in the. first years Of the nine
teenth century these laws were still
in force and the Catholic who did not
attend Protestant service On Sunday
could be heavily fined. Till the year
1867 every Catholic was forced to hand
over one-tenth of the fruits of his in
dustry for the support of the despised
ministers of a religion in which he did
not believe At the present day in an
age which boasts of enlightenment and
tolerance Catholics are by law exclud-
ed from the highest offices in the land!
What broad-mindedness, what liberty
of conscience,
Let US examine the conduct of the
people under such trial. The good
seed snwn nv Patrick bore abundant