The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-03-26
Father Tom Burke on the
Genius and Character of
a People.
What He So Eloquently Said
of His Race and
Country in
A Lecture Delivered in Bos.
ton Almost Forty Years
Ago.

In a lecture in Boston on Sept. %,
1872, Father Thomas Burke, the fam
Gus Dominican preacher, had the fol-
lowing to say concerning the Irish
people:
Men of Ireland-men of Irish blood
men of Irish race, I, an Irish priest,
am here to speak to you of the genius
and character of the Irish people. I
am come to speak to you of the his
tory Of our nation and our honorable
race I am not ashamed of the his
tory of my country. I say, taking it
all for all, that it is the grandest coun-
try and the most glorious race to which
the genius of history can bear record.
There are two elements that constitute
the character and genius of every peo-
pie. The two elements are the reli-
glon Of the people and their govern
ment. I need not tell you that, of all
the influences that can be brought to
bear upon any man or upon any ma
tion, the most powerful is the influence
of their religion.
# that religion be from God it will
make q. .God-like people. If that reli-
gion be from Heaven, it will make q,
heavenly people. II that religion be
noble, it will make a noble people.
Side by side with their religion comes
ne
der which they live. If that govern
ment be just and fair, mild and bene-
ficent, it will make noble people. If
that government be the government Of
the people-governing themselves as
America does today-it will make ev-
cry man in the land lover Of his gov
ernment, lover Of the country, and
lover of the institution under which
he lives. But if this government be
foreign government-the government
of foreign race-it will make an
alienated people.
If that government be an unjust and
tyrannical government it will make
a rebellious and revolutionary people.
What is the first grand feature of the
Irish genius and the Irish character?
1t is this: That, having once received
the Catholic faith from st. Patrick,
Ireland has clung to it with fidelity
SURPRISING all other peoples. They
struggled for that faith during three
hundred years against all the power
of the North - unconquerable-whe
the Danes endeavored to wrest from
force her back into the darkness of
pagan infidelity.
They have struggled for that faith
during three hundred years Of Eng
lish tyranny and English penal law.
They have suffered for that faith loss
of property, loss of friends, loss of
nationality, loss Of life. But Ireland,
glorious Ireland, has never relinquish-
ed the faith which she received-and
she is as Catholic today as in the days
when she bowed her virgin head be-
fore st. Patrick to receive from him
Esehe regenerating waters of baptism.
This, I say, is the first beautiful light
in the character and genius of the peo-
pie of Ireland. The next great point
in the genius and character of the
Irish people is the bravery and valor
" and courage that have been tried upon
thousand fields, and, glory to you O
Ireland! Irish courage has never been
found wanting-never! They fought
for thousand years on their own soil.
The cause was good one; the for
tune of the cause was bad. They
were defeated and overpowered upon a
hundred, yes, a thousand fields, but
never-from the day on which Ireland's 8
sword sprang from it's scabbard to
meet the first marauding Danes, down
to the day that the last Irish soldier
perished on Vinegar Hill-never had
Ireland been dishonored or defeated
by the cowardice of her children. Why?
Whence comes this light of our peo-
pie? / answer that it comes from this
that Ireland as nation and Irish
men as people have never yet drawn