Saint Mary's beacon., 1914-01-08
FIR. LaFsrge's Address
AZ Erie, Pa, on October goth,
1913. at the Demonstra-
tlon OF The Holy
Name Societies.
The Rev. "a Fa,se.
o Descendant OF COM
modore Oliver Hazard Perry.

modore Oliver Hazard Perry.
CHARACTER, THE BASIS OF PATRIo-
TISM.''
l must say, too. that | appre-
ciate more than ] can very well find
words to tell, the splendid cordiality
OF the invitation which so surprised
and delighted me, and of the reeep-
tion which you have so kindly given
me in visiting you. But dwell on
the pleasure because, in declaring
why the magnificent spectacle of
this great audience of Catholic men
fills me with pleasure. | declare a
good which is of inestimable value.
You gentlemen represent an ele-
ment which is diminishing i'm our
civilization. Yet without it there
can be no civilization. You stand
for principle. Principles are the
heritage of the human race. Gene
ration does not fall heir to genera
tion by propagating mere flesh and
blood. Lands, houses and money
are not the link between present and
past. 1t is the heritage of ideas
that unifies history, and you are here
to represent the ideas that unite us
with the best of all time, the spiri-
tual heirloom of the centuries. /
do not mean that our epoch is not
prolific in ideas as such, IN plans
and schemes, and vast variety of in
formation; but We are losing the
great roOt-ideas of life which en-
llghtened our forefathers as to their
true interests and moved them to
seek them.
But how can that be-, someone
will say; is not our own time alive.
as never was the world before to its
social and political evils? And is
not the whole country discussing
plans to reform them? To such a
one will answer: 1t is one thing
TO he alive to the evils of the time,
and another to possess the principles
with which 10 reform them.' All
over our country there certainly is a
growing sense Of the evils of our
society; the increasing immortality
and lawlessness, the disruption OF
families, the unjust exploitation of
labor, the needless misery i'm which
so many of our bread-winners are
forced to live and countless other
abuses. Yet the sources of the evil
are not understood. Why not. Be-
cause to understand the sources of
social evil, one must appreciate the
true interests of man; and men do
not appreciate their true interests
unless they have true principles.
IF Professor y really believes
that to give each man two-story
brick house, a garden, front porch,
hot water, five-foot shelf of books,
a thousand year. and a few other
conveniences will remove from us all
temptation to crime, intemperance
and divorce, then Prof. Y. simply
shows that he has not the right prin-
ciples for solving the social problem
OF the day, no matter how great his
enthusiasm may be. And what we
want are the men who have those
principles; and gentlemen, you are
those men.
A man of principles or a man of
character-which is the same thing.
for character is only principle made
effective-is man who understands
his chief interests, and can be de-
pended upon to seek them. And if
his principles are lofty, or his char
acter noble, he will understand that
the chief interests of his fellow-man
coincide with his own and he can be
depended upon to seek his brothers. s
welfare, in the very pursuit of his
own good. To be a useful factor in
society man must have both quail
ties; he must have the spiritual edu-
cation to know what is his own and
his brothers welfare and the loyalty
to act upon his knowledge.
Plenty of people nowadays are
anxious to remedy the evils that /
have mentioned. Social workers
spring up on every hand. Our maya
zines and even our newspapers ex-
press sympathy for every form of
misfortune. Hundreds of thousands
gather to hear discourses on Men
and Religion from ladies and gen.
tlemen VINO tour the world i'm their
quest for reform. Remedies innum-
erable are suggested, and legisla-
lures pass laws unheard of in for
mer ages.
These good people are ready and
anxious to seek their neighbor's
welfare, but they fail and discredit
themselves. Why: Because they lack
the first qualification of a useful
character. They have cast aside