The Irish standard., 1915-07-10

substantial agreement of this latest
world policy with that of its mediaev-
al exemplar. So we are brought face
to face in these latter days with q
most impressive illustration Of the tre-
mendous power Of great moral idea
which has worked its way down
through all the vicissitudes of a
thousand years of historical changes
to reappear in the role of a newly
discovered principle of contemporary
progress.
The spirit of the time professedly
opposed to all that savors reverence
for the ages Of faith has nevertheless
adopted as its own the very princi-
pie which was embodied in the truly
Christian polity Of the popes and
princes who, as the event proves,
planned and built better than. they
knew. And now behold: The stricken
nations of today covering under the
fearful chastisement that has befallen
them are at last beginning to acknowl-
edge that their long dreamed of hope
TOR the advent of better days will be
realized only when all peoples are
united in the bonds of lasting concord
through the means which their fore
runners Of those Christian times en-
ployed in their grand enterprise.
Never was the compelling power of
great truth better displayed than it
is today in the conviction of the
worlds accepted leaders that all his.
torical events past and present are
making for the contamination of that
one CLEAR purpose which can be
seen, family, indeed, but with full out
line in the grasp that men have upon
the truth that an ever watchful eye is
upon. the thoughts and ways of men
and that Divine Ruler guides and
directs all things according to the
eternal fitness of His designs with re-
gard to the human race.
This purpose as apprehended in the
present order of existence is common
ly spoken of as the conscious real
ization of the fatherhood Of God and
the brotherhood of man; and its con-
crete expression in the characteristic
historical movement of our age is the
actual tendency Of leading thinkers to
combine and labor in combination for
the moral and social regeneration of
mankind.
Now the expression of this convic-
ton of great moral and social uni
fication now in progress when viewed.
side by side with the connotations
inherent in the Romano-Teutonic pol
ity is at once a witness to the prin-
ciple of providential design looking
to the preservation of society through
the ministry Of the Christian state and
an implicit admission of the fact our
age has drawn its grandest inspira-
ton from the medieval conception of
world government. To ensure the
reign of peace; freedom and Justice
throughout the world by an appeal to
the principles of moral righteousness
backed by the agencies of religion,
morality, and education as the vital
forces Of modern civilization, is the
high aim of present day workers in
the cause Of world federation; these
substantially were the ends to which
those mighty state builders of the
Middle Ages directed their efforts.
conclude, then, that the survival
of this world idea with the positive
testimony to the truth of the princi-
pies upon which it is based which con-
temporary thought affords, constitutes
in itself a sufficient reason for accept
ing the design as effectively good and
right.
| Now If it is true and good it has
it's reason for being such in the SUI
premely efficient cause. This cause
must concur in the actions of men in
necessarily perfect way; consequent
ly it must also direct the individual,
md the collective, activities of all men
in such wise that they work together
for the fulfillment of His all.perfect
will. In particular, the cause here in
question bears historical evidence of
it's intrinsic truth and of the right
eous motives, intentions, and aims of
those who sought to give it perman-
ent place in the social and political
life of the nations. It follows there
fore, that it is of God and is to be
reckoned as an actual historical reve-
lation Of that aspect of the Divine
power and goodness which we call
providence.