The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-10-09
X eligi011 and Citizenship

gnaw at tho roots as to preserve the |
social tree from moral corruption by
preventing some external crimes while
leaving the heart to be worm-eaten by
mice.
Besides. if you are SO disposed,
can you not in many instances escape
the meshes of the law by resorting
to gifts, brides and ingenious frauds?
IF the civil sword, even with the
aid of religion, can scarcely restrain
public disorders, how futile would be
the attempt to do so without the CO.
operation of moral and religious in
fluence!
Still less do you fear the judgment
that posterity may pronounce on your
conduct. For if you believe neither in
God nor in a life to come, the con-
demnation of after ages will not dis.
quiet you, the censures of future gen.
erations will not disturb your ashes
reposing in the tomb.
"Nor can you suppose the emolu-
ments of Office an adequate incentive
to induce you to be an upright and
law-abiding member of society. The
emoluments of Office are reserved for
the privileged few; the great bulk of
society will always be consigned to
private life.
do not imagine, because you hap
pen to be a man of irreproachable pri-
vate life, integrity of character and in
corruptible justice, that your fellow
citizens will seek you out, as the Ro-
mans sought Cincinnatus at the plough,
that they will cordially embrace you,
force you from your cherished seclu-
sion and bestow upon you some Office
of trust and distinction.
"'The office should seek the man
and not the man the Office Is a beau
tiful but Utopian maxim, maxim so
antiquated as to deserve place in the
cabinet of national curiosities. The
most successful office holder usually
has been and usually will be the most
Industrious Office seeker, and his
chances of success are not always i'm
proved by a delicate sense of honor
and an inflexible adhesion to prin.
ciple.
1.-THE esteem of your fellow men will
not be sufficient inducement to make
you virtuous citizen, for the great
mass of virtues, even of those virtues
that influence the we'll being of so.
ciety, are practiced in private and are
hidden from the eyes of men, like the
root that gives life and bloom to the
tree or the gentle dew from heaven
which silently sheds it's blessing on
the labors of the husbandmen.
"Nor should you be surprised If your
good actions instead of winning the
applause of your fellow citizens will
sometimes even draw upon you their
suspicion, their jealousy, their odium
and their calumny, The wisdom and
integrity of Aristides were such that
the Athenians called him The Just,
yet they condemned him to exile. On
the day on which the people were to
vote upon the question of his Danish
ment an illiterate burgher, who did
not know him personally, requested
him to write the name of Aristides up
on his ballot. Has that man done you
any injury?' asked Aristides. No,
answered the other, nor do I even
know him. But am tired of hearing
him everywhere called 1.-THE Just."'
THE case of the Founder of the
Christian religion is still more ia
miliar to the reader. Who was sc
great benefactor to society as He;
He went about doing good to all men
He gave sight to the blind, hearing tc
the deaf and walking to the lame and
strength to the paralyzed limb, and
comfort to the afflicted. and even life
to the dead. He promulgated the most
sublime and beneficent laws that were
IOS0A given " Aldu AA0 AAVoAAoUAy Az
culcated respect for ruling powers and
obedience to their authority, and YET
He was branded as a seditious man
an enemy Of Caesar, and He was put
to death by the very people whom He
had sought to deliver from spiritual
bondage. p..
But perhaps you will say that a
natural sense of Justice, Independently
of religion, can exercise sufficient in
fluence in inducing you to practice the
duties of an upright citizen. But to
discard religion and yet profess to
believe in natural justice is self-con-
Trajectory. 1t is grasping at the shad.
ow and rejecting the substance. 1t is
unconsciously clothing oneself in the
garment of religion while rejecting its
spirit. having, indeed, an appearance
of godliness, but denying the power
thereof If you seriously reflect you
will discover that natural justice has
no solid foundation unless it rests on
religion. Natural justice may sound
we'll In theory, but 1t is feeble bar
rier against the encroachments of
vice.
Tell me- what becomes Of your nat
ural love of Justice, or what influence
/ does n oYort m ,,o,,r conduct yuhon