Norwich bulletin., 1918-03-18

i interested spirits that has not yet re- lceived full justice at the hands of his l torians.
 Tn St. Patrick's day northern Europe 1 was convulsed in the attempt to throw 1 off the galling yoke of the Roman en-, pire. Rome had conquered the known world because she possessed the power and had been adequately trained for l 1t. There was no mercy in her deal- ing with weaker nations. The only argument was the dripping sword; her i only excuse was her efficiency.
 | But pagan Rome underestimated the | growing strength of some of these
 newer nations, and as she settled down 1 10 silent admiration of her inyin- cible strength, and believed that the 1 gods had made her the final arbiter of
 human destiny, some of these nations that she had irlsulted and sneered at as contemptfble, swooped down upon Italy one day and had things rnucl, I to their liking. In this act the back
 bone of the cruel Roman empire was 1 BTeken. and her world dominion was
 never recovered.
 Born Into ConvuIsed World.
 This was the convulsed world set- I ting into which St. Patrick was born ! The warlike spirit had been engendered l
 neighbor. Predatory bands were ev- terywhere active and outlawry was more common and powerful than con-
 stituted authority. A petty Pict king 1 let partly ruler and partly pirate, yis- l tied the west of Scotland where St. l Patrick is supposed to have been born
 in the latter third of the fourth cen
 tury and seized the boy, who was then
 in his sixteenth year and carried him captive to Ireland. There he was sold l to a chief in whose custody he remain l ed for six years. This captivity proved 1 to be blessing in disguise, for 1t 1 opened the eyes of this keen youth to | existing conditions which at a later l period appealed so powerfully to his i missionary instinct. To lad at a 1 time of life when moral impressions i are easily made, he must have seen l how greatly needed was the religion l of the cross in which he probably had i been somewhat instructed Born of a l respectable family in easy circum- stances it is not likely that his relig- ious training had been neglected. His subsequent career shows that he must
 have oreathed religious atmosphere from early youth.
 St. Patrick's Escape.
 1 After six years of captivity, in which l 0OCo AlOe oCOlAA lO 1idNG D0Gn IISdt0u unkindly, he escaped and probably re- turned home. From this point onward l for several years there is great con fusion of statement concerning his l itinerary and we cannot follow the course of the outward events of his life with any degree of certainty. A lesson, however. is to be drawn from his captivity, as he himself makes use ]! of in the Confession-his most impor l tant work. Far back in Bible times we have the history of another great Sir lit whose boyhood was spent in captiv- J iity-but that captivity was providen tial. Nothing is more. pathetically grand in all history than the story ot Joseph. Captivity openeS his eyes tc the glaring needs of Egypt, and he was made the means in the hands oi ! Jeohvah of being it's material saliva Il tion. He also became a blessing tc This own people and other outlying na- ttions In St. Patriclz's case like Jo-
 seph's, the Almighty makes the wratt lof man to praise Him
 As Joseph through captivity was the means of giving Egypt material bread in like manner St. Patrick was enabled ito give the Irish race that bread oi life of which if a man eateth he shal i've forever Every incl, of St