The Irish standard., 1918-08-03
Extracts From the Address of Very
Rev. r. H. Smith, S. NJ, on Wed.
at IL m.

not only to the propagation and glory |
Of the Church, but also to the welfare
and prosperity of our beloved coun-
try l shall sketch their mutual de-
pendence-the debt which each owes
to the other.
Standing out conspicuously among
the nations of the world today rises
the distinctive nationality of our glo-
rious Republic. Its greatness does
not depend on it's material triumphs,
but on something higher and nobler.
The glory of America is that it is the
home of freedom. Ours is a nation
built upon the recognition of the fun
damental rights of man to their full
est extent. 1t rests on the broad foun-
dation of popular rights and individual
liberty. That liberty we hold dearer
than our own lives. 1t is the true
source of all our prosperity. 1t is
the cornerstone of American civiliza-
ton. On it depend our existence as
a free people and our destiny as
great nation. 1t is to the principles
which the founders made the basis of
the government of our Republic that
we owe the marvellous progress the
Church has made in this country.
Catholics rejoice in the indepen-
dence which is ours by the guaran-
tee of our Constitution. Perfect liber-
ty of action, unhampered by govern
ment alliance or state support, is
more favorable to the progress of the
Church than the most powerful des-
potism in her behalf 1t was due to
this constitutional freedom also that
the Church has been able to accom-
plish such splendid results in the i'm
portant work of Catholic education.
In spite of obstacles and difficulties
of all kinds, in spite of the heavy finan-
cial burden imposed on parents by
payment of the double tax, Catholic
education in this country has grown
and expanded until we have today a
system so complete and successful
that it challenges the wonder and ad-
miration of every thinking man of the
day. And all this would have been
impossible without the principle of
freedom of education guaranteed by
the Constitution and handed down as
one of the essentials of our civiliza-
ton and a condition of our national
greatness.
We gratefully acknowledge the debt
our Catholic Schools owe to our coun-
try. But they have rendered in re-
turn transcendent services. They are
nurseries of the purest patriotism;
they stand strong bulwark against
the evils that threaten the nation; and
they are, after the Church itself, the
surest hope of the perpetuity of the
Republic and of the maintenance of
its free institutions.
The rights and the liberties on
which our Constitution is based have
long been embodied in the TEACHINGS
of the Church and have often formed
the basis of her actions. The ideals,
morals and laws which have nodded
our civilization are the heritage of
the Catholic Church. Catholic patri-
otism is written on every page of our
Countrys history The one sentiment
that animates the breast of every cath
olic citizen of this land is devotion to
the government, the Constitution and
the flag This is the patriotism that
is taught in our Catholic Schools,
and of it's sincerity our schools are
now giving the strongest practical
proof. In this hour of our country's
supreme trial, there stands forth con-
spicuously the splendid devotion of
the sons of our Catholic Schools
Thirty-five per cent at least of the
Army and Navy are Catholics. The
blood Of our Catholic boys has already
generously believed the fields of hero
ic France, and millions more stand
ready and eager to take their place
under the Stars and Stripes, and if
need be, in it's honor and defense to
lay down their lives.
In our schools is found also all that
makes for the strength and the per-
petuity of the Republic. The strength
and safety of the Republic are not in
wealth and material prosperity, but in
the virtue of it's people,; and unless
that virtue is inculcated in the youth
of our country, unless a remedy can
be found for the evils which show the
decay of that virtue, the knell of our
country's destiny has sounded. The
State system of education, excellent
as it is in other respects, has ban
ished Christ and his teachings from
it's door, and secular instruction is
powerless to provide solid founda-
ton and sufficient sanction for mo-
rality. There is no morality without
hn g.