The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-03-17
SAINT PATRICK AND
SOME OTHER SAINTS

the way saints days are celebrated il
proof of the popularity of the
saints, Patrick has all the other sane
titled ones skinned seven ways from
the ace.
Along about the time of the cru
sades, it occurred to most nations,
cities and communities generally, to
adopt patron saints. All the saio
saints had been dead quite awhile,
else they would hardly have been
adopted. In the British isles. st.
George was for England, st. Andrew
for Scotland, st. David for Wales and
st. Patrick for Ireland. Across the
channel, St. Denis was for France and
st. James for Spain. St. James and
St. Andrew were apostles; st. George
was a bishop of Cappadocia, in Asia
minor, probably never heard of Eng
land and according to Gibbon was a
disreputable old rascal; all we know
about ST. David is that Shakspere
says that Fluellen wore a leek in his
cap in honor of "St. Tavy's day." that
Pistol made fun of him and Fluellen
beat Pistol and made him eat the
leek; which is more than we ever
learned about st. Denis But ST. Pat
rick was an Irish Abraham Lincoln
the longer he was dead, the more
things people remembered about him,
and while pretty near all the other
national saints have gone into the
discard, st. Patrick is a bigger man
today than ever. Not only in Ire
land, for there is hardly city imam
erica without a good-sized Irish ele-
ment which celebrates March IL, and
which always has the approval and
cooperation of good many Ameri-
cans, who join the celebration in
neighborly spirit.
Irish blood is plentiful in America;
second only to English. Few Irish
came to America during colonial days,
owing to nearly all the English colo
nists being Protestants. and rather in
tolerant toward all other sects. After
the revolution. antipathy for England
and a broader spirit in religion partly
overcame this. and the warm welcome
extended to Irish rebels, who escaped
with their lives and little else, made
America the land of hope for Hi
hernians, who came over by thousands
and sometimes tens of thousands eve
ry year until few decades ago. More
than any other people, the Irish have
intermarried with the Americans un-
til traces of the unmistakable Hiber-
MAN type are seen i'm many whose an
cestors on both sides have lived for
several generations on American soil.
Notwithstanding this intermixture,
few Americans have any but the most
elementary idea of Irish history-and
/ the same may be said Of the Irish
themselves.
The Irish were the most western
outpost of that Aryan emigration
that started from India before it oc-
Cured to anyone to write history.
Partly from the Unborn Aryan love of
adventure, partly from pressure of
the tribes coming on behind, they did
not stop, altho their migration took
thousands of years, until their boldese
souls stood on the cliffs of Ultima
Erin and looked on the ocean that
they believed spread to the edge of
the world. IL they had suspected that
less than two thousand miles beyond
the sunset lay another vast continents,
they would have been down on the
beach with shillaleh in one hand and
potheen in the other to greet Column
bus when he landed.
| But they didn't know, so they filed
up Ireland, giving it civilization at
least as high as that of the Gauls at
the time of Caesar. They seem to
have been more civilized than either
the Britons or the Scots and Picts in
the bigger island to the eastward.
They were certainly better versed IN
war and seamanship, proving this by
the success with which they raided
the coasts of both England and Scot
hand, carrying off the pretty girls and
young men for wives and slaves, and
knocking the old folks in the head
when they were not spry enough to
get out of the way. 1t was ON one of
these raids that they captured St. Pat
rick
The saint was Scotchman, tho his
draft card would probably have indi-
Gated that he was liable to military
service as a Roman citizen, Rome
owning Britain up to the great wall
/ at t1Adb bAlAkCs 4 al was bllC Sun "a q
decurion Ca corporal in the Roman
army, and was born near Dunbar
ton on the Clyde. He was carried off
by marauders and sold to a band OF
Irish Picts, who took him to their
home at Antrim. After six years, he
escaped, but with the determination to
| go back and convert the Irish TIC
Christianity. He accordingly entered
the priesthood and put in number OF
years in work and study, after which
he was ordained bishop and return
ed to Ireland. AS an evangelist, Pat
rick would have had Billy Sunday tied
to post. He baptized with his own
hands over $4,000 persons, ordained
many priests and founded 36C
churches He also seems TO have been
the patron saint of the w. c. T. u
and the Anti-Saloon League, for he
| drove the snakes ont nf Ireland