V\^. * IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ /. Cj?^ #^. & ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 :^ 1^ III 2.0 1.4 1.8 1.6 Photographic ScJBnces Corporation ,\ ^\ ^^ \ \ ^^ o^ ^ i , * *!»»«' • • «*•»•••« « ,* • • • » • • t « 4 ,' kit) J . » t , » I w I « ' « • I • > • a • • 4 <* Jl MONmAl : PRINTED FOR JAKES FLYNN, AT THE TRUE WITNESS OFFICE. 1857. f-T% • » • ft* « • • « • • * • • • * • « • . ♦ * » • • • « , • • • • • I « THE DAY WE CELEBRATE." Another year has rolled away into the abyss of eternity, ana the Irish people, scattered over the surface of this habitable globe, are again called to celebrate the festival of Ireland's greatest saint — her Apostle — her patron — ihe founder of her Church. There is not a land on which the sun shines this day where the faithful children of Ireland are not to be found : they are " sunn'd in the tropics, and chill'd at the poles ;" and in many of earth's kingdoms their name is a word of power. They obtain wealth, and fame, and position in many a foreign clime, but, thanks to their early training in a Christian land, their chief distinction is still and always, that of Catholic. Whether seated in the council chamber, or steering his bark^through the wastes of ocean ; whether working far down in the bowels of the earth, drawing forth its mineral wealth, or building up the giant fabrics of this new world ; whether forming its canals and railroads, or hewing his solitary way '* far in the forests of the west," where the light of the Gospel has hardly reached, you will seldom or never find the Irishman sunk in that pitiable heathen ignorance of heavenly things which is one o{ the distinctive marks of this generation, so '< wise in its own conceit,^* You may find him ignorant of many things, knowing little of sun, moon, or stars, and lament- ably deficient in the '< ographies,^* and " isms^'* and " oh- gies^^ of the time j but you will seldom or never find him ignorant of the existence of a God, or of the principal mysteries of religion. The nam« of J\fary is familiar to his lips, and that of Patrick is dear to his hear^ Neither infidelity, nor cold scepticism finds a place within his 5984dL genial Celtic heart ; the germ of faith was implanted there long years ago in the dear old land of his birth ; and neither the biting frost, nor the scorching sun can destroy it ; he may « fall amongst robbers" who would steal that pre- cious treasure J he may even forget for a while the practice of the duties which religion teaches $ he may be negligent in practice, but in theory he is still the same— or rather he has no theory : he has /aiVA— faith is in him, and forms a part of his very nature. It only requires some casualty— perhaps even a trifling one—to call it forth in all its fresh- ness and fervor from the depths of his heart where it had lain dormant perhaps for many a year. In their ceaceless love for religion, their respect and veneration for their clergy, and their generosity in uprearing temples to the Living God, they everywhere prove themselves the children of St. Patrick. Would to God that they were more united amongst themselves and more sensible of the im- portant part they have to play in evangelising the world. Would Irishmen only think of this— of what they have done and have yet to do, in spreading the faith of Christ— the faith which Patrick gave them— over all the earth, they might well exult, as Christians, over the past, but they would also brace themselves with renewed energy for the future, and edify where they may have givt .. scandal ; they would endeavor to practice the virtues, which made their holy patron so illustrious; his temperance, his meek- ness, his justice. Many of them are, we know, his imitators to a certain extent ; but we would wish to see them become worthy of the name they bear, and of the faithful genera- tions that have gone before them. We would wish to see the word Irishman synonymous with good Christian and ffood citizen, as it now is, and has for ages been almost synonymous with Catholie. nted there nd neither oy it J he that pre- le practice negligent rather he 1 forms a jasualty— its fresh- re it had ceaseless for their es to the 5 children ere more the im- e world, ley have Christ— rth, they but Ihey for the scandal ; ch made is meek- imitators I become genera- ih to see tian and 1 almost THE ISERMON. "If I forgot Ihee, Jerusalonii lot my tight httnd be furgutton; let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee; if I make not Jerusalem the boginninj? of my joy." — I36th Fsalm, 6th and 6ih vcracs. The love of country, the love of fatherland is impressed on the heart of man, and impressed on it by the hand of the Deity itself; it is as ancient as time and widely diffused as is the race of Adam. The records of the most ancient as well as those of the most recent times attest this truth, the most barbarous as well as the most civilized nations bear testimony to the innate love that burns in the heart of man for his native land. The rude imitators of nature as well as the most polishp^ masters of art have thrown the genius of painting over that innate love. To the historian it has furnished the most interesting matter, to the orator the most feeling and exciting topics, to the poet it has furnished the most fertile theme for his highest and holiest aspirations, whilst he in return has thrown over it the era- bellishments, the immortal genius of song. Even the sacred records throw the hallowed shield of their approbation over it ; list to the inspired psalmist whilst, recording the language of the captive Jews, he lends the charms of sacred poetry to that innate love as he hurts forth in the beautiful words of my text : " If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten ; lei my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee ; If 1 make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy." There is something in the nature of things — in the nature of society, calculated to endear it to the human heart. In th«=t days of childhood and of early youth impressions are made on the young mind which after years are not able to efface ; the scenes of boyhood— a father's admonitions^a mother's counsel — the current eventa of early years, like imprestjione on flowing wax, give shape and form — I had alnnost said indelible shape and form— to the opening mind of youth. As he advances a little in years he looks back to the past, the smiles of his playmates, the memories of his childish amusements, all his stru^glps and triumphs, a thousand little indescribable circumstances combine to throw a charm over the home of his childhood that endears to his memory and to his heart that home and all around it, even every spot where housed to play. As his mind advances in maturity his ideas be- come enlarged ; the neighborhood, the scenes adjacent to his home, become almost identified with it, until by force of natural association, his home gradually taking in new dimensions, is at length bounded and circumscribed only by the limits of his native land. And thus at length does his home become his country and his country his home. Follow him still further in his onward career — he reads the history of his country, he feels that country is his own — his native land — a strong sympathetic feeling for her springs up within him — he becomes, as it were, identified with her, her institutions become his institutions, her joys his joys, her sorrows become his sorrows, until he at length thinks, and speak?, and acts as if she were part of his very self. Thus is the love of Fatherland generated, fomented and cherished within the soul j he who has not that love, if there be any suchf is unworthy the name of man, and he who has that love properly developed will never forget his country, will, on the contrary, even when in a foreign land, be ready to exclaim with the captive Jews, in the spirit of my text, « If I forget thee (my country) let my right hand be forgotten ; let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee; If I make not thee the begin, ningofmyjoy." vax, give tape and vances a es of his nents, all scribable home of lib heart 3 he used deas be- acent to by force in new I only by does his 3 home, le reads his own ; for her dentified her joys at length his very fomented hat love, I, and he brget his a foreign I, in the ) let my ny jaws le begin. In turning over the inatiiutions of his country, should he find one which is his country's pride— his country's boast his country's glory — how naturally does not his young heart join itself to the heart of hia country, cling to that in- stitution and glory in it. In turning over the institutions of his country, should he find one which, surpassing all human institutions, came down from Heaven, remains for a time upon earth, and then returns again to Heaven, oh ! how would he not glory in it, how ardently would he not love it, and how fervently would he not bless him by whose ministry that institution was first established in <«his loved— his native land." Should his fathers have suffered in defence of that glorious institution, whilst he ponders over their sufferings, tears will stream from his eyes, but they will not be tears of bitterness, they will be tears of holy joy, that his fathers, like the Apostles, were found worthy to suffer for the cause of God, whilst at the same time every pang they endured, every tear he sheds over their sufferings, will sink his love for that holy institution still deeper and deeper into his heart, and as by so many ties, will bind it closer and closer still to his inmost souL Land of my fathers— blessed land of my fathers— Mow art such a land— of such a Heaven-born institution dost thouboast j our fath- ers have suffered for their attachment to that institution, we are their children, we have read the history of their perse- cutions, their sufferings, and their wrongs, every pang they endured, and every tear that trickled down our cheeks at the recital of their sufferings and their wrongs, has strength- ened our faith, and warmed our hearts, and drawn us closer and closer still to the Catholic Church— that institu- tion for which they were persecuted, for which they suffered, for which they shed their blood. And why are 8 we here to-day ? whv th- banners unfoledt 4 hL?and°°"*'''"'°''^ '""' "-«»« cympathies and gladdened 1 r' ^^ "'""''*<' "" W»h hy commemoraling .he anniverslj of It ''"'^ '"«'""«<'». first established i„ our na-ive lid ? v ^"'^'" " '^^^ Patrick, i, was by ihy minis, Ivvlfi '' ' ^^^'""^ St. of chr..ia„i.y, L L zz 1. :: r:r.t ''', "'"^'"^^ living God, (hat our fathe.s «,S 1 , '^^ ^''^^ "fke of the one shepherd t hTJ^r:' ^t"'" f "^ ^»"' day the inheritors of .hefai.h Thcb I' I ' "''"'''="• '»- and members „f that fo'd ZT t . ? ''"" '""f"" '*>em, ;hem..o thank .hee^''r:„o:t;'':rrr^""'^^ triumphs, and to invoke th» - •• ' "e'ebrale thy the cause of CathoiictepVr;""'"- "'"'^ "^^-^ '» dear native land ? Ye^ her. ■"' ""," '""'" "^ '"own though mountains oflltT Lveir i'' '"^^" """•• around us, there is no ice „„7h , ' "''""^'^oficeare Irish hear..-our blood to-day flows"" "' '"''"^^ "' ""^ pulse beats as stronslv n th? f "' "'"""'y- «"'' our were still surround; httZ: T" '^ ""'^'' ^ and the murmuring bJoks ofTroJ :C"'f '?' it oe otherwise ? Glance for » ».„ "''• ^ou'd accomplished whilst I Xg" ^eTh?;'.:' "'''^' «'• ^""-k his hands sprung .,p, flo«-ered and . ''"*' "'^" ^^ efforts made' ,o de^^ U i'eTi''^''';'^^''/™'' ' "« '"« round the holy deposit; "e o. he otf '^'"' ^""^ •erpen .uh the othe'r, and yo^ wNl" gl '.r,!;;;:' '»■ i^'ish nationality, like i w rmm^ . ^^ "^^ ^^^ the old Catholic faith and can 1 u™'"' """«' ^o""'' it t-^an can the ivy fr^n the ™ „ T '"' ''''"""^ '""« into a thousand pieceT Yes see r?' ■"'"'« '"'"' 'o™ H «s. nes [ see him during life: rr»!,„j n? why these '1 we have wit- iched our Irish ^ Js it not to oly institution, ' whom it was .' blessed St. the blessings 'e altar of the > the one fold children, io- St cojiducted 'lebrate thy 1 prayers in * of our own frozen land, Jrsoficeare ings of the y> and our i when We "Ot pit ins, d. Could St. Patrick sown by \ see the "2^ gather were, in. ilize how 'gs round ted from self torn 9 sat in darkness— in the shadow of death — he passes over her — her night is turned into day — her shadows, her gloom depart — a light rises in her midst — from north to south, from east to west, as if by magic, does that light spread itself out into one vast flame— and, blessed be Heaven! that flame has never since been extinguished in the land ; it burns as freshly and as brightly p.t the presen moment as it did in the fifth century (when it was first enkindled), and many are the living torches that have since gone forth from that burning pile, carrying with them light, and heat, and happiness to other and distant landa. 4t length, a little before his dissolution, he rests to look back on what had been done — he sees churches erected, monasteries built up, institutions endov/ed, councils iield, and provision made for the support and perpetuation of that institution which, under God, he had been the means of planting on the soil. On looking at these things^, must he not have felt, as felt St. Paul, when he exclaimed, « I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ?" or looking on the face of that infant church, like Simeon look- ing on the face of the infant Saviour, he may have called on his Divine Master to dismiss him in peace from the scenes of his earthly labors, because he had seen realized the great work to which he had been called, the darling object for which he had struggled through life, the darling object tor which he had so often wept and prayed, and his prayer having been heard, he was taken up to receive his recom- pense — to dwell forever in the bosom of God. Pass over a few years and see the land again. What are the fruits of St. Patrick's preaching on the children of the soil ? Have thev fallen from the faith ? Have works of charity, the lesitimate fruits of a Hvinar faith. -* N I 10 ot the pure waters of faith, moralifr =«;. . , fiirn u f • I .. , ' "loramy, science and Ut&ra. ture Her faithful nobles, actuated by that Ims .1?? which true faith usually aeneratP. h "^ of their broad and feftife r for .r "' """' """^ Church, for the ^aintenane J he 'p ' ^X' ''^ ""' and perpetuation of religious worship f'rth',, "^ glory of the livin» God S. 7 • '^' . '"'"'"' ^"^ «noHty that even' the Calf daTJI I" ,'"'.''"'"' "- by .he almost countless nu^be s o 'l« 'hortl' rrS i^Titin- r-""" '" ^^--'^^^^^ ''--re:"rif;'t' trjeatTdi^:^".::-^ •'^'' '» A godless power has arisen in her m;„h, , ^ "'"",'* ' faith, to trample on the oouls 1" her cS "'f ''"" from the <,n! .h. i, ■ on'Wren, to banish bCed St pL I •'f^'"'"'" i"^'i.emidstoftho s'f fenngs and afHicions let us view Ireland In another light Catholic faith the Catholic religion, the Cathohc C rch was the great object for wlich she stru e^ Her enemies, her nowprfiil o«^ i . "Sfe'^w* would tear i. r„„ Ir ho Hav"t"""^ ""*""""' nosom. Have they succeeded? i J* »en cut down, this godless now by penal he sword in othe ", now those whom rvation, and from their little ones, d with the xecution of systems of ?> ofspoli- poor, pros- be English those days, ntries have in the Pro- n them all nuity was 11 the ma- renounced i this light ago, how changed those suf- her light, d. The Catholic struggled, enemies, jceeded ? h 13 No. Blessed be Heaven ! they have fiot succeeded ; they have succeeded in making her streets flow with the blood of her children, but they have not succeeded in making them renounce their faith ; they have succeeded in murdering thousands, even in the very temples and around the altar of the living God, but they have not suc- ceeded in making them renounce their religion ; they have succeeded in butchering hundreds of females, clinging round the cross ; they have succeeded in laying waste their villages and sacking their towns, in burning their churches and slaughtering their children, but they have not succeeded in making them renounce the faith oftheir forefathers ; they succeeded in banishing and starving to death, and murdering countless thousands of her chil- dren, but they did not succeed in crushing the young swarm which, as in the days of the earlier persecutions, arose from the graves of the martyred dead, an'^ who, by their numbers, by their purity, by thsir dervotedness to the cause of religion and of God, have more than com- pensated for the losses she had sustained. They offered five pounds for the head of a priest — the same as for the head of a wolf — chased them like wild beasts, through the land, and succeeded in glutting their fury on their blood, but they did not; succeed in making them deny their religion, in preventing them from offering up, in the hut, on the garret, on the hills and in the glens of their native mountains, the Victim of Calvary, the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world. In the midst of all her sufferings the succession of her bishops was not broken, her sees were not lost, her altars were not forsaken, her practices of devotii*:, were not abandoned ; on the contrary, even her very sufferings and persecu- I i 14 E„?'"'L''" "i''«'°" '^'''' ^'"^ '» ">« hearts of h.r loving a„d d „,„d ^^.ij,^„_ j_^ ^j^^ ^^^ Buhop Spalding, "The great body of the Iri.l. peol ■n clung .0 the faith of their father., which had consoS and trengthened them in the midst of suffering, that had "raid . """""^^o' '""- P'-P-i.y. they ™ig'ht bo branded as ahens and outlaws in the heart of their own m^h be massacred in cold blood, but no indignity or "ffenng could tear from their heart the brigh" jewef of fatth which they so highly prized and so dear /he warmly press this treasure to their bosom." Such is the language of Bishop Spaldi„g_no Irishman him el^ bu rZTl "^•"'-'^-'Sed as one whose great mind is'a iafure n 7^"'^^'""''"^ "'''^"'''' '">'' '^hose noble «at surround him. Let me now ask what has Irish Ca hol,c „MK.„ality ,0 do with this history of the suf enngaand the wrongs of our own loved 'land, Er,' n bringing hem under your consideration to-day i I need carcely tell you the why .nd wherefore ; you are a readl acquainted with both, you k„o«,them we I. le „ how V r. g ance for a moment at the manner in whl-L ol' S itir ' T ""''" ''''-'' " connected wh oathohcty, and then, glancing at what is passing before us .0 1": I'' "' '"T ''"'^' '"" ^''' "»' "' a! a OS today. How IS our Catholic Nationality formed' It - formed prmcipally by p„„„erl„g over the hisTory,' the 15 iiearts of her of the gifted Irish people had consoled ngs that had lation ; they 3y might be f their own tor8, or they indignity or ht jewel of dearly che- would still Such is the limself, but nind is able hose noble J jealousies has Irish of the suf. tnd, Erin ! m justified ^1 I need are already et us, how- tvhich our ected with ; before us 5 at a loss 5ur notice med ? It story, the legends, the traditions of our native land. It commences with our childhood, it gets strong with our strength, until at length it becomes a fixed principle of our Irish nature.— Yes ! in childhood we imbibe from the lips of a pious mother, or of a devoted nurse, the legends of our country say the legends of the Holyi Welis, which St. Patrick blessed, the miracles that were there performed, the votive offerings that attest the facts, and the thousands of pertiona that had formerly knelt around them in holy prayer ; we are told of the churches that he built, of the crosses he erected, of the snakes that he banished, of the hills where he prayed, of the countless wonders he performed, until the young mind is filled with a love of the Saint, a love of the religion which he taught, a love of the spirit and of the faith which inspired him, a love of visiting the scenes where these events took place, and of treading the footsteps where the Saint had trodden. Herein is laid the foundation of our Irish Catholic nationality ; here commences the con- nection between our nationality and our Catholicity. We love the Saint who wrought these wonders, we love the religion which he professed ; in the young mind all, all are formed united and blended, as it were, into one idea — and the most pleasing associations hang around it. Yes ! these memories have scenes, even the very sight in the distance, of some loved mountains ovar which history and tradition have thrown a peculiar charm, preaches to the Irish heart, instils conjointly, the spirit of religion and the spirit of nationality into the bosoms ot the Irish youth. This is not an imaginary picture. I state what I have known— what I have felt — what has happened to myself. From an eleva. tion in my father's land I could see in the distance the far- famed Sleamish, the mountain where St. Patrick, when a 16 which he had so often prayed and wept, and wen. and elevacon and gaze upon that mountain, until the shades of n^ht stole in between u, and hid it from my sight WhLt gazmg upon ,. I cannot describe how I felt; but I re member that the life „f the Saint would pass in'revi w be- r ■"'' ?'k " " '"'" '"' '"« Saint himself and frthe egion which he taught would steal over me. And though I then httle thought that I should be one day called to m.n,ster at the same altar a. which he had minis.e d and "thi: r„ :r '"^ ""r"^' ^'"'' "« •"- P-cher hiugh 1 then little thoueht that r ahouiA u^ o . ^ . . . ^ '' "'" ' snonid be seven years chanlain ?hrrrr°?''^"""^''™«^'S««.ArlghIhoJh Ltd o' 1 / ; "'^'' "'' ''""' ' ^"-"^ "' "- day occas Ins wh '~^'" ' "'""y ""'''■'' "■»' "" those seed ora'd'"""' "" "''' '"'"'"'^''>' 'hat the first wh/„ n .T *"''' "''"" "''"■' ^' 'his distance of time when I look back through the mists of time, the memorres assocated with that mountain unite, as it were l.o one pom. w,U.in me ; the love of religion 'and theT e .he" Und m k, ,, ^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^f he .7m has r K?' "'""' '"'"^-'-hat has happened hence mt ' "'' ^'^'"""^ •" 'h°"^and and tile n voir "'"^T '"' '"' '="=' '"a, Ireland is .o fer- up in de T':,'"^ ^'"'^ """'^'^y- I-" -' follol between he . T "T"'""' '" ""^ "^'i"""" '"i"'' suS. of the f"": r'^ '".^ "'' Catholicity-between the euBermg. of the fa,lhful_the faith for which (hey suffered and the scenes of their sufTerings. Their faith I S I I mountain on d wept and itand on that he shades of ght. Whilst ; but I re- review be- ind for the And though y called to istered,and sd — though rs chaplain ;h — though 5 one day preach the U on those t the first •fused into Je of time, memories I into one of father- dearer to happened nds; and is so fer- ot follow ^al mind ^'een the suffered, attested 17 by their blood, and their blood consecrates the soil so that whilst religion creates, as it were, her nationality, her nationality throws back a powerful shield over religion which will not cease to protect, to guard, to defend it, no matter how assailed, until shattered into a thousand pieces. Yes, Ireland, happy Ireland— happy in the midst of your sorrows— your faith and your nationality in the minds of your children are as one— they are blended together ; woe be to him who will dare to sever them, or to tear the one or the other from the Irish heart. Look around you and you will now see why I have dwelt ao long upon this point— on the union between our faith and our nationality. Aepirit of nativism h4s sprung up around us— it originated in the United States, and was marked by a peculiar hatred of every thing Irish and of every thing Catholic. Some native Catholic spirits in the States, hoping, perhaps, to save Catholicity at the expense of Irishism, as if Irishism and Catholicity could be separated in the hearts of the Irish-born, would go half-ways in the movement to join the enemies of religion and of God in the cry, <« down with Irish feeling— down with Irish nationality." A few dis- tinguished spirits, too, originally from the old land, but the edge of whose nationality, by long years of absence from that land, and by continual contact with her enemies must have been worn away, would also put a sort of ban on Irish feeling, would forbid distinguished Irishmen to be held up as models for imitation, even to their own coun- trymen. This spirit of nativism, originating as it did in the neighboring republic, has not confined itself within its limits— it has crossed the lines— it has entered Canada- it is to be found in the ranks of Catholicity, and, under the pretext of Catholicity, would crush the spirit of Tr:«.K il 18 nationality in this land. That the couniiesB infidel, pro. testing and immoral sects that overrun the States should desire and should make everjr effort to crush Irish feeling in the land, I am not at a loss to conceive j because they know that Irishism, in the Irish mind, is so closely con- nected with religion, that if they could succeed in crushing U out of the Irish, they would succeed in crushing religion out of them al8o,~therefore do they malign, abuse, and misrepresent Irish nationality-therefore do they endeavor to raise a cry. a howl, a sort of impious yell against it, as if it were something terrible in the extreme. And no wonder that they should act thus j for to infidelity, to Protestantism, to immorality J to the empire of Satan, which they are intent on propagating, it is terrible, and terrible in the extreme. The Irish have iheir faults, (who have not?) but their emment virtues, their faiih, their charity, their love of their religion, of their God, stand out so prominently tuat their faults are almost forgotten in the lustre of their vir- tues on the one hand, whilst, on the other, the enemies of the Cross, feeling their power for good, tremble before them as before the face of the most deadly enemy, and, though divided in everything else, unite as one man in their efforts to crush them. That there should, therefore, be a spirit a protesting infidel spirit, of nativism, against the Irish But Z'r7"\'' "'" ''' '' '' ' '«^« ^« -nceive. But that Catholics should join in the movement-should join in the cry against Irish feeling-I for one am at a loss to conceive; I cannot understand it, I cannot, at least, assign for it a reasonable, a satisfactory cause. Prelates priests, people know and acknowledge that, wherever they' go, they rally round the altar, support religion and build up churches by the savings of their hard earninaa : ther kn4 19 infidel, pro- States should Irish feeling because they closely con- l in crushing hing religion I abuse, and ley endeavor nst it, as if it ► wonder that estantism, to 5y are intent he extreme. 1) but their eir love of inently tuat of their vir- > enemies of before them ind, though their efforts be a spirit, St the Irish :o conceive. Jnt— should in at a loss ?t, at least, . Prelates, Jrever they nd build up thev krnntzi- -- -^ •• I* I that their Irishism and their faith are, as it were» inter- woven with each other, and that the one equally as the other prompts to those generous and noble acts of practi- cal religion. Why then join in the cry of nativism 1 Are those nativist Catholics jealous of Irish nationality 1 Perhaps they are — perhaps they feel that they have no great native saints to cast the prestige of their names over their own land, no martyr's blood to consecrate the soil, no heroic actions performed by their own children to be held up as a beacon light to those that are in darkness. Per- haps, not having these things, they are jealous of those who have them, or perhaps, having them not, they feel not the fire, the love, the attachment to religion and to country, which the memories of such deeds beget in those who have them ; and therefore not realizing the holy bond that binds them together, foolishly imagine that that bond may be snapt asunder without injury to the faith, to the re- ligion, and the morality of the people. Pope Benedict the XlVth, writing to the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland, encouraging them on in the paths of virtue and good works thinks it right to hold up — what models, think you, for imitation ? Ah ! the illustrious Pontiff knew the force of nationality~.of Irish nationality— and therefore does he hold up, even to the Irish Bishops and Archbishops, as models for imitation, not the saints of other lands, but the saints of Ireland — the saints of their own dear fatherland — and not alone the saints of their own land, who flourished in their own country — such as St. Patrick, St. Malachy, St. Laurence O'TooIe, &C*, but also many others whom he names, and who, as he sayst *' Coming out of Ireland carried the light so iifhed it with the blood of th.i, 'he learned, and .ho oelobTa. d Be„ , :"'""•'"'" "eM up to the ,.,h ..^JJTJ ,» ^ tah ""r'" model, for ,„,i,a,i„„ „„, , ,, ''./'"'' People a, 'his land ,0 hold up anythin/ IrirK T ^" """""""^ '» "PonMaya.deo^eXXrtndl "7 "^ "'^"^^ •tead, the prac.iceB, the cusf„r!„d ,h I u P' '" "■»'' /^a«. fo „«r ou,,, even then ,i„e >vould bf '"" effect the cbange_,i„,„ only couTd eff!! m, 'T'""^ '" would attempt to effect itbeLeTe ,7 ' T'' '"' "''<' "P feeling, and prejudio '.Ic i Zrfl """ '"' would but retard the accm^i hm . !h °?""""""«. reverse l.ei„g tie case- Jyi7iZ> T^' ^'" "' far fron, „, .he ,!„« whTn'the Hsh r' Z T ""•"'" shall la, aside the pious practice o,.h olZr^^'T 'he m„i„, „„d habits of the new world , "^ ""'' '"'°P' that, therefore, we Irish sho! d av aslH ''^"'""'' ^""^ unite with our Canadian bZ, en d T "''"■'""""^' powerful front to the non-Ca hon^' pI " "^^'^ " We believe indeed that .he Iri h 1. r ".' """"'' "" should unite, and uni-e as oneman in "" ^'"'""'■=» ™onfai.h; but.ou„i.e, i.Tno"; 2XT "^T one or the other to lay aside .heir f^e i„7of ,! ''' "' on the contrary, union requires that .h ""'""' ' -hould be preserved distinctiif you pm the 1 """"r"""' one body, you do notunite, ;ou onlyCJr '""'''''' '""' them, and their ..y nationaHtiee a I ^1^ l,''"""^'"'"'"^ will no. amaiyv,. e, ,hat will Z i" T ?*"" "«" "at will not bear the fusion. J )m." Yes I e venerable, the XlVth '*» people at permitted in n be called 'Pt in their 8 of Yankee tt land pre required to md he who d only stir hastening, ' But the «8 remove ascendants and adopt 5 Catholic ^^ren, and ationaiity, oppose a 3und ua! Catholics our r -x^ ither ;he lonaiiiy • on all ties 5ple into 'gamate nts that OHj and 21 hence would result confusion, weakness and defeat. But keep their nationality distinct ; let each people feel its own weight, its own strength, its own power, and then united under wise leaders, bring thorn forth together side by side against the common enemy—then will they be animated with a noble rivalry in the common cause, and thus strong, strong in theii united, well-directed power, they will soon crush the head of the common foe. Witness the late war in the CriUiea: the armies of England and of France were uiiiied in a common cause against the common enemy, and strong as was that common enemy, he was forced to yield. But remember each army preserved its identity, its feelings, its nationality; they were not fused, they were not amalga- mated into one armyj had they been so fused, so amalga. mated, had English and French soldiers been placed side by side in the same company, or had English officers been placed over French soldiers, and French officers over Eng- lish soldiers, indiscriminately, would they have strengthened their cause! would the proud foe have been forced to yield? Assuredly not. The day they attempted so to fuse, so to amalgamate, that day would they break down their strength, that day would they sow seeds of division among their own ranks— and every man must feel that de- feat, that shameful and inglorious defeat, would have been the result tliereof. It is the ^ame thing precisely between the Irish and the Canadian Catholics. The Irish are will- ing, most willing, to unite wil'.i them in the common cause against the common enemy— we are not willing lo fuse— we are not willing to amalgamate— so to fuse, so to amalga. mate is impracticable— so to fuse, so to amalgamate would be to weaken, not strengthen the common cause, and they who woiiid ask us to do so either know not what they say 22 or say not what they think^lovQ of Catholicity nay bo put forward as the motive, whilst the real motive may be kept in the background. Ah ! how little they know the spirit of Irish nationality who imagine that the Irish jrust lay aside their nationality before they can unite hi the cause ot Catholicity. Let us then, all of U9, rally round the united standards of our faith and of our nationality ; they are in us united, they are blended together, and no power on earth or in hell shall be able either to sever them or to tear the one or the other from our Irish hearts. By such celebrations as the present is Irish nationality fan- ned and kept alive in the country. But you must do more than this. You fathers and mothers must teach it to your children. Tell them of the old land; tell them the legends, the traditions, the memories that hang around her ; tell them the history of her sufferings, of her wrongs ; tell them how their fathers suffered and died sooner than renounce one particle of their holy faith, of that faith which our glorious apostle St. Patrick first established in the land. Yts ; tell them these things, it is the best inhe- ritance you can leave them, it is the best means by which you can instil into their young minds the joint love of their religion, of their God, and of their country. Yes; let us all rally round the old land, let her never be for- gotten, let each of us and all of us, in the sincerity of our hearts, pray for her often, here on the banks of the St. Lawrence, like the children of Israel on the river of the Babylon, and exclaim often, in the spirit of my text, '*If I forget thee, Erin, lefr my right hand be forgotten j let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee ; if I make not Erin the beginning of my joy.'* 23 ST. PATRICK'S PRAYER "There is one desire of his recorded in a prayer which he often repeated la the course of his enormous labors, which shows that his ardent desire for the glory of God has been richly heard, and royally rewarded. It was this : * May my Lord grant that I may never lose His people, which He has gained in the ends of the earth.' "— Sundays at Lovell-Audley. St. Patrick pray'd, and the gift of faith Came down like a dew from Heaven ; And the idols fell, and the Druids paled, And the people's bonds were riven. Our Celtic fathers, caught the flame, That fill'd th' Apostle's soul, And their faith grew firm as the iron rock, Round which the billows roll. And that faith became their guiding star. Through all the storms of life ; And to it they clung with tenacious grasp, 'Mid toil, and pain, and strife. It sank into their inmost heart, And was slamp'd upon their soul, And they yielded up their stubborn will To its divine control. St. Patrick built the Irish Church, On Christ, the living rock. And it mocks the ocean's wildest roar, And braves the earthquake's shock. He fenced it round with a triple wall, Of faith, and hope, and prayer, And his high, prophetic soul rejoiced, When he saw it strong as fair. And he pray'd that the old Milesian race, ThiJ§;^ith(;i:'d to.tiie ^oLd,. .V. . , Might /j.eyff'^Bfra}: Jntb prcoifs i^gtbj),. Nor their ardent faitfi grcfw' 'cold;' '• • • • 24 Has ihat prayer been heard ? — let history tell :• For fourteen hundred years, That Church has breasted wind and wave, Through blood, and death, and tears. It has borne fruit — ay ! an hundred fold, And spread throughout the earth, Showing forth in every passing age The splendor of its birth. And its faith has been ever purified By persecution's flame ; Till the proud oppressor wrought his worst. Then stopped for very shame. There is scarce a spot where man may tread, But St. Patrick's sons are seen, And wherever they go they plant the faith, And keep it fresh and green. In the trackless wilds of this western world, They raise the cross on high, And where nations meet in the crowded mart. Their church-spires pierce the sky. They stand at the altar in every clime, And they preach in every tongue, And they work the vineyard of the Lord Earth's countless tribes among. A Catholic heart is the Celtic heart, Ay ! to its inmost core, And our priJe is the good old simple faith, That our fathers had of yore. And now that the persecutor's lash Is again before our eyes, The world shall see the Irish faith In its majesty arise. And "the Celtic race" shall gird their loins . *».^& '^m '>K#; j^"?^:^,. *"« '^'^"^"MBMH'"'*™™