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Show J ANGLO-SAXON ENDEAVOR. "Archbishop Ireland has written a letter let-ter to the Duke of Norfolk, in which he outlines some suggestions for a general gen-eral Catholic movement in all English-speaking countries of the globe. . sooner was-that letter published in England than dispatches were sent from Rome, inspired by the enemies of the St. Paul prelate, to the effect that the Archbishop's views had aroused distrust in the official circle's of the Vatican. Of course this is all 'rubbish, but at the - nme time serves to show-that' show-that' there are men in Rome w ho are more interested in tearing down individual indi-vidual character' than in building up the Church. The substance of Archbishop Ireland's Ire-land's letter has now reached this country, coun-try, and a perusal of it clearly shows that its author "has dealt with timely trieri may be tempted to faini-eart- ous manner. It -is hard to conceive how anyone having the welfare of the Church at heart could have the effrontery to affirm af-firm that the subject matter of the let- j ter in question could receive other than ' warmest ' commendation from Roman; officiali-i. . j Following is the substantial parts of the letter which Archbishop Ireland' addressed to his grace, the Duke of Ar-gvle: Ar-gvle: j "It is a broad, plain fact in the geography geog-raphy of the world a fact dailv ho- coming broader and plainer that the English language is circling the globe, that English-speaking countries are constantly growing with speed that nothing seems able to arrest, in territory terri-tory and influence. I certainly shall not belittle the spheres of influence of language lan-guage other than the English, or deny in the Ifat the importance to the Church of countries speaking those Ian- guages; let due place be given to all agencies in the. great work of religion. But. thisi said, tho truth i before us, that in the present, and more yet in the future, the minds of peoples spread over immense regions of tho globe are to be reached only through the English language, and that very much of the mis'sionary work of the Church is to be- done under the aegl of English-speaking English-speaking countries. Thiti fact cannot, in the interest of religion, be too strongly impressed upon English-speaking Catholics, and upon the representatives and leaders of the Universal Church herself. Whatever the irslitutjons and the influences that are strong 'and potent where the English Eng-lish language holus sway, these will be strong and potent ir. shajnng the des-tinic.l des-tinic.l of the world: . "Hence the mission imposed by Providence Prov-idence upon Englifh-speaking Catholics, Catho-lics, and by reason of their especial position, po-sition, especially "upon Catholics in England Eng-land hen-elf. That mission is to attune anew the English language to the harmony har-mony of Catholic truth, which was its charm before the days of the schism j oi ine sixtcentn century 'the most woeful woe-ful disaster that ever befell Christendom: Christen-dom: to make the English language the bearer of Catholic verities to the hundreds hun-dreds of millions who will speak and read it; to build up for the Catholic; Church public and social . influence in English-speaking lands, so that their power, instead of being against her, be for her; to so establish her in those lands that she be seen to be. as in fact she is, thoroughly in unison with the political institutions: and the social aspirations as-pirations that dominate these lands, so that the argument for fitch institutions be an argument, too, for the Church herself in fine, to so place the Church as to enable her to win over to herself the great English-speaking world, and turn to her own profit and the profit of Christian civilization the wondrous potencies po-tencies of that world. "How Catholics are to do all this, circumstances, cir-cumstances, as Providence unfolds them, will give indication. The chief thing is that Catholics have the intelligence intelli-gence to perceive the opportunities given to them, the zeal to avail themselves them-selves of such opportunities, the persona! per-sona! courage and the grace divine to follow them out to a successful issue. Catholics) prepared through such dispositions dispo-sitions for their mission will be found attracting attention to the Church by the high moral integrity of their lives, gaining for her social power through their active participation in the public affairs of the nation, spreading their 1 teachings by their intellectual labors, j bringing victory to the manifestations of her er-ersies by their earnest and effective co-operation with her undcr-j undcr-j takings' of charity and of zeal. "Catholics in English-speaking countries coun-tries may be tempted to to faint-heart-. cdne-r-s by the recollection of their paue-J paue-J ity of numbers and their weakness of resources when they oonrpare them-J them-J selves to the legions of non-Catholics : around them. But , they should yield to no fear: for truth and divine power I are with them, and in such association they are neither few nor weak. As God intone?. to make the moral world His j own, we must assume that He intends to sway to His purposes the great Eng-lirh-speaking multitudes who are so notably a part of the world, and if Catholics do their part He will do His-through His-through and with them, and all will be well for His Church among those multitudes. To the Catholics of England Eng-land to the Catholic Union of Great Britain, I, then, say, Fortiter dimicate, et, vincite. The Catholics of the United States will watch you from afar, and, spurred on by your noble example, they will work, as it may be possible to them, along the linee you trace for them, for the same holy purposes to which you are devoted-May the Master give to all of us the grace not to falter in His service!" |