Show 1 w A NATION ONCE AGAIN k J M 4 ireland irelands hope of home rule nearing realization at last faw U NATURE GRACE AND k TRAINING FITTED vo ST PATRICK TO A aj HIS TASK i so well accomplished 0 ireland was known ij 0 for centuries as f ij the land of IN 0 saints N f I 1 T PATRICK says pt pf him self elf in bis his confession that he waa was born barn at cannaven Dan Ban naven naren which la Is ex hard to identify some however claim that kirk patrick dear near glasgow in scot land took its name from st patrick the taint saint was bora born about was a captive and a slave of the king of Dala in ireland from to SOS went to gaul and was there ord alred priest was consecrated bishop and sent to ireland as an missionary in and died at saul oear near strangford Strang tord lough gough county down ulster where many years before he bad foun led big his church march 17 65 65 the day now sacred to his memory ireland was then occupied by bir a great number of petty tribes most ct ft whom were evangelized by patrick bo 60 well was the work accomplished that ireland wan was known in ili subsequent centuries an the island of saints and scholar scholars the method employed wae was that of de dealing aling cautiously and gently with ith the old paganism of the people the chief tallis were first won over ower and anti then through them their clans of st patrick himself mah that has been related is in fabulous but his au an confession and tie to Coro corotitus both of which are un questionably genuine reveal a devout simple minded man and a mott most discreet and energetic missionary in bis his epistle be he states that thu bo he was of noble birth and that his father wae was a roman decuire ills hla mother Cooc Cone bessa or cancels concela Con cela cels was the sister of st martin of V urs the family of the saint Is affirmed by the qt authorities to have belonged to britain but bat whether the term refers to great britain or brit tany or other parts of 6 france Is not ascertained some of the quaint stories told in ireland about st patrick would make the traveler imagine that the saint visited the island for the benefit of witty guides or to promote mirth li pi et at weather it Is nt rit remarkable that the subject of theae thesis stories for IG 16 centuries at countless hearths has been regarded reg ardAd and Is today honored as the greatest man and the greatest ben factor that ever trod the irish soil ml int considering the versatility of the irish character it ft Is to cot strange that there remains respecting the saint maint a vast cycle of legends legend as a s serious pathetic and profound it could not be otherwise such a people could not have forgotten thu th heroic 17 egure auls who led theril forth la in the exodus from the bondage of pagan darkness in many instances doubt lee less has the tale become a tradition the foliage of anever active popular imagination gathered around the cen con iral stem of fact but the fact remained A large tract of irish history Is dark but the time of st patrick and the three centuries which succeeded it Is clearly as depleted depicted by history a time of joy the chronicle Is a song of gratitude and of hope as bents befits the story torr of a nations nat lons conversion conven ioa to the higher legends which how ever do not profess to keep close to tho the original sources except as all regards their spirit and the manners of the time ore are found in some ancient lives of st patrick the most vain able c 0 which la Is the tripartite life ascribed by colgen to the century aft er the saint A death the work ork was lost for many centuries but two copies coples of it were rediscovered one of which baa has been recently translated by an eminent irish tender scholar mr lien ressy the miracles however recorded in the tripartite life are neither the most marvelous mar relous nor th 9 most interest iri 1 portion of that life whether regarded from rom the religious or philosophic point of view few thine can be more than the th picture which it delineates of bu roan man nature in the period of critical ant the dawning of the religion of nenod a race barbaric bu bul far indeed from savage that warlike race regarded it ft doub leea less ai as a notable cruelty when the raw faith discouraged an amusement ara eo so popular as a battle hut but in many re to specie they were in sympathy with the faith that race was as one of which the affections ag as uell ell as the passions retained nn an ardor and when nature ie Is stronger and anti lesi less cor erupted it must feel the need of something higher than thau itself ita its interpreter and its supplement it prized the family ties like the germans Gerc nana record ed by tacitus and it could coula bui but ata been drawn to christianity 1 warlike as it ft WAS wits it ft wai was unbounded alio also in loyalty generosity and self sac it wae was not therefore untouched by the records of martas roar mar the pies of sell saw or the doctrine of a great sacrifice it loved the chil dren and the poor and st patrick made the former the exem pliers of the faith and the latter the eminent anber igors of the kingdom in the main institutions and traill tlona dons of ireland were favorable to christianity and the people rec received C ived the gospel gladly it appealed bothem to them and prompted ardent natures to find their rest in spIrl spiritual things it had created among them an in excellent appreciation of the bear beatt ifal the es and the pure the rapid growth of learn learning Inc as well as piety in the tho alre centuries cen succeeding the con conversion of ireland proved that the country hail iad not been anul then without a for the perhaps ter hapa gothing iio thing butier had so large an influence in tf tt conversion of the irish ae as the personal character 4 A C 5 st patrick of our apostle hy BY nature by grace and by providential be bad been especially fitted for his task everywhere we can trace the might and sweetness sweet nesa that belonged to his character the versatile mind et the timple simple heart the varying tact yet the fixed resolve the large desire tak ing counsel from all yet the minute solicitude licit ude for each the airy seal zeal yet the gentle temper the skill in using means yet the reliance in god cod alono alone the re tidiness in aaion nation with a willing nese ness to wait the habitual se lipos session yet the outburst of an in whiff raised rafted him acre a cre ere him film self the alding il ding consciousness of an authority an auth authority rity lu in him but rot ci lim and yet the ever present humility above all there burned in to him that boundless love which seems he main constituent of apostolic char acte acter it was love for cod but it wax was love for man also nn an impassioned love a parental compassion aront rong and injustice to the poor be resented as an injury to god cod A just man indeed was st patrick with purity of nature like the parl P tri arch a true pilgrim like abraham gentle and wid forgiving of be t like moses tones a praiseworthy tike like david an emulator of wisdom like solomon a chosen vessel for proclaiming ruth truth tike like the apostle paul a man of grace and of knowledge of the holy line the beloved john a lion pon in strength and power a dove la in gentleness and humility a servant errant of labor 1 in the service of christ a king in dignity and might for bind blad log ing and loosening for liberating and nj convicting |